Adios Amigos!

Today was all about visiting with friends before heading out of town. We had breakfast with the Pelleys. We had a nice time catching up with them. That afternoon, I stopped and saw my friend and former co-worker Ashleigh at her new children's consignment store (Our Mommies' Store in Kettering- it is great!). I dropped off lots of Price's old clothes and different things to sell. Ashleigh and I had a good visit and it was nice to see her one last time before we left and also to trade baby boy stories (she and I were pregnant at the same time and our boys were born 4 days apart). Finally, we met up with the Mays, the Lauers and Rye for dinner at the Dublin Pub. We laughed a lot and just enjoyed each others company. It was,as all of the visits were today, a little bittersweet since we know we'll be getting on a plane in less than 24 hours and heading to Hawaii. It was really hard saying goodbye to Rachel- but we did good- no tears were shed (at least not in front of each other). I remember the night I met her at a Med Group Spouses meeting, just a few weeks after Don deployed and the first day I was in Dayton all by myself with 6 week old Price. She had on cute pink shoes and was pregnant and I knew we would be friends. Perhaps unknowingly, she was a lifeline for me a few times while Don was gone- I probably should be suprised that she wanted to be my friend because I know I talked too much the first time we hung out, but I was just so in need of face-to-face adult interaction I couldn't shut up!

After dinner, we went to Target and walking in, I lost it. I started crying like a dumb fool!! It just hit me that yes, we were really getting on a plane in less than 12 hours and heading to Hawaii and then on to Guam. I know I am probably wired weird if saying goodbye to friends didn't send me on a crying jag, but Target did? I don't know, I guess maybe it symbolizes me saying goodbye to my comfort zone and sense of security. Anyway, we really are heading across the Pacific tomorrow. We've really enjoyed Dayton, we've made great friends, had good times, welcomed a baby into our family- so of course we're going to miss it, but we heading on to our next adventure and looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us.

Going, Going, Gone...

All (ok, not all but almost all) of our stuff now exists in boxes and has been loaded onto trucks and has begun its journey to the foreign land of Guam. We will be following soon. We'll get there first and have to live without much of our household goods for the next 2 months. Price and Isabelle's lives have kind of been turned upside down. Neither one of them has any concept of what is going on. Price doesn't seem to be super affected, but Isabelle isn't enjoying our new digs. If only she knew that in a matter of days she'll be on an airplane heading to Texas for 3 months...

We have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. I feel better about things than I have been. We sold the car and the laundry machines (aka- washer & dryer). The movers have taken away everything except the stuff that goes into long term storage. The past two days went relatively smooth. My mom has been a HUGE help with Price and also keeping me on track and motivated. My neighbor Shelly has also been a huge help- keeping Isabelle, loaning me her vacuum and today keeping me company and scrubbing my disgusting stove with me. Until today, I always felt like I would only let a really old, life long friend help me scrub a disgusting stove since there is a certain degree of embarrassment that comes with each layer of filth that exists.

And then it hit me, I have made lifelong friends here- I just haven't known them as long as my other friends. We are still in the process of getting to know each other, and that's one of the bittersweet things of being a military wife (friendship is the sweet part, the bitter part is having an ever changing time frame to get to know people before one or both of you get moved to some other part of the world). I have made several really good friends in the three years we have been here, and a few of those have been just in the past year, even in the past few months. I hope that we are as blessed in Guam as we have been in Dayton.

It Takes A Village

It definitely takes a village to throw a good party! We celebrated Price's first birthday a few days early. My mom, step dad, dad, step-momish, brother, step-sister, aunt and cousin all came to Dayton to join in the festivities. Thanks to them and several friends, we pulled off a great shindig!

It was a beautiful day outside. Several of my friends from my days at Reynolds came and lots of Don's flight came too. Of course, our great friends the Mays and the Walkers were there as well.

As usual, I made too much food but it sure was good. It was a lovely way to celebrate our baby boy's birthday. I still can't believe that Price will be 1 in just a few days, the year has flown by!

The birthday boy with his daddy, uncle and Papa Roger.

Price with his buddy Gabe

The Fam!

Cake is GOOD!!!!

What A Wonderful Weekend!

We had an action-pack, friend-filled weekend. It was a blast!

We kicked the weekend off on Friday afternoon by heading over to the USAF Freedom's Call Tattoo. We went with the Mays, and our new friends (and backdoor neighbors) Brandon and Shelly, and another neighbor Jennifer. We got there early enough to pick a great spot, spread out a big blanket for the babies and enjoyed a pleasant evening visiting with friends, watching planes flyover and listening to several bands.

After the Tattoo, we headed back to the Mays to hang out and watch fireworks. As we were walking home, we noticed a woman writhing in pain on the ground. An older man was standing over her watching her cry and talk on the phone. We stopped to ask what was wrong and the guy said she had a stomachache. Luckily, Nathan is a nurse so he and Don stayed to see if they could help, and Rachel and I headed on home. I flagged down some bike cops and they also went to help. About 20 minutes later, we heard ambulance sirens and the guys came in. Apparently the girl had been like that for at least an hour and was actually going into shock and becoming less responsive. The ambulance we heard was for her and took her to the hospital. Nathan thinks she got overheated (we are in the middle of a heat wave) and then dehydrated. I hope she is ok and I question the parenting skills of the man who just let her lie there for an hour not doing anything!! After that, we stayed up late watching fireworks and eating pizza. Price was such a trooper! He stayed up late with us and was in such a good mood the whole time. He enjoyed watching fireworks. We headed home a little after 11 and Price fell asleep before we even made it down the driveway.

Saturday was garage sale day! We were up early to set everything up. Shelly came over to help us get ready and Rachel brought over all of her things to sell. It was slow going at first, but once things picked up we had a steady stream of visitors. I wanted to sell everything, and while we did well we didn't get rid off as much as I had hoped. I was really surprised by what didn't sell- baby clothes, baby blankets, and winter clothes. I was also amazed at my willingness to get rid of things even if they didn't sell. Don and I decided anything that didn't see would go to Goodwill. Old Terrell would have gone through everything and pulled out items to keep because I might need them later. Not yesterday, with the exception of the baby items and a few things I think I can sell on Craigslist, everything went to Goodwill. It's so nice to have friends who live close by. It made the heat seem less hot and the time flew by since we just sat outside and visited until we closed up shop and went our separate ways. That night, all the big boys went to see Transformers and Shelly came over and we hung out.

Today was one of my favorite kinds of days. We got to sleep in a little thanks to Price's new ability to sleep past 7 a.m. We had no plans when we woke up, and decided we wanted to go to one of our favorite breakfast places, Clifton Mill. Clifton Mill is a working grist mill in Clifton, OH. The food is great, there are nice views, and it's a pretty drive to get there. We invited "the gang" to go with us and the Mays joined us. It was a nice morning.

After breakfast Don, Price and I headed to Babies R Us to look at carseats since Price is about to outgrow his infant carrier. After deciding on one we headed home, had lunch and I tried to get Price to go down for a nap. No such luck! So, we decided to head for the pool. The gang met us there, and after spending some time at the pool we decided to go to dinner then we three ladies went to see Transformers 2.

It was busy, but not exhausting. Don and I haven't talked about it, but I think we are, at least I am, trying to pack as many outings and as much friend time as I can into the time we have left before we head to Guam. I know doing this may make it even harder when it's time to go, but who knows when we'll have these opportunities again?

Guam Update:

We still haven't received orders, but we did get travel reservations. However, Don is submitting a request to get the travel amended so we can spend a few days on a stopover en route to give us a break from being on a plane with our little guy for 18 hours. Hopefully, it will be approved.

A lovely day....

Today we spent the day with our great pals the Mays. We had lunch together and then headed to the Cox Arboretum. The daddies (Don and Nathan) each strapped on a baby (somehow the mommies (Rachel and I) became the pack mules, pushing the heavily laden stroller) and off we went on our first hike. We attempted a 1.8 mile loop, but had to cut the trip short due to babies' tempers and mommies' bladders. It was such a lovely day, mid 60s not a cloud in the sky. Feels like spring is finally on its way! One of the best things about living up north is experiencing four seasons and spring is a true celebration for surviving the winter. We plan to visit again once everything is in bloom.


Don and I love that Price enjoys being outside as much as the two of us do and also that he is such a good sport about being toted around. We are so excited about this spring and summer and all of the fun we're going to have!