Part III: A New Home

We finally closed on the house!  Here's a picture:

There's quite a bit of work that needs to be done.  Painting will go a long way in freshening it up.  The painting will be no easy task.  Everything needs to be painted including trim, doors and ceilings.  It will be great though once it is done.  The floors and countertops need to be updated but we will just tackle one project at a time.  The yard needs some work as well.  Fortunately, the backyard is already fenced for the dog.  The house sat empty for awhile so there are tons of spiders, roaches, wasps (nests) and other creepy crawlies .  I had a pest control company come out and spray for bugs already.  The house is empty because we still haven't received our household goods yet.  Tom has called and cannot get an answer as to when they will be able to deliver it.  We are being told that they cannot find a truck driver in Denver to drive it out to Missouri.  It sounds reasonable since Tom works with someone that just moved here too.  His household goods are already in town and in storage, but the moving company can't find anyone to load the truck and deliver it.  This is completely ridiculous to us because we live in a college town.  They can't find one college student that needs summer work?  Ugh.  Well, don't get me started on the closing process for the house either.  No one returns phone calls anymore.  Ha!  So much for the days when customer service was top priority for businesses.  

I guess eventually we will get our furniture.  It's just tough because we can't move into the house until we actually have what we need to live in it.  So, we are still staying in lodging.   Today, I managed to finish updating my resume and writing two more cover letters.  I applied for a few jobs this morning and took a keyboarding test at the college.  I just need to wait and see if anyone calls for an interview.  I'm not in a hurry to start work at the moment because once we get our furniture, I will be busy unpacking.  I'd like to finish getting us settled before I start full-time work anyway.

Here's a picture of the city limit sign for Warrensburg.  The speed limit really is 25 mph throughout the city unless otherwise posted.  I have to drive slower in town than I do on the base. 

Here's a couple of establishments we seem to visit often.  I would also post a photo of Walmart and the Verizon store, but those are just givens.  (Tommy loves to visit the Verizon store.  He will end up being on a first name basis with all the salesman.) 

We got to tour around a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber.  It's pretty cool.  It's even better to see it flying.  I'm going to post this, but be warned my husband will probably censor this photo and I will have to delete it.  Enjoy it while you can.  

O.k. I could not resist taking this photo.  Can you believe the elevation of the runway is 870?  Who cares, right?  Well, I just thought it was interesting since we just came from Cheyenne and Colorado with elevations fluctuating between 6200 and over 10,000 feet in elevation...870 seems silly.  LOL

The boys finally got their pool table.  It came with the house.  I understand the seller (husband) was pretty sad to part with it.

We are about to start our 4th of July weekend.  We have no big plans because we will be painting this weekend.  We will probably take a little time and go into Kansas City.  I'm anxious to take a tour of their chocolate factory and check out the Hallmark store.  I guess KC has the world headquarters for Hallmark.  I think it's something to visit.  We have to see the Transformers 3 movie too.  

We've been issued an Excessive Heat Warning for the weekend.  I guess they expect temperatures to reach the 100's with very high humidity.  Yuck!  We won't be spending anytime outside.  Ha!

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!!

Something Nice to Say

I'm in a mood.  If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I will blog another day.

Part II: The Move, Vacation and Living in a Small Town again.

The Vacation Part II

The boys and I then headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado.   We had a stop in Gunnision for lunch and I noticed one of my tires was low on air.  About 90 minutes later, I had a patched tire and we were on the road again.  I made it to Laura's (my cousin) about 6:00 pm on June 13th.  We met my Auntie Dianna, cousin Doug and his kids.   We ate at Hu Hot Restaurant.  It was delicious and the first time we've been there.   We stayed until Thursday morning and then headed to Missouri.   Here are some pictures of our stay in the Springs:

The boys wanted to visit our old neighborhood and see their old school.

Laura took us to Green Mountain Falls, Colorado for breakfast.  We went to "The Pantry" and they have very large servings. 

Tommy ordered hot chocolate. 

Steven ordered the "Mother Lode pancake" and it really was huge.

The restaurant was right next to a little lake.

 Laura and  I took our picture next to a crooked tree.

Next, we visited Garden of the Gods.  You can see Pikes Peak in the background.

Balanced Rock.

 We made a quick visit to the Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy.

We left Colorado Springs on Thursday morning, June 16 and spent the night in Hays, Kansas.  It was a very nice Holiday Inn Express.   It had laundry service, a swimming pool, and breakfast was included the next morning.  The kids love staying in a hotel. 

We try to get the kids' picture in front of every new State sign.  Tommy was napping for this picture.  I tried twice to wake him up but you know how teenagers are.  LOL   Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Missouri because I was in heavy traffic on the I-70 passing through Kansas City.  There is no safe place to stop for a photo op in the middle of heavy traffic.  We tried pulling over at the first Visitors Center in town but it was a huge disappointment because they didn't have a state sign.  Although, we gathered a number of brochures and a map of Missouri.

Tomorrow, I will blog about our arrival into our new hometown.  It's small.  Incredibly small.  There isn't anything here except a Walmart.   We also got a chance to see our almost new home.  We don't close on the house for another week.

Happy Father's Day!!

Here is a video the boys' made for their Papa on Father's Day. 

http://animoto.com/play/N50BwwFSojf8NvQnwVC6og

Part I: A Move, a Vacation and Living in a Small Town

The Move

It has been a long time since my last blog post.  There was so much happening to prepare for our move that I had no time or energy to blog during that time.

We moved during the last three weeks of school/work.  As you can imagine it was extremely hectic trying to work and have the kids wrap up their school year while trying to pack.  There were spring concerts, awards ceremonies and doctor's appointments to fit in during that time as well.   We were living in lodging during the last week or so of school.  The kids and I weren't thrilled with the move and didn't want to leave Cheyenne at all.  It was extremely painful for us and we will really miss our friends there. 

The Vacation
As soon as school fnished, we began our two week vacation through Colorado.   We left June 4th and arrived in Montrose, Colorado to stay with Auntie and Uncle.   We also visited our cousins.  Here are a few pictures of our great visit with family.

The boys and I on our first day of traveling.

We arrived in Montrose and Auntie and Uncle took us to Silverton, Colorado the next day.  We ate lunch at a restaurant with lots of wildlife on the walls. 

Good food.

The train from Durango.

Steven wanted a Coon (Kuhn) skin hat.

Wonderful views through Colorado (Western slope).

Hot springs in Ouray, Colorado.  We loved it so much we went back a couple of times. 

We went fishing (Grand Mesa, Colorado) and the boys caught rainbow trout.  Notice the snow in the picture.  We drove up there and my Uncle thought the lakes would be ready for fishing.  Most of the lakes were still frozen and there was a lot of snow still on the ground.  Fortunately, we found a lake that was thawed near the lodge where we had lunch. 

During our stay, Tommy became a teenager.  He traditionally makes his own cake.  So, here he is the night before preparing to bake.

The 13 year old!

Needless to say, we had an amazing time visiting with the family.  Auntie and Uncle made the most amazing dinners every night.   We had adobo, sweet and sour spareribs, grilled steak, and enchiladas, too.  We even went out to Japanese one night and the boys tried to use chopsticks.  My cousin, Sandra, made an amazing dinner one night with ham, scalloped potatoes and asparagus.   Here is a picture of the cousins all together.

We left Montrose for Colorado Springs on June 13th.  Our first stop was Gunnison, Colorado for lunch but it quickly became a flat tire repair.  I will continue blogging about our trip in the next post.