The Blum Family Move

ER visit...Sea Level is for Sissies...new job...etc.

2009-06-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been one long and crazy week. To fill in up to current events, in February I decided to sign up with a group of people from our chiropractors office to participate in the Bolder Boulder 10K race. I say participate and not run because at that time I did not know if I could run. I mean I am sure that I have run sometime in my life. I am pretty sure I did in Jr. High but as an adult? No way! Those people are crazy. I guess I just wanted to see if I could do it. I found a podcast called podrunner http://www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.html that starts you off with day 1 of running and it is a training program that helps you prepare for a 5k, then 8k then 10k as well as other types of programs as well. This podcast was the best tool for me for training. I actually started training late and it was pretty cold when I started so I was not very consistent. In April and May I trained about 4 or 5 days a week. I was really determined to run this race. I have never done anything like this in my life.

Now to switch gears. Keith is training for a few bicycle races this summer. Last Saturday morning, two days before my race he rides up some mountain with his friends as part of his training. He comes home unusually tired. At 11:00 pm that night he tells me that his heart still will not slow down. Apparently though out the day he had been aware of an erratic heart rate. I had him go get his heart monitor that he wears for exercise and his resting heart rate was over 160 bpm. So, we call the nurse, call a neighbor and head to the ER. Long story not so short they could not get his heart into a regular rhythm so they admitted him. The next day it clicked back into a good rhythm and they discharged him with a diagnosis of atrial flutter. That evening we ended up going back in to urgent care because the veins in his arms had become inflamed from the medication (poison) they are administering him through his IV. Home again at 10pm. We are seriously running on no sleep for 24 hours and now I am supposed to get up at 4am to drive to Boulder to RUN in a race! I decided that I worked too hard to miss this race and I got up and went.

By race day I had only run a total of about 5.25 miles and I was planning to run 6.2 miles. Well I did it. I ran the whole way, no stopping no walking. I did it in 72 minutes and 13 seconds I think. http://raceday.onlineraceresults.com/individual.php?bib=JB221 My goal was 72 minutes so I was really happy with that. I chugged a beer at the finish line (because they handed me a free beer) and then we went into the expo to get more free stuff. About an hour later I felt like I was going to faint and had to sit down for a minute but other than that I was fine.

Keith is fine too. We have an appointment to meet with his electro-pathologist in a few weeks. Until then it is business as usual. Keith rode up his mountain again this weekend and is riding in a race on Sunday http://www.elephantrockride.com/.

I also started a part-time job this week. I am working for our church, 2 weekends a month and about 6 hours a week from home. I had a good time doing it this weekend and I am really excited about it.

That is about all the news I can think of right now. We are finally ready to plant in our garden, the past few weekends have kept us pretty busy. I hope this finds all of you well.

Jane

Locks of Love

2009-05-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we (they) did it. Madison has been begging me to cut her hair shorter. We talked about donating it and she was so excited about that. Victoria decided then that she also wanted to donate her hair. So, we checked out some books about childhood diseases and cancer that were geared toward children, studied up and went to a the salon for a cut. Monday we will mail their braids to locks of love. I put all the pictures on our photo site, see the link on the right. Here are a few.

Sew Crafty

2009-04-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well I did it! I actually sewed dresses for the girls. It was fun and not too hard. Alot of learning and thank God for Youtube. I also made little purses and headbands to match with the scraps. Here are a couple pix.

More Soccer Fun

2009-04-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, once again we ended up with horrible weather for soccer this Saturday. Unfortunately, our game was not cancelled this week. It was crazy windy and about 34 degrees. It was also picture day. We decided not to buy pictures this season but the girls still need to be a part of the team picture. Tori was first at 8:20, they were already running behind and the children standing there, some even crying, because of the wind and cold. It was miserable. Madison's coach said, how about if we do our own pictures on a nice day? Brilliant!!! They both warmed up during their games and we froze. Madison spent some time in goal and Tori scored twice. Hooray!

Frozen Fog

2009-03-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

Once in a while we have an interesting weather pattern come through our neighborhood. It gets really foggy in the late evening and then the fog freezes all over the trees. The look is amazing. Unfortunately the sun came out well before my camera did but I still got a few shots. I will post a few here and the rest on our photo site. Have a great day!!

It's Soccer Time

2009-03-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well, something interesting about Colorado. Apparently people here do not care about the weather because they start soccer the first week of March. Which happens to be the snowiest month of the year on average. So, Saturday we were at the fields at 8:30am and it was a brisk 29 degrees. Are you kidding me? Our children had on so many layers they could not put their arms down! Victoria is playing on a preschool team so she can play with her friend Kallan, they do not play with goalies and her team dominated the field. Madison's team is playing together for the first time and they played a team that had been together for 4 years so they did not fair quite as well, but they had a really fun time. Next week I am bringing my thermos of cocoa for sure!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-02-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

OK. It has been way too long since my last post. Nothing major is happening. Our weather has been very mild and we have been enjoying 1 or 2 days a week outside lately!! Keith 's travel has been cut significantly and we are adjusting to a new routine. His job is going well, there are just alot of changes being made which is pretty stressful. As you can see Madison is playing basketball this season. She is having a great time and has a big playoff game this weekend! Victoria was too young to play but she will be able to play soccer in the spring and she is looking forward to it. I am currently training to run a 10k at the end of May. My non running body is really resisting this idea but I am pressing on! Keith is riding his bike when the weather lets him and he also played dodgeball with a group from work last weekend. I have a ton of picutres to download and I will hopefully post them soon. Take care everone!!!

Baby It's Cold Outside

2008-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

WOW! is all I have to say. We set a new record today in Denver. A record low, it was -19 degrees this morning. That is a minus sign in case you missed it. We have seen ice crystals in the air and rainbow pillars next to the sun. I am pretty sure that is a first for me. Our home is nice and cozy, we have seat heaters in the car, the only problem is having to suit up every time we need to take Lexie outside to potty. She usually is pretty good about going right away, the problem lies with her wanting to run and play in the snow. She is also pretty good about staying in our yard when we take her out, except for this morning. I was still in my jammies and it was time to take her out so I put on my winter slippers, my puffy coat and my mittens. She pottied and then saw some construction guys across the street and decided it was a good idea to go greet them! So, here I am, in my pjs, it is 0 degrees outside, chasing my sweet little puppy around the neighborhood! I will be sure to get dressed right away tomorrow morning that is for sure! It is however an absolutely gorgeous day outside. Bright blue skies, bright white snow and no wind. We'll be off to run some errands a little later, maybe when we hit our high of 16!

Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over today and the girls all decorated gingerbread houses. Last year we bought the kit but this year we did it from scratch. I baked the gingerbread pieces in a mold and made the icing and Jodi and the girls brought over all sorts of candies and sprinkles. We had a great time and even had time to bake and decorate some cookies too.

Madison will start basketball practice tomorrow and Lexie will start puppy school tomorrow, so we will have a busy day. The rest of the pix are on the photo site.

A Visit with Banny

2008-12-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

My mom came out for a visit 2 weekends ago. The girls were thrilled and so was I. We had a nice relaxing visit. We did not go out and do much 1. because it was cold and 2. we needed to keep an eye on Lexie (see earlier post!). It was so nice to have her here and much too short a visit. Here are some pix.

Lexie our new puupy (bear cub)

2008-12-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, after having to surrender Gilford,we started looking for a puppy. We realized that it would be easier to train a dog from the beginning rather than have to retrain an older dog. We found a puppy rescue near us and fell in love with the pictures of some puppies on their site. So, we came home with the newest member of our family. They are calling her a "newfoundland mix". We do not anticipate her getting as large as a "newfie" due to the size of her paws but she is growing quickly and has gained over 2 pounds in 2 weeks! She is very sweet, loving and smart. The only problems we are having with her are potty issues and nipping/biting while playing with the girls. We will start puppy school on December 12th and we are hoping she does well. We have lots more pix of her on our photo site. Check them out!!

Snow Day!

2008-11-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it finally snowed this morning! The girls were out playing and trying to build a snowman. It only snowed a couple of inches and it is melting quickly. Next week we will be in the mid 60's again so we may not see another good snow for another week. This will be good if the weather holds off a few more weeks becasue we want to put up Christmas lights and hate to do it so early. That is how it is done here. Find a good weekend and put 'em up no matter how early in the season it is. I can not believe that Thanksgiving is in less than 2 weeks.

Goodbye to Gilford

2008-11-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

Well, after struggling with the most difficult decision we returned Gilford to his rescue. I took him to the vet and then to training. At both places the trainer and the vet expressed concerns about his "prey drive". Meaning he wants to hunt and attack animals that are smaller than him. The girls could not walk him because he was always after a bird or rabbit and he was too strong for them to control. We found out that he was rescued from Mississippi and there was a good chance that he was a trained hunting dog and not raised as a pet at all. We were told that we may never be able to have him and Gipple in the home safely together. As well as his reaction to other small dogs we meet on walks or at the pet store. We really struggled with this decision as we already had become extremely attached to him but inside I knew we were doing the right thing. The organization that we adopted him through has acres of land where they run, they are not housed in crates or cages and they are a no-kill shelter. These people really care for these animals and were very willing to accept him back. They now will try try place him in a home with out small animals.

Yesterday was a tough day for all of us, especially Keith. Gilford had attached himself most to him and Keith has a lot of guilt about this. So we shall see when and where our next dog comes from. We have learned a lot about dogs in the last 2 weeks, I think we will be a bit more informed the next time we decide to adopt a dog.

Blogging Once Again

2008-11-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

I know, it has been way too long since I have updated my blog. I have been having computer issues and I like to add photos with my blogs and my photos have been inaccessible for months. Then, I got to far behind and did not know where to start. Well, I am starting today! I have updated our family photo site. I am not caught all the way up but I have August through yesterday complete. For labor day weekend we went camping up in the mountains near Wyoming. We call it Moose Country, because there is a moose release area nearby and we wanted to find some moose. We did end up seeing about 8 or 9 altogether. We went with our friends the Powers and had a fantastic time.

Madison is continuing to work hard on her vision therapy. We are hoping only a couple more months of this and after that she will begin her first round of orthodontics. This will be a spreader plate that will widen her palette and prepare her mouth for the braces she will need in a few years. The girls are both in AWANAS in the Sparks program and they love it. We are homeschooling again this year. We are studying animals and their worlds. We have a new zoo pass and are enjoying learning and then seeing first hand the animals we are studying.

We took a trip to California in September and spent some time with family and friends. The girls love to play with their grandparents dogs and Molly (one of the dogs) is the one Tori considers "hers". We were there for Molly's birthday which was a big milestone as she had serious cancer and Molly passed away about a week after we got home. We were very grateful to have been able to spend some time with her and we will miss her very much.

In October we drove to Knoxville to visit Keith's brother and his family. We had such an amazing time. We played wii for hours and hours and we have now caused another family to become wii addicts. The girls did makeovers, sleepovers, went to see High School Musical 3 and went Go-Kart racing with their fabulous cousins Brittany (18) and Chandler (15). We ate way too much. The girls were great in the car which makes it much easier for us.

We did go trick-or-treating this year, we went with most of the children in our subdivision. I think there were about 10 children all together. It was a strange evening,because it only got down to about 50 degrees. Usually, it is much colder and possibly snowing on Halloween. Madison was a girl pirate and Victoria was Sleeping Beauty. I convinced the girls to get costumes that we could layer under and it turns out we did not even need that this year. They came home with tons of candy and we traded them Target gift cards for all but 10 pieces of their candy, Keith then took the rest to work on Monday! Whew!!

This past weekend we went to Costco and on the way home we stopped at Petsmart, just to look and see if they had any rescued dogs for adoption. As it turns out they did and while our groceries thawed we picked out the newest member of the Blum family. His name is Gilford and he is 2 years old. He is a German Short hair Pointer, sweet and fairly mellow. We think he was neglected and he needs some socialization. We are not sure if he wants to eat our cat Gipple so he is living downstairs for now and the cat lives upstairs. We start our training with him on Friday. The girls are doing well with him, except they are a bit too bossy. Imagine that.

Keith left last night for a week long trip to Phoenix so I am doing all the walking and potty training for a while. It was 35 degrees when I took him out for his walk this morning. Yikes! OK. Back to school work. The rest of our pictures our on our Shutterfly site. The Blum family photos link is on the right side of my blog. I promise to update more often. Jane

Tour de Cure 2008

2008-08-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

I know, I know! I have taken the summer off from blogging. I like t0 update my blog and photos at the same time and I am way behind in my photos due to technical difficulties, but I am working on it. This weekend Keith participated in a 100 mile bike ride for the Tour De Cure for the American Diabetes Association. Not only did Keith and his team ride 100 miles yesterday, they rode from Boulder up the mountains to Estes Park. In 25 miles miles they climbed about 3,000 feet! Toyota helped sponsor the team so they had some pretty nice riding gear. The entire team made it the whole way with no accidents or equipment issues. A few of us drove to the top at Estes Park to cheer them on when they came through. That was the half-way point and the hard climbing was over. Then we drove back down the mountains to the finish line where we waited for them there. It was awesome when they arrived, together as a team! They are already talking about next year and a faster time, imagine that. Anyway, I will have pictures up on our photo site linked to the side of the blog. As I am able to access my summer photos I will be updating.
We have had a relaxing summer. Meeting new neighbors, watching homes being built, going to a friends pool and playing Wii. Keith and I have been doing Weight Watchers this summer and have loved it! We also were introduced to The Hungry Girl, who has a website and a cookbook with low fat/cal recipes and so far we have loved all the food we have tried. OK, off to fix some pancakes. Jane

The Girls Recital Continued

2008-05-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

To fully enjoy this video you need to know a few things. First, this was the first time the videographer (aka Dad) had seen the show hence the camera shaking from laughter. Second, Victoria has been pinched one to many times from the bike helmet and therefore wears ALL chin straps on top of her chin. Enjoy the show!!!

The Girls Dance Recital

2008-05-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here is Madison's Portion of the recital. I will blog more later. I just want to see if I am capable of uploading video.

We Love the Snow But......

2008-04-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

OK. Here it is April 16Th and I am looking at 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground! Luckily we have been having a few days here and there of 60's so that has helped. The weekend should be nice again and I have a feeling we will be getting another round of snow next week sometime. We are trying to get some work done on the backyard but it keeps snowing! As it is with most any project, our project of planting grass has taken on a life of its own. First, we are to submit a drawing for approval before we do anything. Second, we have to choose grass and trees that are "approved" by our community. Third, we have to place rock around the perimeter of the house to prevent water drainage into the basement. So, the grass seed we have purchased sits and waits while we plant trees and order matching rock to be dumped at the house. Then Keith will spend 2 or 3 days laying down felt and landscape border and distributing rocks. Then we can plant our grass seed and hope for a lush and beautiful lawn. Whew!
The girls and I are going to drive out to California on Monday and spend about a week out there. I am trying to find a way to buy us some Disneyland passes. Two trips to Disney will pay for them. But mostly we just want to to visit our family and friends. It is 1027 miles and we will do it in two days. Not too much else happening here. Just wishing for a bit warmer weather so we can put away our winter clothes and dust off the bikes.

Happy Easter

2008-03-31T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well I hope everyone had a happy Easter. We enjoyed a fun and beautiful day. We actually made it to early church even after finding Easter baskets and eating some candy. We went to our friends house for dinner around 4:00 and ate way too much dinner and played outside for a while. A friend brought over a little ATV and the children all took turns on it. I will post more pix on the photo page.

My hotmail account was down for about a week so I was pretty frustrated with that whole situation but it is up and running again so I am really thankful for that. We have gone out to the golf course and played another 9 holes last week. Once again it got pretty cold and extremely windy. The girls were pretty cranky by the 7th hole but we just played on. Saturday, went to the range and hit 8 buckets of balls between the 4 of us. I was so sore Sunday morning. I really need to stretch better before we go again. The weather is really up and down lately. Yesterday and today we have highs in the 40's and snow!!!!!

We have decided after 3 opinions to put Madison in vision therapy. We are waiting for 2 of the Dr.s to fax their records to the 3rd so we can get started. The therapy consists of eye exercises everyday for 20 to 30 minutes (5 days a week) and visits to the therapy office hopefully only every other week. If all goes as planned we will do this for about 8 months. Once, we are finished her eyes should be able to converge and focus like most people. This will enable her to read much better, as well as greatly improve her handwriting, spelling and math skills. It is a major undertaking but will hopefully be so worth it.

Keith is in town all week this week. Yeah!!!!! The girls and I are really enjoying him being home. I am trying to plan some time to drive the girls out to California in April or May. We are preparing for a dance recital so we will see when we can get away. I think that is it for now. I will post again soon.

Spring Fever?

2008-03-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while since I have posted. A lot has happened. I will start with the end of our body cleanse. We ended up taking a break for the last weekend and extending it for an additional 2 days. We had a party and a potluck that weekend. Everyone but me had lost at least 10 pounds and everyone but me cheated. I was very discouraged. The following Monday and Tuesday I did the shake meal shake but when it came to fasting those last 2 days I could not do it and no one else was doing it. So I lost 5 pounds and have as of today gained 3 off them back. The rest of the group seems to be keeping most of theirs off still. I am not happy.

Last week the 4 of us flew to Venice, Florida for my grandfathers funeral. It was so nice to see all of our family again. The girls had a fantastic time spending time with their Banny (My mom) and getting re-acquainted with their great-aunts, great-uncles, and aunts. We spent time on the beach and swimming in the pool. The funeral itself was beautiful. It is a shame that we learn so many interesting things about our loved ones after they die. Why don't we just spend a little time talking with and learning from our loved ones?

We got home just in time to enjoy one 50 degree day. Well it turned out to be more like 45 degrees but we were determined to go down to the driving range and hit some golf balls. After an hour of that we decided to go and play the front 9. This was my first time playing on a real golf course. I did take a couple of lessons about 12 years ago but we could not really afford to golf so what was the point. I was playing with a knock off set of men's clubs that we bought at the swap meet. I did not have a driver or a putter. Needless to say it was easy to figure out my score once I realized you can not score any higher than double par. I had fun but I was really frustrated when I realized that Madison could out drive me. Needless to say, I had to go get some new clubs. We actually found a set of Ladies Lefty Clubs for a great price. These clubs rarely are carried in the golf stores so I was thrilled. Then the weather changed and we had snow for the last 2 days.

So, we are supposed to have the rest of the week in the 50's and we are itching to get back out on the range to see if I can actually beat my 6 year old daughter. We are going to our friends home for Easter dinner on Sunday, that should be lots of fun. Keith has been is LA and Flagstaff this week and will be home Thursday night. That about covers it. We have lots of new pix on the photo site so check it out with the link on the right.

Official Cleanse Day 7 - Day 9 Overall

2008-02-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Keith came home (yeah!) and we had a salad with a grilled chicken breast Asian style. I was really good. He decided that the cleanse (fasting) part of the diet was making him too cranky and weak. He wants to finish building our mud room this weekend so after today or before the leap day party we plan to go to he will be finished. He also confessed that he went up to the concierge room on Wed. night just to get a little chocolate chip cookie and ended up with a piece to key lime pie (which he doesn't usually like) and a cookie! I, on the other hand have given up my almonds and most of wafers each day and I still am maintaining but not loosing. My idea for tonight is to have half of my shake before I go so I am not hungry and snack lightly.
Two of our three friends are still going but they decided to start their cleanse (fast) yesterday and today so they could eat at the party tonight and not start the cleanse after eating junk. I am not sure what this means for me but I wish they would have told me about this.
I still plan on cleansing on Sat. and Sun. until our potluck Sunday night. Then I will be finished. Apparently, I am the only one who is playing by the rules so far but the one who has lost the least weight! I think I am missing something here. Posting again tomorrow.

Official Cleanse Day 6 - Day 8 Overall

2008-02-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a good day. I did get hungry at lunch time while we were out. I packed lunches for the girls but not me. I wanted to have a hot meal today, so when we got home I cooked up a chicken breast and steamed some fresh veggies and ate that in place of my salad with chicken. I did not eat many of my snacks yesterday either. I am not losing any weight these last few days even though I am not supposed to get on the scale and that is discouraging. I am still sticking to it though. The girls had a wonderful time in their new dance class yesterday and I met a few moms that were nice. Keith comes home today and the girls swim this afternoon. It should be a nice day so hopefully we can play outside. I will post tomorrow.

Official Cleanse Day 5 - Day 7 Overall

2008-02-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an easy day again. I did not get too hungry except when I ate my meal an hour late. I had to work on getting all my water in so I will need to be better at that today. The girls have their first worship dance class today at 12 and 1 so I will need to pack lunches for all of us I think. That is about all we have planned for today. Maybe a walk if gets into the 50's today. I am not sure how Keith did on his plan yesterday, we did not talk about it last night as he called just as I was putting the girls to bed. We now have only 4 days left!!!!

Official Cleanse Day 4 - Day 6 Overall

2008-02-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

It is becoming routine! No headache this morning. Yesterday went well. The only trouble I had was being 45 minutes from home and ready for my shake. That gets me cranky. Then I got home and had to start the girls dinner before my own and ended up having my meal about 2 hours late! I did go to the gym yesterday, I was pretty weak but I felt I needed to do something. My plan was to do the elliptical for 30 minutes and then walk the track for 30 minutes. After the first 10 minutes I thought I could not go on but I kept on until my time was up. Needless to say my feet were numb by the time I got off and I was a bit spaced out so I gave up on walking the track, but it was something.
Keith did well yesterday. He kept up with his snacks and shakes. He went out to dinner and had a chicken breast with steamed veggies and some seared tuna. The good thing is he told the people he is with about the cleanse. Today they are going to IHOP for breakfast and he said he will have his shake before he goes and drink water at the restaurant. We have a real busy day today. Craft club at 1:00, Swimming at 4:00 and AWANA's at 6:30. We will leave the house at 12:45 and not be home until 8:30 tonight. I have a food plan for all of us lets hope I can execute it. We have almost hit our halfway point!!!! I will post tomorrow.

Official Cleanse Day 3 - Day 5 Overall

2008-02-25T07:52:00.001-08:00

Lets just start out by saying yesterday was really hard. The morning went OK. The girls played outside most of the morning due to the fact that is was sunny and 56 degrees. Since Madison has Strep throat and Tori woke up stuffy we skipped church. In the afternoon we were both feeling weak and hungry. We really have not felt hungry until yesterday afternoon. Our tummies were growling. Then we went to our friends house for bible study. Our friends that host our group are the ones doing the cleanse with us. Of course, people brought strawberry shortcake and chocolate chip cookies for the snack but we held strong. These same friends Chris and Amy are having a leap day party Friday night and a pot luck for our group on Sunday. Keith and I are suspecting sabotage. They say they are planning on cheating on Friday night and ending the cleanse early on Sunday. We are slowly weakening. I think I will end my cleanse early on Sunday for the pot luck but I am not sure how I will handle the party on Friday night.
As far as our hunger yesterday I did eat some extra food. I had about 15 extra almonds and a half of an apple. There are directions for eating more if you are really hungry and I followed that somewhat. Keith had about the same or so I thought. The confession came this morning that he ate a piece of bread rolled around a string cheese while I was outside with the girls yesterday. However, he does not feel guilty anymore. In the past 4 days he has lost a total of 9.5 pounds and 9.25 inches. I have lost 4.5 pounds and 4.5 inches. We do not weigh and measure again until Monday or Sunday before our potluck.
This morning I woke up feeling very light headed and weak. I very much looked forward to my shake and I drank it much quicker than usual. I am feeling a little jittery but not hungry. Today, I will eat my wafers, almonds and 2 shakes along with a veggie salad and 6 oz of chicken. That will be my schedule for the next 5 days. Keith just left for New Mexico and will be home on Thursday around noon. He has all his snacks and shakes. He is going to try to stick to it. He is traveling with another co-worker so eating may be a challenge. We will see how things go for him.
It is snowing this morning quite steadily so today will be spent working on school and laundry. The rest of the week gets busy with swimming, dance, craft club and PE class. I will post in the morning.

Official Cleanse Day 2 - Day 4 Overall

2008-02-24T07:37:00.000-08:00

We did it. A whole day without a meal. I can't say it was easy but it was not too hard. Every 2 hours or so we were drinking our cleanse juice or eating a tablet and or 2 almonds. I had a headache off and on all day. Keith was working on building our mud room and over did it. He started feeling shaky by the time he came in. He ate half an apple and felt better.
It turns out that Madison has Strep Throat so she is on antibiotics and not able to go to church this morning. Victoria woke up stuffy and then fell back to sleep in our bed so we decided that church is out this morning.
I did get out and take about a 15 minute walk while the girls were on their scooters yesterday.
When I got up this morning I was a bit lightheaded but that passed after I drank my "juice". Keith said his stomach is feeling sour this morning. All in all we are doing good. We will see how Keith can handle his 4 day trip and stay on his shake-meal-shake plan. There is way too much coffee and food temptation when he is traveling. So we will see. We weigh in and measure in the morning and I will post the results tomorrow.

Official Cleanse Day 1 - Day 3 Overall

2008-02-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it though day 2. We both took naps and had headaches all evening. The shake for dinner really helped. We had a few snacks during the day of carrots or an apple. We drank all of our water. We decided that if you can got to bed early and wake up late you think about food less. :)
This morning we woke up late a bit afraid of our first fasting day. We had heard that our cleanse drink that we drink 4 times a day for the next two days tastes like shampoo and we were conflicted in how to drink it. The directions say to mix it with water but we have heard not to prolong it and just shoot down the 4 oz. at once. We decided to shoot it. I poured mine over ice and drank it down with a straw. Keith just drank his straight. To me it was like drinking a lot of Robitussin without the buzz. We both felt a bit unsettled after drinking it so we drank a bunch of water and then it was time for our "nutritional snack" which is a small disk a bit larger than a nickle and about 1/4 inch thick. It was chocolate. Keith started nibbling on his first and was slowly savoring his, I thought he was teasing me, but no these actually taste....decent. They taste like brownie mix still in the box, powdery but chocolate. I was taking small bites and mixing in a sip a water and yes definitely brownie batter. I took me a few minutes to finish my snack and then we took our first accelerator capsule. So today, we will drink 4 shots of cleanse drink and have 10 "snacks" and 12 almonds. Tomorrow will be more of the same.
Oh, I forgot, we did weigh and measure ourselves this morning. Can I just sidebar here and say how much I hate dieting with my husband. He has lost 6 pounds and 6 inches and I have lost 2 pounds and 2 inches. He says it is because he has more to loose. He is on his 2nd day without coffee and seems to be surviving. I will post again tomorrow.

Warm Up Day 2 of the 11 day body cleanse

2008-02-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

First, yesterday went OK. It took Keith about 30 minutes of convincing to give up coffee for these 11 days but he is giving it a shot. We made big salads with grilled chicken for lunch and each drank our "shake" for dinner. I drank 75 ounces of water yesterday an Keith drank about 100. Last night I went to the Jeremy Camp / Toby mac concert and had a fantastic time. Both those guy put out amazing shows. I could have stayed there all night and watched those two perform. Keith, on the other hand stayed home and had to cook dinner for the girls and get them into bed. He was admittedly a bit cranky. On to Friday....
Today has the same plan as yesterday shake-meal-shake. We woke up and had water and a shake. Then I fixed the girls waffles (Mmmmm). We left for PE class and to take madison to the Doctor (possible Strep). By the time we get home I am starving and I end up spending 15 minutes feeding my children first. Can we say cranky mommy? Now after I have eaten my salad I still feel hungry so I will drink a glass of water and see what happens. I have had a headache all day but I am not sure if it is due to caffine, the concert or lack of sleep. I think I will lay down for a while.
Tomorrow is day one of our first 2 day fast. We will drink a cleanse drink that apparently tastes like shampoo. I am sooo excited to try it. I will post again after I drink it.

Body Cleansing from the Inside Warm-Up Day 1

2008-02-21T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well, today marks day 1 of our 11 days of body cleansing. Keith and I are doing the Isagenix Cleanse which basically is going to cleanse all the toxins out of our body while we fast or drink fitness shakes and have a small meal depenting on the day. How it will work for us is we will have two warm up days of a shake - meal - shake with small snacks of apples or celery. Then 2 days of fasting while drinking a cleanse drink and eating chocolate wafers and almonds, back to 5 days of shake-meal-shake and 2 more days of fasting.
So this morning Keith is on his way home from a trip so he will start at lunchtime. I got up and took my measurements and weighed myself and then I made my first shake. It's funny how things that are called a shake do not actually taste like a shake. It smelled pretty good. I followed the directions of first blending a few ice cubes in cold water and then blending in the powder. I got very encouraged to see how thick and frothy it was pouring into my glass. What I did not expect was how BITTER it tasted. I got a straw to help the "shake" avoid my sensitive taste buds and that helped a bunch. After finishing it, I can say that it is do-able and I am feeling full. Am I looking forward to my dinner "shake"? Not really.

We are swimming again!

2008-02-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

The girls are thrilled to be back in swim class. However, I am not thrilled with having to leave class with wet hair when it is 20 degrees outside. We all know how long it would take for me to blow dry the girls hair before we leave. So, I figure I will get them swimming caps. Then I discover $25.00 later that swimming caps do not keep your hair dry, just out of the way. The girls like them and they do help a little so I guess that is something. These pix were taken with my cell phone so they are a bit fuzzy.

Keith and I are starting a Isegenix Cleanse (diet) on Thursday. It is an 11 day diet/fast. I am going to try to blog my way through it. We ordered it with some friends and we are all going to try it together. I think there are 5 of us altogether. Keep checking in if you want to see if we can handle it.

Over the weekend I chapperoned at the Revolve tour which is a conference for teen girls. The theme was how to value yourself and view yourself as a treasure and not a target. They had some excellent musicians there and each one did a concert. We saw Hawk Nelson, KJ 52, Natalie Grant and Ayeisha Woods. Each group put on an amazing show. I would recommend seeing any of them live if you like their style of music. I noticed alot of moms in the concourse during kj 52 (rap) and Hawk Nelson (punk?). I loved every bit of the concerts. Speaking of concerts I am going to the Toby Mac, Jeremy Camp, Mathew West concert on Thursday. I am so excited I can not wait.

Off to put the girls in bed. We have an appointment with the the vision therapist to get Madison's results in the morning.

Test Email to Blog

2008-02-14T12:33:00.001-08:00

I am testing to see if I can create a blog entry by email.

Our Baby has Glasses

2008-02-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, our little girl now has her first pair of glasses. As you can see she is very excited about them. The doctor told us she only needs them for reading/school time, but she was telling me that they helped her while watching a video in the car yesterday so who knows how much she will be wearing them. Madison is also being tested for some other vision issues that have to do with how the eyes track while reading and how quickly they can focus moving from close to farther away. She has been struggling while doing school work for a few months now so after a few more tests next week we should have a firm understanding of what we are dealing with, if anything. The glasses may be all that is needed to help her. Anyway, she is loving the extra attention she gets when we go to the Doctor's office and is loving her glasses. She thinks whe is so grown up and she looks it too. I will post when we have more info. Jane

2008-02-05T14:05:00.000-08:00

Well, things are moving along for us now. We are getting into a routine. The girls are going to start swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They are also starting a dance class called Worship Dance in a couple of weeks and we are doing a PE class on Friday mornings. That will be enough for now. A few weeks ago we went to the Stock Show and the girls got their offical cowgirl hats. We were not able to stay for the rodeo so that will be top on the list for next year. We have new photos on our Shutterfly site, see the link on our Blog page. We are off to a Casting Crowns concert tonight and we all have optometrist appointments tomorrow. I am pretty sure Madison needs glasses. More on that later. Well, off to get ready for the concert. Jane

Pictures are finally up!

2008-01-20T20:54:00.001-08:00

YEAH! I finally have edited and upload our pictures from the last 2 months. Don't worry, unfortunately I was not very quick with the camera and there are not as many photos as I normally would have taken. They are all up on our shutterfly site. There are new pictures in November and I added December and January, I think I have included the link, but it is also listed on my main blog page.

Keith is home for a three day weekend then is off on another trip Tuesday through Friday again. The two off us are nursing colds and actually taking it easy this weekend. The girls are having a great time in the new house and are getting along really well lately. We are back into our school routine. Moving twice in one semester has set us behind but we just keep plugging away and will get it done eventually.

Our community has a brand new cable company and they have a contract with our HOA so our fees are included with our dues. They are still in their "Test Faze" so we do not have many channels to watch right now. Which leads me up to a show we watched Friday night that was so entertaining and I am sure we would not have watched it if we had "normal" channels. Anyway it was on CMT and it is called "My Big Redneck Wedding" hosted by Tom Arnold. We laughed so hard watching this show. This couple rode their horses down to the liquor store to order 2 kegs of Coors Light and 1 keg of Bud Light. We kept thinking what back woods town they were in. As it turned out they were in Norco, CA. About 15 minutes from Chino Hills. We could not believe it. Anyway if you want a good laugh, check out this show.

It has been colder than usual this winter, tomorrow I hope to see it get to 25 degrees. I am getting used to making extra time to bundle up everyday before we go out. I even have to put on a hat, mittens and jacket just to walk down to the mailbox.

I have been baking bread and using our new oven and it is working great. We love being able to both work in the kitchen at the same time. Tidying the house can be quite a chore though. Well, that is it for now. I will try to be better about the posts and pictures. Jane

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Well we are moved in to our new home and out of our apartment. We had a fun but crazy Christmas. We are slowly finding places to put our too many, many things. Thankfully, the Goodwill pile is growing. I need to go back to the 19th to fill you all in on our moving events.

First of all, I had posted that my friend was taking the girls all day on the 20th so I could deal with the movers all day. Well, Victoria came down that night with a virus and 102 degree fever so I was alone with one sick and one very bored little girl and a group of movers to direct the next day. Well, I know that God is not going to give me something that I could not handle. I woke up the next morning and thought to myself, "I wonder how God is going to work this out today?" Because I knew that everything was out of my control at that point. Next thing you know my friend Amy sends an email, her husband stayed with her children and she was on her way to help out at the house! THANK YOU AMY!

I had asked the movers to unpack the kitchen boxes, knowing full well that they did not put anything away. When they were finished you could not see any counter top anywhere, how is that for motivation! The next day (Friday) Amy came back over and organized my kitchen. Do you think she was feeling a bit sorry for me? That was truly awesome! We now had one room that was functional and provided nourishment!

Saturday we moved the extra beds from the apartment to the house and my Dad and ShouLi arrived that evening. Sunday the 22nd we picked out our Christmas tree (50% off). Monday was Christmas eve. We did grocery shopping, church, baked cookies for Santa and tree decorating until bedtime. After bedtime was the most insane wrapping event I have ever experienced. It was all about speed. I did not look at bow shapes, sizes or colors. I did not match gift tags to paper. As a matter of fact I did not even write who the gifts were from, I just told everyone when they were opening. Luckily, Grandpa had done the assembling the night before so we did not have to worry about that. After all that I think we were in bed by 1:00am. Not too bad, if I say so myself.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas day full of snow all day and the next day was windy and snowy as well. We decided to get out of the house so we bundled up and went for a long walk around our neighborhood.

Today is Wednesday and we still have a lot to do but were are a functioning household. Keith has gone back to work today. We miss him but I am sure he is relieved to be back to an organized place. We know where about 90% of things are when we need them and we only have about 6 or 7 small boxes of books left inside the house and a few more in the garage to unpack. This is not to say everything is in place, but most everything is in the correct room or closet for now.

We lived here about 7 days before any other neighbors moved in. It was fun being the only people in our neighborhood. Now, we have 5 new neighbors since Friday. It has been interesting to say the least, not being on a map. We have had many deliveries and people lost trying to find us. We have thoroughly confused The Denver Post, UPS, USPS and Waste Management. I keep telling them if they get me set up correctly they will not have to deal with my 5 neighbors along with me. We will see what happens. We hope that you all have had a fun Christmas and New Year. Once again, I do plan to post pictures on the web page soon. - Jane

Homeowners Again!

2007-12-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

Well, we received our keys today! We unloaded a van full of stuff and then had another walk through. I am now waiting for 4 different companies to call me to fix some minor things around the house. Then the installers came and hung all our blinds!!! We left and went to wal-mart to pick up a few things we need for tomorrow. My friend Amy is going to take the girls all day tomorrow as the movers are coming, our refrigerator is being delivered and the cabinet touch up lady are all at the house by probably 10 tomorrow morning. We walked up to the apartment and for a notice from UPS that that could not leave our package and another package that was soaked through. It was something I had ordered for the house so hopefully it was not affected by whatever pool it was dropped in. I slept about 2 hours last night and I have a DISASTER in the apartment right now. Tonight I am only organizing, no more packing until I move more out. Keith will be home tomorrow night!!!! Yeah! I am hoping to get alot done in the house tomorrow since I will be without children but they asked me to have 2 people there one to check inventory and one to direct the movers. I am but only one person so we will see how I get along.
The house looks great. I picked up all our lights and our garage door opener today. I was hoping to have them partially assembled for when Keith got home but I think I have my hands pretty full. We will have the day Friday to work around the new house while we wait for other appointments to arrive. Oh, I hope I can sleep tonight. I see a beer in my future....

Two more days!

2007-12-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, Friday was busy! We did our final walk-through for 3 hours Friday morning. We took the girls with us and they were so good!!! It was about 20 degrees and a bit windy, so I let Keith check all the exterior things. Then we had about 50 minutes to get the the Denver Tech center for our pre-closing singing of the 10,000 papers. Since, our walk-through lasted so long we did not have time to eat lunch and our appointment is at 2:00. Now, lets think about this. A 4 year old and a 6 year old already having been through a 3 hour meeting are now going to have to wait through another 1 hour meeting before eating lunch at 3:00, at best. We are not setting up a good scene here. Anyway, we walk in to the office and they though we were coming next week which is a no go because Keith is out of town until Thursday night. They said to give them some time to get the documents ready. I said, "How about a whole hour?" They were very happy and so were we. We left and went to this southern home cooking restaurant "Black-eyed Pea". We all had full tummies and were recharged when we arrived back. They had a VCR and tons of movies (Thank the Lord!). We signed our lives away once again and our loan will close on Wednesday morning.

We have appointments on Wed., Thurs., Friday and possibly Sat. at the house. Movers, installers, window treatments, garage door install, cable hook up,. You name it. We are planning on sleeping there Friday night. My hope is to have most of the apartment packed up before Wednesday night. We can make a few trips Wednesday and Thursday. Friday we can pack our necessities and take them over. But, we really do not have to be out of the apartment until the 31st.

I think I purchased my last Christmas gift today. Yeah! I just have to do a count to be sure I am even between the girls. I shipped my last two packages last week! I feel a wrapping binge coming up soon.

I will take final pictures once we get the keys but there are some on our photo site now that you can access from this page. Busy, busy!

Two More Weeks!!!!!

2007-12-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

OK, here we are finally getting ready to move again. We are really excited! I have decided that I will start packing tomorrow. We really are using 85% - 90% of what we have here so I do not know how much pre-packing I can do. But, I do have curriculum for a whole year and I can pack our second semester. There are summer/fall clothes that I think I can safely pack away. We just had a 72 degree day yesterday so I may save out a couple pair of capris just in case. I am being fairly creative with menus trying to eat up food that we have so we don't have to move it. I believe I have scheduled any and all installers or movers for the 20th or 21st. This way we can be sure that we will have all that we need during Christmas week when I feel it may be difficult to have people come out. We will not need to rush moving our things out of the apartment since we will have until the 31st.
Keith is traveling a ton these next few weeks. He has just received the list of the dealerships that he will be providing service for and his counterpart is trying to introduce him to as many of the dealers as he can before Keith is on his own. So, he is in Las Vegas and Utah this week, home on Friday. Next week he is in Portland for their quarterly meetings, Monday through Thursday. The following week he is in Phoenix, Monday through Thursday! So by the time he gets home the movers should have come and gone!
We are staying busy working on our school time and playing games. The girls are still doing AWANAs on Tuesday nights and really look forward to it each week. We have discovered a wonderful church that we have been attending regularly for about 6 weeks, the girls love it also. Our church has a community outreach called SECOR and they are providing Christmas gifts and 2 weeks of food to 1300 families this year. The girls and I have been able to do shopping from the wish tree for two children and I think they actually are getting it this year. Sometimes it is hard for our children to understand what life is like for less priveledged families. We can explain it but they just can not conceptualize life without having even your basic needs met. I know someday they will get it.
Well that is it for now. Tomorrow I will try to get to the market, we are expecting snow on Friday and Saturday. -jane

We have a closing date!

2007-11-27T12:43:00.000-08:00

HOORAY! We are scheduled to close on December 19th. I am so thrilled that we will be in the house for Christmas. Now we do have a lot of work ahead of us as we prepare to move out of our apartment. I keep wondering why we are on the third floor. What caused us to make this decision? Oh well, it will be over before we know it. We will have our walk through and pre-sign our paperwork on Friday the 14th. Keith has a lot of travel planed the next few weeks so we will be busy preparing for our move.
Also, the girls and I have just started the Christmas portion of our curriculum this week and that will continue for 4 weeks and then we will take a week or 2 off. Our Christmas shopping is almost complete so I need to get my act in gear, finish it up and start to ship off our gifts. We will keep updating pictures on the photo site so be sure to check it.

Getting Caught up

2007-11-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

OK, we are home from sunny California. This week is about getting caught up on mail, school, laundry, etc. I have finished about half of my grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. I try to do little trips so I do not have to carry 30 bags up to the third floor. This experience of apartment living with a family has been a lesson to me of how much I take for granted in life. Pulling into a garage, running the dishwasher, washer or dryer at any time of day or night (we have thin floors and walls!). Having more than one spot to eat, do school, craft, color, sew. Sending the girls out back to play... and having Internet access! I thought that hopping down to the library would be easy when I needed to go online, it wasn't! So I caved and ordered Internet for the last 2 months (hopefully). As our move in date inches closer I find myself looking forward to these things. However, I feel grateful for how much we have and I know this is temporary. Also, because this is temporary we have not settled in so it does not feel like home to us.

As far as the house goes I am going a bit nuts because we are waiting on a call to tell us when our closing date is. It looks like we will close before Christmas but I have no OFFICIAL word yet. I really would like to start planning our move and can not do it yet and this is really bothering me. Apparently I need a lesson in patience.

We are going low key and staying home for Thanksgiving. Just food, football and movies for us. We are expecting snow tonight and tomorrow but not on Thursday. We went and bought snow boots yesterday. I believe I have completely updated our photo site to check it out if you are interested. We hope you all have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Back in Sunny California ( for a visit)

2007-11-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

We are in Orange County, CA for a visit. Keith has business meetings this week in LA so he decided to drive so we could tag along. A friend of mine recommended someone in our apartment complex to feed Gipple (our cat) and off we went. The drive is about 17 hours straight so we break it up into two days. The girls do well in the car and we are good with providing lots of things to watch, color and eat! The weather in great. I think it was 80 degrees today. We are staying with Keith's parents and visiting my mom and friends as well. On Friday we plan to go to Disneyland and then leave for home Saturday morning. We are squeezing in school here and there and should end up with a full week of school while we are on a trip. Pretty cool! We finally broke down and ordered Internet for our apartment so I should be able to update more frequently. Our home is scheduled to be finished around the 3rd week of December. I have updated our photos through October on our photo site and hope to be up to speed by the end of the week. The girls are doing well, however, Victoria is struggling with understanding where she lives. We are having many ups and downs with her behavior but we are trying to stay as consistent as we can with a schedule and parenting and praying that this will mellow out with her. I will update soon. Jane

SNOW!!!!!!

2007-10-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't believe it but on Sunday it actually snowed already. On Saturday it was 70 degrees at 8:00 pm and by 3 or 4 in the morning is was snowing. We got at least 5 or 6 inches at our apartment. We drove out to the house to see it with its 1st snow and took a few pictures. There was not as much snow there but still enough to take a pictue of.

Keith is off to San Fran area this week for business and it looks like the girls and I will drive with Keith to CA for his meeting in LA the week of Nov. 11th. So we should be there for about a week and we will just bring our books and have school time in the morning as usual.

Our house is moving along. It has the electrical roughed in and the exterior walls have been insulated. They are waiting for the inspector to come out and certify the insulation, then they can begin to drywall. They are saying Dec 27th for move in and I am saying Dec 17th so we will see what happens.

I am currently sitting outside of a bookstore with free wifi and the girls are watching a Scooby Doo video. I am out of time. I still have to organize the pix on our photo site but most are uploaded to the site now if anyone wants to check it out.

Oh, we also tried a new church this weekend called Southeast Christian. It was pretty big but the music was awesome, the paster seems very up front and approachable and the childrens program seems great.

OK! Got to go now. I will update soon.

Getting Ready for Our Trip

2007-09-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I feel that there is so much to say and no time to say it. After getting here on the 9th we went to see the house, every time we go out there we see something new. It is very exciting. We are adjusting to the area and had some things delivered to the apartment after we got here, so the girls have toys and videos. We have finished about a week and a half of school but now are leaving on a trip tomorrow so that will be on hold for about a week.
Last week we had some friends from CA (The Sernas) visit Denver so we spent a few days with them doing some sightseeing. We went to a candy factory, the Children's Museum and to the Focus on the Family campus in Colorado Springs. We had a fantastic time!! I am hoping to have those pictures posted today on our shutterfly photo site.
For those of you that know about me and baking you know that I have been nervous about baking here at this altitude. My first attempt was our Blum Family Pancake recipe which worked fine and all of us were relieved. My second attempt was my friend Sherri's chocolate chip cookies to which I only added about 2 tsp of water to the recipe and they are out of this world good. My third attempt was chicken and dumplings and they were a bit dried out but I think I may have overcooked the dish a bit. I think I am confident enough now to try a bread or cake next.
We found an AWANA club for the girls and yesterday was their second week. They were so excited last week. I think they were thrilled to be away from me and each other even for a little while. We also tested out a church this week. We have made a commitment to test 3 churches but so far we really did enjoy the first one we attended.
Tomorrow, Thursday was are flying to LA. We are going to give our babies to Keith's parents and my mom for 4 days. Then, Keith and I are continuing on to Hawaii for a business trip. We will pick the girls up on our way home on Tuesday morning.
I am adding pictures to our site now but do not have time to add them all. I will update the rest later. -jane

We're Here

2007-09-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well we are finally settled in here. As of now I do not have internet access in our apartment so I have a 30 minute session counting down here at the library. I will write a better post later and add some pictures. We can be contacted by cell phones now. I have 13 minutes and email to check so I will post again soon. -jane

6 Days to Go

2007-09-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well the weekend was pretty much a bust. In case you do not know we are having a heat wave or "heat storm" as our electric company calls it. Let me back up to Wednesday, we packed and once again imposed on Keith's parents for 2 days while the house was fumigated. We came home on Friday afternoon to a 90 degree house and it took about 10 hours to get it down to 78 degrees. While we were at Keith's parents house, I tripped on the stairs and I am pretty sure I broke my toe, OWWWW! Then at 6:30 Saturday night we lost power and it was at least still over 100 degrees. I was in no way prepared to stay here in the heat so I packed us up and took us back to Ed and Kathy's again! Good thing I did because the power was not restored until 2:00 Sunday afternoon. We are so blessed to have family close. It was much worse for our neighbors. Some had no other place to sleep, the people next door had a fuse blow on their AC unit and drove to 10 or 12 stores until they found one that would work and did not get their AC running until about 9:00 last night, and our other neighbor just brought home their new baby boy about 4 days before, they were getting up with him in the night using a flashlight to change diapers. I also had just cleaned out the fridge and freezer so we did not loose that much food either. We had it pretty good.
It is still stifling hot today. I got up to start the wash at 6:00 this morning so I could try to get all my wash finished before the air came on. No luck! It was 80 degrees in the house by 9:00 am. We are trying hard to keep up with our tasks for each day so we are not to stressed out what the movers arrive. I have some special plans with the girls tomorrow so I need to really focus on my chores for today. I will try to post again before we go.

12 more days

2007-08-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

The days are so full of appointments, phone calls and paperwork it seems almost impossible to me that we will be on a plane to Denver in 12 days! This week we are having some home repairs completed and making sure that we have changed our address with everyone, mail forwarded, and the movers scheduled. The girls and I will be out of the house for a few days while we have another home repair taken care of, termites. We have to bag up all of our food and medications, even what is in the refrigerators. I have a good head start on this so now I will pack what we need for a few days while we stay with Keith's parents. The movers arrive a week from tomorrow to start packing so between now and then we need to decide what goes to the apartment and what goes into storage for 3 months (hopefully only 3 months).

Sunday, a few of my friends took me out to tea! It was such a wonderful, relaxing afternoon with no schedules or time limits. Thank you so much again girls for a fantastic afternoon!

Keith, is off to Salt Lake City for a few days this week but he was able to go out to visit the home site yesterday and said that some lumber had been delivered to the site over the weekend. Hopefully, that means framing will begin this week. The forecast says rain all week and I do not know if that will impede progress on the house. We feel like it is really taking a long time for them to get to this step but we keep hearing that this builder works hard to stay on schedule. It will be fun when the girls and I are out there to go and watch the progress every week.

It is time to get back to work. I will update again soon!

A Fantastic Disney Day!

2007-08-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I took the girls to Disneyland. I had a very special surprise for them for lunch so we started our day inside Disney's California Adventure which is their other theme park in Anaheim. Our lunch reservations were not for an hour and a half so we started the day with the Monsters, Inc. ride. I classify this ride as a typical fantasyland ride like Peter Pan or Pinocchio. The girls loved and I think it is boring. We still have time to kill and we walk up to "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" I have always wanted to go on this ride but I never have anyone to ride with and now we are moving away, oh well. But then I notice that Tori is tall enough for this ride (never mind that she may not be emotionally ready for this ride) so I ask the cast member what it is like inside. He (easily) convinces us that she will be fine on this ride. So off we go. The special effects on this ride are amazing. The premise is that this very old famous Hollywood hotel gets struck by lightning and a family gets stuck in another dimension. The ride is a group of us sitting in what appears to be a service elevator for the hotel, it takes us up to the top and then we free fall, totally out of our seats, stop, then go up again and down again over and over. Meanwhile while we are going up and down the elevator doors are opening and closing on different floors, some open to the outside looking over Anaheim. It was fantastic!!! Madison and I loved it!!!! Poor, poor Tori. Bad, bad Mommy! She was trembling. I held her sooo tight. When we got off she said, "Maybe I will go on that ride never, ever again forever."

We then walked over to Ariel's Grotto, a special restaurant where you dine with the Disney Princesses. The girls were on their best behavior and we were served a three course meal on china with linen napkins. While we were eating a page came in and announced each of 5 princesses which, after being introduced, visited with each table in the restaurant. The girls were so exctied they could barely eat as they anticipated each princess that was coming closer to our table. He are some of the pictures.

The rest of the day was spent mostly in the Disneyland park and finally we went back to California Adventure to watch the Disney Electric Parade which was retired from Disneyland many years ago and was one of my favorites. After the parade we walked out of the park and watched the fireworks and then headed home. We are all a bit tired and groggy this morning but it was worth it. The rest of our photos are on our photo site, just click on the link.

Moving Right Along

2007-08-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well things are certainly busy for us here. I am glad I am waiting to start school until after we are in the apartment. In the last week and a half we have had 12 different house events....3appraisals, 2 home inspections, 4 termite inspections (you don't want to know!), one moving survey appointment, one open house and one offer. Whew!!!
We did set up our official move date. The movers will come and pack on September 5th and 6th and load the truck on the 7th. We did find out that they will take some of our things to our apartment for us while putting the rest into storage. This is really great because we thought that whatever we wanted to take to our apartment had to be brought with us on the airplane or shipped by us. Now I don't have to figure out how many clothes I can fit into the suitcases. So now I just have to separate what goes to storage, to the apartment, or with us. Which will take some time but will allow us to live a bit easier while we are in our apartment. The newest prediction on our move-in date for the house is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It looks like we will fly out to Colorado on September 9th for our final move. It seems so far away still but I know it will come before I know it.

We're in Escrow

2007-08-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the housing market out here is pretty slow. We have had our home listed for about a month and it has been very slow. However, we have accepted on offer on our home and opened escrow on Thursday. Things will probably move pretty quick from here on. They are trying to have a 3 week escrow. So, we will be busy with inspections, etc. Then it will be sorting out what we will bring with us to the apartment, we are flying, and what will go into storage until we can move into our house (hopefully) in December. If we are truly going to close on September 7th the girls and I will probably stay here an extra week so we can be here when the movers come. We feel very blessed that we received an offer this week and that we are in escrow.
Keith has been in Colorado now for 5 days and it feels like forever already. We miss him so much. The evenings are really dragging without him home. Well we know it is not forever so we just have to keep our chins up.

The Next Step

2007-08-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Keith is off. He is on his way to Denver right now and has to be in the office first thing in the morning (Monday). It is still a bit up in the air as to when the girls and I go. Most likely the first week of September. We will really miss Keith and we need to get started on school. The next few weeks will be filled with going over appraisal reports, inspection reports and figuring out what if anything needs repair before we can sell our home. The girls and I want to try to do a few some trips to Disneyland and the beach also. No big news on the California home yet. We held another open house today but I do not think many people came. We have a new picture of the new "house"that I will add. That is all the news for now. -jane

WE ARE BACK

2007-08-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

WOW! What a trip we had.

SATURDAY. We drove 750 miles and took 12 hours to drive all the way to Grand Junction, CO. It was a long day for all of us but we were excited to be in Colorado already and to have a shorter trip on Sunday. Most of that part of the trip was 75 MPH speed limit so that helped us a lot. I have to say that Utah is probably the most dramatic state I have seen. The drive was absolutely breathtaking, that really helped pass the time for us. Well, for the girls it was watching movies, coloring and poking each other. They were VERY good in the car and when they learned they received quarters for every stretch that they did not ask "are we there yet?" It was even better.

SUNDAY. We left Grand Junction and drove through the mountains and Vail to get to Denver. This part of the trip was quite a bit slower driving through the mountains but we were amazed at the number of bikers (on bicycles not motorcycles) that were riding up and down trails along the highway through the mountains. Some of these people looked to be a part of a race but on the way there we must have seen at least 300 people and children riding bikes around. This leads me to altitude. We were finding that we were experiencing shortness of breath just walking up steps at the rest stop and these people were riding their bikes UPHILL! We just did not get it. We got into town ate lunch and then went to our apartment where we signed our lease and dropped off all of Keith's work clothes that we being wrinkled by the second. Then we went directly to the Denver Mattress Co. to buy two bed sets which they were gracious enough to deliver the next day. Then off to Costco to buy hangers and and ironing board for the same wrinkled work clothes. Then off to the Texas Roadhouse (one of our old favorites from Tennessee) for dinner and to check into a hotel for one more night. Our girls were amazing troopers through all of this. They have not had any run around or "play" time now in two days.

The front of our model, same color but a bit different in the style

MONDAY. Another crazy day. After breakfast we took the girls swimming in the hotel pool while we reviewed all the options and decisions we were going to make with our builder that afternoon. We have been very focused on our budget and worked hard to choose only options that would be more expensive later on or very difficult to do after the home is complete. After swimming, off the eat lunch and finally see a model of our home. We were a bit nervous that we might not like it but rest assured we found it to look just as we had expected, only to me some of the rooms seemed larger. After that visit we drove off to see our lot and new neighborhood where we had our first options appointment. Once again we were not disappointed. We will be living in the "sticks" (which we love!) we will have a very nice view. After a 3 1/2 hour visit/meeting (once again kudos to the girls) we were finished with one of our two house appointments for the week. We were then treated with a thunder storm with lots of lightning, they girls do not remember thunder storms so this was a treat for us. Then off for dinner and to see if our mattresses had arrived. The beds had been delivered and we were off to the market for a few groceries, pots, plates, cups, etc. Phew!

A view from the top of our neighborhood

A mama deer near our new home

TUESDAY. Keith has his first day of work and it is month end. We drove him to work and he got home about 10:30 that night. They gave him a loaner car for the month so we will not have to drive to work everyday. The girls and I however took the day off! The three off us all had a bit of altitude sickness. It affects people in many different ways. In Tori it made her very tired. With Madison it was gas and diarrhea and with me it was nasal dryness and migraine-like headaches. I spent the morning deleting my headache and then we spent the afternoon swimming in the pool. The girls and I found a Chic-Fil-A for dinner and I let them play on the playground for about an hour after dinner.

WEDNESDAY. Pretty much the same as Tuesday, giving the girls a chance to play and ran a few errands. That evening we went out to dinner with Keith's new boss Dave and his counterpart Rob and his family. It was really nice to be out and meet some people and have a nice dinner. We ate at Ted's which serves Bison and Keith actually ordered a Bison burger. Very impressive. The girls were great and made a new friend Andrew who is two and absolutely adores the girls.

THURSDAY. Keith off to work, more errands for us, back to the model for measuring and off to home depot for some comparison shopping before our appointment at the design center on Friday.

S'more S'mores Please!

FRIDAY. Another crazy day. We packed up the car for the trip back and then headed off to the design center for a 10:00 appointment. This is where we pick out carpet, cabinets, flooring, tile and counter tops. If you are not careful you could EASILY drop $50,000 in this place. We were VERY careful, We did upgrade a few things but we stayed within our budget!!!! I am so proud of us. Also, the design center had a playroom (HOORAY) and that helped a lot during our 3 hour appointment. After that lunch and off to drive up to Keystone Resort for a company picnic/overnight. What a fun time! We were able to meet a bunch of people from Keith's office. The girls had a blast on pony rides, roping a mechanical calf, making s'mores around the campfire and of coarse dancing to the country band playing in the barn. We stayed in a beautiful condo at the base of the ski runs and the girls even slept in a bunk bed that night and had a TV in their room! Thanks Toyota!

SATURDAY. Another long drive today but first we decided to take a chair lift to the summit of the mountain and explore a bit. There were tons of mountain bikers taking their bikes to the top and riding the switchback trails all the way down. There were even some hikers who hiked all the way down the mountainside. We rode down! Then off to the car for a 570 mile trip to St. George, Utah.

SUNDAY. 350 miles and home at last. Keith will work here for one more week and then Sunday he will fly back to Denver. The girls and I will join him around the first week of September. Now we are back to keeping the house "show ready" and trying to eat up all our food in the pantry. I think I will need to get a bit creative with my menus. No offers on our CA home yet so keep praying. I will add more as I have news. -jane

Our first trip to Colorado

2007-07-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

It is Thursday and we are getting ready for our first trip out to Denver. We have a busy week planned. We will leave Saturday and arrive Sunday. Sunday we hope to get familiar with the area and go to see our lot as well as the model of our home. Monday we will have an appointment with our builder and sign a lease for an apartment. Our plan is to live bare bones in this apartment to save money on moving twice. We will bring a few things with us on our trip that are essential, ie. TV, espresso machine, coffee maker, laptop, and the ipod clock radio. The rest we will buy when we get there or do without. Keith is working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday we have another appointment with our builder and then we will be off to Keystone, CO for Keith's company picnic/BBQ. We will stay overnight in Keystone and leave there sometime Saturday to head for home. We plan to be home Sunday afternoon and Keith will work his last week here in CA before flying out on Sunday, August 12th to officially start in his new position.
As far as our home here goes we are on the market 5 days with no showings. Some pictures were posted on the MLS this morning so this may help. We are still waiting for the "virtual tour" photographers to come out to take their pix with the wide angle lens which helps show whole rooms but at least people know the home is not trashed. Here is a link to the mls -http://www.tarbell.com/f-property-search.html listing # I07107114.

As a side note I would like to ask my friends and family to pray for two special people. The first is for Max Kakuk who is 8 months old and having surgery in a few weeks on his brain/skull. His skull fused in utero and they have to go in and make some more room. He has a twin sister Tilly who I am sure is going to miss her brother while he is in the hospital. So please pray for this family and the surgeons and staff at the hospital. The second is an old friend of ours from the Arrowhead Pond (Honda Center) Mike O'Donnell. He is fighting a very hard fight with cancer right now and it is preventing him from eating or drinking and causing him to feel very sick. He is tired and has been fighting a long time but is still wanting to fight this fight. Please pray for complete healing as well as the strength and courage he and his family needs.
Thanks to all of you! -jane

We are on the market

2007-07-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well... we have finally listed our home on the market. Today is day 1. It seems the more we work on this home the more there is to be done. Our agent is coming on Tuesday to take pictures and once the pictures are online I will try to include a link to the web page. We hope and are priced for a quick sale. We will be driving to Colorado next Saturday for a weeks trip but in mid-August Keith will be there full time and so we will start renting an apartment at that time. We figure the girls and I will go out around the beginning of September and then the girls and I at least will come back one more time to supervise the packing as all of our things will go to storage until we are able to move in to our home. That will hopefully be mid to end November.
The girls and I just finished a week of VBS and we are all wiped out. Keith rebuilt our deck this week and just finished painting it tonight. That's about it for now. -jane

WE HAVE A START DATE

2007-07-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Well we finally have some new information. I looks like Keith will be starting in Denver on July 31st. He is going to recieve a loner car for August until his company truck comes in so we do not have to worry about driving his car out to Denver. I am hoping that Keith will take a few days off before he starts and then the girls and I can take him out there. We have some housing details we need to take care of together for our new home.
This week we need to find an apartment to rent on a short term lease. It looks like we are closing on our new home in November but we have alot to do here in CA before we can go and live with Keith in Denver. Our home is still at least a week away from listing. But little by little things are coming along. Only a few more projects and a good amount of cleaning and yard work and we will be ready. This is really starting to sink in now. Well off to cross some chores off the list. -jane

No Start Date Set

2007-06-28T18:43:00.001-07:00

Well, it looks like they would like to hang on to Keith for a while longer out here. So there is some uncertainty as to when he will begin in his new department. Professionally, this is a little frustrating because he would like to go and start his new position. On the other hand, personally, this is giving us a little more time to work on the house and figure out the details of housing in Denver which will most likely be temporary while we build a new home. I will add an update when we have more info to share.

It is Official

2007-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Keith recieved the "official offer" for the Denver position on Thursday afternoon and he accepted. We are not tied down yet as to the "when" but most likely he will begin in his new department on July 16th, however, he will begin his training on his current campus for hopefully two weeks. After that we are not sure yet. We will be contacted by a relocation company in a week or two and they will guide us through the process of having our home appraised and then listing our home for sale. We will hopefully go to Denver soon for a looksy since we already have our sights on a new home. More on that later. The girls are excited, they can not wait for snow. I am excited, because it is something new and exciting I guess. Although, Keith has warned me the we will be living at 6400 feet above sea level and I may have to adjust my cooking. That scares me a little.
In case anyone is curious Denver is about a15 hour drive from Chino Hills, CA , a 17 hour drive from Hebron, KY and a 19 hour drive from Knoxville, TN. If you follow the speed limit which I know all of you would. Thats all for now. Any thoughts?

On the road again....

2007-06-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are again. Faced with a decision. Stay here in California with our family and friends (old and new) or take an opportunity to try something new. Keith has interviewed with a regional department within his current employer for a postion based out of Denver, Colorado. This position we feel would allow us more family time even though he will be traveling on average 3 days a week. That does not seem possible does it? That he could be gone 2 nights a week and still see us more? Oh, yes it is possible considering he commutes for at least 3 1/2 hours each day to get home in time to eat a late dinner and tuck the girls in. Not really enough time to go for a walk or a bike ride or to the park. So we are going to try something new, again. This will be our fourth out-of-state move since we were married 10 years ago. So we are used to it right? Wrong!

Moving will be a big challenge. Once again Keith will most likely be working in his new position well before our home here is sold, so the girls and I will be here in California for a few more months and Keith will be here a few more weeks. For those of you who remember our last move, that time apart was really difficult on all of us. However, Denver is a 14 hour drive from here so we will have opportunities to visit occasionally.

We still are not sure of how our living situation will work but most likley we we get an apartment near Denver for a few months and possibly build a new home in Elizabeth, Colorado. So if anyone knows of any good churches or homeschool groups in this area, please let me know.

Please keep us in your prayers as we have some major decisions to make.

I am going to try to keep this blog updated as we have new information on the job, move and a new home.