Lacey

After reviewing all my blog entries last week, I realized that there was something missing from my records--my little, fur-facie, Lacey. She's a Shih Tzu/Schnauzer mix and is 100% silly. We love this little furry kid. She was born July 2014. We met her when we were doing our regular commute from ND to Idaho, trying to get the house ready to sell. We spent one day down to Blackfoot at the East Idaho State Fair. One of our favorite exhibits was always the McKee's booth where they had puppies for adoption. This time we stopped in and found this

and promptly fell in love. She was so tiny she could fit in the palm of Tad's hand.

This is probably the only time she didn't pull out her hair ribbons.

Tad had been worried about the amount of time I was spending alone in ND while he was working such long hours, and so he'd been thinking about getting me a puppy. When we first saw her, she was a quiet little thing, but was probably overwhelmed by the relentless attention at the fair. When we went back to pick her up, the shopkeeper told us what a little firecracker she was. And still is!

curled up in her toybox with a few of her balls

She loves her toys and spends lots of time trying to get us to play with her, but she has control issues. She won't let go of her toys so we can throw them for her. She also plays games of her own invention. We don't know what to call it, but when she plays it, it is with specific toys in a specific way. She is so good natured and well-mannered. She isn't a barker unless there is a specific problem she wants to bring to our attention, but mostly is very quiet. She's a snuggler who loves to take her half out of our bed, usually our pillows.

Sharing Daddy's pillow

When her coat grows long enough, she looks like she's wearing a teddy bear suit. 

This was her haircut 5 days later.

We've had her groomed regularly so she's been able to sport several hairdos. She is a princess and loves to dress up, get new necklaces and even wears shoes to protect her feeties from the hot AZ pavements when we go out walking every day.

Christmas 2016

She loves people, kids and most other fur kids. She wants to make friends with everyone she encounters, and has quite a following in our apartment complex. Nearly everyone knows who Lacey is.

Helping me at my desk

We can't even imagine life without our furkid.

Third Time's The Charm

It's been a long Sabbatical, but I want to try writing this blog again. I have no illusions about people reading it, but it is a good way to get thoughts down and keep a record, if only for my own benefit.

There has been much happen in the last three years. We've moved again, gotten another grandbaby and gained two new kids-in-law. My sweetheart is also celebrating being 5 years cancer-free. What a blessing! There's been a change of employment twice and a whole slew of new experiences. Overall, the last three years have been good. I feel like we are in a good place.

We left North Dakota about 16 months ago, after the oil industry fell through the floor. When Tad couldn't find a job anywhere up there, we decided to try something completely different. After spending two winters in the great, white frozen North, we opted to move south--about as far south as we had been north. I have 2 siblings and we have our youngest daughter in Arizona, so it was the impetus we needed to come on down--that and the promise of job opportunities. We have landed in the Valley of the Sun and have quickly grown to love it. I tell people that after surviving winter in North Dakota, we thought we'd try summer in Arizona. Whew! Thank goodness for AC! But I do LOVE winter down here.

We gave up our lovely 4 bedroom home in exchange for a tiny, 2-bedroom apartment, but we knew what we were coming to, so we were able to donate the majority of our stuff and bring the necessities with us. Honestly, it has been quite liberating to not have much "stuff". We have just enough clothes to share a small reach-in closet, 2 sets of sheets for the bed and towels for the bath, our computers, our TV, a handful of books (that was probably the biggest sacrifice--to pare down our books) and a small percentage of my craft supplies. I kept enough to still be the "Crafty Genius".

We have made new friends and gotten reacquainted with family members we hadn't had to opportunity to interact with in several years. It has been a delight to see my youngest sister and her family on a weekly (if not more) basis, and spend time with my brother and his family. Our youngest daughter (the one who was just graduating High School when I posted last) has graduated from Beauty School and is working in a salon down here while her husband has his own pursuits. It has been a joy to be with her again. Our son was married two months ago and they are working and attending school in Nevada and northern Idaho. Our oldest daughter and her husband are living and raising their three daughters in Colorado. We are scattered to the winds, but keep close with phone calls and texts.

Left to Right--Front Row: Todd (Jessica's husband--holding Estella), Jessica, Evangeline (black t shirt), Elizabeth (green t-shirt) and Brianna (Scott's fiancee-now-wife). Back Row: John (Hailey's husband), Hailey, Me, Tad and Scott. Thanksgiving 2016

I'm looking forward to continuing to build our life here and the new experiences we are having. Life hasn't been perfect, but it is good and we are together.

One Mo' 'Gain

We just got back to ND from another week in ID. It was a fun week, we celebrated my birthday and got lots done on the house, but I'm so TIRED of driving back and forth. We have one more trip scheduled, then we are staying put for a LONG time.

We had originally wanted to leave Sunday afternoon, after Tad finished work, but SLB has suddenly decided that Mondays must be worked, so we didn't get to leave until Monday morning. We arrived, finally, in Idaho Falls at about 9:00 pm. Hailey had worked hard to clean the house and make a birthday treat for me, so this is what we found when we arrived.

This is what it looked like on the inside--I loved it! So bright and happy and cheerful!

She is such a sweet girl. I love her and miss seeing her all the time.

I had a fun time on our Sister Birthday Lunch day on Thursday.

(I am NOT in  pain, I've just never taken a selfie before--my arms aren't long enough)

We did all the things we love to do--went to Porters, JoAnn, Michaels, Wood Connection and had lunch at Cafe Rio (my birthday--my pick). I do love my family and miss seeing them.

Tad got lots done on the house. He finished all the trim work on the bedroom and closet downstairs, and got all the sheetrock hung in the family room. We had the exterior of the house professionally painted, and it looks to nice! So crisp and fresh. We are glad we did that. We are slowly making progress towards being ready to sell the house. Now that the sheetrock is hung in the FR, we can tape and texture, then paint. After that, probably new carpet in parts of the house and more paint in the kitchen and upstairs bedroom will have us done with all the fix-its.

I've gotten lots of things done at the new house, too, not least of which was this

to hang on my craft room door. Tad helped me do a couple things yesterday, which made me feel much better about things. There are so many little "finishing" projects to do--never a lack, but I still don't feel "done" yet. I guess I need to give myself more credit. We are moved in and comfortable here.

We Are Here!

I've been in Williston for nearly 3 weeks now. We closed on the house Thursday, June 26 and got the keys. The moving truck arrived Monday, June 30 with all our household goods. If I had to put a percentage on being moved in and settled, I'd say we are at about 96%. All I have left to do is a little decorating--putting pix on walls, hanging sheers in the Living Room windows,  putting a few last things into the storage room. We like being here, for the most part. There are a few minor flaws with the house, but the maintenance crew will be here tomorrow to fix them. The biggest problems so far have been with water and electricity--or doing without them. I don't know if it because we are in a brand new subdivision in a brand new area, but in the 2 weeks we have actually "lived" in the house, 3 of those days have been without water, and 1 day without electricity for about 11-12 hours. It's kind of a little trippy, but I think things will iron themselves out.

I am loving the house, but I still get lost in it. This sounds funny, because I looked at the floor plan every day for 5 months, but when I come out of the craft room, I'm turned around and keep thinking the master bedroom is next to me on the left, when it is actually on the far end of the house, at my right. I'm sure I will eventually get it figured out, but I still have to laugh at myself. We still don't have internet access, but we have filled out the application. Hopefully it will be installed soon. Thank goodness for public access at the library, and being able to access at Tad's office. I know I'm WAAAYYY behind on updating the blog, but that is how it is.

Williston itself is an interesting little town. It is literally "the town that never sleeps". There is such a feeling of hustle and bustle here. Everything is "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go". It is growing faster than it can keep up with, and there is so much possibility for everything here. We like it and we are glad to be in the area. The little town of Epping is just that--little, but it, too, is growing as fast as it can.  One of these days I'm going to count the oil wells that are on the road  between here and there, but there are probably at least 10, and several more in process. Tad saw a t-shirt or a bumper sticker the other day that said, "If not for the Bakken, we'd all be walkin'." It's pretty true.

We are looking forward to spending next week in Idaho, celebrating Tad's birthday, seeing all my sibs, holding my new, little nephew Evan, lunching with my sisters, hugging my kids. It's going to be a fun time! I do love my family and miss seeing them often, so it makes weeks like next week more special.

Wow!

I'll say it again. Wow! The packing crew came today to pack our things for our move. Those guys are good, fast and efficient. It only took them 5 hours to pack everything we are taking to North Dakota. I am just blown away. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes to load everything onto the truck tomorrow. Wow!

I can't believe this week finally got here. It didn't seem like we would ever be here at moving day. It's exciting to think that in 2 days I will be "there". 2 days! Yay!

Ahhhh, Summer!

There is probably a lovely quote on my Pinterest board extolling the virtues of summer, but I'm not going to go find one. I'm just going to say that I'm glad it is finally summer, and now we can start enjoying lovely summer weather.

I'm only 5 days away from being in my new home, and I'm more than a little excited. I'm so excited, but I'm so tired, and there is still so much to do to be ready to leave Wednesday morning. None of it is hard or time consuming, but sometimes the little things can add up to bigger things. I've been pacing myself to get certain things done on certain days, but once in a while a wrench gets thrown into the works and puts me a little off schedule. I am adaptable and I will get it all done. I will have to. Monday is the drop dead date--the movers will be here at 8:30 am to start packing, so I HAVE to be done. I will have time to rest next Friday--we will be in the house, but the movers won't have arrived with the truck yet to unload, so I won't have much to do but rest. This is sounding a little like complaining, but I'm really not. I'm feeling pretty happy and upbeat, but also a little whelmed. I'll be fine. It will be GREAT to be with my sweetie.

Busy Times

So much to tell, where do I begin? At the beginning...

Tad has been home for the last 2 weeks, and I've loved having him here. He took last week off as vacation for Hailey's graduation. We spent a fun, relaxing week with the kids and grandbabies. It is so fun to watch them be their little selves. I got the biggest kick out of little Elizabeth, as she would play or run around the house, pausing for a minute to say, "Hey, Nona,..." and then proceed to tell me what was on her mind or ask a question. Evie was also non-stop, just busy, busy, busy. We played their little games and cleaned up their mischief making.

 Evie got a Curious George Zoo game for her birthday, and it comes with masks so the kids can be the animals in the zoo. Elizabeth is our little lion cub

 Evie likes to wear the piggy mask

 Elizabeth

 Evie

 More Sour Cream, please!

Elizabeth--Pretty with her makeup, just like her mommy!

We did get our family pictures taken. I'd forgotten, temporarily, that we live in Idaho, and the wind ALWAYS blows here, so we were out at the park, trying to look pretty, with our hair blowing all in our eyes. The pix actually turned out better than I feared they would. Thank goodness for hairspray.

 Me with my sweetie!

 Evie, Jessica, Elizabeth, Todd, Hailey, Annette, Tad, Cassie, Scott

 Elizabeth and Evie

 The two cutest grand-girls in the world

Hailey's graduation was Wednesday, June 4. She is very glad to be done with school. I think that she and all her friends needed to be done, because patience was wearing thin and nerves were getting a little frayed. They have all started to scatter to the winds, with college, summer internships and missions.

Hillcrest High School Class of 2014

And lots more good news! Tamara and Benjamin had their baby boy May 30. His name is Evan. We are thrilled at the newest addition to our family. I get to be an auntie again!

Jennifer is still about 10 weeks out on the birth of her baby, but we now know that she's having a little girl, and Mavis is absolutely thrilled with the idea of a little sister.

We also (FINALLY) have a closing date on our house. We will be signing our lives and paychecks away on June 26. Yay! It is such a relief to have a date circled on the calendar. 

So many good things happening, and so many blessings we have received.