We are alive and well in Dallas! We packed up and moved in under 2 short weeks and we squeezed in a fun weekend with Chris and ALL of the fun in-laws that came to party for the weekend...and Ryan came all the way from Germany to wish us luck in Texas ;) We spent our last weekend on the coast running our marathon in Delaware. That needs its own post, so hopefully I get to that soon. Here is part of our beautiful area. There was a park and a trail to the river in our "backyard" that we visited often. We will miss the beauty of the scenery there!
We headed out the next morning and David dropped the kids and I off at the airport for a direct flight to Dallas. David set out on his road trip to Texas and didn't realize that driving the truck and hauling our car would bring so much anxiety! He is really good at thinking of the worst case scenarios and he wasn't familiar with driving that truck so he was a little stressed the whole 22 hour drive. He was expecting a peaceful relaxing quiet time to himself but there was much more panic involved for it to be peaceful!
Rosie and Peter let us stay with them for a week while we hurried to find a place to live before we had to return our truck. They helped us unload and get us set up and have provided some fun stuff to do here. They have been great for our sanity's sake and Katelyn adores them and thinks they are pretty funny!
We are still settling and trying to get our new *little* apartment to feel like home. We went from a nearly 4 bedroom town home in Pennsylvania to a 2 bedroom apartment in Dallas. We were looking in a particular area and just weren't finding anything we loved, so we thought we would minimize and go for something simple and hopefully save up and find a perfect house to buy in a year. I was super nervous and bitter about moving into a small space, but have come to find that it isn't so bad! There is less space to make a mess in! The bedrooms are spacious so there is room for the kids toys and our office and crafty stuff. We are making the most out of this space and I don't feel as restricted as I feared we would.
We had a week to unpack and settle in with David home before he started his new job. We are getting there. I feel like I dumped and decluttered as we packed up and I am still dumping and decluttering as we unpack. It is feeling great! I have a hard time saying no to free stuff and we have been so blessed with more than we need so it has been a good time to really think about what we will need and actually make good use of. There is more to do, but we are getting there!
We have been a 1 car family for the last 4 years and it we have made it work. I don't mind staying home and playing with the kids. We have lived near parks or had space to run and play outside. I would invite friends over if I was feeling bored of the usual, but it really didn't happen too often. I did a preschool co-op that rotated through the homes of those participating and getting up and going for the day was tough! I like our cozy relaxed schedule with no real plans! I don't have to have a structured morning for another year, or maybe 2 if I keep Katelyn home an extra year and I don't feel that I need to disrupt the peace of that! I get my time outside exercising and playing with the kids or my social interaction with neighbors we became good friends with. So most of the time I didn't mind and didn't feel like I could justify getting a 2nd car. It didn't seem worth the expense at all.
When we moved here, we were looking for a place to live as near to his work as possible so he could run or bike to work (don't worry, there is a 24 hour gym at his office with showers and all things necessary to look and smell professional for his job) The place we picked isn't too far from work, but more than just a quick jog so David looked into bikes. Looking into bikes turned into looking at motorized bicycles which turned into scooters and mopeds, which turned into motorcycles. The search stopped there and went back to the scooter/moped idea and stuck!
David took a motorcycle class for a couple days and got his motorcycle license and bought himself a "manly" scooter. So he got legal and bought a fun new toy to ride to work and he is excited. He headed off for his first day at Dr Pepper and is excited to dig in to this new job. The first day was full of tours and getting set up and acquainted with everything there, so it wasn't anything to be too excited about.
So I am attempting to create some sort of routine for myself since the last month has been everything all thrown together and sometimes we were scrambling and sometimes we were frantic and all the leftover "sometimes" we were soaking up all that we loved in Pennsylvania and the east coast and getting our warm welcome here in Texas from David's wonderful sister, Rosie and her equally wonderful husband, Peter. They let us join in on the company Halloween party and then on Halloween night we got to watch the Dallas Stars hockey team from the company suite with a buffet of awesome food and drinks! So farTexas Rosie and Peter have treated us well ;)
We had to make one last pit stop in Baltimore for David to check out of Ernst & Young. The Inner Harbor didn't have rain, but my kids like their "special" umbrella. We enjoyed the perk from EY to go see the aquarium and museums in the harbor area for free multiple times while we have been out here on the east coast.
Then Chris, Liam, the sister missionaries, and the elder missionaries came to help us load up the truck and pack up the last few straggling items. They were an awesome help!!! And to finish it all off, my dear friend Annie came and helped me clean up the place. She is a hard worker! She is the one that convinced me that running a marathon is a good idea, so when she puts her mind to something, she will work her tail off to get it done. She cleaned my blinds in the dark (we packed up all the lamps) and she didn't even think twice about it. She just used a white rag and let the white rag tell if it was clean or not! She has been so good to me!
Rosie and Peter let us stay with them for a week while we hurried to find a place to live before we had to return our truck. They helped us unload and get us set up and have provided some fun stuff to do here. They have been great for our sanity's sake and Katelyn adores them and thinks they are pretty funny!
We are still settling and trying to get our new *little* apartment to feel like home. We went from a nearly 4 bedroom town home in Pennsylvania to a 2 bedroom apartment in Dallas. We were looking in a particular area and just weren't finding anything we loved, so we thought we would minimize and go for something simple and hopefully save up and find a perfect house to buy in a year. I was super nervous and bitter about moving into a small space, but have come to find that it isn't so bad! There is less space to make a mess in! The bedrooms are spacious so there is room for the kids toys and our office and crafty stuff. We are making the most out of this space and I don't feel as restricted as I feared we would.
We had a week to unpack and settle in with David home before he started his new job. We are getting there. I feel like I dumped and decluttered as we packed up and I am still dumping and decluttering as we unpack. It is feeling great! I have a hard time saying no to free stuff and we have been so blessed with more than we need so it has been a good time to really think about what we will need and actually make good use of. There is more to do, but we are getting there!
We have been a 1 car family for the last 4 years and it we have made it work. I don't mind staying home and playing with the kids. We have lived near parks or had space to run and play outside. I would invite friends over if I was feeling bored of the usual, but it really didn't happen too often. I did a preschool co-op that rotated through the homes of those participating and getting up and going for the day was tough! I like our cozy relaxed schedule with no real plans! I don't have to have a structured morning for another year, or maybe 2 if I keep Katelyn home an extra year and I don't feel that I need to disrupt the peace of that! I get my time outside exercising and playing with the kids or my social interaction with neighbors we became good friends with. So most of the time I didn't mind and didn't feel like I could justify getting a 2nd car. It didn't seem worth the expense at all.
When we moved here, we were looking for a place to live as near to his work as possible so he could run or bike to work (don't worry, there is a 24 hour gym at his office with showers and all things necessary to look and smell professional for his job) The place we picked isn't too far from work, but more than just a quick jog so David looked into bikes. Looking into bikes turned into looking at motorized bicycles which turned into scooters and mopeds, which turned into motorcycles. The search stopped there and went back to the scooter/moped idea and stuck!
David took a motorcycle class for a couple days and got his motorcycle license and bought himself a "manly" scooter. So he got legal and bought a fun new toy to ride to work and he is excited. He headed off for his first day at Dr Pepper and is excited to dig in to this new job. The first day was full of tours and getting set up and acquainted with everything there, so it wasn't anything to be too excited about.
So I am attempting to create some sort of routine for myself since the last month has been everything all thrown together and sometimes we were scrambling and sometimes we were frantic and all the leftover "sometimes" we were soaking up all that we loved in Pennsylvania and the east coast and getting our warm welcome here in Texas from David's wonderful sister, Rosie and her equally wonderful husband, Peter. They let us join in on the company Halloween party and then on Halloween night we got to watch the Dallas Stars hockey team from the company suite with a buffet of awesome food and drinks! So far
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