Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Fresh Perspective and Update

Hello friends! I have to admit I'm not good at updating by blog so far--sorry.
We went to Disney World a few weeks ago and the kids had fun! There was a lot of walking--me on vacation is no relaxing when there is things to do. The kids complained about it, which was frustrating and they had to be reminded that many kids dream of doing this :):) But they have good memories and remember all the fun they had. Andrew loved the Indiana Jones show, the Star Wars ride and all of the rollercoasters. Katie loved the princesses, fireworks, Dumbo, and rollercoasters. Ryan loved the parade with Toy Story characters in it, it's a small world ride and the Buzz and Toy Story rides. He adores Jesse from Toy Story and when we saw her and Woody, he was shy and scared--he didn't like any of the characters :) I loved seeing their eyes light up in awe and excitement. Mike liked being able to take the big kids on the big rides--splash mountain and all the rollercoasters.

It was hard to come back to Virginia but we were so exhausted, it felt good to come back to our house and be at a slower pace.
I've tried to keep things in perspective and enjoy this slower pace. Unpacking and meeting friends is still slow but I'm becoming ok with that. My days back in MN were busy and filled with activities and things to do. It was so nice seeing friends and playing with the kids we had in daycare--sometimes that made me a better mom to my kids. Now we are snuggling in front of TV, going on bike rides, running errands during the week, and trying to establish a schedule. The weather here has been nice although some days its similar to MN since weather there has been nice this fall.

We never realized how hard this move would be and have considered about this not being a long term plan. While we were on vacation, Mike's parent company had a few layoffs--not major and not his entity but enough to wonder how stable this job is--time will tell and we have to give it more time--like 15 more months to be exact :) Our home in Chaska is still on the market and we are now looking at renting it for 12-15 months so we can have more time to decide our long-term plans. The housing market in MN is terrible (VA market isn't that bad and haven't seen as much drop and their houses are 25% more expensive) and I can't believe how low houses in my hood have gone down and we have been forced to be competitive with that (low, low 300's). Even renting will result in a loss to be at market but it is what it is and we'll be fine with that.

Halloween is right around the corner and one of my favorite holidays.  Friday is our school's halloween bingo party so the kids are excited and hopefully that goes well and maybe we'll meet a couple people.  It's hard to not think of all of the MN parties I'm missing out on.  And we've trick or treated with our Chaska neighbors kids for as long as they've been going trick-or-treating.  Last year, the kids said it was the best night ever and had so much fun.  Realizing how much our neighbors were like family to us.  But we are going to try to have a positive perspective and make the best of it this year.

I'm coming back to MN soon for a long weekend--11/3 to be exact.  So excited to see friends--still working out details.  I know it will be hard to leave MN to come back to VA but good to come home to the kids.

I'm realizing this is really long so I'm going to close for now--sorry :).  Hope all is well with you!
Your friend, Josie :)

Friday, September 16, 2011

I am an official blogger now!

I have decided to create a blog to give my life updates to my friends and family.  Now that we are living in Virginia, I find it harder to connect with my true friends and I'm hoping this will help.  I'm not a writer so this might be quite boring for some..bear with me...I might get better as I go :) :)
We have been living in Virginia for almost a month now and it has been one of the longest and hardest months of my life.  Having a baby was much easier...knock on wood...I still have one more to go.  We were in a hotel for a week, camped out at our house for a week until our stuff arrived, and are still unpacking and getting settled.  I still haven't unpacked my flat iron and many other things nor know my home phone number.  Shopping consists of boring stuff like drapes, rugs, trash cans.  Andrew misses MN and his friends a lot, which is hard to see.  Ryan is still struggling with his speech and I've lacked the time to find the resources to help him here in Virginia.  We are still pregnant I think...I should be about 18 weeks now but can't get in for a doctor appointment until the 27th to confirm.  It's depressing to have to start wearing maternity clothes again cause my regular ones won't fit anymore.  But looking on the bright side, at IKEA today, I bought a 6-pk of cinnamon rolls.  Not only did I buy them but when they asked me if I wanted as much extra icing as wanted for $1 more, that was $1 well spent.  If I wasn't pregnant, there's no way I would have bought those rolls in the first place.  I'm really not eating a lot of junk since I'm pregnant as this comment would suggest--it was just humorous that I told them to keep going with the icing, its been a long few weeks and I'm pregnant.  I'll be working off those pounds in about 12 months from now.   Good news is Katie is fine.  She's met some new friends and loves kindergarten and riding her bike without training wheels. 
But I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and try to be positive about this move.  I've signed up for a MOPS group and have requested information for a local MOMS Club, two groups I loved being a part of in MN and have developed amazing friendships from--ones that I miss so dearly nowadays.  Andrew and Katie are playing soccer 2-3 times a week now so maybe I will meet some "soccer moms".  It was awkward going to Andrew's first practice this past week...in MN, I was outgoing and comfortable "in my skin" and would talk to anyone, especially the parents of the other kids on the team.  Here in Virginia, I am so out of my element and the majority of the people don't talk to eachother on the side lines.  Meeting people overwhelm me at this point.  I still have so much unpacking to do and don't feel like I have enough time to reconnect with my MN friends and am tired a lot...much less make new friends.  Focusing on the kids and getting settled is priority now, which isn't all bad.  New friends will come in time.
DisneyWorld is in 15 days...hoping for a great family vacation after all we have been through lately.
I'm tired and going to close for now.  Stay tuned for another post.  Thankful I don't have a character limit with this post like facebook does.  My blog will improve by Christmastime, I promise.