Pictures

I've gotten many requests to post some pictures. So I did. Please check the boys blog for some cute pictures. You can find the link on the right hand margin of this screen labeled "my boys blog". Here is also one from the day Brian and I moved in.

Oh and by the way, if you didn't see the house before, I posted pics awhile back. You can click here to view them.
http://aprilspicer.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-have-house.html

Thoughts on Bloomington

I decided that it might be interesting from time to time to post my current thoughts on Bloomington. Over time, years even, it will be funny for me to look back and see how my views have changed, were wrong, were right, and so on. I know it's been awhile since I've written and I promised to be better. It's just things have been nuts and the kids are more hooked to me than ever. They have all this room to roam and do they want to? Nope. They want to follow me everywhere. Sigh.... So I will do my best. I have so many good pictures to post but my usb cable is in a box somewhere---story of my life. For now, here are some current thoughts on Bloomington:

-The weather rocks. I wake up to a chilled house and could spend a couple hours outside in the heat of the day without feeling miserable. Remind me of this come December.
-Grocery shopping could use some help--the girl at Kroger mocked me openly and I was not pleased with the store, prices or customer service. Sniff sniff.
-I wait expectantly for the YMCA to be spectacular. I signed up tonight and the gentleman, David, who helped me was so nice and helpful and seemed so excited to have me in his town as a newbie.
-Bugs. There seem to be large volumes of bugs here. Hmmf.
-Bloomington drivers. No one is in a hurry......ever. To my knowledge, not one road/hwy has more than two lanes on each side. Most of roads just have one. However, cool YMCA guy told me I need to start finding the shortcuts. Sure, I'll jump on that.
-Neighbors. I have met Coralee to my left and Sandy to my right. Very friendly people. While we've been told there are a lot of retired people on the street, we know there are a handful of kids. There is a 15 month old 2 houses down that Wesley could end up becoming buds with. Anton is a 5 year old next door that hopefully Noah can play with.
-Least favorite time of the day: 2-5pm. It seems like such a long stretch to wait for Brian to come home. I'm not used to this 7-5 business.
-General layout of the city: pleasing. I have ventured on a couple excursions and was able to follow a map perfectly. If you know me well, you know this is no small feat. I now know my way around most major parts of the city. I was told to avoid the campus once fall hits---too many one way streets with too many foreign drivers.
-Anticipated highlight: Farmers market. I look forward to going on Saturday. The whole town goes (not just the nature nuts. Oh wait, the whole town is nature nuts!) and families seem to think it's the best thing you could possibly do on Saturdays.
-Favorite alone moment: I've only had one. It was at a big beautiful Target tonight. I shopped alone for 2 hours and it was the coolest Target I have ever seen. Since this is a college town, they have so many cool things for super cheap. As Brian said, I guess it made up for my Kroger experience.
Dilemma of the week: We only get one trash can and they only come once a week. Now how am I supposed to make this work???

Tata for now. I'll try to post pics tomorrow if I can find the cable. Write me, call me, email me, mail me.

In Transit

Hey ya'll. I think it's funny that I just used that word when I'm leaving Texas and really didn't use it for the 7 years that I've lived here. :)

Well, our home is no longer our home and we officially signed it away to a nice family of four today. What a weird experience. I've done it once before but I was more proud of this home for some reason. It was a little harder to let go. I said goodbye to 2 of my best friends which was less than satisfactory. Cried some of my first and hardest tears. Yuck. I really wish I was the type of person that could just cry openly and comfortably and people knew me as such. But that is not the case. I feel most comfortable crying alone...even when my husband is around. I looked out the window to my right so that he wouldn't see me. He knew what I was doing and squeezed my hand. He's very sweet. But I wanted to just sob for as long as it took however, that was not the time. 

We are now at my sister's house in McKinney with cousins galore running amuck. My other sister is here with her kids as well. Noah and Wesley are having a blast and it feels quite normal to be here. Tomorrow Brian and I embark alone to IN to close on our new house and begin the unpacking process. I will fly back to TX in just a couple days to pick up the boys and take them "home". That's it. That is the end of the story, the process, the details. From then on, it will just be us....the Spicers....living in Indiana. I'll keep you posted.......

Menu Plan Monday...countdown to...........

Good evening folks. I hope you had a beautiful Sunday as we did and are winding down or gearing up for your work week---whatever that may consist of. For us, it would be our FINAL full week in this house. Can you believe that?? I can't. It's just nuts. Brian has been going around today and taking down all the shelves, pictures, etc and now the house is looking a bit bare. The movers are packing us, so none of that is going on (thank goodness!) but still little tasks here and there are getting done.

The reality is slowly starting to sink in. I hated telling everyone at church today "next Sunday is our last Sunday". Blaaaa, bleck, phooey, lamo, not cool, suck. I will miss our family in Christ more than I could ever put into words. I feel more at home there than possibly anywhere else. We have been through so much the past 7 years, and this is the most glorious time ever at our church. So many qualities of Christ are being shown constantly. I am proud and honored to call Southlake Church my church home. I feel like I know everyone and everyone knows me and my kids (and hubby of course). I could jump in anywhere to serve and never feel intimidated, I could ask favors from people and not feel awkward, I could be transparent in worship and not feel shamed.......the list goes on. Our church is comprised of young and old, baby Christians and sages. Just the perfect combination of parts that make up the body of Christ. I know that no future church will ever replace it. But I do pray that God brings us to one that rivals it. Pray with me, please.

Noah likes me to tell "stories" a lot. We have been telling them each night as we lay in his bed together. (He has a new giant bed and it makes cuddling SO much easier). Tonight I told him of a fictional character named Luke and his experience at a new preschool in a new town. Hmmmm, too close to home? The fact is I'm trying to prepare Noah at every turn for what I think he'll experience there in IN. And these stories serve as great reminders to me for my own preparation. We ended the story with a prayer asking God to provide each member of our family a very special friend. Pray with me, please.

So as I experience my last week here in TX, I did my last grocery trip to my favorite Kroger this afternoon. Boo hooooo. Good news is that they have Kroger up in IN! Woo hoo. Anyway, they happen to be running fabulous sales on meat and it was fun to try to shop knowing we have to eat everything perishable in one week. And guess who is coming to help?? My nephews and sister will be staying with us a couple days and so I shouldn't have any problem with food hanging around. I referenced this phenomenon a few posts ago. So here is my final menu plan in Texas. I hope to be up and running quickly in IN and will try to resume life as normal. But you might just get updates, stories, and pics for awhile. Afterall, everyday will indeed be an adventure. One that I pray is not too lonely and not too difficult. Pray with me, please.

Monday: pork chops on the grill seasoned with Emeril's Essence, baked potatoes, mixed veggies

Tuesday: Hamburgers, hotdogs, pasta salad, chips, and fruit (it'll be a hit with all the kiddos)
Wednesday: Spagetti, garlic bread, and caesar salad
Thursday: Mustard chicken, brown rice, green beans
Friday: Going out with some of our best friends
Saturday: Chicken fajitas, beans, rice
Sunday: Eating up every last perishable morsel that exists in our house. Feel free to come over and help us out. :)