Vagabonds

That's what you can call us right now. We're still in temporary housing. Still unsure as to when we're able to move into our house. Still living out of suitcases (side note: I naively thought that we would only be homeless for a week or so, and that's how I packed. Big mistake!). But, we're still loving it here. Seriously. I feel like we live in paradise! We go to check on "our" house every couple of days, and are in awe of the view that we will have, and can't wait to see sunsets over the Pacific on a daily basis.

Which brings me to the status of our house...

We have not been given a move-in date yet. What's holding it up is the fact that the countertops are not in. Which is kind of a necessity. What's holding up the countertops not being in, is that there's not a contract in place for that. What's holding the contract up - who knows. We have been told multiple times that this house will not be given to anyone else, and that it is our house. Just to make sure of that, we pretty much go into the housing office everyday to make our presence known. And maybe, just maybe, they'll get so sick of us coming in everyday, they'll be motivated to get the contract for the countertops in place.

So that's where we are right now. In housing limbo.

But, we did meet up with Mike yesterday at the beach! We haven't seen him in close to 2 years! I was really bad and didn't take any pictures, but Mike has a few, so I'm hoping he'll post them on his blog soon, so I can steal them from him. Also at the beach - Melissa of Galloping Cows fame, her soon-to-be-born "Yipper," her husband, Dave, and Grant's brother, John. The boys played beach volleyball, and the girls chatted. A very fun day, to say the least.

We're Here!

We've been here since Friday, but we've been pretty busy, so I haven't had a chance to blog yet. So here's just a brief overview...

We had a great trip out here. Long, but good. Kendall was a great little traveler, only having a few meltdowns. Who could blame her, though, after about 36 hours in a car seat?

Our visit in Albuquerque was awesome! Thanks to Pinky and the kids for opening up their home to us. While we were there, we started wondering why we ever left in the first place. The weather was awesome, the mountains were beautiful, the people were great, as always. Then we remembered...the military moved us.

Arriving in Cali was great. We, of course, ran into traffic about 80 miles outside of LA. Coming here to Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro (where the temporary and permanent housing is), we were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it is here! Well, Grant wasn't so surprised, because he was here back in November. But I was! It's just absolutely gorgeous!

It was unseasonably hot our first 2 days - like, in the 90s. But we weren't complaining! Coming out of dreary Ohio, we were happy for the change. Since those first 2 days, it's been as "cold" as the low 60s, and as warm as the mid-70s. Not too shabby!

I met Melissa over at Galloping Cows in person for the first time on Monday! We kind of dropped in on her unexpectedly, but she was more than gracious to us.

As far as finding a house goes - we were blessed to be stuck between two really good choices. I think we'll be getting our first choice! It's actually just down the road from Melissa, maybe 200 yards or so. Can anyone say beautiful ocean views? We're so happy about this! But, since it's not set in stone yet, I don't want to talk too much about it. If everything works out, we should be signing the lease in about 2 weeks, so I'll talk more about it then, and of course, post pictures.

And now, Grant's waiting for me to finish blogging, so we can go to the beach. We're really living a rough life out here!

So, stay tuned for pictures and posts about our adventures. Until we get settled into a house, I won't be able to put pics up, so it will be a couple of weeks.

One Last Post...

...Before the movers pack up the computer. We had a great time last night with our friends, Shawn and Jessica. We went to BD's Mongolian Grill, located at one of my favorite places in Dayton - The Greene. It's a shopping area with a lot of good restaurants, stores, and a nice movie theatre.

Anyways, BD's is a great place where you get a bowl and pick out meats, veggies, and sauces, then they grill it all up for you. You can get either one bowl at one price, or unlimited bowls for a few dollars more. Whenever we go there, Grant usually gets the unlimited, but can only eat about a bowl and a half, so he doesn't really think it's worth the money.

Not this time.

He found out from someone how to get the most out of one bowl. It's a technique in which you put the veggies on the bottom, then pile the meat on top. The meat sticks together, so you can pile it really high. Grant bestowed this knowledge to Shawn, and they both took advantage of it. Needless to say, one bowl was plenty.




After we filled our bellies with good food, it was time to fill them some more with dessert. So we went to Cold Stone, which is always a good choice. Winston and Elaina provided plenty of entertainment for everyone there.






So that's it for Dayton. We're done. I've been so excited about moving to California, that I forgot about how much we'll miss our friends that we've made here. And I hate good-bye's. I'm not good at them. I never feel like they're sufficient. But that's life in the military. The good thing is, by the time we're out of the Air Force, we'll have friends all over the country!

Amazing!

My mom sent this to me, and I was truly amazed, so I wanted to share it.

California - here we come!

Well, not quite yet. The movers come Wednesday and Thursday. Then we hit the road on Friday. We'll make it to Albuquerque on Sunday, and stay until Thursday (thanks Pinky!). Then to Arizona. And finally, Cali on Friday.

I think it's going to be a really fun trip. And of course, we're so looking forward to seeing our friends in the ABQ again!

Since we have 2 cars, and have to get them both out there, my mom is coming up here to help me with the drive. I'm really looking forward to that time that we'll get to spend together.

So, this means that I'll not be around a computer that much until we get into a house - and who knows when that will be. We'll be in temporary housing until we find something. We're hoping for base housing, but haven't ruled out non-base housing - if we can find something we can afford.

Lots of changes coming up, so I'll try my best to keep everyone updated.

Our Little Cutie Pie

These are some shots of a photo shoot we had done a couple of weeks ago. Is she not the cutest thing ever?

Commencement

I've always liked the word "commencement." It's usually associated with graduating - which is the end of something - but it means the beginning of something. Yesterday, Grant graduated from AFIT, but we're about to begin the next stage of our lives in California.

I'm it!

Jenn over at Starving for Sunshine tagged me, so here I go, listing 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about myself...

1. I absolutely hate mushrooms and onions. If I find them in my food, I pick them out - no matter how big or small they might be. If you don't believe me, just ask Mrs. J.

2. I like to crack my knuckles - fingers, toes, neck, back, elbows, etc.

3. I have this weird OCD thing with water. If it's been sitting out for a long time, I empty the glass before I fill it. The other day, Grant was about to pour the water from one glass into another, and I freaked out. I'm not sure why...

4. I don't like for people to hear my singing voice, yet when I was growing up, I was in various choirs.

5. I have been to 15 foreign countries.

6. I used to be a puppeteer.

Now I'm tagging Pinky and Molly Carlisle.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website, or hope they read yours

The Weekend

Who can bring together friends who are scattered all over the country? Kendall, that's who!

This weekend, we had Kellie, who lives in Indiana; Jenny, who lives in Minnesota; Angela, who lives in Michigan; and Sharon, who lives in South Carolina. It was just a quick visit, but a fun one. We laughed, watched a lot of movies, laughed some more, ate good food, laughed a little more, took pictures of Kendall...and did I mentioned we laughed? Grant was such a good trooper. I don't think it's easy being in a house full of women.

Easter

It appears we're keeping with the holiday theme with Kendall - she was born on Christmas, and now, baptized on Easter. We were going to have her baptized a couple of weeks ago, but thought it would be really special to do it on such an important day.




After church, we had Easter dinner at our house with our neighbors. What a feast! This was kind of a last hurrah for us, since we'll all be going our separate ways in just about 2 weeks. I don't really know where the time went, but it's almost up.

What Mrs. J said

I have been thinking of something to write in the spirit of Easter. But, I'm just no good at words many times. Mrs. J is, so please take a moment and read her latest entry.

Lost

Thanks to Embee, I found out that Sawyer's nickname for me, if I were stuck on the island with him, is "Pud." What's yours?

Lost - Nickname Generator - ABC.com

Confession

I have a weakness.

I can't help myself.

I love cookies!

Grant likes to call me the cookie monster. And he's right. I am a cookie monster.



I like cookies so much, and have such a weakness for them, that when we were still taking our childbirth class, on the last night we were asked, "What's the one thing you wish you could change about your pregnancy." I said, "Eating fewer cookies."

That being said, I found my new favorite - Chocolate Peppermint cookies from Trader Joe's. They come in a package of 4, and they are absolutely delicious!!

Please excuse Grant's singing...

But it got Kendall laughing.

Our Weekend

Our first blizzard experience has been a good one. I do kind of think it's funny that less than a month before we leave, we get this crazy storm. This winter hasn't been nearly as bad as last winter, as far as temperatures go. But I guess we had to get one really big storm in before we move.



Anyways we spent the way we have the last few weekends when we've decided to stay in - downstairs, snuggled up on the sofa sleeper, with big blankets and big pillows, watching DVDs all day long. Specifically, we finished up the second season of Arrested Development, and the third season of Lost today. Church was cancelled, so we had our own little family worship service.

I've really grown to love these cozy weekends. It's so nice to just spend some time with my baby, my baby's daddy, and my other baby (Watley).

By the way, if you need some new reading material, I added some more blog links.

One word....BLIZZARD!

My Man...

Is defending his thesis today! I'm so, so proud of him.

Ah, the memories...

I was recently putting some of my pictures from college on Facebook (which, if you're not on it, you're SO not cool). Anyways, I ran across this picture that always makes me laugh. That's me on the end.



The picture itself isn't funny, but the memory of that day is. I love pictures that, with one look, you remember a situation that you will never forget.

These are some other ones...

Crazy Ohioans

Is Ohioans even right? I don't know. Anyways, so today was actually a warm day. Like, literally warm, not just warm in the sense of it's-not-below-freezing kind of warm. I think the high was around 62 or so. The morning wasn't that warm, but definitely not coat weather. So, Grant pulled out a short-sleeved shirt, and I wore a semi-short-sleeved shirt to church. I was thinking that, surely, other people at church would be dressed similarly. I mean, it's been a long, cold winter. Anything above 50 should be short-sleeve weather, right?

Wrong.

We pull up at church, and I see people wearing their winter coats! Winter coats! One of our friends said Grant was being "ambitious" for wearing short sleeves, and that he wore his coat, scarf, and gloves on his way to church today.

While we were driving, I saw this lady in traffic next to us with a very heavy coat on and thick gloves. We almost had our AC on.

I don't get it. And this wasn't the first time this has happened. We've noticed it before when we've had random warm days during the winter.

I remember at college back in Florida, whenever it would get "cold" for us (around the 50s or so), everyone from the South would be all bundled up, and the Michiganders and Ohioans would be walking around in summer clothes saying how warm it was. The complete opposite of what I've witnessed actually living in Ohio.

Grant has a theory...People up here just get it in their heads that it's not warm until April or May, so they have to stay bundled up until then, despite the temperatures.

Not us. We will take advantage of these few and far between warm days that we get and wear our short sleeves proudly.

Which reminds me, just about a month until we won't have to worry about freezing temps for a long, long time! We're just a little excited. California here we come!!

**Watch out, Albuquerque...we'll be stopping there for a few days on our way to Cali.

It feels so good!

I feel like a real person again...I'm finally exercising! It's been a long 9 weeks to not do any sort of physical activity (although, I did do quite a bit of walking in Paris), so I'm happy to be back. I especially missed my yoga class while I was recovering. I've already been back 3 times - I went last Thursday night, then Monday night, and again this morning. Also, I'm doing this thing I found on fitnessmagazine.com. It's the 4-week Total Body Makeover. And there's a Mom & Baby class at the base that I might start going to, as well. Hopefully all this work will pay off soon. Because it'd be nice to wear something other than the one pair of jeans that I bought to fit this transition period.