Has it really been over two months?

Wow- I really needed to do an update! Then I will embark on the quest of blogging about our last 6 months in Michigan- - things have been so crazy, blogging has been the last thing on my list.

Anyway, I am alive and well, and we have now moved into our beautiful house here in Spokane! Looking at one of the last few posts about our house buying saga- I never did post about which house we were going for. We went for the first one on the list (the brown house with the nice staircase and wainscoating). We just felt so good about the neighborhood (it was the same as the short sale house we first went for), the price was right and the house is beautiful. Once we put in our offer, things moved along pretty predictably- and we only closed a week later than we planned. We moved in on February 21st. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being back in Spokane- it just feels so much like home. Our ward is so wonderful and welcoming, and so far school has been good for the kids (though it WAS hard to jump in to school in the middle of the year). We live blocks from the church and school, and only 1/2 an hour from both sets of parents.

I can't say it has been a piece of cake though- the last few months have been NUTS. It was WONDERFUL to have a moving company- the first time EVER that our move was mostly getting paid for. We still went over budget- but we were still way less out of pocket for a move than normal. Even with the moving company, there was a fair amount of stress getting ready to move, and of course trying to get things unpacked and set up in our new house. I have to remember it always takes time- and this is how it has been for every move.

So the timeline of our last few months was this:

Jon finished his residency program in Michigan on January 15th. He worked a bunch of shifts at a local urgent care to help make up some loss in income and then left for a week in Spokane the end of January. He worked at the Deer Park Urgent Care (which is run by the Deer Park Family Care Clinic- his new employer). He did this to get his feet wet and to also make up some lost income. He came back seriously the day before the movers came to put our stuff on the truck- - so I had the movers pack about half our stuff- the stuff I couldn't get to myself. Jon loved working in Spokane- though the Deer Park Urgent care is super busy and there is lots of paperwork involved! He is still currently getting used to the new system and has been VERY busy working.

Leading up to the move we were super busy with last minute paperwork for Jon's credientialing, buying our house and the move (the amount of paperwork we have done in the last six months is staggering!!!), selling off some of our junkier furniture, packing and organizing, and much more. The movers came on February 8th and hauled all of our stuff away! We left on the 9th, drove to Laura's for the night- and then continued on our trek to Orlando, Florida.

We took a LOVELY detour to Disney World during our move to Spoakane, and had an absolute blast. We took two days to drive from Laura's (it was fun to drive through states I had never seen before- Kentucky, Tennesee, and Georgia). My mom and dad met us in Orlando for our Disneyworld trip, then we all flew back on February 20th (and our minivan was shipped from Orlando). We arrived in the middle of the night that night, then spent the next several days at my parents waiting to close on our house. We actually signed the papers while we were in Orlando with a traveling notary, but with a three day weekend involved and other things, we didn't get keys until Thursday the 23rd. The movers came to move our stuff in on February 24th and here we are!! We borrowed one of my parent's vans to use until our own van showed up on March 1st.

Now we are working super hard to get our life into order- - unpacking, getting the kids settled into their new school, buying a car for Jon and other furniture and getting our finances into order. It was awesome that JOn could work a short week in Michigan moonlighting, and two weekends here in Spokane and make MORE than he would have in 6 weeks of full time work as a Resident. Boy, I can't wait for that first REAL paycheck!! It feels so nice to not be as worried about money. At the same time I want to be smart with our new income level, and we DO have A LOT of debt to pay off- - so I am still trying to be frugal. We got some great deals on furniture- we got some new couches and a washer and dryer (very much needed), and we found an AWESOME bedroom set (queen four poster bed without the mattresses, huge dresser with a mirror, 2 matching night stands, and an armoir) on Craig's List for only $570! New this set was probably $3500. It isn't in perfect condition- but good enough for me! My room in my new house looks so beautiful . . . I love it!

The stressful thing has been how much Jon has been working. He was set up to moonlight at the Urgent Care again our first weekend in Spokane. Since we were delayed a few days moving in, he literally started working the DAY we moved in! The movers were here on that Friday morning, and he went to work that evening and was gone most of the weekend! It was rough, though he did get paid well for it so I guess I can't complain too much. I knew that things were going to be busy in his new position- - busier than in Michigan. I just have to get good at doing things on my own again. The best consolation is that Jon LOVES what he is doing. The paperwork (and the learning curve on the computer charting) can bog him down, but he loves the people he works with, and he loves his job so far.

Sooo- to wrap up this long post- we are still alive and well- but now in our new home back in the West! I will hopefully post more pictures soon- of our last 6 months in Michigan (we had many wonderful events during that last half a year), our trip to Disney World, and our move here.