Monday, August 13, 2012

Creating a habit...

Well this isn't exactly the most exciting or informative post but I don't have much time and I just want to start creating the habit of getting on here and posting :)   So, here's a picture of the Old Capital in Iowa City. The downtown area here is beautiful, we are really excited about exploring it! 
It won't be happening today though, because even though everyone here claims there's a drought, we've had some serious rain several times per week since we arrived! Good thing we set up our rain totes/barrel!

The rain has really cooled things down here which has been a blessing in many ways: 1, obviously that we aren't having to run the AC and 2, the boys sleep waaaay better in a cooler temperature, so that has been much appreciated :)  So since its so rainy today we're catching up on massive loads of laundry and working our way through the major stack of books we got yesterday when we visited the Coralville Public Library for the first time. I also hope I'll get a chance to watch last night's episode of Army Wives while I work on all the folding I have to do :)  Hoping it will clear up and maybe we can at least take a walk around the park to get out some energy around here...






Saturday, August 11, 2012

fields of opportunity

Well, since clearly I need a "Take 3," here I go! Inspired by my amazing friend Samantha who is so on top of her family's blog, I'm going to give this another go.

Its August 11, and since I last posted...

* My hubby successfully defended his doctoral dissertation @ ETSU on February 29.
* That very same day we received our SECOND offer on our house, which we accepted (literally driving from the defense to the realtor's office to sign the papers)
* 3.5 weeks later we moved temporarily to Graham, NC, while we were job hunting
* We had a wonderful trip to Johnson City for my hubby's graduation and really enjoyed spending time with our friends there again
* Spent wonderful time at the beach
* Spent countless hours with Auntie Leslie & cousins Joey & Katie (who also moved during the same time frame to Winston Salem, just an hour away)
* David interviewed at University of Iowa and at Northwestern University in Chicago
* He accepted job offer at U of Iowa
* Spent one day in Iowa City looking at the area, then from NC we bought a house, sight unseen (AHH!!)
* Had an amazing trip to MD/PA to visit with Jeff, Lindsey & Jason - we went to Hershey Chocolate World, Zoo America, toured Oriole Park at Camden Yards and had a wonderful time with them
* Came back home & celebrated Mark's 4th birthday with an aquarium party on July 14, with Papa & Boggie, Auntie, Joey & Katie, and Mum (my mom's mom), and we had a wonderful time
* Packed up the whole house and then hubby, dog, moving truck/trailer with Suburban went first on Thursday. Friday we left along with my parents and headed west, and then on Saturday July 21 -950 miles, 16 hours, 2 days, 2 cars later - we set foot in our new house!

Its really beautiful. Its way more hilly than I ever imagined Iowa to be, and a wonderful active community. David has been enjoying his new job, taking the bus while he gets his bike in gear to bike to work as so many people here seem to do. We've tried a couple of churches and met some very nice neighbors. The house is coming along, we've gotten some new furniture and we are getting settled in more and more every day and having alot of fun exploring. :)