I only post when I move

It appears that I only start blogging again when I move. I'm guessing it has something to do with fresh starts and whatever; this blog has seen me through Santee, (he)El Centro, Imperial, Mira Mesa, Washington...it's like an old, holey glove that I keep digging out of the bottom of my drawer.

Alas, here I am, yet again. This time it's Florida.

We spent a huge, lovely, jam-packed year in Washington. Added a kid to the mix and some grays to my head, went to Disneyland, Big Bear, Hawaii, San Diego several times, finished 1st grade and another year of preschool, added a bunch of friends to our lives and hearts. Good times.

And then, Adrian's company dropped the A-bomb.

I'm not sure how I feel yet about Florida. I wouldn't say we started off on the right foot, what with the two weeks' notice and you know, the newborn I had just birthed 5 weeks prior. The older boys who were plucked out of their summer 3 weeks early in order to start a new life across the country. Again, good times...

But we are making the best of it. We are filling shelves. We are making beds. We are flattening boxes and unpacking emotionally to settle into a life in this weird, strange little world. We are reaching out, saying hi and inviting ourselves to moms groups and playgroups and whatever groups will have us because that's how a house becomes a home and a neighborhood becomes a community.

As much as I am clinging to my life in Washington, I'm trying to remind myself that we have been here before. We know how to do this and we will make it happen again, just like last time. And the time before that. Except every time we build our resilience, stretch our bravery beyond what we though we could. We got this.

Our First Mariners Game

On Friday, Adrian called me around noon and surprised us with Mariner's tickets! A subcontractor had given his department 4 tickets and luckily, he was able to snatch them up. Since we had no Mariners gear, I put them in all the Seattle apparel we had and we hit the road to pick Adrian up. As you can see, our seats were AMAZING, right on the third base line. We explained to the boys that they were incredibly lucky to get seats like this; I'm pretty sure my first game was up in the nosebleeds!

The First Days of School

I'm not going to lie, I've always laughed at the women who say that they miss their kids when the go to school. I know that sounds mean, but let's be honest here...sometimes you need a break. Especially as a work-from-home mama, I need a little quiet time to work, make phone calls, organize myself, etc.

Blueberry Picking in Enumclaw

I did not realize that Washington was such a berrylicious state. Am I the only one? In July, a friend mentioned to me that the berries grow so wildly, you can stop off on the side of the road and fill bucket upon bucket. When my parents visited and we went to Rattlesnake Lake, there were berries growing along the pathways.

Then, the moms group that I creep on (and will someday participate in) went blueberry picking. So, the boys and I decided to make a morning of it and check things out.

Hiking down Crystal Mountain

The view of Mt. Rainier looming over us in Maple Valley never gets old. Seriously. We have been here for almost two months now and I just can't get over how majestic it is as the backdrop of this beautiful, green place.

Before we left for my sister's wedding, we were on a quest to get closer to its gloriousness; we had heard about the gondola ride on Crystal Mountain so we thought we would give it a try.