We're Here

Well, we've been here for just over a week now and are completely unpacked (thanks to Ty) and are starting to get settled in. We made the 8 hour, turned 9.5 hour, drive on Saturday morning. We left around 5:30am. The kids did wonderful, especially since we didn't have a DVD player for them. We decided at the last minute that the only way for us to fit the stuff the movers didn't take into our cars would be for me to take the kids in the Cadillac and Ty to take the Explorer. The Cadillac's cigarette lighter doesn't work, hence no DVD player (it's the dual player which doesn't have an external battery). Anyways we made 4 stops for the kids to play/eat and got down here around 3:30, the movers unloaded us and we began unpacking. Oh how I despise moving. But loved that we had a moving company, what a difference it makes!

Ty starts work today and I know it will start to settle in once he's gone more. I already feel a little cabin fever and like I can't get out much since I don't know the area, but in due time I'm sure I'll get it. I really hope he likes his job, I know he'll be great at it! They are lucky to have him.

We really like our new place. The garage is awesome because we have a TON of storage space and the kids LOVE the stairs leading to their bedrooms. Speaking of bedrooms they both have their own room now and both kids (esp. Lincoln) has been sleeping SO well. Going down at 7pm and waking up at 8am or later. I can handle that. None of us slept very well when he was in our bedroom, but I didn't think it would make this much difference.

I really miss all my family and friends back home, but I hope we can get home to visit often. My sister is coming home for Christmas (from AZ) so the kids and I will drive back up Dec. 27th and stay for the week because there's no way I'd miss seeing her. I, however, am NOT looking forward to the drive again...lets hope there isn't a snowstorm on my drive back.

Posts with pictures to come soon...I didn't take one single picture all last month, what was I thinking?!!

Slacker

I have been a complete blogging slacker! I'm usually pretty good at keeping updated, but we've been so busy and so much is going on it's been hard to find the time. I haven't even been taking pictures lately, what the heck is wrong with me!?!

Anyways, we are moving in 9 days! YIKES! I cannot believe the time has come already. Ty and I went down to WV last weekend to look for a place to live and the kids stayed with my family (Riley with my Dad and Lincoln with my Mom) so we could get more done. Our goal was to find a place to live and that was it. We were looking for a 3 bedroom townhouse to rent or even a house to rent. We found one that we looked at and the guy said "these are the nicest around you won't find anything better" so I had high expectations I guess. He took us to the place and it's not that they weren't nice, but to me they were just decent and if we're moving all the way down there I don't want to settle for something I'm not completely happy with. So once he showed us around we got back in our car and I started balling. I didn't like the place at all and I told Ty if this was the best we'd find then I didn't want to move (I know that sounds bratty, I was just emotional I suppose)

After my meltdown we looked at the next place and I took a deep sigh of relief. It was just what I was hoping we'd find. It reminds me a lot of what we're in now except that it's bigger. We've now got two stories, a two car garage, lots of storage, and three bedrooms. Other than that it's pretty much the same. They are only 4 years old and very modern. I feel better about our move now, but am still very nervous! We've got movers who are packing, loading and unloading us coming the 24th and we'll be down there the 29th.

Once we get settled and get to know the area better we'll start looking for a house to rent. We don't want to buy because we don't know how long we'll be there! Anyways, keep us in your prayers!!

West Virginia here we come...

Looks like this...

... is going to be our new home state for a while. Ty got the job in WV last Monday, but since the papers hadn't been signed until today I hadn't announced it yet. We're excited, scared, nervous and anxious about the move, but have been really praying about it and feel like it's the right decision. Sure, we're not thrilled about moving away from all of our family and friends, but we're hoping the experience can open even more doors and eventually bring us back "home"! Plus, the offer was just too good to pass up.

Ty will be their account manager. Essentially he'll be managing their local and national accounts. He starts December 7th, so we'll be moving down at the end of November. Ty and I will make the trip down soon to find a place to live and hopefully get more acquainted with the area. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

West Virginia Roadtrip II

As I said, we woke up bright and early Tuesday morning. Riley and I let Ty get ready for his interview and we went down and ate breakfast. His interview was from 8am until 5 pm! A WHOLE day of sitting in a room interviewing with 5 or 6 different people. The CEO even flew in from PA for the interview! Once Ty left, Riley and I went back up to our room and watched cartoons, showered and got ready to hit the town. The had a "shuttle" back and forth to the city. I was glad not to be stuck in the hotel all day since Ty had the van. We went to the mall and shopped till we dropped!

In the mall elevator going to eat on the 3rd floor.

Once Ty got out of his interview we quick hopped into the van and drove an hour west (I think) to check out the "New River Gorge". It's a HUGE bridge, in fact the largest single arch bridge in the US and second in the world. It was an hour away, but it was great to check out the area for a while. Riley fell asleep in the car and we enjoyed the beauty. The pictures absolutely don't do it justice.

On our way to the New River Bridge.

Daddy and Ri walking to get a good view of the bridge.

Here it is! The sun was right in the way when we were taking pictures, but it was awesome nonetheless.

The New River. I've heard the white water rafting is awesome down there. I've only been once and loved it, so hopefully we'll get the chance to do it again.

On our way back we also stopped at this waterfall. It was called Kanawa Falls and it was beautiful as well. We walked all the way too it and Riley really enjoyed it:

This is the New River Dam (I think). I just loved the picture!

We got back after our normal dinner time, went back to the mall for a little more shopping and dinner then headed back to the hotel for what we thought would be an early night. Riley didn't agree. It took her until 10 again to fall asleep. It's hard to get her to sleep when we're laying next to her pretending to sleep.

The next morning we got up, went downstairs, ate breakfast then packed up. We wanted to go to a different part of the city to see if there was anyplace we would potentially live. I was nervous because before today I hadn't seen even one typical subdivision that I was hoping to see. I told Ty I couldn't even consider living here if I didn't see at least a few "normal" houses. Ones I could see us in. We drove around for 2.5 hours and found some beautiful homes and subdivisions, I was pleased so we took off for home. We were in the car that day for a total of 12 hours. Riley was a champ and only complained once saying "Mommy, my bottom hurts from sitting so long..." I told her mine did to :). We were all going a little crazy by the end of the drive, but I couldn't wait to get my littlest one from my mom. When we got to my mom's I about jumped out of the car before it had even stopped. I ran in the front door and I could tell he was happy to see me! Man I missed him! I'm glad we're all under one roof again. We got home, kids in bed then began to unpack...

As I said, she was going a little nutty by the end of the trip!

West Virginia Roadtrip I

Monday morning we woke up bright and early. Ty went to get the rental car they had reserved for us. We were excited because we had a choice of some brand new, 2010 sweet cars! Well, when Ty saw how much room there wasn't in the cars he asked for a minivan instead!! I was laughing so hard when he picked us up in it because he always says he'll never have a van!! My mom came and got Lincoln, and I cried when they left. I knew he'd be okay, but I was going to miss my little guy! Then we finished packing up the car and took off.

Poor Riley had to go to the bathroom "SO BAD", but there was nothing in sight. Good thing we brought her potty seat along. It definitely wasn't ideal, but it worked. I was thankful on a few occasions that we brought it with us!

We made it three hours without breaking out the portable DVD player, Riley took a nap and we chatted the whole way down. It was a very easy drive...well, I guess I can say that since I wasn't driving :)! Once we got out of the cornfields of Ohio and into West Virginia we saw how beautiful it really is down there! Perfect time of the year to be making a long drive. The leaves are still changing and like Ty says "how can someone look at all this beauty and deny that there is a Creator?" It was beautiful, especially when you're used to the "flat lands" of Michigan :).

Stopping for gas! (I think Ty was trying to watch the movie too!)

Hand her a sippy when she's tired and she usually falls asleep drinking it! Works every time!

We stopped a few times at McDonald's to have a bathroom break and for drinks and apple dippers. We order and I then decided that I wasn't sure if we could move here because 1. none of the McDonald's had Dr. Pepper and Ty seconded that because they had never even heard of a Frappe. We were in shock, seriously no frappe and no Dr. Pepper....and NO, Mr. Pibb does NOT count! We also knew we were getting closer to our destination because the accents were getting stronger and we were being asked if we were from North Dakota! Not sure why, but I guess that's where it sounds like we were from.

What kept us going: Dr. Pepper and coffee!

We crossed over the bridge into West Virginia and the first thing I saw was a trailer park--I about freaked out. haha, Ty says I saw it only because that's what I was looking for. Don't act like you all don't believe the West Virginian stereotypes everyone talks about!! I know I did. Anyways, we found our hotel, the Hampton Inn. It was very nice and once we got our mini unloaded we jumped back in and headed out to check out the city. We were right downtown Charleston (the capitol)--that's where Ty may be working. It was 5:30pm and we were shocked at the traffic on the street during rush hour. It was exactly the opposite of what we thought. Rush hour means LOTS of cars, etc, but not in Charleston. There were literally a handful of cars on the streets and we're told that's how it always is! That will be wonderful if he does get the job!

The Ohio River Bridge connecting Ohio and West Virginia!

We found the mall and I was in shopping heaven. I told Ty he could take the job because their mall is great! 10 times better than the one here or in GR. I was thrilled. Honestly I didn't know if they would even have a mall--like I said, I totally thought of WV differently than it really is! We went to dinner at Outback and then drove around the city trying to find his building and where his interview would be the next morning. We went back to the hotel, Riley jumped on the beds and I'm pretty sure Ty would have to if the ceilings were a little higher, watched movies, then tried to get Riley to sleep! It took a LONG time, but finally by 10 she was snoozing in her own bed.

The next morning began bright and early...to be continued!

What's Goin' On?

A lot of things are changing around here and I'm not just talking about the leaves!

This past weekend I got the opportunity to leave the kids with Daddy and take off for the WHOLE weekend. Mandy, her sister, Jessie, and I went up to Traverse City for a "scrapbooking weekend" and met about 6 other women at Mandy's friends house to scrapbook. In other words we literally scrapbooked the whole weekend. Friday we did it from 5pm until 2 am (9 hours). Saturday from 8 am until 3am (19 hours) and Sunday from 8am until 1pm (5 hours). It may not sound fun to some of you, but we had a blast. I think my eyes were bleeding by the end of the weekend and my brain hurt from trying to be creative. But, other than that I had so much fun! Good thing for chocolate and Dr. Pepper! What a weekend of time with girlfriends can do to make you appreciate time with your husband and kids. I feel rejuvenated again! It was just what I needed. AND I got about 60 pages done in Lincoln's scrapbook. I'm almost caught up!

Other changes: A few months back Ty had interviewed for a job in West Virginia, he hadn't heard anything for a while so he assumed he hadn't gotten it. Then about a month later he heard from them and they wanted to do an over-the-phone interview. They said they'd be in touch. Anyways, 3 phone interviews later they decided to do a face-to-face interview. So they told Ty they would fly (or drive if we preferred) all of us down to West Virginia. This past Monday that's exactly what we did. We took the 7.5 hour journey down to the sticks...errrr, I mean beautiful hills, of West Virginia. We wanted to take both of the kids with us but knew it would be a VERY long trip if we did so we left Lincoln in the loving arms of his Grandma (my mom), Grandpa and Aunts. We knew he'd be very well taken care of and knew dealing with only one child on the long trip would be much easier!

Anyways, more about our trip in my next post...but if you think of it please pray for us that we make the right decision to take this job if Ty gets it and if it's where the Lord wants us to be that everything will work out. It's a great job, but it would be a BIG change for all of us; Ty would be working A LOT more than he is now, we'd be 8 hours from all of our family and friends, not to mention everything else that comes with moving hours away. Anyways, thanks for your prayers. We're suppose to find out Monday, so I'll keep you posted :).