Grand Tour

Now that our new additions of furniture are in it is time to give you all the grand tour of our new home! And since only mom and Randy will be the only ones to see it in person I thought I'd better show it to you now as well in hopes you will all come out and visit us! Yes we are having a housewarming party, so if you could come by for an open house on October 16th, please do! (I know, I know. You are all too far away - thought it would be cute to try though, right?)

Family room on main level. We still have some organization to do with the wires from the TV and surround sound and additional wall hangings are yet to be found and hung where that clock is.

Other side of the family room. Pugsly is snoozing! 

Formal Dining Room. My grandma's mirror hung there inj back as I will always cherish it.

China Hutch and table we purchased from the previous owners. 

Kitchen. There is a side by side fridge and a double oven that are not shown in this picture.

My housewarming gift I bought for myself. I didn't like this Scentsy warmer when I first saw it in the catalog over a year ago, but when I moved into my kitchen here and noticed they matched perfect together, well I just had to buy it! 

Dining table. 

Laundry room minus the front load dryer and washer set that is to be delivered next week. 

Front formal room or Grand Room as I've heard it called. 

Piano that was left by the previous owners. Needs some tuning and some minor repairs. Next year Savannah will be starting piano lessons! 

Bear and Pugsly posing while I get a shot of the oversized chair and ottoman we fell in love with at the store. As you can see I am still in search for some sphere shaped candles to decorate the candlbra on the table.  

Entertainment room in the lower level minus the 65" flat screen that Charlie dreams of every night. We have yet to get the aquarium up and running, it will be a lot of work yet.

Sectional for comfy seating while watching movies. Sorry to mom and Randy that we didn't have the TV set up for this while watching that long movie the night before you left. 

Hot tub Room. 

Charlie's dungeon room in the basement. Lot's of WOW playing and some writing and recording on the Yamaha keyboard too. (I like the latter of these two.) 

Cigar patio on the top level near the bedrooms. (That is how the previous owners named it and it has stuck since!) 

Spare bedroom and bed. 

Our bedroom. 

North side of the back yard. 

Deck and water fountain, south side of the yard there in back. 

Savannah's room. 

My multi purpose room, I need to get a chair and get my sewing machine set up still. There is room for a couch and lamp and table on the other side for reading too that I'd like to get someday. Or we could put a bed in there for visitors as well. 

Other side of our bedrom. Oops forgot to put that load of laundry away. 

Main bathroom vanity on top level. Love the double sinks! The toilet and bathtub are in their own section behind the sinks.

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Jake's room.

Master bath and shower.

I did not get photos of the other two bathrooms, the garage, and the tool room in the basement where the freezer is but there you have it.

I just have to say I never would have imaged that this house would ever be ours, meaning that it is all what we wanted and more and that when we put an offer on it we didn't even plan on it going through so it has truly been a blessing. I want also to express my gratitude to my husband for all his hard work to make this happen. Of course I don't like being so far away from my family, but he has worked so hard to get us a place to come home to and keep a steady job and now I am able to stay home more and be with Savannah more. I haven't been able to do this since she was a baby. 

Thank you Charlie for working so hard for our sake. We love you.

Company!

Well Mom and Randy came and went. I'm afraid now that they are gone I am feeling more homesick now than I did before they came.We had a good time and I was glad to have them over. I have never been able to accomodate company like this so it was nice.

The weather was quite cool here so much that Mom had to go to the local store and buy some warmer shirts and some socks. I forget how hot it still is in Utah I guess. We did get to sit on the back porch one day and chit chat. She and I shared some sushi and enjoyed each other's company while the guys went out on the hunt for cheese and local meat stores.

We went to the National Railroad Museum where Savannah rode a train with a spider that she'd found after she picked her seat and we were moving. That girl hates spiders! Grandpa Randy got to see the Big Boy up and personal. We arrived a little later than what would entail us to see the exhibit in full so we made note that we will go back next time they are out.

I think my favorite part of their visit was Sunday, the day before they left. We made breakfast then headed to Door County Peninsula. The weather wasn't very warm - only in the 60's compared to Utah's 90 degrees, but it was still a beautiful fall Sunday and was very relaxing. We went to Egg Harbor to see Lake Michigan and well, looks more like the ocean than a lake. We also went to the Door Peninsula Winery and had a few tastes. Mom bought fudge, and well the rest of us got some yummy wine. We ate lunch at a place called the Rusty Tractor where they had a lot of antiques for sell. We finished the day off with an ice cream cone and drove home, then watched Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I just downloaded my pictures and found that I didn't have one on there of them with us! So I hope when they get home they will post theirs as I know we had some taken together. I miss them more now than ever. I can't wait until the next visit!

Entryway to Egg Harbor

Savannah playing on the play ground.

Beautiful fall colors are springing up everywhere!

Rusty tractor cafe where we ate lunch.

Geese flying overhead at the harbor.

Boat coming into the harbor from the lake. My mind had a mirage that there were mountains on the other side of the water...I had to blink a few times just to be sure.

Family Yard Work

We spent the weekend tending to our new lawn. We all took turns trimming the lawn, Savannah and Jake picked up branches, and Charlie had fun blowing and vacuuming leaves. I have to say I am not used to any trees that is for sure. As you know our previous house was in a new neighborhood so a rake and leaf blower was never really needed. As far as the branches and twigs, well I am still trying to figure this one out. I am wondering if it is cause of some of the high winds they get around here? I noticed the neighbors put piles of these on the side of the road so I am sure it must happen quite often. I also read that we have to be very careful what goes in the drains and landfills out here due to the contamination that could get fed into the Great Lakes - so any garden waste has to be picked up special or delivered to the local facility - a lot of changes!

Nonetheless we were proud when all was said and done! And yes, I didn't realize we had this much land until I mowed it!

Week 2 in Wisconsin

Well we are at the two week mark. It sure has been a busy week with all the paperwork changes and other business that needs taken care of. I have been taking time to find out about local dance classes, Girl Scouts, and all the school stuff. It has been challenging trying to figure out this recycling stuff and how to get around town. I am doing pretty good though.

We're unpacked, now we just need to rearrange a few rooms. We picked out some new furniture to finish filling the front room and the basement, so we are excited to get these delivered any day now! It's been really nice having family BBQ's and being able to be together again. We used the BBQ that the previous owner left behind and well can I just say I haven't eaten like this in a long time?

Job hunt is slow but sure...I interviewed with a staffing agency and really came out of there feeling positive about what I have to offer. A lot of jobs I am seeing want degrees though, so maybe I'll have to go to school which I could handle too - I think. I'd like to be involved as an insurance claims specialist - something that involves accounting but in a specialized field like for a doctor's or hospital office or property insurance office.

I'm liking staying home too though, but really see that I wouldn't want to be home all day every day long term. For now it is a nice break - I even have two sewing projects I plan to start on next week!

Jake is still working for NEW Plastics. He is super excited to get his first paycheck tonight. He works 3rd shift so Savannah and Charlie don't really get to see him much. Hopefully this will turn into a full time permanent job so he can really save up and get a car.

Savannah is so funny, she was so adamant about moving and not wanting to come yet when we got here she was so excited. She is finding new friends at school and is anxious to have them over. I am really enjoying the school she attends and the curriculum. There are also a lot of after school programs for science and drama. They have a program with the local bowling alley where on Mondays they pick the kids up after school via school bus, haul them to the alley where they get to learn to bowl. Savannah has been wanting to bowl ever since we took her the first time and she has also been wanting to ride on the school bus. So you can imagine how excited we were when this opportunity fell in our lap.

The pets have easily adjusted which was a big surprise for our finickiest cat, Muffers. They all have their own patterns down and love the back yard. I found the dog sticking his nose in some holes trying to sniff out the squirrels who live back there. Oh and when you buy bird food, there is no feeding birds if the squirrels have anything to say about it.

I admit I had a few downer days where I felt truly homesick, but my mom and Randy are coming out next week. So I am really excited for that. I will probably not want them to leave, but that will be how it is and I will need to allow myself time to get used to it.

I think we'll be having a housewarming party the beginning of October. Thing is I am not sure who to invite other than strangers from church and people from Charlie's work. This will be the only way to get to know others though, even if I don't like meeting new people. (Yes, I get uncomfortable.)

My nephew Pete is moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, just 622 miles East of us, I told him that he and his new girlfriend are more than welcome to come for Thanksgiving. I also have another nephew who lives in Indiana, who I will also invite. We will see though. I am happy to know there is some family closer than 1500 miles away!

I am hopeful for the future, yet I also know there are going to be extremely emotional times for me this first year. I will have more pictures soon, so stay tuned!

Getting Settled!

Driving into the bay area Saturday.

Savannah and Daddy walking to school to meet the new teacher.

Savannah and her first grade teacher, Mrs. Morford, on the first day of school.

Savannah saying goodbye as they head into the school.

Caught this little guy running around while I was walking back home from dropping Savannah off at school. They are all over and cute as can be, trouble I'm sure too!

View walking back to our house.

Kitchen's all unpacked!

Finally an organized bedroom!

We headed to Green Bay on Friday morning about 3 :45 am, arrived at 4:30 pm and stayed the night in North Platte Nebraska and headed out again the next morning at the same time. We arrived in GB at around 5:30 Saturday night, drove right to the house. It was a long two days, especially with pets in the car!

So it's been less than a week since we go here. It has been exciting and stressful all at the same time. Unpacking all day, then running errands shopping, we feel like chickens with our heads cut off. At the end of the day I don't want to worry about dinner and almost went for  pizza but thanks to Charlie we resisited and had a good home cooked meal. I am so not used to physical activity but am really in need of it!

I am finding more and more each day that I still love the house we chose and also the neighborhood. There is so much room here and of course after living on a mattress with no carpet for 3 weeks, well of course this is heaven! The previous owners left a lot of things so it has helped in that I haven't had to worry about decorating so much. I feel we are very blessed, they left some very valuable items such as an old sewing machine and a piano. We ended up buying the dining table and the China cabinet, but at a steal!

Jacob starts a new job today throught the temporary agency. He'll be working at NEW Plastics making pressboard material for furniture as a general laborer. Hopefully it will become permanent. Of course Charlie's job is the same as it was before, he did get a chance to make friends the other night though during their annual bowling party.

Savannah started school today. She was so excited and when the kids started to arrive she turned completely quiet. She went into the class first in line and had that look like she was taking it all in one moment at a time. I hope she will make a new friend today.

I admit it was fun for me to make her lunch and walk her to school. I wish every day could be like this, but soon I will be working again...hopefully the hours will not be atrocious...and who knows, maybe our house will sell soon? One can hope!