Since the Move

A week into February we finally got to move our family to be with Daniel for work. While we are waiting on some contract work in my favorite locale (Indy), we are living in the Paducah, KY area. It's actually just over the Illinois state line in the middle of nowhere...worse than Fayetteville.

We've been staying busy with school and exploring. Avery finally has a little friend to play with, her cousin Emmery. They have a lot of fun together.

Packed up and ready for our new adventure.

Daniel's birthday was a few days before we moved, so we celebrated with brownies when we got there.

Harold has lots of fun toys. Avery's first ride on this was pretty funny. She went so slow...I wasn't complaining though!

My little sidekick humored me while we went to the Ohio River and took touristy pictures. 

Eating lunch with my favorite people. 

When we lived here in 2009 we were lucky and found an awesome church. I was so excited to go back with my little family. We found a fun diner for lunch after church.

The weather has been pretty great, so we've been spending a lot of time at the park.

Emmery invited Avery to a cheer clinic one Saturday, and she had so much fun! Emmery's mom made Avery this cute shirt and monogrammed her shorts. She got to perform a cheer and a dance at a high school basketball game. I was so proud! I got a cute video of her, but apparently it's too long for my blog to upload...boo.

We've been working hard with Avery's schoolwork. Last week we did presidents and this week is dental health. Avery is learning so much, and I'm so proud of her progress!

Harold bought some animals for his farm...ducks, chicks, and bunnies. Avery, Colt, and Emmery love to play with them! I didn't know my kids were such animal lovers...they didn't get that from me!

Since we got here Avery has been dying to take her training wheels off her bike. After church on Sunday we went to the park and gave it a try. I was shocked...she got it on the first try!! So proud of my big girl!

We are so enjoying our time together as a family, and we can't wait to see what's in store for the future.

I started a prayer journal, hoping to get my prayer life on a good track. I really stink at praying, mostly remembering to. And then when I do I feel like I talk God's ear off. I've got my journal in different sections for different people to pray for (husband, children, friends, etc.) It's helping me stay organized and hopefully not leave anyone out. 

The first section is for scripture, and this morning I found one that I think could be my life verse:

"I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

Acts 20:24

I spend so much time worrying about this and that (trivial things) when I know this place is not really my home, and my only goal in life is to bring people to Jesus. Something to work on...

Before the Move

Oh. My. Gosh. I am so behind! I just pulled this thing up, and I haven't posted in over a month. That's a lot of catching up to do. So this post will be before we moved to Paducah/Metropolis, and the next one will be since.

I have a bunch of pics, but I don't know when they happened, so they will probably be out of order. I'm sure you're worried about that, though...

I can't believe how big my kids are! They love being outside and riding the 4-wheeler with Daddy (cause this girl sure doesn't know how to drive it!)

My sister gave the kids this game for Christmas. It's called Suspend, and it is so fun!! You can't really see it well here, but you have to hang different length rods on each other and try to keep it balanced. Both kids are really good at it!

We went to Birmingham one last time before we moved, and since we will probably be on the road for a while, we celebrated both kids' birthdays. It was weird, but fun.

My mom made these cute cupcake toppers...Team Umizoomi for Colt and Sheriff Callie for Avery.

Singing for both my big kids.

We played Musical Chairs. It was actually pretty fun. The pictures are blurry because everyone was moving so fast! The competition was brutal...

We also played Pin the Tail on the Donkey. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who pinned it on the spot.

The kids each got their own soccer ball from Meme. They are having so much fun! Avery will be playing soccer in Paducah soon, and we are so excited!

One day we got so much rain I almost started building an ark. The kids had a blast! Luckily it was warm (in January!) so we could play in it. I love to watch them play in rain. Pure joy.

Oh, that face. That face is the reason he's so darn rotten.

After the nightmare that was (and still is) Avery and the potty, I'm glad to have a boy who can pee anywhere. 

Avery expressed desire to wash dishes...who am I to argue with that?! I've been waiting for this day for 5 years.

More pictures from our trip to Birmingham. Avery went to babysit with Meme, so Colt and I went exploring in Birmingham. I didn't know this existed, but I'm so glad we found it! The more I'm away from my city, the more I love it and am glad I was raised here.

Colt and I might have visited Savages two days in a row...that means two cream cheese meltaways. There's a (very) high end children's store next door, and my mom and I found the kids some awesome steals! 

We went to Overton Park one day, and the kids had fun on a new (to them) park. 

After Birmingham it was time to go home and pack for our new destination. At the beginning of February we loaded up and headed to the Paducah, KY area. Coming back to a bigger city really makes me happy. I'm definitely a city girl. We are having fun with school and doing lots of new things with the kids. More on that in the next post...

The Best Way to End a Crappy Year

I'm writing this on the eve of my 35th birthday. I hate birthdays. I hate the attention, and I hate even more getting older. And people act like it's my fault my birthday is so close to Christmas. So I'm doing something to cheer myself up...thinking about the amazing trip Daniel and I took a couple weeks ago.

Daniel said we were going somewhere but he wouldn't tell me where. That lasted about a day before he told me we were going to New York City, my favorite place in the world. We left the day after Christmas, and after two long days of driving, we made it to our hotel in Carlstadt, NJ. This is my first time to not stay in Manhattan, and I loved it!! The hotel was super nice and way cheaper. We found out the bus stop was across the street, and it took us straight to the city in about 15 minutes. Not being confined to Manhattan also allowed us to go places in New Jersey, too (although the toll roads are really annoying).

Port Authority (aka the bus station) is a few blocks over from Times Square. Our first morning there we hit the subway down to the World Trade Center. I haven't been down there in all the times I've been to NYC. It was breathtaking and heartbreaking at the same time. It's just the saddest thing to see. This is the new tower.

And this is the hole where the North Tower used to be. There's one for the South Tower too. It's pretty surreal. All around it are the names of all the people who died that day. 

Too sad for words.

Right across the street is St. Paul's Chapel (the Little Chapel That Stood). It's amazing that it wasn't damaged at all by 9/11. God working there...

Had to see Macy's. So many pretty Christmas things going on there. We made the mistake of going inside. The whole first floor was a big perfume counter...it was hell. 

I felt a little ridiculous going here, but hey, when in Rome, right?! So the amount of security made me laugh so hard. The sidewalk in front of Trump Tower was only open to folks going into it. There were so many cops just directing the foot traffic. We went inside to get some coffee. Newsflash...Trump Tower is ugly. It is all gold inside like it's stuck in the 70s. So tacky. No sightings, though.

We had to go to Times Square to see where the ball was going to drop. You can barely see the 2017 above the small Toshiba. I don't think you could have paid me to stand there all day on New Year's Eve.

Resting in the M&M store. Daniel was pretty exhausted. 

It rained on Thursday so we went to the movies in Carlstadt. The rain quit in the afternoon and we decided to go into the city that night. It was perfect!! Well, except the bus ride. Remember I said it took 15 minutes? It takes an hour during rush hour. Even Daniel was carsick. But we got into Times Square and felt much better.

I told Daniel the restaurants in Times Square are super expensive, but we went into one anyway. I saw the menu, and we immediately left. Beyond ridiculous. We found some gyros on the street and saved us $50 or so. So much fun.

We went to Rockefeller Plaza to see the tree at night. It was laughable how crowded it was! The tree is so much prettier at night.

I had heard a girl on the bus tell someone about Bryant Park, so we headed that way. I'm so glad we did! Another gorgeous tree, ice skating, and so many cool vendors! We even got to drink $5 cinnamon hot chocolate (gag)!

 Ice skating at Bryant Park.

The Empire State Building

Friday was beyond cold, so we decided to go to an outlet mall in New Jersey. It was a lot of fun. On Saturday (NYE) Daniel was tired and a little sick, so I went into the city myself. This is me waiting at the bus stop. It was before 8:00 and it was cold!

One thing I've never done is walk all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge. If I had known it was 1.1 miles one way, I might not have done it. The wind chill was 24, and I was freezing!!

Can't beat those views, though.

I made it! I walked into Brooklyn hoping to find a coffee shop nearby. No such luck, so I covered my face back up and walked the mile back across.

On the way to the Brooklyn Bridge I walked through Battery Park. I didn't realize the Statue of Liberty was so far away. That top picture is the Staten Island Ferry. Ferries make me sick, but I read today the Staten Island Ferry is free and it goes right by Lady Liberty, so I might have to try it next time.

I warmed up with some hot chocolate (did I mention we became addicted to Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate? Heaven...) and took the subway to Greenwich Village. I wanted to find my favorite pizza place. I walked around where I thought it was, but no luck. So I found the Friends apartment, and was about to give up. Just then, I rounded the corner, and there it was!! It's the best pizza, and it's super cheap! I think it's called Joe's. I was planning to just head back to Port Authority after the pizza, but I realized I was only a few blocks from the Hudson River. I then proceeded to walk several blocks down the river to 8th Ave. I could have taken a subway to Port Authority, but I decided to walk the almost 30 blocks through Chelsea. And I loved every second of it.

I was really stressed out the whole trip about where we would go for New Year's Eve. All I've said the past month is I want to go somewhere and drink away 2016. And we had to watch the 2nd playoff game. We found a restaurant right down the street from the hotel. We ate some good food then moved to the bar. I drank orange vodka and cranberry juice. I could have had a hundred, but I think I stopped at 3. We were back at the hotel by 9:00, watched Mariah make a fool of herself, watched the ball drop and the fireworks over the Hudson out our window. Then it was to sleep we went.

We got into the city before 10:00 on New Year's Day. We walked through Times Square and played in the leftover confetti. Then we got some hot chocolate and headed to church!

My mom, sister, and I visited Marble Collegiate the last time we were here, and I was excited to go back. It was a wonderful New Year's service, and I'm so glad we went.

After church we walked through Chinatown and Little Italy and had some yummy Italian for lunch. Daniel was ready to head back to the hotel, but it was our last day so I stayed for a while.

I went on the subway with Daniel to Port Authority, got him on the bus, and headed out. I decided to walk to Central Park. Once I got there I just kept walking and looking at the amazing apartments overlooking the Park. I was a woman on a mission. Port Authority is on 42nd Street. I walked to the top of the Park...if you can see the sign it says 110th Street. Yes, my friends, that was 68 blocks. I was a little tired...Luckily there was a subway right behind me, and I took it straight to Port Authority. I got on the bus for the last time and almost cried as we left Manhattan.

What a trip of a lifetime! I know I've been to NYC so many times, but it never gets old! I've been in the summer, the spring, and the winter. Now I need to go see the pretty fall foliage. Daniel did good...

And for all you folks hoping to visit soon. Just remember this when you get on the subway. Leave your pole dance routines at home.