may oh my...

I once had a goal... a goal to update this sucker about once a week to share on the small tidbits of our lives before I forgot them and felt extremely overwhelmed trying to do it monthly.  And here I am, about a month later feeling overwhelmed by all that is going on in our lives, and fearing forgetting something oh-so-adorable or oh-so-important.  I know I'll be omitting one crucial detail - the adorable Jack photos...


Why you ask?  Well, my phone took an unfortunate and untimely swim and it's now drying off in a ziploc bag full of rice hoping with all the hope I can muster that it will be ok and all that was there before will still be intact.  I'm a dummy and never backed up my phone and since that was the camera that was always by my side, there in lies all my Jack photos.  He is looking like quite the dapper young man... he's got 4 1/2 teeth now and grinds them constantly.  For those of you who have missed the opportunity to hear such a noise, just drag your nails across a chalkboard.  He has learned to smile showing all of these teeth, and has also learned to pull himself up and shimmy around the room gripping to the furniture, the walls, the railing on the stairs, really anything that is vertical and helps him keep his balance.  It's his favorite thing to do and it's so fun to see his expression of achievement... it's freaking A.DORE.ABLE.  He still follows me around like my shadow, and I love it except when he decides to "help".  I've been packing like a mad woman to move.  Jack likes to "help" pack... or unpack... or get in the box.  Packing has been going very slowly.  But, it's always super fun to find Jack in the box (ha!) and play for a while... and then when he naps or goes to sleep for the night, really go at the packing like a mad woman.

Yes, you read right!  We are officially moving at the end of June to Rock Springs, WY.  Why there of all places?  Well, Brandon was working longs weeks away from us doing long-haul trucking.  As of lately, the industry has slowed down and he hasn't been making as much money as he used to.  We heard about all these great jobs hauling frac sand (best link I could find) in North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming.  We have been aiming for Texas, but found a company in Rock Springs, WY that got him started right away.  We went down there together for his initial driving/drug test and toured the town when he was done.  Cute little town, with some decent views, a community college, a "mall" (ten stores), and some decent dining out options.  We found that housing is extremely hard to come by for renting, as there are many people doing what we're doing.  We looked at a few apartment complexes and added our name to the many others on the wait list.  I figured that I would see the hubs about once a month when he came back to Rexburg, or more if I went to see him, until something opened up.  If our family relocates there, then we can be together far more often - almost daily (yeah!).  After two days, we took the long drive home very excited about this new opportunity for somewhere new and different together. The next day I got a call from one of the apt complexes that we really liked saying that the floor plan we wanted had an opening!  Available end of June, would we want it?  Told them to not to show it, rent it, breathe a word to anyone else that it was available because we want it...  The hubs told some of his coworkers about it and they were amazed that we found somewhere to rent in town... most of the guys were still living in the hotels because nothing had opened up.

The place is a lot smaller - like a quarter of the size of home we're living in now - so sorting the packing and looking into storage units are a must.  I can not WAIT to be able to see my bestest friend ever EVERY DAY.  And to get out of the Mormon bubble (no offense, Rexburg - you've been good to us).  This is such a great opportunity for us as a family and for Brandon's career.  We are so excited!