Backdated Post #3: May 26, 2009 - The Grand Canyon

Graduation was just around the corner, and we knew the time we had to spend with our friends, (who had become our family) was drawing to a close. We had lived in Arizona for 4 years, and there were still so many places we hadn't been. So we decided to take full advantage of our days off, and we headed to the Grand Canyon with the Tranchells.
The weather was beautiful, the views were amazing and.....

Miles was VERY upset we didn't allow him to climb over the fences. We had been warned that taking two 1-year olds to visit a gigantic whole in the earth might not be a great idea. But the kids actually did great. We went for a small hike around the rim of the canyon, and that seemed to be their favorite part.

At the end of the day we went back to our hotel, enjoyed a nice(?) mexican/steakhouse dinner, swam in the pool and relaxed in the hot tub. And eventually, when the kids had fallen asleep, we pushed the tables together, played games and ate treats late into the night.

Thanks Tranchells for a great trip. I think I am going through Carcasonne withdrawls, so I hope we can get together soon!!

Family Pictures

Backdated post #2: May 20, 2009

Every once in awhile the whole Atkinson Family gets together. It was tricky sometimes all being in the same place at the same time, because we lived in Arizona. And when we found out we were moving to Michigan, we knew the few opportunities we had every year to ALL be together would dwindle down to almost never.

And it just so happened there was one Wednesday evening in May when we could all clear our schedules and meet in Ogden to take some family pictures.

We're a pretty good lookin' bunch if I do say so myself.
We met in Ogden at the corner of 42nd Street and Harrison Blvd, where there just happens to be a big Flying J building with AMAZING landscaping. Karma must have been smiling down on us, because I was able to book a great photographer, with less than 24 hours notice, and her only opening for the month was the night we needed her.

Here's just a smattering of the pictures she took. I'm told there are more great ones on the CD that will be arriving at my doorstep shortly.

I am hoping,eventually, these new pictures will translate into new frames on the walls of my home, and a fun new blog design.

Eventually.

My little sailor

Pardon me as I back up a bit, if you consider a month only a bit. But in all the changes and all the chaos going on for our family, we actually had some pretty good times.

I was recently reminded of them when I finally downloaded pictures from all three of my very full memory cards. Over 800 pictures later, and many, many (too many to count) hours spent organizing and backing them up (in triplicate mind you!), and I can't help but share a few of our happy moments with you.

I hope you will enjoy viewing all my back-dated posts as much as I did living them.

May 14, 2009:

Just call us CRAZY...but we decided to brave the cold water, cloudy skies, and bazillions of mosquitos to take the boat for a spin at Willard Bay in Utah. Miles was brave and put his feet in the freezing water. I was forced to pull them out when they started turning blue.

Mike was even braver and jumped in to go wake-boarding. He had a good 15 minute run before his shivering and quivering brought him back to the boat.And we discovered Miles' inner pirate. He's a Captain of the Sea. We're still working on the "Ahoy Matey", but he's a pro at steering the ship.

Did you know it's much easier to Captain a ship if you aren't wearing any pants? Either did I. But Miles insisted.

D-Rock

Home from our trip to the D-Rock.

That's what the street folks call it.

Atleast that's what I've heard.

And I am happy to report a few things:

FIRST - We are not living in Detroit. I felt I needed to clarify. We are living in a quaint, family friendly, beautiful little suburb right on the river. Wyandotte is its name. And because I'm feeling extra nice today, I'll help you pronounce said town correctly. All together now........."Wine-dot"

SECOND - It really is beautiful there. My heart feels all a flutter just thinking of leaving behind my boring and dusty rocks in the back yard, and my beige house in my beige neighborhood for green, green, green. Green trees, green grass, and the river is mostly green too. (You prolly wouldn't want to swim in it.)

And THIRDLY , if thirdly is an actual word.....

I am happy to report we have found our new abode

An adorable and super small 1920s Bungalow, complete with 3 bedrooms, a big front porch, 2 car garage, and a great fenced back-yard. I love it.

And it's only 3 minutes from the hospital. Mike loves that.

I actually think I might be ready for this. To haul my family across the country and start a new life there.

Here I come Michigan,

my new Home Sweet Home!

Up to Date

Update on us:

Here's what we've been up to in the weeks since my last post.

Miles sprouted horns, and has spent the last few weeks growing into them

But somehow I still fall a little more in love with him every day

We put our house on the market, and headed to Utah and Wyoming for 3 weeks

We received an offer on our house, and I had my hair cut. (Though not in that order)

Celebrated a college graduation of our dear friend with a Hawaiian Luau. And caught a SWEET video of Mike doing his best at a "Hakka". Seriously, it is hilarious. And I would post it....but this is one of those instances where it is NOT better to ask forgiveness than permission.

We met Papa and Nana at Uinta Golf in Salt Lake so Mike could get fitted for some new custom clubs.

(he picked the new Callaway X 22s.....Lucky!)

While the big boys were playing at the golf store, the girls took the little boys to the aquarium

Don't let this picture fool you. Those boys were heavily bribed by their aunt Rachel to sit on her lap.

Just kidding. They love you Rach!


And I finally got some shots of me and my little man together. This doesn't happen often.

And this is why......
And one thing we HAVEN'T done.......

follow through on the "no binky" rule, obviously.

Only one more month until we are Michigan bound, so I am soaking up everything I can from our trip North. I'm sure it will be awhile before we can make it back.

There's still so much more to do, and so little time. So please don't feel bad if I neglect my blogland duties. For awhile at least. It's nothing personal.

And when things calm down, and we are settled, I have grand old plans for this little blog of mine. So Stay Tuned!

Give me 5....K

A couple months ago my friend Tiffany had a great idea. At least it seemed like a great idea at the time.

She wanted to run a 5K race in Peoria. And she must have caught me at a weak moment.

Because I enthusiastically agreed.

A little something you should know about me.......I am NOT a runner.

But I dusted off my running shoes and hit the gym. And I started running. Very, Very slowly.

And after a few weeks, I was running 2 or 2.5 miles every day. And I still had a month to go before my little race. Plenty of time to work up to 3.2 miles.

And THEN....we decided to put our house on the market. Aside from taking care of my little boy, that took up the majority of my time. And my running shoes went back in the closet to collect a little more dust. For nearly a month.

And the next thing I knew, it was race day. And I admit, I was a little scared!!

But I got up, put on my shoes, and met my friends at the starting line.

Me, Tiffany, and Amber, freezing outside before the race

And at 8:00 am, we were off!

And while I was out hitting the pavement, Miles decided to entertain the crowd. He marched right out into the street to get his groove on to the music.

When I got to the first mile marker I thought, "Wow! That was fast. And EASY! I can do this!"

And when I got to the second mile marker I thought, "hmmm....how did I get myself into this???"

But I just kept moving my feet, and when I came around the last corner and saw the finish line I was so relieved!!!

I finished it off with a time of 34:02, which is about an 11 minute mile. I know....I already told you I was slow. But in all honesty, I thought it would take me 45 minutes, so I was pleased with my time. And happy I didn't have to run/walk.

And my 2 favorite guys were waiting for me at the finish line.

Truthfully, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And maybe next year I'll try a 10K. But only if you promise to run it with me!

Designed to Sell!

If any of you out there have ever been through the process of selling a home, I'm sure you can relate.

I, myself, have never experienced the JOY that comes from preparing a home to be listed in one of the worst real-estate markets in the country. Oh yes. To say the last few weeks have been joyful would be, well...

A right out L-I-E!

My stress level has been at an all-time high.

A long time ago, before I entered the land of mommyhood, I used to lounge leisurely on the couch feeding myself delicious treats and watching Designed to Sell on HGTV.

I would DELIGHT in the chosen couples wreck of a home. I was amused at the negative comments the real estate agent would drop like a 10 pound weight on these poor, design-less people. And I found it out-right hysterical watching the overly stressed house wife burst into tears when the wall paper she was removing didn't tear off in one big piece, but millions of itty bitty teensy weensy shards.

Perhaps I wasn't very sympathetic, I'll admit.

But I will never again watch that show with the same callousness of my unexperienced past.

The last 2 weeks I have been spending every free moment scrubbing and cleaning and dusting and washing and packing, and then doing it all over again. It took me more than two days alone just to scrub the grout and tiles in my living room and kitchen. On the plus side, I now have triceps of steel. Oh....and let's not forget. My floor looks amazing.

I have washed every wall, cleaned every baseboard, scrubbed every light switch and cabinet door, and molding, and window, and mirror, and shelf, and...

I think you get the idea.

And I am exhausted. But it's finished. And as of yesterday evening, our home is officially listed For Sale on the Arizona MLS.

{Can I get a Halleluyer, people?!}

(a la Oprah style, of course)

So....anyone wanna buy a house?

Believe me when I say, you'll be getting a STEAL!

Front of Home

Living Room

Dining Area /Eat in Kitchen

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Bedroom #2 or Office

Computer Nook

Bedroom #3

Bathroom #2

Backyard & Patio

And now, my house is all clean, my laundry is caught up, my sewing things are all packed up, Miles is taking his daily 3 hour nap...

I guess all there's left to do is turn on Designed to Sell and hope my home sells just as quickly.

Any takers????

My Top 3

My Top 3 reasons I love garage sales:

3. I cleared out multiple closets full of junk

2. The people watching is SUPERB!

and the number one reason I love garage sales....

1. I made $350 smackeroos!!

And the top 3 things I learned during this garage sale:

3. People will buy anything for a dollar

2. Having a husband who speaks spanish is VERY handy

1. Having a husband who wants to sell everything you, (and everyone else owns) for $1 is not

I'm pretty sure there were times he offered to pay someone else to take an item off our hands.

Seriously.

But in the end, we were successful. And I still have 3 rooms and a 2 car garage to sift through. Anyone planning a visit in May? I'm sure I'll have many more $1 deals by then.

Definitely for Sure, Absolutely, Positively....

Because a few people have asked....

I thought you should know.....


It is set in stone.

There's no turning back,

Or backing out.


We are absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt

{Moving To Michigan!}

Mike Graduates June 5th, we are packing the truck June 6th, and heading out June 7th.

(Or maybe the 6th, if we pack really fast.)

Anyone up for a 30 hour, 10 hours a day for 3 days, road trip across the country???

(with a 1 1/2 year old little boy and a 6 1/2 year old dog?)

(HINT: The only acceptable answer here is Yes)

PLEASE SAY YES!!!

Match Day

Match Day

These two simple words are enough to strike fear in the hearts of any 4th year medical student. The day that determines the rest of your life. (Well, the next 4 years of it, at least.)

It's a complicated process. There are applications, and interviews, and preliminary year applications, and rank order lists, and one GIANT COMPUTER system that "matches" students with their sought after specialty programs.

In Mike's case, that happens to be Anesthesiology. It has been a long road. a Very Very Very long road. But that light at the end of the tunnel???

Well, it has FINALLY arrived.

I have been looking forward to this day for four years, and very anxiously and impatiently waiting for it to arrive for the last one.

But the results are in, folks. And we have some good news!

Mike Matched into an Anesthesia Program!!!

The exact words were: "Congratulations! You have matched to an advanced position."

I can not even begin to tell you what a relief it is to have this whole process OVER!

So, where are we going??? Well....

....

....

....

We don't know! (well, not EXACTLY)

You see, the inventors of "the Match", are some real clever little buggers. They drag the process out over the course of an entire year. THEN, on Match Day Monday, they send out these clever little e-mails telling you whether you did, or did NOT "match". And the kicker???? They don't tell you until the next Thursday exactly what program you matched into.

I know...very tricky. That being said, we have a pretty good idea of where we are headed. I'll spare you all the details of HOW we know this. I really doubt you want to hear all about the complexity of rank order lists, and preliminary year secondary lists, and...blah blah blah. It's like learning a new language.

But, it suffices me to say we are Nearly Certain on our destination for the next four years.

Anyone up for a visit to the Great Lakes? Because it looks like we'll be in

MICHIGAN!

I am excited at the new opportunities that may be there for us way up north. And I am really looking forward to living in a place, and experiencing a lifestyle I would not have experienced otherwise. I am a little nervous, and excited, and happy to be moving on, and sad to be moving away from dear friends...And all of this, all at the same time. What a complete mix of emotions.

And tonight, as I am sitting outside in my capris and sandals in the early evening, enjoying the cool breeze and the 75 degree weather, and smelling my delicious orange blossoms, I know I will cry a little tear at the thought of trading that in for the snow and cold again.

And for anyone clearing out all their unwanted warm and wintery items....Send them my way! Apparently living in the desert four years has really caused my winter wardrobe to suffer.