itty bitty blessings

Sometimes all it takes is a serious of little kindnesses or discoveries to really make my heart sing. I can point to several this week which I think makes this week a pretty good one. Here are a few...

1. While in Atlanta last week I found a bottled Pad Thai sauce by Thai Kitchen and I brought it home with high hopes that I could recreate the Pad Thai served up by Noodles and Co. It's one of the things I think I'll miss most about the Springs. Man, I love that place. We have a place here called Nothin' But Noodles but I've been staying away, fearing that it won't live up to my expectations and then I'll be forced to hate Huntsville for good. I just can't risk that right now. So instead, I opted for the sauce. And would you believe it's ALMOST identical?! I need to work on the texture of my rice noodles and the size of my matchstick carrots but other than that...divine! Now if I can just figure out their Wisconsin Mac and Cheese...

2. We met with a realtor last night and LOVED her. It's nice to have that ball rolling. Hopefully we'll start seeing some houses in the next couple of weeks. I knew she would be a good fit for us when she flat-out said, "Just so you guys know, I usually side with the wife on things because if you stay at home you're the one spending most of your time in the home." HIRED! (As Samantha says, "If I'm going to be spending 22 out of 24 hours in this house I better love it!")

3. I recently found the most adorable headband with cherries all over it and it's been my new favorite accessory. Just perfect for hiding the mullet I'm currently sporting. Have I mentioned lately that I will never be going for a pixie cut again?

4. Okay, are you ready? This one is BIG...

I MET A FRIEND TODAY! Maybe. But a glimmer of hope is good enough for me. Sarah and I were hanging out at the Barnes and Noble train set today (a favorite haunt in CO and here) and I struck up a conversation with a super nice girl that actually moved into town last summer. She lives in the neighborhood that I'm most interested in and she gave me so much good information. I must have had "i'm desperate for friends" written all over my face because she ended up inviting me over to their house and the neighborhood pool next week...SCORE!

5. Tomorrow Scott and AK are coming to hang out and spend the night. I'm super excited to finally meet AK and even more excited to send Pi'bear to wake them up at 5:45 on Sunday morning (love that new wake up time...ugh!). We've been teaching her to say their names in preparation for pawning her off on them. Aren't we lovely? Now I just have to hope AK doesn't read this before she heads over here tomorrow. Otherwise they may change their plans!

6. My book club is getting our reunion details nailed down and it's only a couple of months away. Now THAT is something awesome to look forward to.

So, there you have it. My week of blessings all rolled up into a nice, neat blog post. Now check out tonight's tickle time...it just melts me!

two months, ten days

That's how long it's been since my last POTD. But it's baaaaaack...

(tap...tap...tap)...Is this thing on?

If anyone's still listening, I'm back.

Admittedly, I've had internet access for the last 5 days but I have a good excuse for not updating you all sooner...I HAD A WEEKEND AWAY WITH MY HONEY! Yep, our first official weekend without the Pi'bears and it couldn't have come at a better time. So now we're "home" (feels a little strange calling Huntsville home, hence the quotes) and I'm ready to fill you all in on the last month.

I'll spare you all the minute details of our drive from CO to AL and I'll hit the highlights. In the last three weeks we've seen Sarah's Grandma, Grandad, Grandaddy, Nana, Papa, MamaJo, and GG. In the next three weeks we're sure to see several of them again. That alone is a nice affirmation that moving here was the right thing to do. The girl lights up around her grandparents and it'll be so nice for her to see all of them more than a handful of times a year. I know I should be flashing some photos right about now of all the grandparently love but I've had a hard time coaxing the camera out of my bag lately. I guess she's as shy about this new place as I am. :-)

I do have a few random photos to share so don't jump ship yet. But first, here's a quick update:

- Sarah's now in a big-girl bed. She's in love with that thing.
- Brent starts work tomorrow as a rocket scientist. He shudders at the title which makes me throw it around even more frequently.
- I had a prenatal appointment last week with my new doctor and heard the healthy heartbeat of our 18-weeker. Ultrasound is scheduled for July 16th...woohoo!
- We're selling our house tomorrow, one way or the other. Either a buyer or the relocation company is about to get a mighty fine deal.
- This week we plan to sell the house, interview realtors for our new house, buy a car, and start a new job. No problem. Next week we'll worry about making friends. (okay, that's a total lie, I've worried about that since the second we crossed into Madison County so if anyone has Huntsville hookups fill me in!)

Okay, a few photos and I'm out...

My sweet niece, Charlotte. After Sarah got a load of her sunglasses she jumped on the bandwagon too and began sporting the shades we bought months ago that she previously refused to keep on for more than half a second. Who knew peer pressure started this early?



Sarah and my amazing friend, Daphne, who drove down (up? over? my geography stinks) from Birmingham on move-in day to entertain the Pi'bear. She even bought her a sit 'n spin. Love that girl.





Little Miss Not-A-Care-In-The-World...



Grooving in the wading pool near Grama's house...



I had a few others to share including Grandad taking Sarah on her first tractor ride but blogger ate them and I don't feel like fighting it. Maybe later.

Oh. I did want to add one more thing. I've been reminded in this whole move process about the power of relationships. I've been feeling so lonely and sad about leaving my amazing group of friends but God seems to be making sure that I don't get too bummed for too long. Daphne came down for moving day. That was amazing. Then the next day two huge boxes arrived from my book club full of cleaning supplies, cookies, banana bread, napkins, paper plates, all the things you need/want when you move into a new house. Those girls take my breath away. Then an old friend from our high school youth group back in the day sent us a yummy fruit basket to welcome us to H'ville...turns out she's friend with our landlords and heard through them that we were in town. I'm giving my high school buddy, Isabelle, a call in a few minutes to catch up and find a time to get together (she's an hour or so away) and then I'm promptly calling Colleen to make sure we make plans with Team Dixon sometime real soon.

And you guys. You guys rock.

quick update

I'm typing on a library computer since we won't have internet access for another week. We've made it to Huntsville and managed to get everything unpacked in three days. We're settling into our little house and trying to get to know the area. I'll have lots to share once I can log on and spend some real time updating you guys. Thanks for checking in!

if I didn't have a million things to do...

I'd upload a photo of our incredibly sad, photos-off-the-wall, stuff-in-disarray, ready-for-the-packers, house. Tomorrow the movers arrive and tonight marks our last night in our house. The only home Sarah has ever known. The place we landed on June 12th, 2004, two blocks away from our best friends in the world. We arrived as two and now leave as three and a half. It's been a good run here on Misty Creek.

Better finish this bad boy up before the tears start flowing. Then we unplug and pack up the old 'puter.

See you guys down South!

four days and counting...

I really can't believe that our time is almost over here. Today we officially started our three uninterrupted family weeks since Brent is done with work here (other than final outprocessing) and won't start work in H'ville until the end of June. Exciting times. And devastating too.



First thing this morning we headed to the park for my very last photo shoot before the move of our sweet Caroline. I really don't know what she and Sarah will do without each other. To say nothing of how their mothers will survive.

Here's Sarah's best buddy at our house yesterday, playing dolls...









And here's our girl at the diner for breakfast this morning.












Since our kitchen is officially closed I'm thankful Sarah enjoys eating out. And thankful for friends who invite us over for seven-month old bratwurst. Hey, we gotta eat somewhere, right?