Bull Run

Today we had nothing planned...no house hunting, no friends to visit, and no work.  The day was sunny and actually pretty warm, so we decided to venture out and explore a little place called Manassas, one of the nearest cities to our house.  It is a cute town that has all the shopping you could think to do, but it also has an "Old Town Manassas" that is petty quaint and I can't wait to walk around it at some point.  Manassas is where the Battle at Bull Run took place, it was the first land battle of the Civil War.  Our first official sightseeing of the area.  I will admit, I had to do some reading to find out what exactly marks this in history, I'm sure I learned it at some point in school, but couldn't have told you what it was before now.  The Confederates (South) called the battle First Manassas after the Manassas Junction, but the Union (North) named it the Battle of Bull Run after the Bull Run stream.  It was pretty surreal to think we were standing in a place where there once was a raging battle going on between the north and south...just 150 short years ago.  It was a great lesson and we look forward to exploring more of the area in the next 3.5 years...fortunately, we can choose to do these sights during times like these, in the "off season", so we don't have to deal with the tourists!

We visited Henry House Hill, named for the Henry family that lived in the house that sat on top of the hill where the battle took place.  The house served as a refuge for the wounded soldiers.

This statue was made in honor of Brig. Gen. Thomas Jonathon "Stonewall" Jackson, who, along with his "stonewall brigade" helped stop the Union assault on Henry Hill.  Guess who gravitated toward the big horse???  Zaaaaaac...my little horse whisperer just wanted to "pet it".

Not So Strong

Thanksgiving Day 2010

In the midst of a stressful move from West coast to East coast, living in cramped quarters, trying to take care of three little boys and be supportive of my husband's transition into his new job...my mind can't help but wander into sadness over the loss of my dad.  Been trying to hold it together for the sake of holding it together....fearful to let my guard down lest I start sobbing in the middle of Safeway.  And on most days, it is not a challenge to do so.  I just try to stay preoccupied and not think about it.  But sometimes I just can't be that strong.  Tonite, as everyone else sleeps I reluctantly looked back at posts from a year ago, fully knowing they would make me sad, but yet wanting to remember a happier time when we spent Thanksgiving with my dad...didn't think it would be my last Thanksgiving with him, but something told me then that I better make it memorable and special.  And here we are.  Not even a year later and my dad is gone.  I am thankful that I have my memories but so very sad that he is not here to talk to about this adventure to DC.  He was always our biggest supporter when it came to the military transitions.  Having been in this same boat before, he understood like no one else could and he encouraged like no one else could whenever I would get discouraged about being in a new environment.  I haven't let myself be this sad in awhile but with the impending holiday and being 3000 miles away from my brother, tears were inevitable.  My heart aches and tonite I will let it.

I miss my Pops

DC House Hunt

I started searching for homes to rent in the DC area as soon as we got word we were moving.  We have several friends in the area and all have been very helpful in providing info on schools, counties, commute, good areas, bad areas, etc.  Problem is, the surrounding area of DC is huge and there are many places to consider.  Its basically Maryland vs. Virginia...people in VA say stay away from MD and people in MD say stay away from VA.  Either way, the commute for Jay into DC is going to be hell no matter what direction he comes from.  We have to consider traffic at every hour, from every place.  I have never in my life heard so much talk about how terrible traffic is and how that pretty much dictates how you plan your day and where you should live.  The first words out of everyone's mouth when we've looked at areas is "the commute to DC is....(fill in the blank)" Our friends explained it this way, DC is full of people from all over the country (and then some) and there are millions of people here, and they all drive differently based on the part of the country they come from and you put them all into one big mix and its like a death race everytime you are out on the road.  I have never seen anything like it and I have to say, for the next three years I will try to avoid the highways around here as much as I can.  It is HORRIFIC and terrifying!  I thought traffic was bad around Tacoma, WA...but I had no idea.  This is like Tacoma on steroids at every hour of the day!
At any rate, we are here and have been living in the RV for a week now and though it has been cozy and definitely beats living in a hotel room where we would have to be sharing walls and floors with other people, as well as worrying about the dog, its been a challenge with three little boys all couped up.  Especially the one day it was pouring down rain and Trev needed a nap...Scotty, Zac and I had to head out into the rain because baby's nap was much more necessary!!  So, the boys played in the mud and I sat in my vehicle.  At some point, I know we will look back on this experience as a good one and for the most part it has been fun.  I can't say enough good things about the KOAs we've stayed in...it helps that at this time of year they are pretty vacant,  but the managers of each one we've stayed at have been wonderful people.  KOAs are the only way to go!
House hunting has been a challenge because we have several factors to consider and its not easy in this area because housing is very expensive and yet, Jay receives no cost of living allowance here.  So he basically makes what he made in WA, but we will be paying about $1000 more for rent.  Our circumstances require the need to be a little pickier than the average family as well because we have a dog, we have three boys who will all be in school at some point in the next 3.5 years so I have to consider the area, and we have a mother in law coming to live with us.  Yes, Diane is coming here in January to live because having her here vice the other side of the country was the lesser of the two headaches...at least, that's what I thought, but now I'm thinking we should've just left well enough alone.  Too late now.  In addition to all that, we also have to consider Jay's commute.  So, trying to satisfy every one of those criteria has been a challenge.  However, we've managed to narrow down the search to two houses, both equally as nice.  One a bit bigger than the other, both the same amount in rent, but one is in Maryland and the other is in Virginia.  One has an HOA and the other doesnt, thus allowing us to store the RV on the property vice having to pay for storage somewhere else.  One we're dealing with a property manager and the other we are dealing with the actual owner.  The big kicker is that one is available NOW and the other not for a few weeks.  I don't want to be in a trailer for several more weeks, especially since our household goods are waiting for us here in storage and Scotty is missing school. We have several sets of friends on the Virginia side but we hear the commute from the MD side will be much more pleasant for Jay.  We had pretty much decided on the Maryland house but I wanted to look at one more house on the Virginia side and I ended up loving it.  It is smaller, we have to deal with a property manager, and the elementary school is five miles away vice only two miles, but for whatever reason, that property said "Home" to me more than the other one.  There are alot of beautiful homes here, alot of newer homes in lovely neighborhoods, and some are HUGE with more space than we could ever need, but this older little country house on an acre of land in the middle of nowhere was the one I liked best.  Jay knows his commute is going to be hell no matter what, so it was up to me....so, if all goes well, here is where we will settle in for the next few years...come visit when you can :)

The name of the street is RAMROD....really? 

Such an ugly name for such a sweet house

Our Nebraska Family

A view from the house...saw the most amazing sunsets while we were there

The house and one of the out buildings (where we set up camp)

When Jay and I met 12.5 years ago, he was living in a town called Kearney, Nebraska and going to school at the University.  Hence his Husker pride.  He would occasionally go to his cousin Dave's place in McCook, where he originally lived and started his schooling.  He would help Dave and his wife Darla with things around the farm.  So it was no question when we learned of our orders to the east coast that we would stop along the way to visit this family that I'd heard so much about but had only exchanged Christmas cards, baby shower and graduation gifts.  We arrived Monday and planned on staying the following day because snow was expected, but turns out the snow missed us and the day was sunny and beautiful...a perfect crisp fall day in the country...and our stay extended two extra days.  We could barely tear ourselves away from the farm.  Dave and Darla and their son, Dylan, were so gracious and welcoming....we felt right at home.  We parked the RV in their large barn and camped out there.  The boys had so much fun doing "farm" stuff and chasing the barn kittens and petting horses and feeding cows....and driving four wheelers.  They were always busy at "Aunt" Darla and "Uncle" Dave's.  The first evening we were there, we got to accompany them in the back of the pick up while they brought bales of hay to the cows via tractor.  The boys thought that was the coolest thing and I knew they were hooked.  One day I decided to ride with Darla in the Polaris Ranger and white-knuckled it the entire time.  She was so cool and calm and I was totally freaking out internally as she would navigate over ridges and hills to herd the cattle into the other field.  I was such a rookie and my inexperience showed!  Embarrassing....

Dave hard at work

Zac could not leave those poor kittens alone!

Scotty driving Darla around in the Ranger

Zac taking dad for a spin

One of the highlights for sure was when Dave and Darla shared their own harvested beef with us.  They fired up the smoker and we had the best steaks we'd had in a long time!  Potatoes from the garden, too.  I could get used to that kind of eating :)

Trev took to Darla immediately

Zac wanting to pet these hungry cows

We headed into the town of McCook, which is about a 30 minute drive from their property and met Donna, Dave's mom (and cousin to Jay's mom Diane) for lunch.  I had only just exchanged letters and Christmas cards with Donna, so it was wonderful to finally meet her as well.  She accompanied us home that night for dinner.

Donna and Jay

The last night we were there, we took the Rupperts out to dinner to thank them and then headed home, put the boys down and curled up in the living room to watch the CMA awards.  Odd to think something so simple would be so fun, but it was.  It was just comfortable and easy going....

Dave and Darla

I fell in love with McCook, Nebraska within those few days and immediately loved the Rupperts, too.  We can't wait to go back and visit again.  Hoping they will pay us a visit in DC and I will show them the big city life for a change :)  Thanks Dave, Darla and Dylan for making memories with us that will last a lifetime! We love you!

Dylan, Jay and Dave like old times

The gang

From Coast to Coast

Since my dad's funeral, it has been a whirlwind and we've barely had enough time to breathe much less blog about it.  Things jumped into high gear when we secured a renter for the Tidepool house.  So, aside from trying to spend as much time with family and friends as possible before leaving, we were trying to prep the house for our new renters.  The wife is from Port Orchard and they are relocating from DC surprisingly...so they've given us good insight into what to expect once we live there.  Unfortunately, they are selling their house so we couldn't swap...

But before all that happened, we had Scotty's end of season football pool party where we received his first ever trophy!  I was sad to see the season end, it was such a fun experience!  But we are definitely looking forward to next year when he will play tackle football!

Scotty & teammates pool party

Accepting his trophy

Then there was Halloween with the Owens family.  We went to their neighborhood in Bellevue and the boys got to trick or treat with Sammie.  Scotty was a cowboy, Zac was a horse and Trev got the recycled homemade scarecrow costume that mommy made all three boys wear!  Aw, sad to retire it....

Zac, Sammie the Kangaroo, Scotty and Trev

Packers came and worked two full days at wrapping our house up and the truck came and hauled it all away on the third day. 

The night before we left town, Scott, Nik and the girls came to hang out and we all went to dinner.  It was bittersweet because we always have so much fun together, but there was a sadness in the air.

We finally treked out the following day, Friday Nov 4, and have slowly and steadily made our way across country.   It was of course very sad to say goodbye to my brother and family, but they are with me always and their love and support are what help us to carry out this endeavor.

The trip has been stressful at times, but for the most part it has been fun.  The kids have been pretty good travelers and aside from the white out we experienced upon entering Nebraska, the driving hasn't been too bad either. 

I have really enjoyed driving through farm country in the midwest....Nebraska and Iowa were amazing and I have taken umpteen different pictures while driving on the interstate of beautiful farmhouses along the way.  I could make a coffee table book of them!  I have fallen in love with the midwest and would love to live here someday....city girl gone country?  Hm.....there is definite appeal to raising my boys in this part of the country vice the coastal United States. Jay and I have joked for years that it'll either be Alaska or Nebraska upon retiring from the military...now I can honestly see some truth to it.  Gasp!  A filipino girl living on a farm in the midwest?  Unheard of...

We are traveling in separate vehicles and Jay is towing the toy hauler behind his pick up....it has been great having that to retire to every night vice trying to find a hotel that will accommodate all our needs.  Its like camping every night and the boys are loving it....and I love that I have running water and electricity :)

So, from Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana....we have traveled thru and have enjoyed seeing a part of the country we wouldn't otherwise see.  650 more miles to go and we will arrive our east coast destination.  Thanks to the military and Jay's duty calling....we are excited about this adventure, though we are a little apprehensive of what life will be like in DC, I know we will make the most of it as we always do and we will look forward to visitors :)