Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hopelessly Behind


We aren't really taking pictures these days, but here's a bit of what we've been up to in the last month...at least what I can remember of it. Maybe I'll add more details/pictures later... we'll see.

1.
I finally caved and planned a party for Emily's 1st birthday. :) It was also a good excuse to have all our friends over one last time before we moved. I think every onewe invited came, which made us feel very loved. I managed not to take any pictures, but here is one from a friend of Emily "greeting" her little buddy Gilliam. It was super hot in our little backyard... and when the thunderstorm chased us indoors, it was super hot in our house. But still fun to have all our friends in one place! I can't believe we have a one year old. We also finished nursing sometime around here. I think I would have been more emotional about it, but it got a bit lost in the shuffle. I loved breastfeeding, but it sure is a lot easier to do all this running around when I can just hand Emily a bottle!

Last Weeks.
After Emily's birthday we had a week or so of last days at work and good bye lunches. My relationship to Coventry certainly had it's ups and downs over the years, and it was strange to sit in the parking lot as it sank in that this was the last time I would walk in to work. I will miss it. Overall we had hoped that the last couple weeks in Philly would be a little bit laid back, with time to cookout with friends... but not so much. Emily and I were sick in bed for a few days, and then packing took up every spare minute.

We sold most of our furniture (I love Craigslist) and divided the rest of our belongings into two groups; about half to be stored in the basement and half to move with us to NH. Of course we still underestimated how much stuff we had, so hopefully our renter won't be too upset about the amout of stuff in the basement (there's still lots of space). We managed to move without a UHaul thanks to Alden driving the Groves family van for us and some friends who happened to be vacationing in NH last week bringing some more boxes for us. We are SO lucky to have family around. We worked long (sweaty!) days boxing & packing... and with the help of our family who showed up despite our assurances that we would be ok without help (ha!)... we were still at the house cleaning until late the night before the move. I shudder to think where we would have been without them!

Moving.
We drove north on June 29 - exactly 4 years to the day from when we moved to PA from NH. After a stop in MA to leave our cats with my parents, we arrived in Newport. Since the house we will be living in is currently occupied, we camped in the appartment (also owned by Sunshine Baptist Church) for a couple days before heading to Lake Champlain for a gloriously restorative week of vacation with my family. Then back to the apartment for a quick but great visit with dear college friends Brian & Jocelyn and a TSCC staff meeting, and on to MA to spend a week with my parents there. Next weekend we head to Long Island for Annabel's wedding. Then back to MA for a couple days before we can finally move into "our" house in Newport. Hooray!

For now, I am settling in to watch the World Cup Final with my dad (a HUGE Spain fan), Alasdair & Alden (lived in the Netherlands for a year). Someone in this house will be very happy tonight, and someone will be very sad. I am just hoping for a good game. :)

Monday, June 7, 2010

Catching Up

Things keep happening that I think I should record, and I'm getting behind. I'm sure I'm forgetting something important, but here are a few things from the last couple weeks, complete with pictures, hyperlinks & video!


Another visit from another wonderful, faithful friend. Juanita and I have been friends since we lived in the same building freshman year of college (10 years ago!). She came up to visit Katie (another resident of that same dorm) & I over Memorial Day weekend. Juanita is the kind of person who comes to town and, rather than the standard tourist fair, wants to go to an off-beat museum like this one. Definitely a museum I would have overlooked. :) We had a great weekend, lots of sunshine, adventures, and time to talk.

Emily's neighbor friend Owen turned one - here she is playing at his birthday party. By "friend" I mean that every time she sees him come out of the house, she squeels in delight while he warily backpedals and clings to his mom. Luckily he lives right next door, so we could just carry her wet sandy little self up to the bathtub after the fun.


Alasdair & I have been hard at work getting Twin State Christian Counseling up and running from a legal/business standpoint. After a long (and hot & sticky) day of budgeting and filling out the IRS tax-exemption form (including LOTS of emails with my brother Nick - we are very lucky to have an accountant in the family!), we decided a family dinner out at the Treehouse Cafe was in order. Typical Emily: she climbed out of my arms as soon as we walked in, and crawled right into the middle of where the older kids were running around. She climbed around and played on the slide (while holding a wooden eggplant) while Alasdair & I ate pizza and enjoyed the air conditioning. Oh, and she walked around with a toy shopping cart for a long time!

Oh! And lately, the world is Emily's jungle gym. Today I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and when I came back, she had crawled across the living room, up the loveseat and onto the radiator by the front window (a favorite spot). Even more exciting: this morning when I work up, I found Emily on the floor in her nursery. Oops. Here she is helping Daddy lower the crib mattress!