Here we go again...another move!

Wow, it's almost been two months since my last post. Things have been very hectic around here and since I am short on time I will update you with a few pictures. Nathan and I leave Atlanta this morning and head to Cherry Point. I'll get back to posting once things settle down. Hope everyone is doing well!

Mackenzie waiting for our private tour of The White House.

Still waiting....with a hot, cranky, baby.

Some of Nathan's fellow classmates from TBS that took the tour with us.


Leaving The White House, thanks for the tour Amber!

Mackenzie and I went home to Fort Wayne for a two week visit. I drove past our rental house and found this....over grown ivy, bushes, and weeds. I am happy to say that with a few calls to the property manager things were cleaned up.

We went to the lake for a few days and enjoyed the quiet cottage. Mackenzie wasn't too sure about the sand, as you can tell by her face.

Mackenzie got a new tutu from her Aunt Joyce and....

...she wore it on the golf course. What else do you do with a tutu?

We had the chance to spend some quality time with friends and family. Mackenzie spent most of her evenings running around on the golf course with grandma and grandpa, the neighbors loved us!

Mackenzie and I made the 10 hour trip back to Virginia without any problems. Nathan was glad to have his girls back. We spent the next few weekends sightseeing in DC. Some of our favorites were the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, aka the DC zoo, WWII Memorial, Washington Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial.

"I love this place."


Mac trying to climb into the WWII Memorial.




Mackenzie in Nathan's barracks room.


Nathan and Mac on Warrior Day. Warrior Day was the day before graduation that allowed families to come see what their Marines have been doing at TBS for the past 6 months.

Mac in an amphibious assault vehicle. She looks right at home.

Me with a M249 SAW.


Mackenzie familiarizing herself with a M240 G.

Lt. Richardson and his family. Little Alan and Mackenzie had quite a few dates at the local McDonald's.


Nathan finally graduates from TBS. Congrats!




After graduation we drove down to Cherry Point to check out the base and find a house. This is what we ended up with, who's jealous? We will move again in Feb. to a renovated house.


We moved out of our apartment at the end of October and headed south to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Miller.


"I hate pumpkins."


"Not really, I just hate having my picture taken."

"Meow" says the kitty with high waters on.

Happy Halloween!

Thank You!

We are here! I have so much to update on, but before we can get to any of that I need to say thank you to just about everyone that may be reading this blog. Nathan and I are humbled by the love and support we were shown over the past 5 months. The kind words, encouraging emails and positive thoughts were more than we expected.


The picture above is from the last Muldoon gathering before we left Fort Wayne. The group consists of my mom, four aunts (Laurie, Tina, Joyce and Marlene), five cousins (Krista, Brandon, Jared, Autumn and Melissa) and Mackenzie. We ate too much food and had a great time, thanks guys!

It's Moving Day......And When It Rains, It Pours!

Yep, it's moving day. The movers will be arriving at the storage unit around 9:30, I'm not sure how that is going to play out since most of our stuff is already in boxes. It will be up to me to decide which items will be going to the apartment and which will be going to the new storage unit. I'm a little nervous about this, I don't make decisions under pressure very well. And since Nathan is out in the field all day, I have no one to call to help in this decision making....yikes!

Yesterday was a VERY, VERY trying day. In a matter of 90 minutes I received the following news....

*There is a good chance that Nathan will not be able to fly back to FW so that we could drive out together. That means Mackenzie, Cappy and myself in the car for 10-12 hours! Who's jealous? I don't have enough arms to keep track of everything. I am slightly encouraged by my accomplishment of making the trip (alone) a few months back. The only difference is now I will have the dog, this could go either way.
**We were told a few weeks back by TMO that we would need to install shipping bolts into our front-loading washer. Apparently, the bolts prevent the drum from shifting out of place. This would have been very helpful information to have, oh I don't know, before we already moved the washer out of the house. My brother attempted to install the bolts, they wouldn't go in, the drum has already been thrown off. I called HH Gregg and the guy told me that once the drum is out of place, it means we will be purchasing a new unit. SWEET!!! How come there isn't a BIG YELLOW sticker on the back of the washer saying, DO NOT MOVE WITHOUT INSTALLING SHIPPING BOLTS!
***Lastly, as I was on the phone telling Nathan about the washer I had another call from our property manager. I've come to learn that when I get a call from her, I am usually about to spend a large amount of money. Our renters had sent her an email complaining about water in the basement after a big storm that came through a week ago. Now the house smells moldy and they want to know what to do. (Background info, these renters annoy me. They are young, never lived on their own before and call the property manager over EVERYTHING. One time it cost me $50 to have the repair guy install a lightbulb. Where has common sense gone?) Marla, I am sorry if I was every this annoying when I rented your house! Long story short, the property manager will go over and check things out. I am waiting for the next phone call......

Transitioning

MC's first Christmas, note the slobbery face and striped pants.



Hubby and I are currently in the process of packing up our house and moving everything into storage. It didn't really bother me until I started taking pictures down from the walls. That has always bothered me though, even when I was moving home from college. I struggle with transitions and endings. I know that everything is going to be okay and it's only a matter of time until I'm moving to be with DH, but I start thinking about everything that has happened in this house. We came home as newlyweds, found out we were pregnant, summer get togethers will all of our friends, getting the baby room ready and finally bringing her home, our first Christmas with MC (even though she slept through most of it), sitting out on the front porch with my hubby talking about our future together.......there are so many memories and we've only been here two years! While it might not seem unusual to walk down memory lane when moving out of a house, this is something I do when anything comes to a close....like summer. Around the beginning of August I start to get a sick feeling in my stomach because I know that summer is almost over and I will be going back to work soon. I start to think about all the things I will miss once work begins. I know, I know, this is something I REALLY need to work on. With DH going back into the military is going to force me into new situations that I normally wouldn't be comfortable with and I have come to realize that my attitude is going to be a huge factor in our families success. I look forward to the changes to come and hope to use this as a growing opportunitity.

Here is a picture of our dining room before......

.....and here it is after.

On a lighter note, the other night we came home from my parents house to find that Cappy had helped herself to the trash bag we left out. She loves getting into the trash and I'm sure she had a delightful time rumaging around. I have attached pictures of the trail she left; sometimes she reminds me of a racoon. It's kind of hard to see, but notice the wing sauce on MC's baby blanket. Nice.