We have been on the road since July 8. I lose track of the date and day of the week, and can hardly keep track of the time zone.
Highlights of the trip since leaving my hometown in Montana:
*outdoor musical in Medora, North Dakota
*three days with Brad's grandparents in Bismarck, ND
*four days with Brad's parents in St. Paul, MN
*hot, humid runs in both states
*cheesecake at our favorite Cafe Latte in St. Paul (two nights in a row!!! YUMMY!!!)
*two days in downtown CHICAGO (We went up in the Sears tower, "shopped" the Magnificent Mile, visited the American Girl doll store, among other things!)
*one day in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, the most visited National Park
We had a great hike there, and enjoyed this beautiful part of the country. It does
not compare to mountains in the Northwest or Montana, however!
*a day in Savannah, Georgia seeing historic places and experiecing the SOUTH
*evening runs on the treadmills in hotel exercise rooms (Am I the ONLY person who uses these rooms?!)
An unfortunate experience was being in Knoxville Tennessee on Sunday morning, attending a church service at the same time and in the same area of town when the church shootings occurred.
We are now in the state of Florida, about 4 hours away from our new home in Palm City. We decided not to pull in to the neighborhood at midnight, so we are staying in Jacksonville, FL tonight. We are anxious to get to our new home, but also enjoying the last night of our cross country FAMILY adventure. If I had time I'd post some pictures but will do so later.
Our new Honda van has been a blessing during this trip!! Borrowing a DVD player from a friend has been an even bigger blessing.
America is a BEAUTIFUL, awesome nation. Driving all the way across it and seeing a huge variety of things has been a grand adventure. The family time (while sometimes frustrating) has been really incredible.
Hallelujah is a shout of thanksgiving - a cry of gratitude.
I'm singing my hallelujah song.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Montana
We're enjoying the BEAUTIFUL scenery and summer season in western Montana. First we went to Glacier Park for 3 days, staying at the Bible Camp where I went every summer for almost 18 years. It was fun to have my kids at the camp where I had so many memories!
We spent time in Glacier Park - what an awesome place. I recommend it as a vacation to anyone! We also attended my grandma's 99th birthday. She still lives on her homestead in rural MT, the place where she came as an immigrant from Norway.
We are now in Deer Lodge, where I was born and raised.
To my gym friends, I dearly miss our workouts. I had to go buy a new set of running shoes and am running consistently. My favorite run is a 40 minute trek on a country road that meanders through the ranches. The cows and horses are my group exercise companions! It's hard to get anaerobic, but I try to get breathless now and again!! I trust you are keeping up with your training and giving it your all.
We're off to North Dakota and Minnesota, then will head down through the south. We're looking forward to seeing parts of the country we've never seen before. I'll try to log in and keep everyone updated.
No email access for now. I'm at the library using a computer.
We spent time in Glacier Park - what an awesome place. I recommend it as a vacation to anyone! We also attended my grandma's 99th birthday. She still lives on her homestead in rural MT, the place where she came as an immigrant from Norway.
We are now in Deer Lodge, where I was born and raised.
To my gym friends, I dearly miss our workouts. I had to go buy a new set of running shoes and am running consistently. My favorite run is a 40 minute trek on a country road that meanders through the ranches. The cows and horses are my group exercise companions! It's hard to get anaerobic, but I try to get breathless now and again!! I trust you are keeping up with your training and giving it your all.
We're off to North Dakota and Minnesota, then will head down through the south. We're looking forward to seeing parts of the country we've never seen before. I'll try to log in and keep everyone updated.
No email access for now. I'm at the library using a computer.
saying goodbye and we're on our way
The last week in our home and in University Place brought a lot of meaningful closure in many ways. I soaked it all in- really celebrating the great things in my life. When Brad and I moved to UP, we brought everything in a U-Haul (a small one at that) and we did all of the moving by ourselves. We had no kids, and were basically just anticipating our new jobs at the school district and church.
These last 9 years certainly changed our lives in amazing ways! I still can hardly believe the opportunities that opened us for us while living here - growth opportunites at the school district, getting national board certification, teaching at the gym, teaching for SPU; Brad leading the Sacred Music Chorale, working at Marine View, finishing his M Div degree. MOST IMPORTANTLY - this is the time in our lives where we became parents!!
I put off packing the house, not wanting to live among boxes and chaos. Actually, I think I put off the whole concept of actually packing up until the very last minute because I just couldn't let go of everything quite yet.
During the last week I took the time to say a final goodbye to so many people who influenced my life these last years. The list was varied - friends at the gym, our clerks at Fred Meyer, the office administrator at Evergreen, the people at church, and several of my best friends. We took the kids to all of their favorite places one last time. I had a garage sale and got rid of tons of stuff. (NEVER will I have a garage sale again - way too much work!!) It was all a little numbing and unreal.
The huge moving van came on Monday July 7. The movers were a bit surprised at the amount of packing left to be done, but worked tirelessly from 8 am to 9:30 pm to help us finish and get everything loaded.
Brad and I sent the kids to my sister's and camped out in our empty house. It was hard to say goodbye to our home full of so many memories.
What else...hmm....the renters came, our Explorer broke down, we bought a new Honda Odyssey van, we loaded up our kids and suitcases....and drove away.
On to Montana and Glacier Park for a while.
Goodbye - life in Univeristy Place.
We have until the end of the month to get to Florida. I'm going to need it to reflect and refocus.
These last 9 years certainly changed our lives in amazing ways! I still can hardly believe the opportunities that opened us for us while living here - growth opportunites at the school district, getting national board certification, teaching at the gym, teaching for SPU; Brad leading the Sacred Music Chorale, working at Marine View, finishing his M Div degree. MOST IMPORTANTLY - this is the time in our lives where we became parents!!
I put off packing the house, not wanting to live among boxes and chaos. Actually, I think I put off the whole concept of actually packing up until the very last minute because I just couldn't let go of everything quite yet.
During the last week I took the time to say a final goodbye to so many people who influenced my life these last years. The list was varied - friends at the gym, our clerks at Fred Meyer, the office administrator at Evergreen, the people at church, and several of my best friends. We took the kids to all of their favorite places one last time. I had a garage sale and got rid of tons of stuff. (NEVER will I have a garage sale again - way too much work!!) It was all a little numbing and unreal.
The huge moving van came on Monday July 7. The movers were a bit surprised at the amount of packing left to be done, but worked tirelessly from 8 am to 9:30 pm to help us finish and get everything loaded.
Brad and I sent the kids to my sister's and camped out in our empty house. It was hard to say goodbye to our home full of so many memories.
What else...hmm....the renters came, our Explorer broke down, we bought a new Honda Odyssey van, we loaded up our kids and suitcases....and drove away.
On to Montana and Glacier Park for a while.
Goodbye - life in Univeristy Place.
We have until the end of the month to get to Florida. I'm going to need it to reflect and refocus.
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