Leilani was going on about the bad guys who broke into our car, insisting they'd broken into mine as well as Jeremy's. I explained they hadn't, and she said "well, I need to get it clean so it shines in case they come back so they won't take it". I told her the bad guys weren't on base or where we are moving, and she said, "oh, they're only in four places, Seattle, Tacoma, North Dakota and South Dakota." She's so freakin' adorable, my little girl.
Today we checked out of the TLF room we've had, to make room for reservists. Only in the Air Force do they give reservists the best accommodations. We're going to be in a one bedroom at TLF for the next few days. We had a couple hours of downtime between moving out of the one TLF apartment and moving into the other, so we drove around base and went to the exchange and commissary. Back when Jeremy and I first got married, I thought shopping on base was so freaking cool, now, I don't think they have the greatest deals, but they don't have sales tax. I think wal-mart and target have better or similar pricing, and much better choices. And the commissary has terrible choices if you're vegan or at all health conscience. For vegans, they have six different choices of tofu, and all they veggie meats have eggs or milk, definitely NOT vegan! But we'll be living off base, so those shops won't even be the closest choices for me. Plus, I plan on doing most of my shopping at Whole Foods and just going once a month or so. I really want to figure out how to do once a month vegan cooking.
We made portabella burgers for dinner. Super delicious. Then we watched some Food Network and chilled. We'll see how sleeping goes, we only have one bedroom. Leilani's heartily sick of all this upheaval and it's showing. Actually, we're all tired of it. Monday can't get here soon enough.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Good News!
We have a move-in date on Monday! We went with the big five bedroom with the gourmet kitchen and backyard. Another piece of good news, as we went through our vehicles, we found the thieves hadn't taken our most important papers, like socials and birth certs....thank goodness!
But back to the house...I've been going through my boards on Pinterest to find idea for our house....I have all kinds of beautiful and fun ideas that I just can't wait to do.
We've been in TLF for the past few days, a two bedroom with a kitchenette, so we've saved some money on food, fortunately, since the pay issue hasn't been resolved yet. Hopefully by the middle of next week.
Leilani has loved having a bedroom again, especially one with a TV. Natalia has enjoyed having a pack 'n play, a nice safe place for her to hang out.
And me? I just can't wait to get into our house!
But back to the house...I've been going through my boards on Pinterest to find idea for our house....I have all kinds of beautiful and fun ideas that I just can't wait to do.
We've been in TLF for the past few days, a two bedroom with a kitchenette, so we've saved some money on food, fortunately, since the pay issue hasn't been resolved yet. Hopefully by the middle of next week.
Leilani has loved having a bedroom again, especially one with a TV. Natalia has enjoyed having a pack 'n play, a nice safe place for her to hang out.
And me? I just can't wait to get into our house!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Craziness
Well, it's been an interesting couple of days...first, yesterday started off with realizing Jeremy's car had been broken in to. They took whatever important stuff was out there, paper work, dirty clothes, tools, 2-way radios, basically, it sucks. Then, we went to look at three houses yesterday. There were three great choices-a five bedroom with a gourmet kitchen, a four bedroom with an office, and a three bedroom for a great price. We were going to go with the first choice, but then we found out BAH is less than we thought....so we're talking about changing plans. However, there is a hiccup in the pay now, too. So we're currently in TLF on base, trying to figure out what our next step is. For now, Jeremy's calling about the pay issues, and we'll go from there...
Sunday, October 7, 2012
House Hunting
Today we looked at seven houses. Four wee just drove past and three we actually went in to. The first one we drove past we ruled out immediately, neither of us felt like bouncing along for a couple miles on he bumpiest gravel road I've ever been on. The second one we drove past was ok,but not really what we were looking for. After that we met up with the realtor so got to enter a few homes. The first one was really quite nice,with a pretty large yard, a great soaking tub and four bedrooms. The second was a large four bedroom with a great kitchen and an apple tree in the back yard. The third was a fantastic three bedroom with a loft area, huge walk-in closets and a beautiful kitchen. Wow, now I feel like I'm on House Hunters and we have three houses and have to decide which one we're going to choose. We did go drive by two more houses. The first was in a gated community,but it had so many speed bumps it felt like we were back on the bumpy-gravel road of the first house we drove past. The second one of this drive by time was in a dumpy area and we couldn't find it, either. Tomorrow we're going to look at a couple more houses and drive around the housing areas on base. Hopefully we'll find our house by tomorrow (and it may be one we saw today...).
Saturday, October 6, 2012
We're Here!
We made it. Finally. It took forever, we had some good adventures along the way, saw some beautiful scenery, and most of all - we made it! Montana was beautiful, Idaho was too. It's so strange, being back on the west coast after all these years. Seeing the five again, but so far north instead of in SoCal (I'd love to live there again sometime). We've only been in Washington for just over 24 hours, and we've already run into some vegans...I think as many as we met total in Cleveland ;).
The girls couldn't wait to get out of the car, the past few days have been incredibly difficult, we've all had a serious case of cabin fever. Both girls are whiny and irritable. So am I.
So now we're on to our next adventure - house hunting. Hopefully it goes smoother than Cleveland and we wind up with a bigger place that also has a yard. With a fence, naturally. Oh, and a few bedrooms and washer and dryer. That's really the extent of my must-haves. My want list is a bit longer, like a rec room, a modern-ish eat-in kitchen,, a basement, carpets, a fireplace, those would be nice, but aren't absolute necessities.
The girls couldn't wait to get out of the car, the past few days have been incredibly difficult, we've all had a serious case of cabin fever. Both girls are whiny and irritable. So am I.
So now we're on to our next adventure - house hunting. Hopefully it goes smoother than Cleveland and we wind up with a bigger place that also has a yard. With a fence, naturally. Oh, and a few bedrooms and washer and dryer. That's really the extent of my must-haves. My want list is a bit longer, like a rec room, a modern-ish eat-in kitchen,, a basement, carpets, a fireplace, those would be nice, but aren't absolute necessities.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
More Travels
Tuesday felt exceptionally long. We left the hotel about nine and went to the grocery store to get some more snacks. The grocery store was amazing! They had so many vegan and raw options, it was incredible! If the stores near where we lived in Cleveland had had these options, being vegan would have been so much easier! So many different cheese, drinks, snacks, and they actually said "certified vegan" which meant it was easier to figure out what to get. Not as much reading the labels.
Natalia is hating being stuck in the car. I sung every song I could remember from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Music Man, The King and I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Mary Poppins. And then I moved on to the ABC's, the wheels on the bus, and so on. I also sang a moving rendition of "Waking Up is Hard to Do" to the tune of - you guessed it - Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Natalia had woken up from her nap in a rather grumpy mood. Wouldn't you if you were still in the car?
Leilani isn't liking the drive too much more than Natalia. She's randomly not watching movies, trying to figure out how to bust out of here, or staring out the window saying "there's a hotel, lets stop there!" I think all of us just want to be in Seattle already
The hotel, however, was pretty fantastic. There was a pool that went up to three feet, so Leilani could stand up in the whole thing, there were two big water slides and a kiddie area, all indoors! Leilani got bored with the kiddie area, so we asked the lady at the front desk to turn on the big slides. There was a 100' one and a 210' one. The smaller one we did countless times, then we decided to see if the bigger one would be too big for Leilani. I wasn't sure how much she'd like it since the first part was in total darkness. She loved it. I mean, really loved it. The first time she went down, I had to climb up the steps with her, and she had to give me and Natalia several kisses before saying " okay, I'm ready, push me down!" After that, there was no stopping her. Natalia loved being in the water, which was nice and warm. I got a few photos, but once again, they'll have to wait to be posted until I actually have a computer.
We got a later start this morning, since a semi decided to block us. He was really only in the way for about ten minutes, it just felt like forever. It's been raining/snowing almost all day. At first we couldn't figure out which it was, but later it became obvious - it was snow. Big fat snowflakes, and they were sticking, too. And then it hit me, Natalia doesn't have a heavy winter coat. She's warm enough at them moment, a nice warm sweater, socks, etc, but I'm going to have to get one. I have no idea how I overlooked that. We stopped for some gas, and - did you know there are actually a lot of "accidentally vegan" foods out there? I not saying they're healthy, but at least there aren't any animal products in them. I got Natalia some crackers, and as I was giving her one, I asked her "Tally wanna cracker?" (That's pronounced like Polly, btw). She couldn't stop grinning at that.
We stopped in the big ol' town of Billings, Montana. There were like three hotels to choose from, Cheap Inn, Pay-Little Motel, and Best Western. (First two hotels not their real names). The time change is making it very strange, Natalia was usually going to sleep around 9:30, which means tonight, she was asleep by 7:30. She usually wakes up by 9am, so that means 7am will be the new wake up time. Do you realize that means on Pacific Time, she'll be awake by 6 in the morning? I'd say I'm not looking forward to that, but I can just go to sleep earlier, I suppose :).
Natalia is hating being stuck in the car. I sung every song I could remember from The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Music Man, The King and I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Mary Poppins. And then I moved on to the ABC's, the wheels on the bus, and so on. I also sang a moving rendition of "Waking Up is Hard to Do" to the tune of - you guessed it - Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Natalia had woken up from her nap in a rather grumpy mood. Wouldn't you if you were still in the car?
Leilani isn't liking the drive too much more than Natalia. She's randomly not watching movies, trying to figure out how to bust out of here, or staring out the window saying "there's a hotel, lets stop there!" I think all of us just want to be in Seattle already
The hotel, however, was pretty fantastic. There was a pool that went up to three feet, so Leilani could stand up in the whole thing, there were two big water slides and a kiddie area, all indoors! Leilani got bored with the kiddie area, so we asked the lady at the front desk to turn on the big slides. There was a 100' one and a 210' one. The smaller one we did countless times, then we decided to see if the bigger one would be too big for Leilani. I wasn't sure how much she'd like it since the first part was in total darkness. She loved it. I mean, really loved it. The first time she went down, I had to climb up the steps with her, and she had to give me and Natalia several kisses before saying " okay, I'm ready, push me down!" After that, there was no stopping her. Natalia loved being in the water, which was nice and warm. I got a few photos, but once again, they'll have to wait to be posted until I actually have a computer.
We got a later start this morning, since a semi decided to block us. He was really only in the way for about ten minutes, it just felt like forever. It's been raining/snowing almost all day. At first we couldn't figure out which it was, but later it became obvious - it was snow. Big fat snowflakes, and they were sticking, too. And then it hit me, Natalia doesn't have a heavy winter coat. She's warm enough at them moment, a nice warm sweater, socks, etc, but I'm going to have to get one. I have no idea how I overlooked that. We stopped for some gas, and - did you know there are actually a lot of "accidentally vegan" foods out there? I not saying they're healthy, but at least there aren't any animal products in them. I got Natalia some crackers, and as I was giving her one, I asked her "Tally wanna cracker?" (That's pronounced like Polly, btw). She couldn't stop grinning at that.
We stopped in the big ol' town of Billings, Montana. There were like three hotels to choose from, Cheap Inn, Pay-Little Motel, and Best Western. (First two hotels not their real names). The time change is making it very strange, Natalia was usually going to sleep around 9:30, which means tonight, she was asleep by 7:30. She usually wakes up by 9am, so that means 7am will be the new wake up time. Do you realize that means on Pacific Time, she'll be awake by 6 in the morning? I'd say I'm not looking forward to that, but I can just go to sleep earlier, I suppose :).
Monday, October 1, 2012
Beautiful Drive
Yesterday, we made it to Baraboo, Wisconsin. Say "Baraboo" a few times, it's quite addictive and funny sounding. It turned into a lot of laughs in our car, "badabing, badabong, Baraboo", plus, it made Natalia giggle like crazy for a good five minutes.
The drive was beautiful. The trees were so many colors, deep reds that were almost burgundy, bright reds that were almost pink; yellows ranging from gold to bright, sunshiny yellow; oranges that were burnt orange or pumpkin-y, mixed with the greens of trees yet to change, and some evergreens, some of which were blueish. It was a truly beautiful drive.
We stopped to see Jeremy's aunt Lonette, whom I had never met. So over the past couple days Jeremy and I have both met members of each others families. It really was a pretty good day in the travel department. When we got to the hotel, Jeremy ran into the office to check in so I made up a song to entertain the girls. No rhyme or melody to speak of, but I sang that I loved them and my husband their daddy and both seemed thrilled. Then Leilani, not to be outdone, sang that she loved her mommy, sister Natalia and daddy named daddy. It was adorable. The pool has a hotel, so we went down there for a little bit. Jeremy and Natalia didn't get in, but Leilani and I did. Leilani had a blast swimming around, and I got to do a couple laps while she looked on. Natalia didn't seem too crazy about not having mama for thirty minutes, but once Leilani and I had showered and Natalia got me back, she was fine. Oh, Leilani fell out of the shower, she was saying "I can't get out!" And the next thing I knew she was on the floor looking up all confused.
This morning I bribed Leilani to get up and dressed by saying "let's see if there are any cartoons on." It worked and I discovered Natalia likes Mickey Mouse as much as Leilani.
We got back on the road by about nine. Leilani did a few of the worksheets I brought for her. Fortunately, she seemed to enjoy them, which means she won't forget everything she's learned over the past few weeks! We stopped at a rest area that had a walking trail, which we "hiked"...it was beautiful. Vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges. Still some green on some trees, dead branches here and there. Incredibly picturesque. Leilani loved it, she and I raced, then on the way back down she and Jeremy raced. Natalia kept trying to take her jacket off. Actually, she did three times manage to get it off. She seemed to enjoy being out of the car, looking at the beauty all around. We were rewarded for our uphill hike with a gorgeous vista - looking out, over the trees right close to us, there was a tapestry of oranges, reds, yellows, and greens as far as the eye could see. So many different shades of each of the colors, some of the reds had enough brown in them to look almost purple, some of the reds and oranges looked almost pink, and the yellows ranged from yellow green, to bright sunshiny yellow, to marigold. It was restful for mind, body and soul, and I think we all felt the benefit of it when we had to pile back into the car to head west on our long trek.
We stopped at a hotel with a pool again. Leilani and I went down there for a few minutes and did a quick swim. Natalia fell asleep, and then Leilani woke her up so both girls are still awake, and all I wanna do is sleep, I'm tired :)
The drive was beautiful. The trees were so many colors, deep reds that were almost burgundy, bright reds that were almost pink; yellows ranging from gold to bright, sunshiny yellow; oranges that were burnt orange or pumpkin-y, mixed with the greens of trees yet to change, and some evergreens, some of which were blueish. It was a truly beautiful drive.
We stopped to see Jeremy's aunt Lonette, whom I had never met. So over the past couple days Jeremy and I have both met members of each others families. It really was a pretty good day in the travel department. When we got to the hotel, Jeremy ran into the office to check in so I made up a song to entertain the girls. No rhyme or melody to speak of, but I sang that I loved them and my husband their daddy and both seemed thrilled. Then Leilani, not to be outdone, sang that she loved her mommy, sister Natalia and daddy named daddy. It was adorable. The pool has a hotel, so we went down there for a little bit. Jeremy and Natalia didn't get in, but Leilani and I did. Leilani had a blast swimming around, and I got to do a couple laps while she looked on. Natalia didn't seem too crazy about not having mama for thirty minutes, but once Leilani and I had showered and Natalia got me back, she was fine. Oh, Leilani fell out of the shower, she was saying "I can't get out!" And the next thing I knew she was on the floor looking up all confused.
This morning I bribed Leilani to get up and dressed by saying "let's see if there are any cartoons on." It worked and I discovered Natalia likes Mickey Mouse as much as Leilani.
We got back on the road by about nine. Leilani did a few of the worksheets I brought for her. Fortunately, she seemed to enjoy them, which means she won't forget everything she's learned over the past few weeks! We stopped at a rest area that had a walking trail, which we "hiked"...it was beautiful. Vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges. Still some green on some trees, dead branches here and there. Incredibly picturesque. Leilani loved it, she and I raced, then on the way back down she and Jeremy raced. Natalia kept trying to take her jacket off. Actually, she did three times manage to get it off. She seemed to enjoy being out of the car, looking at the beauty all around. We were rewarded for our uphill hike with a gorgeous vista - looking out, over the trees right close to us, there was a tapestry of oranges, reds, yellows, and greens as far as the eye could see. So many different shades of each of the colors, some of the reds had enough brown in them to look almost purple, some of the reds and oranges looked almost pink, and the yellows ranged from yellow green, to bright sunshiny yellow, to marigold. It was restful for mind, body and soul, and I think we all felt the benefit of it when we had to pile back into the car to head west on our long trek.
We stopped at a hotel with a pool again. Leilani and I went down there for a few minutes and did a quick swim. Natalia fell asleep, and then Leilani woke her up so both girls are still awake, and all I wanna do is sleep, I'm tired :)
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