We have been busy this past month with a ton of things going on! First and foremost there were plenty of things to celebrate in September: Drew and I had our 14th anniversary and I turned 33 years old! Belated cards and cash always welcome ;). In addition, in 11 moves we finally live close to family. Drew’s Aunt and Uncle just moved to the area a few weeks ago which is pretty cool.

Fall/Autumn is such a cool time of year and we have been really trying to make the most of it. The temperature is starting to cool off and the leaves are starting to change. We are trying to spend as much time outside as possible. Below are some of the latest pictures of the kids.

Posted in Virginia, Family life | 2 Comments »

Our big adventure for August has been setting up a worm farm! I’m sure the majority of you are wondering what in the world is a worm farm. Vermicomposting is a form of composting that lets worms digest organic matter and turns them into worm tea and castings. I’m sure you can guess what those are! The tea and the castings can be used to help fertilize your plants.

This all got started because back in April, Ian mentioned his class had a worm farm. A friend had briefly mentioned a worm farm to me a month before that, but I had forgotten about it. I started doing some research and saw the benefits of recycling our organic waste. Some of the things you feed them are banana peels, apple cores, broccoli stalks, egg shells, coffee grounds, and human and pet hair (gross, I know).

The worms had a rough start. I ordered 2 pounds (approximately 2000 worms) two weeks ago. They should have arrived within a few days but they didn’t show up so I assumed I didn’t submit my order before the shipping cutoff date. The following Monday I got a call from my Dad in North Carolina saying he had my worms. Apparently I shipped them to their house in Scottsdale which were forwarded to their house in North Carolina. I was sure they were dead, but he checked and they were still alive so he shipped them up to us!

We got our worms this past Wednesday and it’s been kind of fun so far. We had a rotting bag of disgusting scraps and they seem to be doing a good job devouring it. The kids think it is pretty cool too. It isn’t a mess at all and there is no odor. I recommend it!

Posted in Family life | 3 Comments »

Yes, I know, I’ve been bad about updating this blog for our friends and family! Well, we have good reason for that! We have basically been moving non-stop for the past couple of months. Some of the momentous events that have occurred are:

• We got our car in late May - This was really nice as Drew was pretty much responsible for dropping all of us off at work and school and picking us up too. I think he felt a bit like a taxi.
• Our stuff came in early June - We finally got furniture in early June. The house was a mess with boxes but luckily we had some really good friends coming (Ponya and Dave) to visit so we had to get off of our butts and unpack.
• We went camping on the Potomac for Ian’s birthday in June - Our adventures haven’t stopped since coming back to the states. Ian wanted to go somewhere with a beach for the weekend, but it didn’t need to be a beach on the ocean which was nice because the ocean is about a 4 hour drive. We went down to Westmoreland State Park and had a really nice time. We loaded up the dogs and spent a long weekend there. It was great weather for hiking and playing in the water. I also got to eat fresh seafood which is always a plus!
• We had friends in town - Our friends from North Carolina came up and stayed for about 5 days! They are getting ready to move to California this month so it was awesome to get to spend time with them before their trip. Have a safe trip guys, we love you!
• Drew started school - Drew started going back to school in June. He is enrolled in the Master’s of Public Policy program at Georgetown. It was quite a change going from full time Army work to full time student but he seems to have enjoyed his first class.
• Trip to Tennessee and North Carolina - For Abe’s birthday, we went down to see our friends in Tennessee and then onto my parents house in North Carolina. We had a really nice time both place. In Tennessee, we played a mad game of Laser Tag (High scorer for the red team right here) and my team won of course. I took the game a little too seriously and left with a few minor injuries! The boys got to see their grandparents which they hadn’t seen in 2.5 years so it was really nice for them as well!
• Way too many sports - We got a little ambitious this summer and seem to be doing WAY too many things. Ian is signed up for Rugby and has practice twice a week (2 hours long each) and games on Saturday. Both boys are in swimming lessons and Abe is playing soccer. It definitely keeps us busy.

That pretty much sums up the last couple of months. We don’t have any trips planned until August. Here are some more recent pics we took to tide you over until the next time.

Here are the boys hanging out on the river bank.

Abe being silly

Ian scoring his first try in rugby

The boys looking in the water

The dogs were included in all of the fun!

Posted in Virginia, Family life | 2 Comments »

Okay. I am back home, in the grandest country on the Earth. No, in the history of the World!! Since coming home, I have enjoyed the many wonderful things about the USA that you never really notice until deprived them. One of these wonders, I guess, is that phenominon known here as American Idol.

While watching the show with my babe tonight, I was excited to here that they would be singing songs from Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame inductees. There was hope. I told sara,”Maybe they will sing Motorhead”. Right out of the gate I was surprised and confused to here Eric Cartman sing a Duran-Duran song. It continued all the way through the first round, and I will say this… they should have sung Motorhead.

This of course prompted me to look up an old friend that was banned in Belgium. Pandora.Com. I logged in with my old username and immediately created a Motorhead Channel. Glory!! My triumph over socialism is complete!

Posted in General | 2 Comments »

It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone so let me do that now! I arrived in NoVA about 2.5 weeks ago and I hit the ground running! Within a couple of days I saw over 25 houses and even made an offer on two! The first house got 4 other offers the same day so ours was rejected and the 2nd house had a couple of offers, but ours was the best one! If all goes well, we will close by the end of the month. It will be nice to own a home again. It will also be nice that we will be able to settle down for a few years; Drew may even be able to retire here, so we’ll see.

Here are some pictures of the house. Aside from the first picture, these are pictures the owner took last spring when everything was in bloom.

The kitchen is a good size with plenty of storage space. If you look at the part of the wall sticking out in the bottom-right-hand corner, I would like to replace that part of the top and make it stick out further and throw a couple of stools under there. The counter tops are silestone and the fridge and the dishwasher are brand new. The stove is gas which I like.

Here is a shot of the living room. You can tell by the last few pictures how the living room, kitchen, and dining room all flow together. That is one thing I really liked about our house in Savannah. It was nice to be in the kitchen and be able to see and talk to everyone in the living room.

This is a shot of the dining room and one thing I liked the most about this house is the elevated ceilings and windows at the top. Most of the houses in our price range are much older (this is almost 50 years old) and have low ceilings so this makes everything feel more open.The room is a decent size as well with the sliding glass doors opening into the back yard.

Right outside of the dining room is the patio. It’s just a concrete slab which we will probably want to change eventually. Maybe we will build a deck or refinish the patio. It’s a nice landscaped area though and there are plenty of trees for shade. We’ll have to be on our lookout for patio furniture. Now won’t be the best time to buy because it will all be full price, but it would be nice to see be able to hangout in our backyard in the spring and summer!

The backyard is very mature and nicely landscaped. There is a level section of grass and beyond that is natural landscaping with some rock pathways to walk around. There are large trees and plenty of azaleas which will be really nice come spring. It should be a good yard for both the kids and the dogs.

Overall the house will be good for us; it has really good bones and is move-in ready. It is 3 bedrooms with 2.5 baths. There is a large portion of the basement which is finished. Right now it is all one large room but I would like to partition it so there is an office and a separate family room. The floors are all hard wood except for the basement which is tile. There is another part of the basement which isn’t finished but could be and turned into a guest room ideally. I’ll update everyone when we close on the house. Everything is moving on time so far so hopefully it will continue to do so. Hope you are all well!

Posted in House Hunting | 3 Comments »

Well, the new year began just a couple of days ago and we were all tucked in our beds sound asleep :D. We are all looking forward to 2008 very much. There is a lot of change forthcoming , but it is change that we welcome. I am not one for resolutions typically, but there is something I would definitely like to improve with regard to my long-distance family and friends…to keep in better touch.

Email used to be the best way to reach us, but now we got SO much email that throughout the day when I get personal email, I set it to the side to respond to at a later time and well, you’ve all seen how that goes…out of sight, out of mind. So this is something I really will make an effort at improving. I am going to get these damn xmas cards out this week if it kills me! So, i would like to apologize to all of you for being a crappy daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter, DIL, SIL, aunt, and friend. I love you all and maybe this year I will be bugging you so much you tell me to leave you alone.

Anyway, happy 2008 to everyone. I hope you have a great one!

Posted in Family life | 2 Comments »

Merry Christmas and a happy New year to all of our family and friends! I think you all know by now that I am a little late on getting my christmas cards out. They are still sitting on my desk and most of them are even addressed! December has been a whirlwind of a month for us!

After we found out we will be moving back to the states, I immediately started looking for jobs in the area. The cost of living in DC is incredible and in order for us to afford a house, etc., I will need to work out of the home. It will definitely be an adjustment as I’ve been able to be home for the last 3.5 years, but you do what you’ve got to do! In some ways, I am looking forward to it!

So, what’s the plan for us? Well, Drew wants me to be the “advance party” which is fine with me. That means that by the end of February, I will be moving out there for sure to start visiting schools and figuring out the best place for us to live. The ideal situation, however, is that I will be able to secure a job BEFORE our move and will move out as determined by the employer. This will at least pay for a hotel (or furnished apartment) and rental car that I will need before the rest of the family arrives. The whole family will be out no later than the end of April.

I’ll try to keep everyone updated from here! I’ll leave you with a picture of the snow we had last week. It was really pretty!

Posted in Belgium, Moving | No Comments »

We found out this week that we will be leaving Europe in just a few months to head back to the US! This is great news and we are all very excited. Long story short, Drew applied for an awesome program and was accepted so he has to report no later than May 15. At the latest we will leave around April 15, but I will probably go ahead of us and secure a house, etc.

Belgium has been really great for our family and we have done some amazing things here, but we are anxious to get back home! Just wanted to let you all know!

Posted in Family life, Belgium | 4 Comments »

Our trip to Ireland was awesome! We got there bright and early Friday morning and didn’t wait to start exploring any sites. I was kind of worried because Ian and I had both been really sick that week but we didn’t really notice it while we were on our adventure!

We visited the southwest corner of the country, specifically, Counties Clare, Kerry, and Cork. Our first stop was to the Cliffs of Moher. It was very foggy and rainy but that didn’t dampen the spirit or our moods at all. The Cliffs are really beautiful and the boys loved it and didn’t want to leave. We got to hike around a bit and in general it was a great time.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Travel | 3 Comments »

We’re going to Ireland and I’m going to kiss the Blarney stone!

Most of you know that the great Drew’s birthday is coming up (wow he is getting old) and he wanted to take some time off and maybe go somewhere. So I started doing research (I always do my research) and looking for the best deals for places we would like to go (the dollar sucks right now). We narrowed it down to 5 places to include cities in Italy, Portugal, and Ireland.

He has been to Italy before; heck he went to high school in Italy. He wants to have us experience it with him, but it’s not a priority. So that narrowed it down to Portugal and Ireland. Both are places I really want to go to but Drew was looking for a country feel (he’s been researching buying a farm in the states - more on that later) so Ireland it was.

I’m SO looking forward to it.

Bon Voyage!

Posted in Travel | 4 Comments »