Mini-Update

Hey all, just wanted to give a little update while I have a small break in the chaos.
Dellas headed over to Seattle yesterday to take a load of big stuff (trailer, jetski, etc) then spent this morning looking for places for us to live. We were very fortunate and got lucky on the 2nd place! I found a duplex in Issaquah on Craigslist so Dellas took a look and snatched it up!
It's a little dated, but it's 3br, 2.5ba and more importantly has a small back yard for Oak! Issaquah is one of the more expensive areas to live so we were a little worried about what we could find but I think this one will do nicely! I'll post pics later...

On another note, I was offered a job at my current bank's Bellevue branch and will start on January 17th! This allows me to take a week for our Hawaii trip and a week to move but come right back to a job with no lapse in pay or benefits! I only have 2 days left of work in Meridian so the girls are throwing a little going away party tomorrow at work but they won't tell me what all it's going to entail.
It's definitely a time for mixed emotions...getting ready to leave some fabulous friends and a lot of familiarity behind, but so excited to go to Hawaii on Sunday then come back to a place to live!

Things have been coming together nicely for us and we're so thankful. Dellas even said, "it's kinda scary how things are falling into place for us..." haha, not really sure why it's scary but oh well; it makes me feel like this was how everything is supposed to happen for us!

More to come after we relax with our toes in the sand for a week then make the journey over to Issaquah!

Our Fate is Decided

Well, many of you already know what this post is going to say, but I feel it's worth posting anyway! After 4 long months of waiting on pins and needles, Kiewit has decided our fate and are sending us to Bellevue, WA for Dellas to start work on the rebuilding of the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington (which spans between downtown Seattle and Bellevue.) This job was one of Dellas' first picks so he's pretty excited. I, on the other hand, bypassed the excitement and immediately went into planning mode but didn't have long before family came into town to help us celebrate Del's graduation.

Now that we have him OFFICIALLY done with college we're starting to put together our plans and line up a place to live. Luckily, I'm familiar enough with the area to help eliminate certain places but it's still nice to have family who is local to help out.
This upcoming week will be spent enjoying time with Dellas' parents (and soon his brother) who are in town until after Christmas, while trying to tie up loose ends in Meridian. My last day at work isn't until the 30th so Dellas' job, from the 27th-31st, is to go to Seattle and scrape up some houses and hopefully pin something down before we head to Hawaii for a week on the 1st. We get back from Hawaii on the 8th and Dellas starts work the 16th. Somewhere in that mesh of activity we'll need to come back to Boise, pack up our house, haul it over, and hopefully unload it into a house! If not, I hope my family will let us crash in on them temporarily!
As for my job, I'm not sure yet. I'm checking into transferring with my current bank but also trying to weigh how long of a commute I want. So we'll see what happens there.

Everything that we've been thinking about and wondering about for the last 6 months is actually starting to happen now! It's a crazy, stressful, exciting, scary time for us but that's life! We'll be keeping everyone updated as things come together. I apologize ahead of time if I'm not the best blog updater over the next month but I promise it'll come!

Oakley's Newest Trick!

This evening I was bored and thought it would be fun to see what new tricks I could teach Oakely. At first I tried "high-five" but realized it was too close to "shake" so then I moved on to "play dead." It was so easy! All I did was push him over a few times, while he was laying down, while saying "play dead." Then I let him try it on his own and he did it! It took a total of maybe 15 mins to get him to not hesitate and/or flail around but now he's pretty good!

I must say, I'm a pretty proud mama, haha, or just easily entertained...

Project Complete

Just thought I'd share the finished product of the path. We brought in fill dirt and planted a few small things, but the fun things are the new raised vegetable garden box (hidden in the background) and the sweet "barriers" Del built. (The mini fences are to keep Oakley on path when screaming around the corner and will easily come out for whoever lives here next who may not have a crazy dog)

I'm very happy with how this turned out! Unfortunately, we don't get to enjoy it tho :-( Del and I looked at each other and said, "why didn't we do this a LONG time ago!?" Oh well, live and learn and hopefully someone else down the road will appreciate it...if not, at least it's less lawn to mow or replace when it gets neglected by tenants :-P

In other news, my mom comes to town tomorrow followed by my dad on Thursday night. The guys will then head up to New Meadows for a weekend of hunting while mom and I have some girl time at home! Looking forward to it!

Checking In

I just realized that it has been over a month since our last update and the reason is two-fold. Partly because we haven't had any drastic news or events to report and also because we've been busy doing this and that.

Since Del's return to Boise we have been busy many of the weekends. Labor Day weekend was camping, then a visit to my Grandma in Twin Falls, ID, and an overnight trip to The Big Nasty Hill Climb in New Plymouth, ID (dirty bikes racing up a steep hill).

Our Labor Day camp site - on the N Fork of the Boise River

Family Photo :)

And if we werent' out of town, we were home getting things done! We took on one last project before calling it quits (kind of) on the house. Our dog has a habit of running back and forth from our back sliding door to the side door into the garage and that poor small area of lawn in between became a mud pit. So to avoid a really messy upcoming winter and future frustration, we found a good deal on Craigslist for a load of pavers. Del got to work, dug out the grass, and laid the pavers!

Del awesome work! As usual...

Since this pic was taken, we've trans-planted that big Sandcherry to the bigger area across the path by the fence and moved a shrub from out front to replace it. We've also bought a few new plants but we aren't sure we want to spend more money on plants we won't be here to take care of in the spring. So it may stay pretty sparse back here. Renters won't mind :-P

Well, I don't think there's much else to report. Del's just forcing himself through this last semester of school while I work. Still no word where we're going with Kiewit, probably not for at least another month :-(
I think time is going to fly though! It's already October and we're fast approaching another busy stretch! Parents coming to visit in a couple wks, then Thanksgiving, then my birthday, then Del's graduation and more family coming to town, then Xmas......all leading up to the big move and our Hawaii trip!! I just hope I can stay sane thru all this....:-P

It's Official!!!

Those of you who are close to us already know this, but Dellas was offered a job after completing his internship with Kiewit this summer. We're now proud to say that he has......ACCEPTED the job offer, officially, as of today!!! We thought he might take a little bit of time to explore some more options but we decided this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
We don't know details as to where we'll be, and we don't even have a very good idea of when we'll know either! His boss told him "hopefully around November" but the HR gal told him today it's exactly like the internship process (which was 2 wks before he started!) I'm praying more towards the November side, personally! We're also speculating that Seattle is the most likely area, but he was also told the Hawaii project is looking for new hires to go out there...but we're trying not to get our minds set on anything yet. Del still has to actually FINISH school first haha.

Other than that exciting news, it's awesome having Del back home with me! This past weekend, we went to Lake Cascade to a friend's cabin and relaxed. He started school again yesterday and is fine tuning his schedule to be easy as possible for his very last semester. This coming weekend will be spent at home then Labor Day weekend will be spent on our 1st, and possibly last, camping trip of the summer.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone. As usual, I'll keep you posted once we know anything on the new job! Wherever we go, we better get some visitors!

Summer Heat!

Today has hit about 100 degrees so, since I'm actually home and plan-free, Oakley and I had to find a way to keep cool! (Other than sit inside in the A/C). Not sure why the video is sideways but I'm not gonna worry about it - just tilt your head :)

In other quick news, Dellas had his evaluation with his boss at Kiewit yesterday and it sounds like it went very well! I'm so proud of my hubby for doing such a great job and impressing everyone out west. Says a lot that they are still impressed even after he showed them his true, sarcastic colors ;)