Busy Summer!

Man I feel like I can't keep up with this summer.

Most summers I'm working 9 hours a day or home on Maternity Leave taking care of my babies but this year is a little different for me. I'm not pregnant or working :) Feels a little weird that I quit my job and moved the kids and I out here to Utah 6 months ago! But making this huge change in our lives was a sacrifice for us to get some sort of normalcy back in our marriage. Justin's now providing for us, which he's not been able to do before which is SO cool for him! I'm able to stay home with our kids which has been a dream of mine since I first laid eyes on Emma Anne. It's hard, because to get to this point we had to give up everything. Our church, our family, our house, our amazing friends and our jobs that gave us such a clear vision of what Christian's are called to do daily, serving others! But God is good and faithful and we are SO thankful to serve him in our lives and follow his calling.

With Justin's 8 days working straight and 6 consecutive days off (my favorite part :) ) We've been able to do some traveling we've not been able to do before. Mix this in with all the new discoveries of our small town (movies, community pool, playgrounds, hikes, fishing...) and it almost feels like summer is over.

In July, Justin's going to be traveling to his home base at Travis AFB to fulfill his Annual Tour of Duty. Basically as an Active Duty Reservist, he has to complete 16 days Annual Tour each fiscal year on top of any other special trips and assignments they call him for. People don't really realize that reservists most of the time don't get much notice. Usually an email or a phone call and off Justin goes. So it's pretty nice that he's got something scheduled in advance for July and on the books! Although, with the Airforce, dates really don't mean much, plans change constantly ;) We decided that the kids and I would not join him in California this trip and join him in August for the remainder of his Annual Tour. So the kids and I will fill up the two weeks while he's away, going to the pool, movies and playgrounds :) I can't complain too much, but I would far rather have my husband laying next to me at night.

August 9th-September 1st, Justin the kids and I are traveling to California to a) fulfill his remaining Annual Tour days and b) for our vacation to KAUAI! I think I'm equally excited to do both! I miss my friends and family, my CityTeam family (old coworkers), Ginger our pup and actually going to a CHURCH :). I miss CA beaches, beach bonfires, splash pads, farmer's markets, mommy walks at Almaden Lake and even the dang airport. On a side note, you will NEVER hear a plane out here and the only time you even hear a helicopter is when someone needs to be Life Flighted to Salt Lake City because treatment for their condition cant' be done at our local hospital. I always wake up sad at 2am when I see the lights and hear the MedEvac land a few blocks away to pick someone up. I usually stop and pray for whatever life threatening problems they're facing that can't be resolved here in town. Usually at our old house, you see spotlights in our neighborhood when the PO-PO is looking for criminals hopping people's fences in hopes of getting away :) Sounds kinda ghetto when I think about it. Anywho, let's just say I'm really looking forward to August and can't wait for July to end!

Exciting news, no I'm not pregnant again :) We've been approved for a VA home loan. So now we're starting the process of figuring out where to buy (Roosevelt or Vernal) and whether to buy existing or build new. So much excitement but sadness on my part too. Part of me secretly hoped Justin would get his old job back and we'd be able to move back to CA. It's becoming more real to me that it's not going to happen and that I need to remember, we've been placed here for a reason! I really do feel blessed at the awesome job Justin was offered and for his BFF Scott for constantly being on our case about moving here the last 3 years :) Scott and his wife Tara have been such a blessing in our move and acclimation process and really been there for us in ways that I can't thank them enough!

Lots going on and much excitement. I can't wait to visit all of you when we come to town!

~Michelle

What a quarter-mil can buy you here!

I thought it might be a kick to write a post showing what a quarter of a million dollars can buy you here where we are. It makes me laugh, in a sick to the stomach type of way when I think about how much we spent on our house in San Jose. Either way, some of these houses are pretty cool to drive by and see just how far our money can go here:

You can see the Microburst in the background. It has been so warm and then windy, like 60mph winds or greater! But these brick houses aren't going anywhere :)

This one is a favorite of mine. I just really like the large entranceway and eaves. 

Justin humored me and drove :)

Here's a piece of land for sale nestled between two of the big houses shown above overlooking Roosevelt. It's also next to the golf course, and a lot of the homes on this street drive golf carts to get around. When we last visited this street in 2007 for Scott and Tara's wedding, Justin and I took evening walks through the basement foundation's that had just been laid on a lot of these houses. If only the homeowner's knew we walked through their basements before they did :) This piece of land goes for about $50,000...yep Justin and I think back to our tiny, 1,200 sq ft house and did just fine with the amount of space. These houses shown are about 2,000-3,000 sq ft! How do you keep something that large clean all the time?

Hope all of my CA family and friends enjoyed my "what you could do with a quarter-million dollars" post. As a side note, these houses also have adjoining horse pens for their horses so you can look out from your luxury home and see your beautiful horses anytime you want :)