A good day

Yesterday was a good day!
These days aren't exactly few and far between, but good days don't happen daily for sure.

In the morning,  after the kids were at school the Patrick and I ran some errands.  One errand was getting my tire patched (it had a nail in it).  Not a good thing, but it was under warranty, so it was free. After we we done and headed home we stopped for lunch at Baja Fresh. We enjoyed some yummy food.  As we were getting ready to leave, someone approached me that I recognized. It was an old acquaintance from New Mexico.  Tracey Sweeson. We hugged, and started catching up. She and I were in the same ward in New Mexico and were even scout leaders together.  It was totally unexpected and random. Her husband relocated here with Intel almost three years ago. Felt so nice to talk to someone 'back home' definitely put a smile on my face.
In the evening, I dropped the boys off at the church for their first temple trip. Once they were off we decided to go to the library with Savannah.  We found out you can check out all kinds of cool stuff from the library like cake pans, sewing machine,  cotton candy machine,  dehydrator ect.  Cool stuff!  Afterwards,  we went to the back to feed the ducks and ....the geese too, I guess. It was a beautiful evening.  We all enjoyed ourselves.  The boys came home late with chick -fil- a.  The bishop took all the YM out to eat after. They said the temple was beautiful and it was a really good night at the temple (despite Griffin getting a bloody nose during the baptisms). I saw this quote in Facebook today as well. * pic below 

Maybe things will be alright after all.

Our first Beach outing

Today we skipped church and spent the day at Cannon Beach.  It's about an hour from our house. Man, oh man it was beautiful!  It was cold too. I've never had to wear a winter jacket at the beach before. We enjoyed a nice walk down to haystack rock. Griffin and Savannah waded in the water as we walked. We all found shells and sand dollars. Savannah got soaked and then was freezing of course! After enjoying the beach, we walked over to a place for lunch right on the beach. Griffin's meal came with a Frisbee, so after lunch we walked over to a park where the boys played. Savannah stayed in the car with the heaters on full blast to dry off. A little while later, we drove into town and found Bruce's candy shop, where we got some yummy treats! After that, we headed to Ecola State park. It had walking paths and beautiful views of the ocean. After we hung out awhile it was time to head home. It was a great day at the beach! Can't wait to go back. One of the positive things about this move is living so close to the beach once again!

One month in

We've been living here for just over a month now. It seems like a rollercoaster of emotions. 
I don't really  remember the details of our move to New Mexico 10 years ago, so I really want to document how I'm feeling, and our adjustments.  I'll break it down by category.

School- The schools here are smaller. For middle school and high school there doesn't seem to be as many choices for electives. Middle School actually there's hardly any it's really only music, Spanish, art and PE  and they rotate through those as a group.  No Latin for Trevor anymore.  Griffin just switched to a new school this past week. He got into a special program called Summa for " highly gifted " kids.  He really likes it. It's more on target for his level. Savannah has a male teacher who she likes. She also gets Spanish.  They are learning stuff she already learned in New Mexico though, which isn't saying much. They don't offer band, so no more clarinet.
The kids seem to be doing ok and making some friends.

Church- Our ward is tiny! There are hardly any youth.  Trevor is the only 14yr old boy and Savannah is the only 11yr old girl. It's way different. The people are nice, but dry. They don't do a scouting program (they say there's not any interest and not enough boys).  I need to find another ward to take Trevor to their program.  We've only gone to church three times and I seriously cringe each time I go.

Work- Well, Patrick is adjusting.  It's much different at this site. Same company different politics. I've been applying for jobs like crazy! I had one interview at a school that included a kid on the interview panel.  It was odd. I did get a job as a sub, I do orientation at the end of the month.  Not working had been really hard for me. I miss my job and my co-worker's  horribly.  I've talked to them on the phone a few times  and it always leaves me in tears afterwards. 

Random bad stuff- You can't pump your own gas. It's weird and it sucks!
There is alot of traffic. If something is 6 miles away it takes over 20 minutes to get there.
It's super expensive to buy a house here. Not really sure we want to stay here or not for that reason.
There are lots of panhandlers even up here in the suburbs.  They seem pretty well dressed, cell phones, smoke nice pipes. They have "regular" spots and mostly work 9-5 M-f .
It's crowded.  Rural meets city but instead of spreading out more,  all the city areas are super cramped.

Random good stuff- Food. There is really some fabulous food here. Lots of wonderful choices.
It's really beautiful.
People are super friendly.  Very nice everywhere we go. Impressive.
Lots of cool parks and museums.
Beach is only an hour away.

Right now I just want to get the heck out of here to be honest,  but maybe it'll grow on me. We shall see.