The ship finally came in

We have big and exciting news at our house, Dustin was offered and accepted a position with the Bureau of Land Management in central Wyoming, so we will be moving in January.  I will live just under 4 hours from my Mom, just over 3 hours from my sister, 2 hours from my friend Brandi (her blog is Life of a New Mommy of Two), and about 4.5 hours from my youngest brother.  Unfortunately we will live further from my older brother, but there is an airport near where we will live, so we can fly to Phoenix to see him.  We drove there while we were back in Colorado for Thanksgiving and we love it.  We were unable to find a rental for now, but the realty companies all said there would be several more before January. We will probably take another trip there in a few weeks to secure a rental.

Dustin's start date is January 28.  I am excited about that as Austin's birthday is the 22nd, so we will have a big birthday/going away bash for him with all his friends before we leave.  It still is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we are moving after living here over 8 years.  I guess it will settle in when the moving truck comes and takes our stuff away.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us that we are able to sell our house here.  We lowered the asking price significantly as we decided it's better to take a loss and move it rather than hold out and have to pay our mortgage payment and rent.

Warms my heart

Tonight I was sitting in the bathroom while Austin was taking his bath and I was holding Katy.  I would hold her up to my face and tell her "I'm going to eat your belly!" and then kiss her belly and make little growling sounds.  She would giggle and smile at me and was totally loving it.  Austin got a concerned look on his face and in a serious tone says "don't eat her belly Mom, she is special!" I love that kid!

Halloween

I know it’s way late, but here are some photos from our Halloween.

Freedom!

I just got back from casting my votes today and thought I would share some election day thoughts.  I was surprised to see this morning that none of the blogs that I follow had done a post about voting yet.  Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you who I voted for or try to twist your arm to support any particular candidate.  I personally wish more people would keep their political views between them and the ballot booth.

My first memory having to do with election day was when I was a pretty young child, although I don't know exactly how old I was then.  My Mom took me with her to the voting precinct which was at the old Chevy dealership in our small town, the building is now a Mexican restaurant.  I got out of our old blue station wagon and when I went to shut the door I put my other hand on the side of the car for leverage and slammed the door shut.  Unfortunately the tips of my fingers were in the way and I smashed them in the door.  After crying profusely for some time my Mom was able to take her tear stained girl in to cast her votes.  The election official lady felt bad for me and she gave me a ballot and said I could take it home and fill it out and my Mom could bring it back in for me.  I took it home and colored in some of the ovals with my crayons and gave it to my Mom.  You can imaging my disappointment when my Mom refused to humor me and said that I was too young to vote and the lady was just trying to be nice.

I have been proudly voting in every election since I turned 18.  I know a lot of people were opting for early balloting this year, but there is just something too nostalgic about going in on election day.  Today it is a beautiful blue sky mid 70's day so I pushed Katy in the stroller to the firehouse to vote.  When I walked up there was a sign marking off the 75 ft buffer zone for demonstrators, but there were no demonstrators in sight.  I went in and was the only voter at the time, just 8 election officials sitting around waiting to help me.  Pretty uneventful.  Way different experience from when I lived in Fort Collins, Colorado and stood in line for over an hour to vote in the Bush/Kerry election 8 years ago.

I know some people feel that their one little vote is insignificant in the sea of millions, but I take a great deal of pride in voting.  I am so grateful that I was born in this country and think even all the nasty political mudslinging is a wonderful sign of our freedom.  I hope that my fellow American blog friends have cast their votes, or will do so before the polls close today.

5QF

1. What terrifies you the most?

Definitely something bad happening to my kids, it's a rough and cruel world out there and it's scary to think of them getting sick, or falling into the hands of some evil person.  

2. Favorite fall/winter drink? 

Either eggnog or my mother-in-laws apple cider:

6 cups of apple cider
3 cups cranberry juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 cinnamon sticks
1 TBSP whole cloves

Add the ingredients in a pan and warm them up.  If you are having a party you can put it into a crock pot and simmer.  Remove the spices before serving.

3. Do you and your spouse have the same political views?

I don't really talk politics publicly, but I would just say we agree on some things, and disagree on others.  We probably agree more than we disagree.

4. What was the last book you read? Was it any good?

The last book I read in it's entirety was A Prayer for Owen Meany for my book club.  I started reading The Night Circus, but that was our book club book that was when Katy was born and I never finished it.  I am currently reading Mama Day and am about half way through it.

5. Do you look forward to the snow each winter? Why or why not?

I can't really say that I look forward to it, but I don't mind it any more.  I grew up in Colorado and came to dislike it when I had to drive in it, more so because of other idiot drivers.  Since I moved to Arizona we only get a handful of snows each winter and it melts within a day or two, so I hardly ever have to deal with it.