2 Weeks Worth

Things have been hectic around here!!! I have (for once) actually felt like I have plenty to blog about. The irony is that I haven't found the time to sit down and write. So here's what's been goin' on.

Since Jay accepted his new job, life has been moving in fast forward.

We've been working on getting our current house ready to sell. This involves lots of organizing, de-cluttering, and pretty much depersonalizing every room. In addition, dad decided we should probably pop up a quick second bathroom in the basement, and replacing some of the siding on the garage. In the end, the house will look better than it ever did while we lived in it - in hopes that someone out there is looking to buy a little 2-bedroom bungalow. Cross your fingers.

Next, my obsessive internet searching for a house and a job in Cedar Falls has begun. The bad news is the job market is looking pretty non-existent at the moment. The good news is that we've already found a new house!


Meet the new Schmeebler house. We're pretty stoked about it. As you can see, there are still some things that are yet to be finished on it (driveway, yard, etc.) but other than that, it's ready to be moved in to. We're not quite sure when that will be yet, but stay tuned for more details.

With house buying out of the way, I was able to take my yearly trip to Alabama with the fam. This was our 10th year going, can you believe it? For the first time ever, I flew to meet my family. I lucked out on my flight out of Moline and took a bump in exchange for a round trip ticket anywhere in the US. I've always wanted to have the freedom to do that, and this was my chance. Now I have another trip to look forward to sometime in the next year!!

Once I got to Bama, there was a lot of fun in the sun by day...

Dinner, chillin', and a little metal-detecting by night....

Johnni visited for a day, and we showed her a day in the life of Alabama...

And we celebrated our 10th year by going on a dolphin cruise.

All in all, it was another great vacation with the fam. I don't know if I'll ever get too old for Alabama.


Speaking of old, it was my birthday on Sunday, and I'm now 2 dimes and a nickel! Jay's birthday present to me was organizing our basement to get ready to move. I seriously almost cried I was so excited. This was the BEST present I could have ever dreamed of right now!! (He knew it, too).



As for me and Dottie, we've been adjusting to life during the week without Jay. He had to leave on Sunday to go back to CF for work, and Dottie was distraught all night. Even closing the blinds didn't stop her from looking for Jay to come back! Isn't she pathetic looking?

That's all for now, more to come later!!!

Home

An older and wiser friend of ours told us last week, "You bloom where you are planted."

Jay says it's a hippie way of looking at life, but I think it's kinda cool. I'm hoping that it doesn't matter where we're planted, because we're about to get uprooted!

(Sidenote: That came across WAY cornier than I wanted it to...sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Mr. Schmeebz accepted a new position within Deere earlier this week, and with the new position comes a transfer to a new (well...not exactly new...) city. That's right, Cedar Falls!

J will actually be headed there mid-March to begin his job, while I'll stay back and finish my year up at school. Oh yes, and sell the house. I'll follow after school is finished, and hopefully will find a job of my own in the Cedar Valley here sometime soon.
(If you know any district who is looking for a fabulous teacher with three years of experience, but relatively cheap on the pay scale, let me know....)

So our lives are about to get flipped upside down, and I don't have much to say about it beyond that. I don't need to bore you with my deeply optimistic views on how all the little details will fall into place, or my fears that they won't, so I'll leave it at that.

We're movin'!!