the adventure continues.

I thought I'd take a minute to update y'all on our journey thus far!  We have been gone from Charleston for two weeks now.  It feels like forever ago though, to be honest with you.  We have squeezed lots of fun into those two weeks!

We spent some time in North Carolina at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  It was very relaxing and much needed after such a hectic time trying to get out of Charleston.  Then we made the drive to Indiana and spent some time with Nana and Papa (and lots of cousins and aunts/uncles, too!). We spent time introducing Andy to the Jasper County Fair and Olivia got to show her first pig!  As odd as it may sound to some, I can't think of my childhood summers without thinking of those two things.  It was very exciting to show Andy that part of my history and begin to pass it down to Olivia.  Her love of animals remains, so she had a blast seeing all of the different 4-H livestock. 

Now we are in Oklahoma.  Hot, hot, hot, Oklahoma!  Hello, 100+ degree weather!  As I drove into town I couldn't help but think to myself  "Oh, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!"  (not that we were ever in Kansas, but you know what I mean ;)  We are smack dab in the middle of nowhere!  We took a tour of our new town and the only thing I kept thinking was "wow, this is a sad little town".  Andy said he thinks I really meant "poor", but I will stick with my original adjective of sad.  It is so run down in the actual town portion.  The part out by the Air Force Base has several new housing developments and looks modern, but the original part of town is just sad.  However, we are not here to hang out in a fun and happening town. We had that in Charleston, after all.  We chose this assignment for our family life, and I know that will be fabulous over the next few years.

When we arrived on Monday, I was very excited to see our house.  We've had it rented for months now, but all we've seen in photographs.  Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.  The pictures were an accurate representation of each room and I have a feeling that we will make many happy memories here.  Our household goods do not arrive until tomorrow, so that means we have been "camping out" in our house.  No furniture to sit on besides 2 lawn chairs, our bed is an air mattress, no cooking utensils, minimal toys to entertain Olivia, and a big empty house!  We did, however, borrow a card table from a friend so that has made the last day much more pleasant during meal times!  Eating on the floor was getting old. 

At times I want to feel sorry for myself considering I am doing all of this nine months pregnant, but then I think about the living conditions of so many around the world and I know that I am so blessed.  We have a house with air conditioning to protect us from this horrific heat, and that in itself is enough.  But, if you must know the real truth.......I am somewhat miserable; making it, but pretty pathetic most of the time.  

I will update soon with pictures from our fun travels and of the new house! Hope each of you are doing well and staying cool!
cheers, stephanie.