Today was the day. After 6 weeks of inspections, waiting, thinking and moving, I closed on our new house. It will be the first place I have ever owned in 20 years of living on my own. Apartments, rent houses and Army housing, I've never had a place that, ultimately, I was responsible for.
As of today, there is a place like that. The first load of our household goods arrives in the morning. Now the time consuming task of unloading box after box of stuff looms. But I'm ready to do that. It will finally be time to trim down on the number of items we don't need in our home anymore. I have more space to fill since this house is about 450 sq ft bigger than our last one.
Campbell is ready for a big girl bed so I bought a new twin bed frame for her. We have two decent sized family rooms (one up and one down) so we needed a new couch and love seat as well. If anyone reading is interested in seeing builder pictures and a floor plan, let me know and I'll steer you toward the builder's site.
Tomorrow, before the furniture comes, I'll snap some pics of the interior and post them up. I had the girls rooms painted; pastel blue for Ellie like her room in Alaska was and lilac for Campbell since she insists her favorite color is purple. And the study is... Burnt Orange of course. I'll hang all of Jennifer's Texas oriented art in there along with a few other Longhorn things.
It will be interesting mixing my spartan, man oriented taste with having two girls.
As I left the closing, I had a few moments in the car where I wished that I wasn't doing this alone. I doubt I'll ever shake that feeling.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Adios Washington
In not quite 12 hours, I'll be back in Texas. Bittersweet and exciting all at the same time. Good times to be had ahead, memories of all kinds behind. Anticipation of the future and retrospective of the past.
We had a week of pure NW summer. Temperatures in the upper 70s, blue skies. The kind of summer Texas doesn't get to enjoy. But as I told friends earlier in the week, Texans call this time of the year "February." Mt. Rainier has loomed off in the distance, taunting me with a "Get out here and hike, dummy." The Olympics off to the West as a constant reminder that there are places most never see.
I watched my youngest go from just a baby to not quite a toddler anymore. The oldest is now a full fledged school aged kiddo. They learned their ABCs and how to use the potty instead of being swaddled in diapers. Trips to farmers markets on a Saturday morning (but not during football season!) and weekends in Seattle traipsing around downtown for good, solid fun.
The movers came Friday to get our stuff. And when the house was empty and quiet, there was a memory of the first time I saw it, empty then as it was now. My wife and I kind of stumbled upon it as we house hunted. She loved the quiet neighborhood with flowers galore. I liked how close it was to Puget Sound, bare miles away. We both agreed that it was a good place to raise a family.
It seems like just yesterday that I drove out of Alaska with my best friend but it's been over 3 years. My first night here was spent in a hotel not far from SEATAC once we'd arrived. I'm not far from there now as we get ready for an early morning flight. But back then, I wasn't just a dad. I was a husband too. Tonight, I'm as the girls snooze, I'm kind of alone.
I'll miss this place in spite of why I'm leaving. And I'll come back to visit. Heck, I'll be back in two weeks to wrap things up with the house among other items I need to finish out.
But we're coming home. Minus one.
We had a week of pure NW summer. Temperatures in the upper 70s, blue skies. The kind of summer Texas doesn't get to enjoy. But as I told friends earlier in the week, Texans call this time of the year "February." Mt. Rainier has loomed off in the distance, taunting me with a "Get out here and hike, dummy." The Olympics off to the West as a constant reminder that there are places most never see.
I watched my youngest go from just a baby to not quite a toddler anymore. The oldest is now a full fledged school aged kiddo. They learned their ABCs and how to use the potty instead of being swaddled in diapers. Trips to farmers markets on a Saturday morning (but not during football season!) and weekends in Seattle traipsing around downtown for good, solid fun.
The movers came Friday to get our stuff. And when the house was empty and quiet, there was a memory of the first time I saw it, empty then as it was now. My wife and I kind of stumbled upon it as we house hunted. She loved the quiet neighborhood with flowers galore. I liked how close it was to Puget Sound, bare miles away. We both agreed that it was a good place to raise a family.
It seems like just yesterday that I drove out of Alaska with my best friend but it's been over 3 years. My first night here was spent in a hotel not far from SEATAC once we'd arrived. I'm not far from there now as we get ready for an early morning flight. But back then, I wasn't just a dad. I was a husband too. Tonight, I'm as the girls snooze, I'm kind of alone.
I'll miss this place in spite of why I'm leaving. And I'll come back to visit. Heck, I'll be back in two weeks to wrap things up with the house among other items I need to finish out.
But we're coming home. Minus one.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Ok, who thought it was a good idea to drive to Indiana?
I mean, really, who decides to drive 5,000+ miles with a 5 and 3 year old?
Well, it wasn't that bad. Matter of fact, I'd do it all over again and maybe add in some other stuff. On our last day, I realized that a slight detour N/NW would have put us within striking distance of Glacier N.P. It might have added some hours on the final day of driving but it would have been worth it. But I think it was better to miss out on somethings and remember it as a good trip than do too much and regret it.
We had a great time in Yellowstone. The girls had a ball seeing bison, bears and elk. It's quite amazing how bold people get when approaching wildlife. This one on the side of the road had people taking pictures of it from 12-15 feet away. And not from inside the safety of their cars. The next day, three bison were traipsing through a parking lot and people were circling them to get pictures. The girls and I were safely ensconced inside the van.
The geysers were very groovy. We got lucky and arrived at Old Faithful about 20 minutes before it erupted. The wait is usually not more than 60-90 minutes between eruptions but we got to sit down for a bit, talk to some people around us and then ka-boom. Ellie told me it was "one of the coolest things she had ever seen!" Campbell wanted to know why we couldn't walk up to it and take a shower. We tried to check out some of the other stuff but the sulfur smells were overpowering. I don't think we missed out on much.
As much as the girls enjoyed the wildlife and geysers, I was kind of underwhelmed. It was nice seeing the girls get excited but I'd already seen a ton of bison and bears when I drove out of Alaska in '07. On the first day in the Park, we had walked to the top of the Lower Falls. It was a great view but kind of anti-climactic. The more famous Upper Falls were visible too but it just wasn't a great vantage point. And the walk down was way more fun than the walk back up. Especially since both girls wanted me to carry them. That wasn't going to happen. On the second day, as we got ready to leave, I stopped into the Artist's Point viewpoint.
It was all that I had imagined it would be and more.
Only a handful of other people were there. It was quiet and even a little chilly in the shade. Ellie and I were awestruck by what we saw. It was the thing I had come to Yellowstone to see. The Upper Falls, from this place, were incredible. I was reminded of why I had planned this detour all those months ago. I could have sat down on a bench and just stared for a long while.
It was off to Rapid City, S.D. after that. We had a date with the Presidents, as Ellie calls Mt. Rushmore.
Mt. Rushmore is all about being touristy. There aren't whole lot of locals milling about. And the gift shop was booming even at 8:30 in the morning. The girls were fascinated by the rock carving methods. Campbell, at one point, asked me "Why would they do that?" I didn't really have a logical reason.
We got on our way toward Indiana and arrived 2 days later. A week hanging around with family was a big boost for all of us. Ellie and Campbell had a blast playing with cousins and swimming their hearts out in the pool. I enjoyed being amongst people who truly love and care about us.
We took the scenic loop through the Badlands on the way back. Pictures don't really do it justice. I could spend days there photographing the formations.
Well, it wasn't that bad. Matter of fact, I'd do it all over again and maybe add in some other stuff. On our last day, I realized that a slight detour N/NW would have put us within striking distance of Glacier N.P. It might have added some hours on the final day of driving but it would have been worth it. But I think it was better to miss out on somethings and remember it as a good trip than do too much and regret it.
We had a great time in Yellowstone. The girls had a ball seeing bison, bears and elk. It's quite amazing how bold people get when approaching wildlife. This one on the side of the road had people taking pictures of it from 12-15 feet away. And not from inside the safety of their cars. The next day, three bison were traipsing through a parking lot and people were circling them to get pictures. The girls and I were safely ensconced inside the van.
The geysers were very groovy. We got lucky and arrived at Old Faithful about 20 minutes before it erupted. The wait is usually not more than 60-90 minutes between eruptions but we got to sit down for a bit, talk to some people around us and then ka-boom. Ellie told me it was "one of the coolest things she had ever seen!" Campbell wanted to know why we couldn't walk up to it and take a shower. We tried to check out some of the other stuff but the sulfur smells were overpowering. I don't think we missed out on much.
As much as the girls enjoyed the wildlife and geysers, I was kind of underwhelmed. It was nice seeing the girls get excited but I'd already seen a ton of bison and bears when I drove out of Alaska in '07. On the first day in the Park, we had walked to the top of the Lower Falls. It was a great view but kind of anti-climactic. The more famous Upper Falls were visible too but it just wasn't a great vantage point. And the walk down was way more fun than the walk back up. Especially since both girls wanted me to carry them. That wasn't going to happen. On the second day, as we got ready to leave, I stopped into the Artist's Point viewpoint.It was all that I had imagined it would be and more.
Only a handful of other people were there. It was quiet and even a little chilly in the shade. Ellie and I were awestruck by what we saw. It was the thing I had come to Yellowstone to see. The Upper Falls, from this place, were incredible. I was reminded of why I had planned this detour all those months ago. I could have sat down on a bench and just stared for a long while. It was off to Rapid City, S.D. after that. We had a date with the Presidents, as Ellie calls Mt. Rushmore.
Mt. Rushmore is all about being touristy. There aren't whole lot of locals milling about. And the gift shop was booming even at 8:30 in the morning. The girls were fascinated by the rock carving methods. Campbell, at one point, asked me "Why would they do that?" I didn't really have a logical reason.We got on our way toward Indiana and arrived 2 days later. A week hanging around with family was a big boost for all of us. Ellie and Campbell had a blast playing with cousins and swimming their hearts out in the pool. I enjoyed being amongst people who truly love and care about us.
We took the scenic loop through the Badlands on the way back. Pictures don't really do it justice. I could spend days there photographing the formations.
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