Instapeek

Here’s a sneak peek at photos from my Instagram feed. It’ll give you an idea of what we’ve been up to these days. 

We went to the local Salvation Army to look for a bike. Here’s what we saw on our way:

Since I couldn’t find a bike at the thrift store (but I did see a dress for $68 and Ken spotted a suit for $600 — what?? How is that “thrifty”??) we headed to Walmart. I found a cute little bike that I LOVE. I think Ken likes her, too. 

And after biking around Walmart, we needed a break. With this place less than 5 miles from my house, I may never move again!

What does Instagram have to say about you?

Hidden Lake Gardens

While my parents were in town, we galavanted all over the Metro Detroit area. One of the places we went was Hidden Lake Gardens. Lots of nature, trees, plants, flowers and a huge wind chime. 

And here’s Jackson; always playing in dirt:And Ethan, too tired from all the walking. (FYI, we walked about 10 minutes down a trail. Tough life.)It was a delightful day that included a nap in the shade. How can a day that includes a nap be anything but delightful?

We made it

As I type this entry, I’m sitting on my deck in my new house in Michigan. We made it! We left Florida on July 7th. Three days, two nights and over 1,200 miles later, we landed in Michigan. I had grand plans of taking lots of pictures and video and even making another iMovie. But when you’re busy driving the whole way, there isn’t much time left for photos and movie making.

I was overwhelmed with amount of help we had packing and loading our truck. Friends and family started arriving the Thursday before we left and continued Thursday night and Friday. I had friends help load, pack and clean my house. I had no idea we were such messy people until I started putting everything into boxes. But my friends never once pointed it out to me. We have some awesome friends and family, I tell you. The goodbyes were tough Friday night. We said our goodbyes to friends but the hardest was to my brother, my sweet sister in law and her two precious girls, Molly & Ruby. I still tear up thinking about that night. That was a really hard goodbye. If they’re close, go hug your family. I love my brother and his family but they’re more than family; they’re friends. That’s wonderful but makes moving that much harder. 

The actual trip was pretty uneventful once we actually left the Florida house. (We got a late start that morning.) Two more friends came over that morning to say goodbye to us. Anthony and Melissa showed up promptly at 6am to see us off. They waited while we finished up the odds and ends around the house. Then these two goofballs followed us all the way to Georgia! They took a mini road trip that day and saw us off on our way to Michigan. What a wonderful surprise!

My awesome dad volunteered to drive the truck all the way to Michigan. The poor guy was bounced all over the place on rough roads in a truck that didn’t have shock absorbers and kept pulling to the right. He’s such a trooper. I know he doesn’t love the fact that we moved so far away and for him to still volunteer to drive us means a lot to me. A lot. Thanks, Daddy. And my wonderful mom helped me so much with unpacking and setting up the house. I couldn’t have gotten so much done without her. She worked her tail end off while she was here and I want her to know it didn’t go unnoticed. Thanks mom. They stayed for a week and it was a great time. I loved having them here but saying goodbye to them wasn’t easy either. In case you don’t know, I married at a young age (20). So I moved right out of my parents’ house and in with Ken. We moved all the way across the street from my parents. I loved living there for 17 years. We have an awesome relationship with them. We’ve spent countless hours together, watching movies, having coffee, dinner or just spending time together. I’ll admit that the thought of being without my “mommy and daddy” took my breath away as I left them at the airport. (Thank you to Ken for being there for me.) Thanks, mom and dad for all your help with this move. I promise that we’ll see each other more than once a year. I promise. 

Where was I? Oh yeah…The six humans and one lab/shepherd mix made it safe and sound to Michigan on July 9th. So far, we love it. It’s usually cool enough at night to take walks around the neighborhood and a few nights we’ve even slept with the air conditioner off and the windows open! We would NEVER do that on a summer night in Florida. Ever.

I love our little city, too. We’re close enough to walk to all of the following:
grocery store
drug store
Jackson’s school
hardware store
movie theater
library
and countless restaurants

We’ve already made some friends through the church Ken has been attending. They’ve welcomed our little family with open arms. I’m sure these will be lifelong friends. No one could ever replace our friends in Florida but it’s nice to know that we’ll be making some new ones on our adventure here in Michigan.

So there you have it. In a nutshell, that’s our trip to the Great North. I’m sure there will be tons of stories for this Florida Family to tell once winter comes. Heck, I have a hunch that Fall will be colder than any winter I experienced in Florida! I already have some stories I want to share as well as some pictures, so stay tuned. 

 

 

Right before my eyes

Do you ever look at your kids and notice that they have changed right before your eyes? You see them every day but some days they look so different from how they looked yesterday. This has been happening lately with Ethan. But when I found him in his room building his own Lego creations, I realized that he’s not all that grown up. I found that comforting. I needed that. They really do grow up too fast.