1001 Days Gone By

Remember that 101 things in 1001 days challenge I've been doing? Well today is the due date.

(Not familiar with this challenge? click here)

I have to admit that I totally didn't meet the challenge and get the whole list checked off. But considering the last 6 months was completely bulldozed by a life-altering move, I'm proud to say I achieved 78 goals. 78/101 ain't half bad.

Look at what I did do!

 

I Experienced...

*Eating authentic Indian food

*Horse drawn sleigh ride through the park

*A Parachute/SafetySuit Concert

*Going to one of my little brother's football games

*Eating in the Idaho Falls temple cafeteria

*Going to a movie theater alone

*Taking Hinder to a real dinosaur museum

 

I Travelled...

*I moved out of Rexburg

*Visited the Cataldo Mission

*Planned and had our first Killian sister's trip

*Visited Potlatch where my grandparents live

*Got a passport

*Put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean

*Went to a new cool zoo or aquarium

*Visited Riley's mission in Denmark

 

I Organized...

*A book of memories for my family

*My parent's upstairs into a theater room

*A recycling center for my home

*My teaching files

*My resume

*A fireproof safe with all our important documents and emergency funds

*A preschool program for an entire year

*A family picture photo shoot with Mallory

 

I Created...

*A new email account

*A blog

*A garden

*My own bottled fruit and vegetables

*An oil painting on canvas

*A Proclamation to the Family book for both sets of parents

*Homemade Valentine's Day cards

*Homemade gifts for my nieces and nephews

*A quiet book for my kids

 

I Served...

*Gave Riley a one hour back massage

*Reconnected with an old friend

*Volunteered my time with a volleyball team

*Helped each of my sisters in a meaningful way

 

 

And I Grew...

*Trained for and ran a 10k race

*Read 50 new books

*Abstain from TV for at least a month

*Memorize the Proclamation to the Family

*Workout 6 days a week for 3 months consecutive

*Graduate with my bachelor's degree

********************************************************************

My final stats are:

78 goals accomplished

6 goals in progress

5 goals attempted but failed

12 goals not attempted

 

Even though I didn't end up with a perfectly accomplished list, I loved this challenge. It kept me working towards goals in so many different facets of my life. I've felt growth and progress.

 Starting October 1, I'll be starting a new 1001 day challenge and this time my mom is joining me!

First Impressions of Maine from a Total Outsiders Perspective

I've only been in New England for a titch over two weeks, but that's really all it takes to form a few first impressions about this place.

 1. The ocean is everywhere. Every time we drive anywhere we're crossing bridges or coves and beaches. It's in the decor, cuisine, and conversations. They even base their directions on the coastline.

2. The accent. People drop their r's and add r's where they don't belong. After an afternoon of talking to locals, I find myself asking Hinder if he wants 'pizzer' for dinner or to stop pestering his 'sista'. I love listening to accents, so that is fun for me, but I do feel a little foolish when I find myself mimicking.

3. Compared to the Southeastern Idaho desert, I feel like we're in Ireland. Everything is so green a colorful. It's probably rained 7 out of the 17 days I've been here. There are trees and foliage everywhere. In fact, on the third day of our unpacking, we needed to get out of the house, so I buckled the kids into the stroller for a walk.

 Our street looks like this...

A typical suburban neighborhood, right?

Then I turned one corner and stumbled on this...

 A forest trail in our backyard. Pretty outstanding.

AND we found real acorns on this trail! With big, fluffy tailed, grey squirrels!  Isn't that such a quintessential autumn thing? That leads me to observation #4...

4. The acorns make the loudest popping noise as they fall from the tree. I don't really understand it, but the first night the popping sounds woke me up and I thought it was gunfire. Just when I was working myself into a tizzy about what kind of gang/gun/war zone neighborhood we were living in, Riley told me it was just acorns. I felt silly.

 

5. It's humid here. And I'm totally not used to this. My first clue was when our once-straight-haired daughter all the sudden started sporting downy fluff curls on the back of her head.

 And then I tried to wipe down the kitchen. You know, with a damp rag? Well, it never dried.
Then I boiled a box of pasta and the same kitchen turned into a sauna. Water droplets condensed on every available surface.
And then I took a look in the mirror to find that my hair looked remarkable like Isabella Garcia- Shapiro singing "Izzy's Got the Frizzies". I guess I've accepted that fact that I'll be having a bad hair day until 2016. Or investing in a case of John Frieda product.
6. So far, the people we've met are genuinely kind and giving. Right after landing in Portland, four different couples asked if they could help, complimented me or the kids, held open a door, etc. Our neighbors and ward members have bent over backwards to show us kindness and welcome. I just so grateful for that.

Moving from America's Family Community, we were a little concerned that we'd have to toughen up a little to get along here. I guess it goes to show that you can find kind and generous people anywhere.

Thank goodness.

Our New Life

We're finally connected to the Internet here in Portland! So much has changed and happened in the past month. Bear with me as I get all caught up documenting over the next few days. It might be a classic case of blogging overload. But I don't want to forget any of it.

The kids and I have been in Portland for 2 weeks now. It's so good to be back together as a family after being apart from Riley for over 3 weeks.

Things are just better together.

We're acquainting ourselves with this new city, new geography, new school/ward/routine and LIFE!

So far so good.

 Hinder is absolutely in love with the ocean.

I love all the coves and beaches and diversity. My eyes will never get tired of checking out the scenery because it's always changing and different.

 

 This was my first time feeling the Atlantic Ocean from the United States side.

It's so surreal to live 3,000 miles away from where we've always lived.

 Vyla could not get enough of her daddy! She missed his big bear hugs.

 The first sites we saw after arriving here was the famous Portland Head Light and the surrounding buildings.

 It's like walking into a calendar picture. Absolutely lovely.

 I think we're really going to like it here.

Nine Months Old

Our baby girl is nine months old. Did I prick my finger on a spinning wheel and fall asleep for the past nine months? Because I just can't believe how time has flown by!
She's a beautiful girl. So happy and content, but pretty darn tough with her older brother.



Her new favorite things are pulling herself up to stand, giving big open-mouthed kisses, and emptying any basket, box or drawer within her reach. She's babbling a few little baby words. She loves playing games and giggling.

In Transition

Before I could get caught up on posting about the end of our insanely busy summer, the computer was packed up and shipped to Portland. So even though it goes against every organizational and logical bone in my body to post out of order, it's about time for an update on where we are in life right now.

Riley left on August 20th with his dad to drive to Maine. They made great time and got to Portland by the end of the day on the 22nd. Since then, he has apartment hunted, had some tearful goodbyes, unloaded the moving pods into the apartment, and completed his first week of his pharmacy program. It's been a lot and he's a total champ for doing it all alone.

After Riley left, the kids are I were left with the tasks of white gloving the house and taking care of all the loose ends in Rexburg. We had plenty of tearful goodbyes of our own before venturing to my parent's house. We've been here since the 23rd of August waiting, playing, visiting, and trying not to get too anxious about the future.

We have found time for plenty of fun, though! One of the first days in Washington, the kids played at the Mobias Kids children's museum in Spokane.

They loved this place.

One afternoon, we got together with an old high school friend of mine and her sweet daughter. Maddie is just Hinder's age and a perfect playmate for him.

Thank goodness for family who is taking such good care of us in our transition!