It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Every Thanksgiving at Team Awesome ends with hours of late night shopping. Battling the crowds, scouring the sales, and making those Christmas dreams come true at a price we can all agree on...less than full retail. After the late night insanity Mom and Dad come home, take a little rest, and then let the merriment begin!

The kids aren't always excited to drag out the decorations and move the house around to  accommodate Christmas, but once the tree is up, the Christmas spirit starts to fill the house. Each of the children really looks forward to going through the ornaments, the stories they remember for each one, and the memories we create for each new ornament we buy. Everyone takes turns putting the ornaments from their very first Christmas on the tree...we even have the one from my first.

The first Christmas at Team Awesome will be complete with all the trimmings. Jon got into the spirit more than anyone and even braved the cold November wind to decorate the outside of the house. (After some discount shopping the day after Christmas last year, we were able to pick up this adorable little light up choo-choo train for the front yard.) We'd still like to add a few more lights, but we're all excited to feel Christmas coming around the corner and we're pretty excited about our progress after the long hours of combat shopping.

The Garage that Finally Was...

According to http://www.dictionary.net/garage the definition for garage is as follows.

Garage \Ga`rage"\ (g[.a]`r[aum]zh" or g[.a]`r[aum]j" or (Brit.) g[.a]r"[asl]j), n. [F.]

1. an enclosed structure for housing or parking motor vehicles, especially automobiles. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

I think I've always known in my mind that a garage was a place that you park your car, but I've honestly never seen that happen. In my years of growing up we always HAD a garage, but my dad always had it completely full of tools and other such "stuff." I can even remember my dad working on the cars in the driveway and street side, freezing his butt off, changing tires or oil. So when I met Jon, and he had a garage that he could park in, I wasn't surprised that after the first time he decided to clean the whole place it became so cluttered that it was again unparkable.

When Jon and I moved into the Team Awesome home base, we set up the system of yet again not being able to park in a garage. I wish I had taken a before picture but I'm quite sure it was general shame of excessive clutter that prevented me. It wasn't just every square inch of floor space that was covered, sans a one foot wide walkway that stretched from the exterior garage door to the interior laundry room door, but these piles were stacked HIGH. It was a seemingly insurmountable task that I wasn't about to take on at any point. I have two different auto start systems in my car, so being warm in the morning isn't really my concern, but Jon had different ideas.

Over the past several months Jon has been asking and asking and ASKING me to help him clear out the garage, and I have 'politely" declined. Veteran's Day weekend provided him just the incentive to knock it all out on his own. With the chilly temperatures and a four day weekend to celebrate his selfless civil service, he plunged head in to the depths and came out victorious. Last night, fo rthe first time since we moved in, Jon and I parked in the garage (and by "Jon and I" I obviously mean, he parked both of our vehicles in there because I am incapable of driving correctly in tight spots). The garage apparently looks incredibly full with both vehicles parked, but we also still have random items stored inside. Jon organized EVERYTHING, and even "found" quite a few little gems among the nearly abandoned treasures.

One of the best things I say about my husband is that he is never down and out. No matter how large or small the task, Jon will work and work and WORK until he gets the job done. Don't get me wrong, I had to go through some of those boxes myself (you know how I do), but he really put forth an amazing effort, during his "time off." For that I am so grateful, because he really does make it all possible for the whole family, regardless of what "it" may be.

Welcome Home Team Awesome!

It was a long weekend, but we did it! Everything was successfully moved in to the new house on Sunday.

I'm sure everyone has their fair amount of experience moving, but for me, it is far more of an ordeal that I originally anticipated. It was stressful enough moving Jon off post and the end of May, but he took the week off, we had the kids to help, and I was at school the whole time.  Packing my entire house during the week was touch and go at best, especially with Jon being in the field. Thankfully, I had Sarah and Rachel on hand more than once to kick me into gear, because I swear, I cannot get myself motivated to do anything without someone watching over my shoulder. After a slowish evening on Thursday, and a busy evening on Saturday, we got it all packed up and ready to go. The real hard work began bright and early Sunday morning (well, not so much bright, because it was raining all day...but definitely early). Jon and I woke up around 7am to make sure we could get all of our ducks in a row, pick up the U-haul, pick up dad, pick up Rachel, get snacks and such for the moving party. Our moving party was slightly smaller than anticipated, and consisted of Me, Jon, Rachel, Sarah, the kids, and the nicest twitterers ever, Leann @AKGirlNextDoor and Ryan @redrummy. Starting at my place at roughly 10am, we loaded up pretty much everything I've ever owned, and filled up half of the 24' U-haul we rented. After my house was loaded we headed straight to post and attempted to empty the connex that has been housing the contents of Jon's home since Memorial Day. It didn't take us too long too realize that there was no way this was all going to fit into the u-haul, and we'd have to make a second trip. We trudged through as much as possible, only stopping for pizza at lunch and KFC at dinner. Through rain, and 60+ miles of driving, we got the whole thing knocked out in about 10 hours. Yes, TEN HOURS. By

the end of the day we were so tired that it's no wonder Jon wasn't the greatest driver when he went to fill up the U-haul with gas before the return. The best part about this accident (other than the fact that everyone was okay, and we got the extended insurance coverage when we rented) was the fact that the gas pump ISN'T EVEN ON THIS SIDE! He crashed into this pole and had the tire so wedged in that it took a thousand point turn to get it free, and then we had to turn the vehicle completely around anyway because the tank was on the other side. I doubt that "Crash" will be living this down any time soon, especially since it's going to cost us $100 to repaint the gas station barrier.We were thrilled when we could finally lay head to pillow in our new home, as a family, on Sunday night around 11pm.

Being "moved in" doesn't mean anywhere near the same thing as "settled" however, and, of course, nothing is unpacked...except my ENGAGEMENT RING!! After a rip roaring good time (read: tearing open bag after bag in the garage) Jon climbed the stairs victorious at about 11:30 last night, rings in hand (well, technically it was hanging on his dog tags around his neck - and then promptly ripped off in my frenzy to get my ring back). For some reason he thinks that this should absolve him of the "Crash" shame, but I don't really see that happening. I'm just glad to have my engagement ring back where it belongs. I will likely never take it off again after the emotional scarring I've suffered from this lapse in judgement. The rest of the unpacking can now begin with reckless abandon...which is apparently the only way the kids know how to do anything.

It's OFFICIAL!

The waiting is over, the house is ours! We got the keys on Friday and the move-in begins on Sunday the 20th. Effie is already living there, under the careful supervision of a neighbor kid and my nephew Thomas. Though Jon's house is completely packed and stored, mine is another story. Plans are in the works for completing my home this week so we can be completely moved by the time we get jis kids back on Monday the 5th of July. All the stress and frustration of moving will be soooo worth it when we can finally be a family in our dream house!

New House?

We are all moved off post and have our final clearing inspection tomorrow! Unfortunately, we haven't closed on the new house yet. We're starting to feel the pressure of backed up paperwork at the bank. Trevor, Shai, and JT are coming home Monday night, but to where is currently up in the air. We have temporarily re-homed Effie and Cinder thanks to the generosity of Twitter folk, but we're going to be cramming in 7 people in my tiny place if the paperwork doesn't come through sooner rather than later.