Almost there

I can't believe that we're almost done with our time in Colorado.  This 18 months has flown by.  I can't believe that we have lived here longer than we lived at Fort Jackson!  When we first moved here (with 3.5 year old Lucas, 4 month old Levi, and me about 20 weeks pregnant with Caroline), I cried every time we left the house.  The Rocky Mountains are a significantly different view than the Atlantic Ocean.  (Obviously.) But these mountains have grown on me so much and I'm going to miss this place.  I am going to miss some dear friends, too.  Friends who have helped us through a significantly stressful time in our lives - two new babies in the same calendar year and then sending Daniel off for the second half of this year - can't ever really be thanked enough.  It's cliche to say we couldn't have done it without them, but, really, we couldn't have.

Our entire house is boxed up and ready to be loaded on the truck tomorrow.  We'll start our drive to Texas on Friday morning.  We anticipate arrival to Fort Hood on Sunday afternoon.  We do have a house to move to, for which I am very thankful.  I am so ready to put up Christmas decorations and be settled with my family for the first time in what feels like forever.  We've known we were moving from Colorado since about four months after we got here, so that has been an odd sort of experience.  Never knowing just how much to really put down roots, knowing we'd be starting over again so soon.  Even still, some roots have definitely been put down here and it will be sad to say goodbye.

I have so much nostalgic stream-of-consciousness writing I could do, but I promised an update, so I'd better write that first, before I forget everything and have new Texas stories to tell!

So.  Without further ado, grab a cup of coffee or something festive (except Eggnog.  Ew.) and settle in for some serious catching up.

MY BABY GIRL IS ONE.  Um.  I am seriously tearing up as I write this.  Partly, I'm sad that the babiest of baby days are done, and partly I am overwhelmingly grateful to God that He saw us through this year.  On the morning of Caroline's birthday, I turned to Daniel and said (only a little jokingly) that I felt like I deserved a present for making it to her first birthday.  What a year it has been.  And now, until the end of February, I have TWO one year olds.  Oh.my.goodness.  So much I could say about Caroline (and Levi), but I will have to do another post soon about the kids, because I have other things to tell and limited time.

I officially completed my first class while Daniel was away!  (Okay, the full truth is that we had a group project to do that I turned in once we got to Virginia, but all the work was done before we left.)  I should probably write a little more about my plans at some point, too, but for now, just know that I am pursuing an AS in Kinesiology, and that I'm so excited about it!  I hope to transfer my AS to an online Bachelor's program that the University of Florida has (I'm not sure if my father-in-law knows that detail yet, but I think he'll be very proud that I plan to be a Gator!) in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology.  My career goals have shifted somewhat as I've taken my first class, well, perhaps I should say they broadened and not shifted.  I am still hoping to be a personal trainer, but my goals are to work with people for overall wellness, including spiritual wellness, and not just tell them how to exercise.  This past semester, I took Intro to Physical Fitness and Sport (online, of course) and I loved it.  Every time I picked up my book to read (which often happened on the treadmill, just so I could fit it in), I felt affirmed that I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up.  YAY!  Oh, and I got an A.

And I mentioned that we went to Virginia, right?  Well, that was to see Daniel, of course, and to spend his last 10 days with him.  While we were there, we went to the concert that he'd been working on with his class and the AIT students during his training and we also got to be at his graduation ceremony.  (That was hugely important to me,  even though it wasn't a "big deal" ceremony, since we didn't get to be there for his pinning ceremony after WOCS.)  The other reason we went was to see all of our friends from Virginia before we head to Texas.  Oh, what a fantastic time we had.  Katherine, one of my best friends, threw a birthday party for Caroline, we had small group bowling, some play dates, some meals with other dear friends, and we got to go to church on Sunday.  (Well, Daniel had been going the whole time he was in Virginia, but it was great for me to be able to join him that week.)  My dad flew with the kids and I on our trip there, and then I flew with Lucas and Caroline back to Denver, while Daniel and Levi flew to Colorado Springs.  Lucas, Caroline, and I landed early enough that we were able to drive back down to Colorado Springs before Levi and Daniel landed.  It was a LONG day for all of us, but knowing that we were all back in our own beds, in our own house, all together was a beautiful way to end it.

Once we got back from Virginia, we had lots of organizing and prepping to do for our move, and we've been working since then to get ready.  As I mentioned, we did find our house last week with the help of a new friend, and we are so thankful to have a place to go.  We definitely did not want to be in temporary housing for very long with our three young kids, but particularly our two one year olds.  *grin*

Okay, that's going to be it for now.  Phew.  At least I got that much down!  And if you are still reading, you deserve an A, too!  More soon, from Texas!