New Year's Eve in DC - it's cold.....but it's home

Well, here we are in Springfield, VA. Our belongings from AZ won't get here until late next week. BUT, I think we were just ready to be in OUR house. Living a gypsy lifestyle is not natural/easy for me or Brian.

*** side note here - the above was in no way a knock on our time living with Amanda. all things considered, it was a wonderful experience. I got to really start knowing my nephew and nieces and the boys their cousins. Not to mention spending some FUN, goofy times with Amanda! ***

Anywho...we drove up yesterday afternoon and enjoyed some awesome DC traffic! ha ha ha! I guess I have to get used to it, right? It wouldn't have been so bad but I was in Brian's car that doesn't have GPS. I didn't realize how used to 'Naoki' I'd become. (that's what Zachary wants to name our GPS as soon as we can change to a male voice! We stayed in a hotel last night and had two friends from Tiger Band days come by and lend us some sleeping bags and other things.

Today I hit what is to become MY Target! It's only a mile or so from Zachary's new gymnastics, so I am sure I will frequent it. Then I did a massive grocery store trip at Safeway of all places. I didn't realize they were out here. There was even a nice Irish boy as my cashier....Sean O'Brien

The boys have had a blast playing in their new, big backyard. There's still snow on the ground, so they played in that for a while. We even met one of our neighbors, Cindy & Marty.

I also took a little jog before the grocery store trip. I think it will take a while for my body to not only get used to the colder weather, but all the hills in our neighborhood.

a job update

Just before Thanksgiving, Elijah lost his first tooth! He lost his before either of his brothers! He was so proud of himself.

Most of you know the following, and I am only adding it for continuity in my blogs! :) Accenture finalized Brian's job for the DC area (Arlington to be exact). He will be doing some Homeland Security government contract work for about the first year. Maybe he can say hi to AZ's old governor! :) His job is to start on January 12. Brian, Zachary, and I drove up to Manassas after Thanksgiving to hunt for a rental house. It was a quick trip, but we found one!


While we were in DC house hunting, Harrison and Elijah were enjoying being in public school. They so enjoyed riding the bus (though getting up around 6:00 am was NOT a favorite)....and just generally liked school. They are both smart little guys and did very well. They are going to miss their newly made friends.

One Day...

One day soon I am hoping to update the blog. SO much has changed since the last post.

Don't believe anyone who says God doesn't have a sense of humor

So we made the big drive out here last week. I think at the end of the week we find out we might have potential renters. GREAT!!! Around that same time, Brian found out that Accenture (the company probably hiring him for a DC job) still likes him (awesome!) but that he may not need to re-locate. WHAT?????!!!!! We just drove across the whole country because we financially needed to and couldn't wait on the job to finalize.

The day we got the actual rental offer Brian was in communication with Accenture several times. Once, she told him that the private sector was now interested (whereas originally it was government, hence the DC location). Even still, she can't do ANYthing until she gets word from higher up to send an offer.

Then later that day (I believe this was all on Monday), she e-mailed Brian back to say that they had gone through MORE talks and gaver her the green light to offer Brian a job....in PHOENIX!!! Can you believe that? The boys and I just left there!

Renters.......job back in Phoenix.....Lord - what in the world are you trying to tell us? Brian and I were somewhat dumbfounded, and I had to laugh some. The person who actually figures salary amounts was out of the office today, but they've gone ahead and started the background check on Brian. It seems to be progressing quite nicely. But I'm not holding my breath - not til Brian gets his first paycheck anyway!

So, Brian and I have been praying and thinking a lot! We think we are going to go ahead and rent our old house out and try to find a smaller house to rent in the same area. This would only be for a year as that is the time amount for the contract. This would also help me & Brian save some money over the next year with a much lower rent. (This past year - yes, it's been almost a year - has been hard on us)

Maybe God was giving me this chance to be with Amanda and her family. It has been wonderful to see my boys playing with their cousins, whom they are just now getting to know.

God's plan is perfect, and sometimes it's a little crazy and funny while you are going through it.

I just went in for a physical.......

So I just went in for a physical and am now spending my last few days in AZ running from doctor to doctor!

Tuesday was a stressful day for me to say the least. So I was already stressed when I went in for my yearly physical that afternoon. My appointment was at 4:15, and I planned on going to a heated yoga class at 5:30, just a short drive away. The nurse checked my temperature, it was high....around 100.2. Then she checked my BP. While 120/90 is good, it is high for me, so I mentioned this when the doctor came in. She had the nurse comeback in to check since I'd been lying down for a few minutes, It had gone UP!! It was then 130/?? I could feel it rising. I told the doctor about all the stress going on right now. She wasn't too concerned, but said to really watch my salt intake for a bit.

Next thing, She starts doing the breast exam...all routine.....except my left breast is much different than my right. She examined the left one for quite a while. E-mail me and I'll tell you Brian's remark about this! :) I told her my mom and one sister had had benign tumors. She believed it to be nothing, but wanted to get me a sonogram to be sure.

Next thing - routine heart listening...or so I thought. She was having a hard time hearing one of my valves. She put me in to all sorts of weird positions to listen, all the while I'm only covered by that beautiful tin piece of paper! She heard a little abnormality. SO, she wanted me to go get an electrocardiogram.

oh...and there's the routine blood work....

So at this point, I am getting stressed even more. Then she tells me it's 5:10. I think that's great because if I leave then I can still make my yoga.....which I really needed at that point. She 's a great doctor, but a slow talker. She was trying to make a follow-up appointment to go over blood work. She kept trying to put it on Thursday around lunchtime. I tried to quickly tell her that was a bad time because it was the last day of the enrichment program for Harrison and Elijah....and I was NOT going to miss it.....blood pressure rising..... I could feel myself getting to my breaking point, and I really wanted to keep my composure and remain respectful. But I finally had to tell her I needed to go NOW, so I could go to yoga and chill out some. She seemed a little baffled that I was SO adamant about going to yoga and not finalizing my appointments. Exercise is a major stress reliever for me. I really think God has put exercise high on my list to keep me sane! :) I did make it. The only way I made it and not TOO late was that I changed while in my van. Whenever I got to a stop light, I'd throw the van into 'park' and start changing....except my top! :)

So here is what my last week has looked liked, and this is just my doctors' visits. This doesn't even include the 'normal' school activities or packing or anything else!

Tuesday - yearly physical
Wednesday - follow-up with orthopedist about my foot (a-ok)
- blood-work following yearly exam
Thursday - follow-up with blood work
Friday - sonogram and ekg at Chandler Regional in the morning

Part of me thought about not even going to most of these appointments. If they find something, I can't do anything about it for hopefully just a few months as I will not have insurance while in VA. But i guess it is ultimately better to know and educate myself than be surprised later. I'm sure it's all nothing, but it's just a lot on my plate right now.

God's looking out for my mental well-being! :)

For those of you who don't know, I injured my foot running. Running was going to be my main source of exercise once we move in with Amanda since I probably won't have a gym membership. Cardiovascular exercise is like an anti-depressant for me. I think, that without exercise in my life, depression would rear its ugly head a lot...The first thing my doctor told me was NO impact exercising. She even told me to be a couch potato - she obviously doesn;t know me!

The pain started 2 weeks ago and kept getting worse, so I went to my Primary Care Doctor last week who ordered an x-ray. The x-ray was negative for a break, but it could still be a stress fracture. She wanted me to see an orthopedic surgeon. I start to stress big time. I'm thinking it's going to take a long time to get the appointment, so I start telling them that my insurance runs out at the end of October, so I really want this taken care of or it won't be! I was like, Lord please let this happen quickly. I don't need anymore stress right now'.

They told me the closest orthopedist who specialized in feet that took my state insurance was in Glendale - which is a haul from my house in Gilbert. Frankly, though, I didn't care as long as they could get me in. I called them today to find out that they had an office in Gilbert AND an opening for TOMORROW at 11:30 AND the office is only a mile from my neighborhood!!! Praise God! I jokingly told the lady at the office that I could walk there.......she said, 'Oh, no you don't!' :)

beginning our 'lasts'

We asked the boys for a list of a few things they wanted to do around here before we leave. Elijah and Harrison both wanted to go to the Desert Botanical Garden, and more specifically the Butterfly Pavilion within it! Our public libraries have started this wonderful program where we were able to get 4 passes to the gardens for free! We took a different path than we normally do, and viewed some beautiful sights.

We visited the butterfly pavilion twice. During the fall it's filled with Monarch butterflies. Apparently they don't like to get too close to humans. In the spring (with various butterflies), they will land right on your shirt! Either way, still a beautiful creation.

We went on the 'Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail' this time. Here are the boys relaxing at a desert oasis!











They had this area set-up for us to try our hands at some typical Sonoran living. They would grind the pods of a Mesquite tree into a sweet flour.

Harrison tried first.









Zachary got excited about the chance to pound at something as hard as he could!

















Elijah getting his chance




















Elijah and I taking a moment in the wickiup.












During their weekly art class I decided to hike up Hayden Butte, which is very close to campus. As you can see, Sun Devil Stadium is behind me. I could even hear ASU's marching band getting ready for the game that day. They are on one of the fields beside the white dome looking thing in the background.







Zachary was glazing in class. Here is his sarcophagus - with glow in the dark glaze.












There was an art gallery opening that evening titled 'Faces'. We met up with the Evans family there. Elijah and Emma never stopped holding hands. Emma was showing him around and reminding him of the rules. It was very sweet.









Here Harrison and his buddy, Ethan. recreate this piece.....with coordinating striped shirts!

All of the artists were at the opening, so it was neat to see the artists who had created self portraits of some kind.