Thursday, November 3, 2016

We moved to North Dakota!?!!!

Wow.wow.wow. A lot has changed. A lot! So a few months ago we FINALLY, FINALLY..bought a house. We had been living in this tiny, ancient home for 3 years. $625/month, 3 bed 1 bath house. I had a love hate relationship with that house. Rent was cheap and it had a lot of charm, the lot was huge and private and in an ideal location. The bedrooms were tiny it was NOT updated and there was not enough room. I found myself dreaming of moving every day. I was so sick of not having a place for everything, for order, for a place of our own. I'm not sure what happened...we started looking. We got accepted for a loan, everything fell into place. There were only a handful of homes on the market in our price range, so when the house we bought came on the market, I looked at it the next day, LOVED it, but Chad was out of town. Our realtor told us it wouldn't last and that we had to jump, but we couldn't buy a house that Chad hadn't seen. And he was right, an offer was accepted 2 days later. Then a few weeks later I noticed it had come back on the market. We went and looked at it, Chad really liked it, we made an offer and they accepted a few hours later.

When we moved in, it was AMAZING! I loved having a place for everything, I started decorating and planning, we were going to fix it up and sell it for a higher price one day. We had dreams of tearing down walls and making a huge open den/kitchen. In fact, we were planning on going to home depot and buying brand new cupboards when our house was broken into. They stole our Disney fund and our cupboard money (Chad had just been paid a few thousand dollars for a lifeguard class) and several other of our valuables. Annoying robbers. But that's a story for another day.  So because of that financial set back we didn't start renovations right away. Which looking back, that was kind of a blessing in disguise.

So one day Chad tells me he was going to apply for a job in North Dakota. HAHAHAHAHAH. Okay....I said...ya right. Like we would ever live in NORTH DAKOTA. Whatever. But the pay is good he says...it would be a great opportunity he says. Never in a million years I thought.

Chad had not been happy in his job, he didn't mind the work itself, but the people he worked with were difficult. I knew he wasn't happy but he was trying to get his PHD and was planning on staying in AUburn until it was finished. I wanted to stay in Auburn for the rest of our lives. I LOOOOVED it there. I felt at home. Later Chad told me that his friend had sent him the link to the job and he had said no way, he could never live in the cold. Then he had a really bad day at work. He prayed and begged God to help him find a new job. God said, "But I already sent you a job." Chad knew he had to apply.

A few weeks later he gets a phone call saying they wanted to do a skype interview. What?? This is happening. okay...the interview went well. They called him and asked for an in person interview. He flies out, they are impressed. A few days later they offer him the job. I was in shock. IN SHOCK. This was a huge opportunity for him..Huge. The pay was twice what we were making in AUburn. I cried.

So West Fargo bought the Olympic trials pool from Omaha, Nebraska. They had it transferred here and they are building a facility around it. Chad will be director over that facility. He will be in charge of coming up with new programs, planning swim meets, swimming championships, fundraising etc. This job will open so many more doors for him. We couldn't pass it up.

So here we are. In North Dakota...living in a tiny apartment until our house sells. Crazy right?

P.S. I am somewhat depressed and lonely here...so I'm going to start blogging again. I need an outlet.

Monday, February 9, 2015

New Orleans


For our 10th Anniversary Chad convinced me to go to New Orleans with him. I say convinced because at the time I was nursing Finn and did not want to leave him. I decided to go, last minute. BEST.DECISION.EVER. 

Luckily I have an amazing sister in law who was able to come down and watch the kids for 4 days. Thank you Candi! 

We took the Megabus. $20 round trip for the both of us. We started our trip with a late night Movie in montgomery. Guardians of the Galaxy. I really liked it. Then we got on the bus and drove through the night to New Orleans. This was the only part of the trip I hated. It was cold uncomfortable and I could not sleep. It was miserable. When we got there we had to walk a few miles to get to our bed and breakfast. I saw this on our walk. 

We got tired and stopped and took a rest in a park.



We ate breakfast at Cafe Du Monde. DELICIOUS! I had to get their hot chocolate even though it was like 100 degrees outside.



I called our B&B and even though it was a few hours earlier than check in time, they told us we could check in early! We were thrilled! We told them it was our anniversary and they even upgraded our room for free!! I adored this place! Chad picked it out by himself and I was so proud of him! We took a glorious 2 hour nap and then went to lunch.






Gorgeous NOLA


We ate at Dat Dogs...DELICIOUS!




Chad took me to Emerils for our anniversary dinner. It was so fancy and fun!












We ate at Mother's


The most delicious Snow Ball EVER! from Hansen's if you ever go to NOLA go there...you will not be disappointed! 



Po Boy



There was a banana plant at our B&B



We walked Bourbon street and as we were walking we saw they were filming for NCIS: New Orleans. We watched for a while and then got some ice cream and headed back to our room.




This is Lucas Black from the Show.



We walked around 9 miles/day and took the trolley everywhere. 

District Donuts







This trip was magical. I wish I would have taken more pics of the architecture! The food was amazing. The shopping was so fun! I LOVED spending time with Chad without the kids. I felt young again. I want to go back again soon!















Summer 2014

 I went to Utah to Visit brittany! It was so fun! I got to go Clara's baby blessing in ID.



We stayed with our old friend Morty and his adorable family. He was an amazing Host! 


We ate tons of good food!





We got a Mac Makeover


Did tons of shopping!




cousins


When I got back we got to go to Isla's baby blessing So sweet!



Last day of school!


Knox has been sucking his thumb since he was 2 I bought him this thum stuff it didn't work but he decided to stop on his own for about 6 months. Then he started up again. Not sure how to make him quit for good.




Hallie's new swimsuit


Hallie made this cute monster








we went camping on the beach. I was very nervous about it, but it ended up being so fun!!
















Owen lost his first tooth!



And got a cool haircut




we went blueberry pickin'




Skating


This is why we have a king sized bed!

swimming with friends





house makeover





4th of July! My parents came down so fun!




my dad's homemade bathroom bag, totally cracks me up



Fireworks!








celebrated Owen's Birthday!




Dressed up like cows to get free chic fil a










Back to school shopping!



Knox dressed himself


Hallie laid out her clothes for the first day of school



Knox got a haircut


First day of 3rd grade and 2nd grade!