Monday, March 31, 2008

Home at last

--Whew, got home last night about 9:30 from Denver. We are TIRED. Love how you come back from a "vacation" needing a vacation.



--Truth be told it wasn't really a vacation. We were busy every single day with house/realtor stuff. There WERE some fun diversions like checking out the 16th Street mall downtown, spending Friday evening with Mike and Rachel and their girls, and eating spicy sushi, but ultimately it was a draining weekend. Not to mention I was positively homesick for my older kids, it was HORRIBLE! (Kaitlyn thinks that playing with your older cousin is WAY more fun than being at a home inspection.)




--It was Kaitlyn's first plane-ride, and she did awesome, both coming and going. She got lots of compliments from nearby passengers, who were probably grateful she wasn't screaming her head off. (Thank goodness she's still nursing--it comes in quite handy!)




--We stayed at the Marriott downtown. It was a fun spot with a super soft king-sized bed and a great breakfast buffet with everything imaginable. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was our daily breakfasts.




--There's a house (more on that later, I promise, because really that's the fun part) that we've made an offer on, and it's been accepted. The (extremely thorough, going-over-everything-with-a-fine-toothed-comb) home inspection on Friday was 5 HOURS LONG. Some little things but nothing major. Basically the current owners have not kept up on some stuff, though the house was nicer in person than I was expecting. The neighborhood is quaint and quiet and reminds me a little of the East Coast, lots of brick and trees, very different from our current neighborhood. The house itself is homey and full of charm, even if it is a little rough around some of the edges. (Kaitlyn got bored during the inspection and decided to take a nap.)

--(We also took an accidental tour of Denver's, uh, less-than-desirable neighborhood on Sunday. Pretty sad. And strange to have such different standards of living happening just minutes away from each other. I don't think we'll be frequenting that area, needless to say. Oh and not to worry, it's not anywhere near our house we're buying.)




--One of the funny parts of the weekend was our car rental, which Mike so aptly said looked like a clown car. We called it "puke", because of the license plate (929 PUK). And the fact that it was downright dorky!


--The trip ended in true Brianna style, when I totally FELL onto the tarmac exiting the plane in Santa Barbara. YES! Luckily I made sure Kaitlyn didn't hit the ground, just me. Those stairs coming off the plane are steep! (Kevin was SO disappointed he didn't get to see it, as he was still waiting to exit the plane. Not to worry dear husband, I'm sure I'll do something equally ungraceful before too long!!!!)




--Now I'm home with my kids and we're trying to get back into our routine. Funny how it takes time to reacclimate. (Basically that's all just a nice way of saying my kids have been on edge and fighting like cats and dogs all morning.)




--Today I'm feeling overwhelmed and sad about moving. How am I going to make new friends? Will our neighbors be nice? Will Denver ever feel like "home"? I believe God has led us here, and I know He'll take care of us. But it's always hard leaving the known for the unknown, and so easy to start second-guessing everything. Then you add in the fact that there are so many areas to choose from in the Denver metro area and you start wondering, did we pick the right one for us? Man, I think I need a nap...:)



Kevin and Kaitlyn at dinner downtown.


My city girl, reading the morning paper.

Appropriately titled.

11 comments:

joy said...

welcome back and i can't wait to see pictures of the house! your fears are totally understandable. i think even though this move is the best thing for your family (you've said this i think), it's still going to be hard. i've heard someone say that moving is like experiencing a death and i say that not to bum you out, but to give yourself some freedom to grieve. even though you essentially chose to move, doesn't mean you don't get to be sad. anyway, of course you will make friends! just think how easy it is to start talking to other moms at the park. besides, you are a great family and those Denver people will discover it in no time! our loss, is their gain! they are so lucky--we are going to miss you all. sorry this was so long.

Kate said...

I'm going to miss you too! I look at your pictures and think, in a couple years, our kids won't remember each other! Sad. Yet, wonderful to be doing something new, something less stressful for your husband and family, something exciting, something that God's called you to. I really wish you the best and will be keeping you in my prayers, friend.

Lisa Leonard said...

Change is so hard. I know you'll have no trouble making friends. Take a nap--that always helps!! I want to hear more about the house. xoxo

Brenda Williams said...

I've been to some of those quaint, established old neighborhoods in Denver, and they are really sweet. Oh, and 16th street and LoDo are lots of fun too. Not to mention Cherry Creek Mall, Park Meadows Mall, the Rockies and Coors Field, quick access to ski resorts, four unique seasons each year, Elitch Gardens Six Flags... What a wonderful place to live! I can easily imagine you living there and just loving life. We'll miss you a lot, but this is definitely a good move for you.
Keep on blogging!

Anonymous said...

The flip side to the fear which I know you are considering as well is that the scariest times are also the most exciting (roller coasters, snowboarding, eating sushi for the first time, having a child, moving to Denver). I can't wait to see all the excitement that you will experience as well. We will welcome you with open arms (totally capable of unloading a U-Haul)

Kristen Borland said...

wow! i hope you get a nap!

zunzun said...

Wow...thank you for sharing the pictures...I'm very happy for you and your family and i think it's commendable that you have taken into consideration how being closer to more diversity will benefit your children (it is a key factor for where we live as we are also a Transracial family).

One little piece of advice (I don't usually do this and feel very awkward but I'm gonna!LOL) be careful w/ posting pictures of the front of the house showing the exact number/address and/or liting the exact neighborhood...the net can be wonderful place to gather but it also attracts all kinds of strange people and I had someone track me down once (it happened to another blogger I read too) and I gave even less info!LOL But I guess if they try hard enough they can piece things together and figure out EXACTLY where you live.

Ok...sorry about that but after that experience I've been very careful! I stopped blogging before and have recently resurrected it but w/ the promise to my husband that I wouldn't post pictures letting people know where we lived!LOL

zunzun said...

oops...meant to leave this on your more recent entry...sorry

Rachel said...

The exactness of where we live can be scary. Then I realized that our blog has our name in the address, and we are listed in the phone book, so it wouldn't be too hard anyway. I do wonder when I am going to feel that public access to my family is too much.

Unknown said...

okay. no worries. jennifer and i are here and we love you already! you are coming to denver !!!! woohooo!!!! we are so excited!!!
love, your new soon to be real life friend, not just a blogger buddy,
angela
p.s. when do you move?

SupermomE13 said...

Brianna,
The house is beautiful! I am excited you are going to be "in our neck of the woods" even though we aren't super close. We're planning a road trip down this summer though so we can see a bunch of our friends!

I told J. that we have toyed with the idea of moving down that way for a lot of reasons... it would be so much fun to be close to all of you guys!!!

good luck with the packing (HATE that part!!!!) and hopefully I'll get to meet you in person this summer. :)

Hugs,
Erin

 

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