Life in Texas

1. Weather. As you can probably tell, we are fascinated with our new climate. I know we talk about it a lot, but it has a lot of impact on us...being outside more, walking & running more, less socks to match, and no coats/hats/scarves/gloves to wrestle with. And outdoor living spaces are huge here and I hope to get ours set up this weekend. I've been bargain hunting for weeks!

2. Health. Clint continues to be healthy. We are about to enter a heavy allergen season and we're waiting to see how he handles it all. For the first time, when strep took down 3 kids-- Clint was the only escapee. I don't think that has happened before!

3. Spring break. We are counting down to spring break! We are ready for a break from our routine (and alarm clocks!) and we have visitors coming. Just 4 more days!

4. Church. We've decided to join the church we've been attending since November. Each week keeps getting better and better. I'm so thankful we've been able to meet people and make connections that we hope turn into rich friendships. We are loving this body of believers God has matched us with. We've observed many cultural differences down here and the approach and view of 'doing' church is among the most intriguing to us.

5. Pace. There's a different pace of life here. Or maybe it is just a different attitude about pace. Either way, we enjoy the overall attitude to slow down and enjoy life.

6. Projects. We've been busy with several projects. Home improvement projects-- the best kind! I posted photos of my little red table and Todd's photo ledges. And there's a few more things in the works.

7. We've now lived in Texas for 6 months! Some times it seems like just yesterday we received the news of our move and other times, it seems as though we've been here for years.

Life in Texas

1. January has meant refining all of our unpacking. In other words, we threw everything where we thought we wanted it and now I'm going back through and organizing it to fit what we need and how we use it.

And on a side note, one of my favorite blogs is Better After. It simply showcases 'before' and 'afters' of rooms, furniture, and accessories... There are several things I need to redo and repurpose to fit this house and I find this site inspiring. And clearly, I am reminded that I under utilize spray paint.

2. It is so good to be outside! Even though I have a lot to do inside (see #1!) I find I'd rather be outside enjoying the sun and warm temps. We typically don't let the kids watch TV on weekdays and it used to be a source of protest in the winter months, but they hardly mention it now. They love meeting up with neighbor children and enjoying the outdoors. The dry creek bed is a continual source of adventure.

3. We have been attending a church we all enjoy since November. It's been nice to take a break from visiting different churches. We went to 10 before we decided to stay at our current one and take a deeper look.

4. We're looking forward to our visitors! We have friends and family coming to visit us and we are so excited to spend time with them and show them our new 'turf' !! Please email/facebook message us if you are going to be in the area, or need to come here-- we'd love to meet up with you!

Life in Texas

1. We had a 'freeze warning'. SA is below the 'frost line', so warnings get issued whenever SA might fall below 32 degrees. Apparently, it was 35 degrees overnight, we woke up a little chilled... then the sun came out and it was in the 70s by the afternoon. For all the hype, it wasn't a big deal to us at all. The boys still wore shorts to school.

2. I think one of the most stressful things about this move has been dealing with customer service especially when it's via the telephone. Since we've been cancelling services, scheduling new services, closing accounts, setting up accounts, changing our address and bank information, making appointments, registering for schools, and asking questions-- we've found ourselves on customer hotlines A LOT. Pottery Barn and Directv get an A plus. Cincinnati Bell gets a F minus. Actually, make that a zero.

3. Furniture shopping is a chore. We shopped online and hit the stores. We stopped in one store which offered 250 different kinds of leather in 400 colors. Did you know there were that many kinds of leather? I asked Rob this and he replied, "I only knew of two: real and fake." This store also had a $52,299. sofa. I just had to sit on it. I tried to take a cell phone photo of the price tag, but the sales lady was on to me. Needless to say, this was not our store (and I didn't think the couch was that great)

4. It's hard to believe it's November. The weather outside does not match the Midwest calendar we are used to... I really need to step up my Christmas shopping timeline and prepare for Thanksgiving travel, but my inner clock is stuck in September.

5. We found a local moving company to come and get our big pile of empty boxes & packing paper and we can see the floor of the garage now! We are close to getting our vehicles parked in there... but still have some work to do...

6. We went rustic shopping last week. There are a lot of little markets with metal art, outdoor furniture (outdoor rooms are huge here), chimneas, pottery, and now Christmas decorations. Didn't buy anything, just gathered up some ideas and now we're pondering the possibilities.

7. The cross country season is officially over. Rob's coach requires each runner to keep a log of their miles and journal their runs during the season. Rob's total was 275 miles! (And he had light duty practices with his stitches) He also took a total of 8 minutes off his time during the season. We're so proud of Rob and all of his hard work!

8. Our family is signed up for the 'Henry County Huffin' for Stuffin' 5k race on Thanksgiving morning. This will be Erika's first full 5k and I told her we could just walk it. But I was talking to her teacher yesterday and found out Erika has been running laps during recess to get ready for the race. I better step up my training. ha!

Life in Texas

1. Clint. When we came to Texas, we took Clint off all of his allergy meds. And he has done so well! He has not used his inhaler once nor missed any school (which hasn't happened during the fall quarter!) He's only had one migraine and it was around the time TS Hermine hit. He is very sensitive to pressure changes-- he can predict rain/snow with his head! We have not missed taking him to the ER for breathing treatments when we ran out of ways to manage his allergies & breathing at home.

2. Weather. The daily temperatures are great right now. We have about 65 degrees in the mornings and 85 in the afternoons with big, clear, blue skies. We have found we don't need to watch the weather- it's so consistent. If it's going to rain or a cold front is coming, you'll hear about it on the news or from the neighbors.

3. Unpacking. We're at that dangerous point of unpacking... that point when you've found most of the things you care about and yet, there's still boxes lurking. I'd love to do a wholesale donation of all of the boxes to Goodwill, but I know there's probably one important item we need in each box. And so they sit and wait for me to tackle...

4. Cross Country. The season is winding down and we're all a little sad. It's been a great season and we've enjoyed getting to know the other runners and their families. There was a dinner this week to honor the seniors. As part of the tradition, the seniors nominated their underclassmen with superlatives. Rob was deemed, 'most likely to split his knee open on a run' and none of us were surprised by that one.

5. Wildlife. We've encountered a lot of wildlife... lizards, snakes, armadillos, raccoons, and lots and lots of deer. We are in hill country in a residential area, but the deer wander through as though they're neighbors. If we're out at dusk or dawn, we're sure to see deer!

Life in Texas

1. Weather. Hermine made landfall on the Texas coast and traveled to our city. It was intense with heavy rains, strong winds, flash flooding, power outages, and a very dark sky. The eye of the storm was actually quite calm as it passed, then the storm fiercely resumed. It was odd to see the dry creek beds full of water. We were home during the worst part. Traffic was awful when I went to pick the children up from school. Many traffic lights were not operating and a few were missing. Just electrical wires flapping in the wind. Hermine was powerful and it was just a 'tropical storm' and we're 100 miles from the coast! Next, Hurricane Karl hit the coast of Mexico leaving us with rain and wind. This September is the second rainiest month on record and we still have a week left.

2. Central Time Zone. I'm still getting used to living in CT. My internal clock has adjusted. The hard part is remembering we're in CT. Last night, I sat down at 8 pm to watch a favorite show of mine. Only to find I had missed it completely. Primetime starts at 7 pm here... All my life in ET, I'd hear some title of a show followed by "9 eastern, 8 central" You think I'd know how it works!

3. Soldiers. There are 6 military bases here which means there are soldiers everywhere. You can't go anywhere without seeing someone in uniform. I have found these soldiers to be constant reminders to me of the sacrifices for my freedom and has increased my gratefulness to our military. I love how retired soldiers gather at the airport to welcome home active duty soldiers. Former President George & Laura Bush even join them at times, too.

4. Friday Night Lights. The games are intense here and a big deal to the players, coaches, families, student body (band, cheerleaders, fans), and general community. They all come out and support their teams well. The players are very skilled having played for quite some time before they start their high school 'career'.

5. School. We attended an openhouse at Rob's school. We got to experience a day of his schedule. We spent about 10 minutes in each of his classes meeting the teacher and hearing an overview of the course. Todd and I had a great time. Rob's English teacher has moved 47 times, (she is here to stay now) She has been so helpful to him. And his Algebra teacher is the perkiest person I have ever met! The building is big, the course book is thick, and the teachers are fabulous. (I want to go to high school there... ;-)

6. Closings. Our closing for our Ohio house has been frustrating for the buyers, our realtors, and us. It's not our buyers themselves, but their bank. They originally scheduled it to close in 25 days. Our broker advised we put a buffer on our closing here (which we followed and then some), but now our scheduled closing on Monday for our Texas house is in jeopardy. Tomorrow is day 40 and we're not optimistic. Delaying our closing would set off a domino effect on our sellers' 2 closings and so forth. We were basically forced to sign a 7 day extension. What it all means for our house here is a mystery at this point. We could pull it all off or we could be back to square one. Needless to say, we're frustrated.

Life in Texas

1. Heat. Tuesday hit 107 degrees. It is a dry heat, much different from the humid heat we are used to... and we're learning how to manage it. I got dehydrated this week. I'm used to relying on sweat as an indicator on how overheated I am. With dry heat, it wicks the moisture off of your skin... removing this much needed indicator. I was outside on Tuesday a lot and because I didn't notice much sweat, I thought I was handling the heat okay. As I found out later, that was not accurate... I spent most of the evening and next day hydrating to get back on track. Lesson learned.

2. Lizards. Every morning as we open the front door, tiny lizards scatter. Clint is strategizing a plan to capture of one of these little fellows and keep him as a pet. My stratgey is to fling the door open and not look down... Ignorance is bliss. I wonder how long until I discover one of these little reptiles in my home. My home!

3. School. Everyone is adjusting well to their new school. As for adjusting to the new schedule, we are all tired. The first week of school always seems to wear everyone out!

4. House hunting. It's a bad time to house hunt. Inventory is down. A lot of people took houses off the market to buckle down for the school year. It's a good time to house hunt. Those sellers who remain on the market know it's a bad time of the year to attract buyers and are willing to deal. We watch the listings carefully and pounce on new listings and/or price changes. We are eager to get all of our stuff under one roof, unpacked, and settled into a home! We're ready to decorate and not have to prep for showings!

5. Tea. I love the looks of pure bewilderment I have gotten when I ask if the 'tea is sweetened'... I think it's safe to assume tea is sweet here!