Catch-Up Post

Today is the last day of June and the mark of the half-way point through the year. So much has happened this year that it feels like several years have already passed! I'm not going to go into a review of the last six months, though, only the past couple of weeks. Whew!

Moving out of Cliffrose: We moved our necessities to the hotel on June 24. It took a couple of car loads, but we finally settled in around midnight. I was stressed about moving from a 4k sq. ft. house to a hotel and, looking back, I shouldn't have have been. Of all days, I was also sick. My throat was on fire, I had a fever, I had all the flu symptoms, etc. Timing is everything!

The next morning, Derek got up early to go pick up the U-Haul while Ashley and I set up our new home. We both decided that we didn't want Ashley dealing with all the stress at the house that day and that she would have a better experience with mommy at the hotel. As it turned out, that was a good decision. The stress at the Cliffrose house was unbelievable. After Derek got there with the U-Haul, the moving helpers that we hired never showed up. At 3:00 Derek found a couple of other guys out in Riverside that could come out at the last minute, but it cost us $100.00 more. If we didn't have such heavy stuff to take downstairs and load into a U-Haul, we probably would not have needed them. However, since we had a washer, dryer, Ashley's bedroom set, and our Cal King mattress, we had no choice unless we left it behind. So, fast-forward to loading the U-Haul. We had a 26 ft. U-Haul and thought it would be too big. Wrong! That thing was packed solid at the end and we even had to leave our split-level coffee table, a bookcase, and a few other little things behind in the garage. Damn! Now it was 7:00 pm and Derek led the caravan to the storage place where we have a 10 X 20 unit. I'm thinking that there's no way it's going to fit. It toook 3 hours to unload the U-Haul and by some miracle it all fit. OMG! Derek wants to get another small storage unit for our inventory because he can't work with the stacks like they are.

The next day, we were wiped out. We surfed the internet to find out interesting things about the area we now live in and scheduled a few things to do with Ashley. It was a pretty low-key day, but we had fun hanging out together.

As it turns out, the hotel we're living in is in the middle of everything. This is a lot different from the Cliffrose house, where we lived in the sticks. Everything is within walking distance or at least a very short drive. When we lived in the Valley, we still didn't live this close to it all. I never thought that this woud be so much fun!

Yesterday, we went to Old Town which is about a mile away from the hotel. OMG! That place is so awesome! We had lunch, went junking, saw a lot of artists with their sidewalk chalk art (they did some amazing stuff!), and showed Ashley the history of cowboys and Indians. When we got back to the hotel, I was on Cloud 9. This area is so exciting and I cannot wait to go back again!

Today, I'm taking Ashley to a duck park. It's beautiful there. There's a decent size lake with grass and trees around it and picnic tables. I'm going to make us a picnic lunch and we're taking the camera. We're going to turn this into an educational experience for her like we did yesterday.

So, there you have it. All the chaos and changes wrapped up in a few paragraphs. (I wish I could have experienced it this simply!) Life is definitely getting better and we are really glad that we have the opportunity to experience where we live now.