Internet-less

We have been without the internet since our move last weekend. Hence, the lack of posts. Although I have missed the internet, it has been a nice break to be without it. I didn’t realize how much time was spent on the computer. I’ve read 3 LDS Fiction novels (3 more down on my 101 in 1001 goal!) and have spent a lot more hours rolling around on the floor with my sons, building countless train tracks, reading books, and going for walks.

We went to our new ward for the first time yesterday. Oh.My.Gosh. I’m going to LOVE it there! This is our 4th ward we’ve belonged to in our nearly 4 years of marriage. And this is by far the most *welcoming* ward. We had countless numbers of people come up to us and welcome us into the ward. In the ward is an old coworker that I haven’t seen in probably 3 years, so it was exciting to catch up with him for a bit. We also got an invitation for dinner. We said yes, and a little after 5 we found ourselves welcomed into the home of Scott and Sarah Gardiner, with their 4 beautiful children. Scott’s brother Johnny and his wife Brittany, who are in the ward also (and who we knew from our very first ward) were there with their 2 beautiful kids. They fed us barbecued hamburgers, fruit, salad, applesauce, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was delicious! By the time we had to leave so the kids could go to bed, Sarah and Scott’s 3 daughters didn’t want me to go! You know those hand games we played in elementary school that go to the catchy songs? (How else do I describe them?) Well, we did lots of those, and I loved it. It totally made me feel like a kid again. We had effortless conversation with Scott, Sarah, Johnny and Brittany and it was fun getting to know them all a little better, while sharing some of our own history with them. Although we are going to miss seeing our friends in the Evergreen ward weekly, we couldn’t be more pleased with our new ward.

Our new place is awesome! I totally love it here. It is such a blessing being on our own again. I love having our bedroom to ourselves and having the playroom, family room and office in a different part of the house. Even though I’m a country girl at heart, I love being able to walk across the street to the grocery store, instead of having to wait for Sean to come home with the car. Also across the street is a Rite Aid, Dairy Queen ($1.29 mint chocolate dilly bars all summer long!? Heck yeah!!!), Dollar Tree, our bank, and a lot more. Although I don’t love the view out the master bedroom window (the Shell station) or the fact that our neighbors smoke so we have to keep our windows closed, both of those will be resolved with our 2nd move that will happen in a few weeks.

Every Tuesday and Thursday since January I’ve been driving out to Banks to go to Heidi’s Boot Camp. She’s been kicking my butt and even though I still have some fat on my stomach, I definitely am getting some muscles under there that I’m so excited about! Now that we live in Aloha though, it’s a 35 minute drive 1 direction. So it’s more than 2 hours of drive time for only 2 hours of workout time weekly. However, there is a Bally’s Total Fitness across the street and with the encouragement of Kyle, who just joined a gym, I went and checked it out. They are running a promotion right now that there are no start up fees, no contract required, and it’s only $29/month. I can quit whenever I want. AND they have classes…boot camp classes, cycling classes, Yoga, Pilates, Karate, etc. all included with the cost of the membership. My favorite part? Free child care for up to 2 hours a day. I’m in Heaven! After doing the math to see how much I’d be spending on gas each month driving out to Banks, this actually turned out to be a little cheaper. So, I jumped on the offer. I have access to all of the Bally gyms across the nation, and there are several in the area that offer a variety of different classes. Never in my life have I been able to justify a gym membership. However, I feel really good about this and I’m really excited about it! I’m thrilled that it’s right across the street, and the child care and classes? Perfect. I am going to take it easy this week, seeing as my run is this Saturday, but after that, I’m going to really start taking advantage of what they have to offer me.

Asher is growing super fast. He is climbing up on everything…walking along the couch and pulling himself to standing in his crib and pack n play. He is feeding himself and eating almost everything we eat. He’s starting to realize when his dad or I leave the room and he’ll start to cry, but he’s still a mellow child. His favorite toy right now is a piano type thing with only 5 big keys that light up when you play them. He loves the music, just like his brother. It has been hard for his sleep schedule being here. (But not ours! He is no longer in our room…Yay!) He is just now starting to sleep through the night, so I haven’t yet put B & A in the same room. So Asher sleeps in the pack n play in the kitchen at night. Until Saturday though, the crib wasn’t set up in B’s room yet, so he also napped in the pack n play during the day. He went from sleeping in our tiny walk in closet that was pitch black to having to sleep in the kitchen that is super bright during the day. It hasn’t been easy. Now that we got the crib set up though, we’re figuring out how to make it work. Brayden has adjusted like a champ. He used to wake up from his nap grumpy most days and it would take him anywhere from a half hour to 2 hours to calm down. That has only happened once since we’ve been here. I’m not sure what the difference is, but it has been so good for us. He loves going on walks, he loves being able to throw his ball without us yelling at him to be careful so that doesn’t break something, and he loves standing at the window to watch the neighbor kids play outside.

I'll get and post pictures, including ones of our new place, as soon as I can find the card reader!