FINALLY

I have INTERNET!!!! Who knew that life was impossible to live without the internet?? I do know. I felt so out of touch with the world...lonely, disconnected, like a part of me was dead. Okay, that was a bit melodramatic, but not far from the truth. You try 20 days without your own home internet!

So where to begin??

We arrived in Rexburg on July 17th after a week stay at Bear Lake with my family. I will tell more about that and add pictures later.

We are 95% unpacked and moved in already. We really pushed hard. Most of the unpacked boxes are in the office and some will probably stay unpacked for a very long time. I am proud to say that I have gotten rid of some stuff as I've unpacked -- but still probably not enough. I am quite a pack rat.

We are settling in to our new house, neighborhood & town quite well. We love the town, small but sufficient. The neighborhood is awesome -- good friends for our kids and lots of stuff in walking distance. The house came with a few "extras" -- extra smells, extra critters (spiders), and extra special design features (yellow shag carpet in one bedroom). Oh yes, I must mention that there are 12 different floor coverings in this house: real hardwood floors, laminate wood floor, 3 very different designs of linoleum, and 7 different colors/textures of carpet. EVERY room is unique. Wow!! But don't get me wrong...we love the house, it has just taken some getting used to. We are loving the extra space and may have a hard time ever moving back in to a house the size of our old one.

I miss all my friends and family but we are excited about the adventure ahead of us. Eric started school yesterday so it is official and "for real" now. Yipee!

Oh and I must mention that our house officially closed today! What a blessing and relief this will be for us mentally & financially.

Thank you for all your prayers & well wishes. We'd love to see any of you if you are ever up this way.

I DID IT!!

I drove 13 1/2 hours in a car. Now before you say, big deal. Note, I said, "I DROVE" not I RODE. I am NOT a driver. I never choose to drive if I have the choice, I am a passenger at heart. I think the farthest I have ever driven before is to Phoenix (a 2 hour drive). So I was pretty nervous about driving myself to Utah. But we have 2 cars and it had to be done. So we split up the kids: girls in the van/boys in the Land Cruiser. It went surprisingly well. It took a little longer because we went the Las Vegas way to avoid some of the steeper/winding mountain passes, not because I am a slow driver, Eric can attest to that. My van kicked his Land Cruisers butt (but he was pulling a trailer and had all the luggage so I had a bit of an advantage). It was even a little fun to drive in a caravan & talk over the walkie talkies....but I hope to never have to do it again.

NOTE TO SELF

Do not EVER, EVER move in July. Especially into or out of Tucson.

If the raging monsoon storms don't get ya, then the blistering 105 degree heat, combined with the oppressive humidity, will...

That's all I have to say.

SOLD!

We sold our Entertainment Center! Yipee! Who knew that selling an Entertainment Center was harder than selling a home?? There is just not a big market these days for a ginormous entertainment center that only holds a 27" TV. They were very popular 10 years ago, but not today.

We have now sold all the "items" we were intending to: washer/dryer, trampoline, entertainment center & a whole lot of junk at a garage sale. Now there is nothing left to do but pack, pack, pack. Oh...and clean, clean, clean :)