toto, we're not in moscow anymore

I didn't think that I was as emotionally attached to Northern Idaho as I thought! I always thought of myself as a City Girl. (as "city" as Boise can get, I suppose) When I moved up to Moscow the summer of 2006, I thought to myself, "How on earth am I supposed to live without a 24-hour Walmart? How can the city just shut down and force you to not have a life after 9 pm?!"
Thus, I dove headfirst into my situation and found that it fit me quite well. It was a challenge, living without Ryan as he was in law school. It was hard to do most everything myself, with handling the finances, taking care of the house and all inside of it, while making sure that the kids are safe going to and from their various activities.

This is what I'll miss most about Moscow:
25- Dental Depot and Dr. Cole--as weird as it is for me to actually miss a dentist, I will miss mine! It was physically 67 steps from my front door. I was always in good hands there.
24- My friends-- I made such wonderful and dear friends that I won't ever be able to replace. We were all poor together and we made due with what we had.
23- Thursday night getaways--Ryan would make sure that he was home and I could run to the gym and Hastings without guilt. (I could make it from my front door to my gym in under 3 minutes...and it was on the OTHER side of town! Not even kidding).
22- The Palouse Mall--it was so small and the deals were always fantastic. I could load up all three kids, go shopping and then back out to the car within 10 minutes if I had to.
21- Moscow Family Medicine/Gritman Medical Center--they were within walking distance and they were always professional and helpful. Definitely recommend having a baby there. If the weather is good and I felt perky, I'd walk to my appointments.
20- Applebee's--the very limited amount of restaurants forced me to start enjoying this place and it has become the center of many fond memories--especially the vans of truthiness after it has closed...
19- Eastside Marketplace--where else can you go that your DMV is half the size of the only movie theater in town? And has an indoor playground where the kids can play and you can paint pottery.
18- My bank, my pharmacies, my routine checkers at Safeway and Rousauer's--they knew my name and always said hi. Seriously, it's Mayberry.
17- Dragging the kids off to law school and praying that we won't get a ticket just to drop Ryan's lunch off to him.
16- Driving downtown several times a day (it's the only way to and from anywhere) and not hitting any red lights. (or if you did, it was maybe a 90-second inconvenience)
15- Christmas lights in the winter--Downtown Moscow is absolutely magical during Christmastime. (but I STILL LOATHE AND DESPISE THE SNOW--all 5 feet we got this last year)
14- The Farmer's Market--we have many fond memories as a family of playing at Friendship Square and carrying our fresh flowers and produce that we bought at the market. There were signs that said that you had to leave your llama home.
13- Driving our "Loop"--we'd go to Pullman for a DQ Dilly bar and then go by the WSU bears, watch the planes come and go at the Moscow/Pullman Airport. (which is the size of a gas station, by the way--very small but busy)
12- Hanging out with the law school study group-- Peppercorns and Eddy the Puppy. Good times.
11- U of I Law school-- always choosing to screw over a class and it being Ryan's, and always having something under construction. At least they've always been consistent!
10- My little house in Moscow--. It didn't have a disposal, air conditioner, dishwasher or ventilation and it was horribly inefficient with the heating...and my heart broke as we drove away. I loved that house and was so in love with it. The natural light was incredible. I loved it. (we were incredibly fortunate with our landlords too, we always appreciated them).
9- How kids could play outside and as long as you had your eye on them, they were safe. There were more dog-people in the town than kid-people; so the parks were hardly ever busy!
8- Rousauer's Doughnuts--better than Krispie Kreme, better than gourmet. The best I've ever had. Delicious.
7- The Rolling Hills and the Palouse--it was "post-card picture perfect" every day. Beautiful.
6- The simplicity of Moscow--you got to one end of town in less than 5 minutes. If you had to go into "town" it was not a stressful thing and most of the time you walked.
5- The aisles of any given grocery store--the organic section was bigger than the dairy section. It was a hoot at first, but then I got used to it. Even shopped in it sometimes.
4- 1 1/2 hours from Hayden--Going up to visit my incredible grandparents was so much fun. We got to visit as often as we could and it was always nice to come away with full tummies!
3- Piano students--I'm going to miss them. They were such a fun challenge and it was so rewarding to see their progress. They were very much apart of my life.
2- My ward--my callings, the fabulous friends that I served with, the tremendous examples that have blessed my life and my heart forever. I cherish you.
The number ONE thing that I will miss about Moscow is:
1- Having Ryan gone all the time. (It's not what you think!) Since he was gone most of the day and some of the night, our hours spent together was very special. We had such quality time together and our marriage flourished and our friendship is healthy. (not that it ever wasn't) But Moscow did something to us that we can't explain. It was a magical and difficult time in our lives, but one that we wouldn't take back.

Moscow has gotten its "organic" meat hooks into my heart, and there it will stay.

Now being back in Boise, I'm suffering from some culture shock...what's with all this traffic?!

ring ring

There I was. In the kitchen, minding my own business when a sound filled the air that I hadn't ever heard before. Potentially could be a cell phone ring, so I grabbed the only cell phone that was in the house. (we borrowed my father-in-law's phone for the day so we could make our necessary phone calls) However, this phone was NOT the culprit.

The ringing continued as I dizzily glanced around for what could POSSIBLY be ringing. (I just awoke from a two-hour-nap as I was groggy) The basket that holds Carter's diapers and wipes was ringing, so I reached in and felt around to see what I could find.

I pulled out this cute little phone, and thought to myself, "I don't remember Donny's phone looking like THIS!" (phone still ringing at this point) I ran outside to where Donny was washing off his car in the driveway and asked him if he knew whose phone this was. He said he didn't know and I ran back inside.

It still continued to ring, and I was intrigued at this point; so I was just going to answer it. I couldn't figure out how to answer it. Yeah, that's how out of the whole loop I am with electronics.

I yelled for Ryan to come help me with this phone, because I thought that we had grabbed it by accident or something and it belonged to one of his siblings. (we just got done having a very jam-packed Holdaway weekend)

He came around the corner and asked me what was wrong. I told him that I found a phone, I don't know whose it was and what to do about it. He asked me what it looked like and pulled a matching green one out of his pocket.

He said, "Does it look kinda like THIS one?"

It finally dawned on me...this is MINE! I have a new phone and I love it. It's so cute and flips open to a little keyboard and I can text all I want. Oh, I have a husband that loves me so!

we did it! (with lots of help, of course!)

Wednesday morning we ran down to Lewiston to get the truck. After a crash course in driving it, we came back to Moscow and parked the truck...on our lawn! The ramp went from the truck to inside our house. It made things a great deal easier to load, that's for sure!

Thank you to all who came to help us load the truck, we couldn't have done it without your muscles!

Poor Jeremy Hansen stuck in the top of the truck!

The kids had a Leftover Chinese Food Picnic in the dining room!
All the beds were packed up in the truck, and the hardwood is too hard to sleep on alone; we all hunkered down in the living room. The kids konked out while we finished packing.

Thursday morning, after packing nearly all night, my fabulous friends from the ward came over to help clean! The t.v. kept them busy while we stayed busy too!
My Home Teacher and his family made us BREAKFAST! They brought over fresh fruit, warm pancakes, cold juice and everything you could need to start out a busy day. That was so sweet of the Barnes Family! Thank you!!

Thank you to all my wonderful friends that helped come over to clean my little house. I feel so blessed and am so lucky! I couldn't have done it without you!

There were more of my gal pals that came over, but I was too busy directing and cleaning to get more pictures! Thank you to Sheila, Kendra, Connie, Kristin, Ashley, Holly, Shelley and Melissa for all of your help! And thank you to Laura for helping me out with the kids so many times. I am so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends!! (and I'm hoping I'm not forgetting anyone, my apologies if I have).

Just about loaded up. It was a funny sight, no wonder people looked at us funny. The truck was bigger than our house!

We're ready to pull out of town. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, and Dawson wanted to hug the house one last time.

We made the journey down to Boise, it was very difficult. It was slow and we were both so incredibly exhausted. There were a couple legs of the trip that I don't remember at all, and it's a good thing we had walkie-talkies--we kept each other alert. It was a hard trip. For all of us.

We finally pulled into Boise at 1:40am. Unloaded the air-mattresses and had ourselves a very fine few hours of sleep.
It just feels like we're here visiting and not staying! Dawson keeps asking us when we move back to Moscow, if he can take his toys with him. And he keeps asking if he can ride in the "big truck" first when we move back. Hasn't hit him yet, poor thing.
But we already feel very loved! We had several neighbors come over and say hello, invited the kids to play at their houses while we unloaded the truck and furniture, and made lots of sandwiches for the men. I love this ward! We are unsettled, but we feel very welcome!

Thank you to ALL that has made this move a little easier.

"before we leave moscow..."

-Taking pictures in front of the U of I Fountain

For the last three years, we've been saying that there are things that we need to accomplish before we move from Moscow. Since the fountains are RARELY on, we got this done quickly! They're not on in the winter, which I can believe, but then they only have them going for a few days in spring and then off most of the winter. They come back on when all the students (and their parents) return for the fall. It seems like they just turn them on for the "special days" during the year! Quite humorous.

-Pictures in the GIANT Rocking Chair

-Paint our pottery pieces

Grandmother Velta and Papa drove down and brought a delicious picnic lunch and we took them around town. They accompanied us while we painted our pieces and had fun watching the children play. It was nice to have them visit for the afternoon! Ryanna was at school so she didn't get to paint her piece until later that night.

Carter didn't paint anything, he built stuff!

We're sure going to miss Moscow, we've loved living here!

seriously, how much stuff?

I can't believe how much stuff we have! Our house is teeny tiny and yet I'm finding myself puzzled at how much we have. I'm truly counting my blessings, but can't I count it by just moving and leaving it all behind?!

Packing is a joy, but my puzzlement is:

Why does it make an even bigger mess than you originally started with?

The principle is relatively simple. You take an item, place item in box and then follow suit with a lot more items. When I get done filling up a box, I tape it closed and then see a few other little piles around said box. WHERE did those come from?!!

I no longer care about putting "like things together" (sorry Mom, you DID teach me and I did listen) but I just don't care now. I was a rebel today and put games along with my sewing supplies along with some silverware. And I didn't even care! (If you knew me, I'd be losing sleep over that if I actually cared!)

Whew...the countdown is on. This is our last Friday night in Moscow, Idaho. I'm feeling a little sad about it!

P.S. Happy Birthday Kristin!

more graduation

I love this picture! Ryan, Diane's Mom and Diane.

Ryan, me and Judge N. Randy Smith, who was the key speaker from commencement. He serves on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He and Ryan had a lot to talk about, since Ryan just got back from California arguing in front of the Ninth Circuit the night before!

Those cute goofballs again.

The cake that we honored the graduates with.

After graduation, we all went over and had a BBQ with the study group for one last party. We ate good food, reminisced about the happy times and hard times of law school. We laughed a lot and shared stories and jokes. Some of the jokes went right over my head, but I laughed anyway. It was just nice to be there for Ryan and support him.

Eddie The Puppy is such a good sport! My kids just adore him. We're sure going to miss him. We bought a dog bowl just for him, so when he visits, we'll pull it out for him!

I love this picture of Tina and her boyfriend!

Mark getting REALLY into character for one of the legendary stories...

We gave Mark, Diane and Brandon bottles of their own 2007 Cabernet from a local winery here in Moscow. We chose wine because now we all can take a tangible piece of Moscow with us wherever we go. (and because we all don't drink, we'll always have it!)

Me and Tina.

Tina, Mark, Ryan and Diane.

Diane just loves it!
Ryan and Mark say goodbye as tough men.
Christy and Tina.
We went back to Mark and Christy's place to settle debts from over the last couple years. Who owes who how much, etc. We got sidetracked (gasp!) and talked for a few more hours.
Christy's got out her checkbook and calculator.

This is neat. Ryan and I have always said that the FIRST big framed picture that we want in our home after law school (because they're so darn expensive!) is the one of George Washington kneeling beside his horse. I LOVE that picture. Holdaways gave it to us for a graduation gift. I was in tears, it meant so much to me!!

Thank you to all for making this graduation so special!