Bowlin Beige

Let's go! After a busy weekend of moving we have officially sold our first home, and are waiting rather impatiently to close on our next home tomorrow. The weekend had its share of ups and downs but luckily everything seemed to work out just fine. We got the chance to visit and say goodbye to most of our neighbors. Nana came down on Saturday and helped entertain the kids while DH and I (and 4 movers) packed up our household.  We figured out pretty quickly that all of our stuff was not going to fit in the PODS that we had ordered... so we made a last-minute call to Uhaul and got a 26' truck to squeeze in the rest of it. Thankfully we have nice friends who are allowing us to not only sleep at their house for 3 days, but also park our moving truck in their driveway. AND we got to cool down in their pool after moving out of the house!  Thanks Gallos!  This morning I went by the house to leave out the keys and notes for the new owners. It was raining, which made for an es...

We're spending our last few nights at 4402 Heidi Place so I wanted to take a minute to reflect on almost 8 happy years here. The house sold so quickly (36 hours) that we haven't had much time to stop and think about everything we'd miss. We've just been so busy packing and trying to keep the kids from getting stressed out. Sometimes I just feel like I'm packing up for no reason and we aren't really moving. But I know when the movers show up on Saturday it will really hit me.   We put the contract on our first home a mere 4 months after we were married. Those of you who know us well, know that we don't like to dawdle or dwell - we like to move on to the next big thing. In this case, we got married in November, went on our honeymoon, came home and got a dog (Duke) the day after Thanksgiving, enjoyed Christmas as a married couple, decided to move to Richmond in February, started house-hunting, and put a contract on a new construction home in April. Unfortuna...

It's been almost 8 years since we moved to Richmond, and we decided that now is the time to move on. We are moving a whopping 6 miles away  to the neighborhood of Collington. A large planned community, Collington boasts a great community pool (walking distance from our house), tennis courts, playgrounds, and lots of walking trails. Although our yard will be a bit smaller, the house will be bigger and will give us the space to grow as the kids get bigger (and have bigger toys!) And although we will certainly miss our yard and gardens, we will not miss the amount of time and money it cost us to maintain it throughout the year. For some reason we just don't seem to have as much time on our hands as we used to.... I wonder why? Now that we're going through this process I've vowed never to move again until the kids are out of the house. I don't know how we've accumulated so much 'stuff' over the years, but it's certainly a pain in the butt to pack it ...

I am lucky enough to share my birthday week with my daughter. Our birthdays are three days apart, so we often end up celebrating together on the same weekend. This year Ainsley was old enough to decide on her own who should be invited to her party. (Although sometimes I think she would've been happy to invite any random person at the grocery store too.) The moon bounce was such a big hit last year that we decided to do it again. The kids had a great time bouncing, sliding, and eating pizza and cake. It rained for a while during the party, but that didn't stop Ainsley from making her own 'slip-n-slide' in the moon bounce. She bounced in huge puddles and went down the slide soaking wet (sometimes all by herself while the other kids were inside). She certainly wasn't going to let a little rain stop her from having fun! Enjoying some pizza! And some birthday cake! Timmy helps her open a birthday gift. Fun times with Bea! Best idea ever... ev...

My, how time flies! It's amazing to think that four years ago our "children" were Duke and Squirt, and our weekends revolved around gardening, golfing and a perfectly manicured lawn. It's amazing how children can bring so much stress, frustration and anxiety... but they also bring so much joy, peace and laughter. Ainsley arrived 4 years ago and became the center of our world. Everyday she continues to amaze me with her intelligence. She loves to sing and dance ('shake your booty' is a favorite saying of hers), and she loves to create crazy stories. Although she sometimes has the attitude and tantrums of a 4-year-old, most of the time she seems much older than she is. I sometimes forget that she is so young, as we have these very mature conversations. Ainsley, my snuggle bug, I love you so much and can't wait to watch you grow into a beautiful young woman. But please be kind to your mother and don't grow up too fast! Happy 4th birthday to my sweet, sass...

Last month I was in beautiful Arizona for a quick weekend conference. I enjoyed meeting some new people, eating good food, and doing a little local shopping. But in my research before my trip, I kept coming upon the same suggestion. Apparently when visiting Tucson, one simply MUST go on a hike to view the desert - the birds! The cactus! The rocks! The sunset! So, seeing as how I'm training to run my second half marathon, decided that going on a nice long hike would be a great workout for the day. (Probably burn off some of the calories from the wine and chocolate cake I had the night before too...) So I researched 'best hikes in Tucson.'  Now I don't know what idiots wrote these reviews, or why I thought they had merit, but I finally decided on a 10 mile round-trip hike on the Finger Rock Trailhead, and up to the top of Mt. Kimball. It's a 4,200 ft elevation change. But 5 miles up can't be too bad, and then 5 miles back down is easy. Supposed to have great views...