goodbye arizona, farewell blogger...see you next month

Yes, that's me everytime. No matter how long we're going to be gone, now matter where we're going, I'm always cramming suitcases to the max with all the clothes I try to bring. But not because I change outfits five times a day! I just like having options! That's why people buy as many clothes as they do in the first place, and I don't like feeling limited when I'm on vacation! So I always take twice as many clothes as I'll actually wear. *sigh* Oh well. It always fits in the car, and that's what counts! =]

We're leaving Friday morning for good old Ioway! Tonight's the laundry, tomorrow's the packing (and all the other five million things on my list to get done before we leave). But I wanted to take the time to post a blog really quickly this evening, because it's going to be a while until I do again...unless one day in Iowa we have absolutely nothing else to do...which, to be honest, isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility...we were just discussing the fact that everyone we'll be visiting will be in school or working during the day, so we're not quite sure what we'll do during that time!

But who knows? And we're not getting back in town until after Thanksgiving...and as soon as we get back, we'll be closing the deal on the house and moving in! So life's going to keep us pretty busy over the next few weeks.

We are so excited, though, to be going on this vacation! We need it (doesn't everyone??)! It will be so nice to see family and friends, and just be able to relax and not think about school for two weeks. This quarter has been insane...and I know the other ones will be even worse...and Travis really needs a breather. His last final is at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, and we're barreling out of here right after!


I'll leave you with my so-called pros and cons list. We'll see how the reality stands up to my expectations when it's all said and done!


I was going to start with the pros, but I changed my mind. =]



Things I'm not looking forward to:

• The cold

That's about it. Really (see why I decided to do that first now?). The next list is a bit longer, though.

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Getting our new little baby puppy Trixi (this Saturday!)
• Seeing RENT on Sunday
• Green landscape (hopefully it's not all dead already!)
• Stopping at all the Indian shops on the way there and back
• Driving (yes, despite the distance, I just really enjoy driving. That's why I do all of it)
• Spending time with the 'rents and the in-laws (obviously)
• Catching two Penn basketball games
• Watching old-school movies like Harriet the Spy with Travis while everyone's at work
• Getting to see all the people I used to see everyday
• New Moon (even if I loathe Jacob. It's still Twilight, right?) =]
• Stopping by my old 'haunts' (does that make me sound old?)
• Free food (hey, I'm poor)
• Speaking of food, Steak 'N' Shake & Panera Bread (they don't have them out here!)
• NO SCHOOL

Goodbye for now!

October's over

I've decided that each month I'm going to do a review of highlights or notable happenings in our life, big and small. We're starting with October, and we've got some doozies...

Ah, October. It was a good month for us, though it started out relatively uneventful. It's so hard for us to even believe that we're into November now, because our weather is still in the eighties. And it's heavenly (dry heat makes a world of difference). We're so happy about having nice, sunny days and cool, breezy nights. And it felt even better when we found out in the middle of October that it was snowing in Iowa. Ha! ...is that rude? Maybe a little. But I warned people that I was going to gloat about our lovely weather when it was freezing every else, and so I quite enjoyed the news of Iowa's first snow, as I looked out my open windows and gazed at the palm trees outside.

Earlier this month, Travis had his White Coat Ceremony. It was a pretty cool event. All first-year students at the university were participating, which meant it wasn't just students in the D.O. program, it was also students in the dental, pharmacy, psychology, physician's assistant, and optometry programs (there were actually even more programs than that, but I can't remember them)...

...I didn't realize until I got there how big of a deal this was...it was more like a graduation! I got there forty-five minutes early and still could barely find just one seat. Each college dean spoke, and then everyone was coated. After that, all the students stood and took an oath. It was fun to see Travis in his white coat and know that in less than four years he'll be a doctor! Wow!

We've also spent each of our Saturdays either watching or listening to the BYU Cougars play some football! Unfortunately, the October games weren't quite as satisfying as some of the September ones (aka the Oklahoma game)...but we're still Cougar fans!  *Rise and shout*

This month we decided to get another puppy too! I dedicated an entire entry to this topic not long ago, so  scroll down for that one if you want all the details about our decision. We're super excited to be getting her in a week and half! Above and below are updated pictures. Her name is Trixi, and she's super cute!

The biggest news of the month is that we decided to start looking for a house again after a long hiatus, and immediately found and secured the right one! That has been a whirlwind of an experience, and I posted a couple of blog entries about that, so check those out for stories and pictures!

Finally, it was Halloween last weekend, and we watched lots of scary movies and ate yummy Halloween-y treats. This one is soooo good. It's an oreo-jello concoction, and is super addicting. I'm warning you. So once I made that up, we settled down for a marathon of the Scream Movies, and we watched Rose Red (a Stephen King-based show). I know, long night! But it was super fun. Yay for having reasons to celebrate! Hopefully November will bring us even more of them!


Xoxo

Um...we have a house...???

No, really!

I think I'm just saying it that way because I'm still in a bit of disbelief about the whole thing. After eight months of searching, to actually have an accepted offer (and for it to happen so quickly too), just seems surreal.

But yes! It's official! We have a house!

And not just any house. A beautiful, new, updated, move-in ready house. We love it. Love love LOVE it. And it has all these features that we had previously been looking for, but were never able to find. It's got cathedral ceilings in the front room...

...tons of decorative nooks, a huge kitchen, a sunken family room, a great yard for the puppies, and of course, room for my piano!  =]

It's 1700 square feet, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and was built in 1999. It was recently professionally painted and re-carpeted and had new fixtures put in.

We love that there's not one thing we need to do before we move in, but that there's room for us to do some upgrades later on if we so choose, like landscaping and such.

The contracts are in, I gave up the earnest money yesterday, and the home inspection is happening this morning. And we're closing by the end of the month. Meaning that, in less than four weeks, we'll be homeowners!

We can't believe the turn this has taken, but we're so excited! The house feels so comfy and just right for us, and we can't wait to move in!