Change is GOOD!

Someday I will make blogging a part of my day/week, I just haven't been able to figure out the best time to blog I guess. It's been a couple months since I have written anything and there have been a couple big changes to our lives I'm excited to share.

First, we have decided to move! Nate has been commuting to Fergus Falls for the last 2 years and is ready to spend more time with Jade and I. We started looking for houses this spring hoping to find a house we could call home by the end of the summer. Nate has been amazing in this process! He contacted multiple realtors to help us in our search for a house and went to view homes we thought had potential online.  Our search for an existing house was unsuccessful, so it was on to plan B, building!! Although I knew this was a long process, I was secretly hoping for this. Nate contacted the bank, builders, and realtors.  He found a couple lots he thought would be great for us, so we started to design our "dream" home.  We fell in love with a floor plan we designed and started moving forward with this decision. It has been a LONG process, but an exciting one too. We bought a 2.3 acre lot a little out of town. It's huge! We didn't need a lot this big, but we really liked the area. It's out of town, but still in a neighborhood. We will never have neighbors out our back door as there is a pond there! It's very pretty. I think we will be very happy once we are all done. We are hoping to get into our house by Christmas, but are expecting to move in January. When finished, our house will be a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom rambler with a walk out basement. We are just finishing the main floor right away. Nate loves finishing basements (insert sarcasm), so he will be doing that again in the next couple years or so I would guess. We are really excited to leave the big city of Fargo and become a part of a smaller community. I will be staying home with Jade when we move. I never thought I'd have the opportunity to stay at home with our kids, but feel very blessed that it has become a reality.

I have decided to start my own business and become and Independent Consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. A big reason I decided to do this was because of us moving. I wanted to find a way I could meet other women in the area and thought this would help me get out there. I hosted one party myself last December and fell in love with their products. I hope to be able to throw a couple parties a month and make a little income to help us save for a trip, pay off some loans, etc. I am excited to be my own boss and set my own hours! It will be quite a change from working multiple nights a week and most Saturday's, but a change I'm ready for.

Bubye Wyoming...

I thought I posted this right after my trip... I guess not. Rather than deleting it, I'll just post it now. 2 months late!

I made my final trip to visit my parents and the house I grew up in in Riverton, Wyoming. It's bitter sweet to say the least. I'm sad for my parents to leave what I still call "home," but super excited to have them close. Jade and I hopped on an airplane and flew out to visit. Jade was quite the trooper as we flew out of Fargo at 6:10AM...which means I grabbed her out of bed at 4:45. I thought for sure she'd sleep the first plane so left her in her pj's, but she must have been excited because she didn't fall asleep until we were making our descent into Denver. She then slept long enough for me to grab breakfast and coffee for myself. I of course thought she looked uncomfortable in her umbrella stroller and was going to lay her down on a blanket on the floor to keep sleeping, dumb idea! She woke up as I tried to move her and was ready to roam around the airport. My friendly munchkin made friends with a couple kids waiting for our plane from Denver to Riverton. I don't know where she gets her friendliness...must be her Dad. She waved at many people as we made our way through the airport, and loved smiling, laughing, and waving at the stewardess's. She loved the escalators, elevators, and moving walkways, saying "Oooo" the whole time. She was amazed by the airplanes and would stand at the window watching them and the all the busy workers outside. It's so fun seeing the world through a child's eyes! It's been a while since I have actually flown into Riverton and forgot how loud and bumpy of a ride the little planes are! It was so nice to fly to Riverton instead of getting to Casper and then driving two more hours home!

Grandma and Grandpa Elgin were super prepared for our arrival. They had gone through old boxes and grabbed some of my old toys for her to play with. They found babies, a stroller, a shopping cart, a trike, a wagon, and more random things. They also went out and bought an inflatable pool for Jade to play in during the hot Wyoming days. Although Jade didn't sleep the best in Wyoming, I think she had a lot of fun. She got to see horses and ducks up close and personal. She went to the park, played on the swing set at Church (during Church), dug in the garden, met a few people, played with a ton of rocks, splashed in the pool, went to her first softball games...the list could go on. She was very busy and my parents just sat and laughed at everything she did. She does such a good job playing and entertaining not only us, but herself too.

I got to enjoy my last visit to 1215 Robin Lane playing with my girl, talking and hanging out with my parents, and visiting people who came to the house. I was surprised with my favorite Breadboard sandwich upon our arrival...Nummy Num (as Jade would say). We spend most nights sitting on the deck after grilling food for dinner. The view from that deck is something I think we'll all miss. There is so much more that we could have done while we were there and so many more people we could have visited as there is no telling when we'll be back to Riverton, but I guess the line has to be drawn somewhere...you just can't do it all. I certainly am going to miss things about the home and town I grew up in, but again, couldn't be more excited to have my family close.

After 5 days away from home, we were both ready to come back to Fargo. Jade missed her Dada and Duuuke and I was ready for a good nights sleep. We boarded our plane at noon and waved our final goodbye to Riverton. I got a little emotional as we flew away, saying goodbye to 18 years of my life. We got to Denver with about 40 minutes to get to our next flight. We booked it across terminal A and made it to our gate in terminal B with a few minutes to spare. We were pulled off the runway in Denver to let some nasty weather pass and got off the ground just before an even nastier weather system approached the area. I had heard there was a tornado warning within probably 10-20 minutes of when we left Denver! So glad we didn't have to unload and reload the plane! My bag didn't make it across the terminal in Denver in time, so I had to leave the airport with no bag. Luckily it was delivered the next morning, but I still had to make due without some essentials in the morning. 

Let the summer fun continue...