And, We've Moved...Again!

I have lost count the number of times we have moved since we've known each other.  Before we married, one of us was always moving out of one apartment or house.  Finally, we bought our first house in Alexandria, VA right before our wedding...then moved to Little Rock, AR...then to Hot Springs, AR...then to El Dorado, AR...and now to Denver, CO!  In the meantime, John's mom has bought and sold several homes and my dad has moved a time or two.  The good part about moving is that you are constantly purging.  I'm not saying that I toss things left and right, but I am pretty good at donating a goodly amount.  Hopefully, between the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Dress for Success and St. Agnes Guild Thrift Shop, somebody (or somebodies) have also been blessed as a result of our numerous moves.  We have been house hunting since February and still haven't found a home.  The market in Denver is on fire, and after buying high (more than once), we refuse to be caught up in the frenzy that is the upswing of a housing market.  We are taking our time and being very picky.  And, because of this, we finally gave in and decided to rent an apartment for a few months (which may turn into a few more).  The good news is that it is safe, clean, and new, and we are very comfortable there for now or as long as it takes to find the perfect home.  No rush...no pressure...I'm very happy about this!  We have six storage units in AR and one in CO.  John almost emptied out one in AR as a result of this mini-move and we cleaned out the CO one.  Progress, right?

John is the best mover in the world.  He packed the truck ALL BY HIMSELF!  How he did this is beyond me.  I was getting my hair highlighted.  A girl can't move to a new state with roots!

Our patio home/town house/apartment

Ah, my couch and living room rug--has been in storage for ONE YEAR.  Feels good to stretch out again!

Master Bedroom--nothing exciting, but I am happy to have my Heather Mainord strawberry field painting.

Typical apartment kitchen-simple and clean--all I care about!

This guy deserved a nice lunch on the patio.  As a southern girl and an Arizona boy, we are not used to eating outside in JULY.  I could get used to this!

Now that we are semi-settled, we are loving our new city.  We are exploring all of the different parks and walking trails.  John is a one-man GPS, and once he goes somewhere, he knows it.  He has the back roads mastered.  It blows my mind. I am the OPPOSITE of this.  I master one route, and please do not make me detour.  We have joined a church, St. Thomas Moore, and I have been able to go to daily Mass.  John has even been able to join me for daily Mass once too. We are eating our way through this journey.  We haven't had a bad meal yet.  Every time we go out to breakfast, lunch or dinner...I tell John, I can't wait to bring my Dad here.  Or, he'll say, my Mom would love this.  You get the picture.  We can't wait to have guests come, so we can share all of these delightful experiences.  Below are a few photos of the lovely CO landscape.  

This is totally worth waking up early for...

 Morning Walk

Evening Walk

 I'm becoming my grandmother...photos of flowers.  I couldn't help myself!

God loves CO.  This was the first rainbow I saw and a double rainbow at that.  I snapped a picture and from this day on, I've noticed rainbows almost every other day.  He is certainly reminding the good people of CO of His promise!

Independence Day

Happy Birthday America!  We had a splendid four day weekend at The Beehive.  Because I am part crazy woman, we did all of our shopping and setting up on Wednesday night.  On Thursday, we woke up early and hosed everything down and blew everything up (remember new favorite lake toy--it takes lots of air!).  By mid-morning, we were done and able to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

We had a constant flow of friends from Wednesday evening to Sunday afternoon.  We had more food than we ever needed, four days of sunshine, and sensational temperatures!  The boat ran smoothly, and everyone who wanted a ride on the tube behind the boat was able to do so.  John and a friend did a back flip dismount on Saturday afternoon.  That was a little scary for this old lady, but they definitely got high marks for their synchronization!  I hope we are never too old to go for a a bumpy ride on Big Mable (or whatever they name the next tubing invention).  Also, we were able to spend a little time with our Conway family on July 4th.  We are so thankful for good friends and a close family.

God Bless the USA!

Sisters-ready for a boat ride!

Kerry

Captain John

Clay and his baby, Martha

Yours truly

Stuffed with BBQ-Bill, AJ, Uncle Jerry Joe & John

On a related note, I gained some independence on July 2 when my new pair of glasses came in.  After about 10 years since my last pair of "new glasses" and five years since my last eye exam, my vision was getting fuzzier and fuzzier.  My glasses were shrinking (in all seriousness, I don't know how...but they no longer fit my head), the lenses were scratched and, quite frankly, no longer effective.  I FINALLY went to the optometrist in El Dorado, had my eyes examined, and ordered some new lenses. I'm thrilled...and so should everyone else who meets me in traffic and/or who rides with me in the car!

I know--I LOOK as smart as I AM!!

June

Well, let's start on May 31, and then I'll wrap up our June whereabouts!  John and I are moving to Denver, CO this summer.  John will be with the same family of companies, but looking forward, it seems that he will be traveling more and more with much of his travels in Denver.  We decided that it would be prudent to have family home base in Denver since that is where he is spending much of his time.  My last day with Team Boozman was May 31.  It was a bittersweet day, but as the old cliche goes, "I'm looking forward to this next chapter!"

Tasty cake my co-workers surprised me with on my last day.

The next day, of course was June 1.  June 1 comes and goes every year, and it is always a tough one for us.  I remember June 1, 2007 like it was yesterday.  I sat on one side of the bed with Kerry and Dad at the other.  John and Clay stood at her feet.  We all sobbed and told her over and over that we loved her and that we were all going to be ok.  I don't know that time really heals.  I know that it dulls the pain, but the emotions are still very fresh.  As I type this, tears are streaming down my cheeks.  We are at peace knowing she is free of pain, but sometimes I think I miss her more as time goes by.  John and I took her flowers and dusted off her headstone.  If there is one thing I know for certain, she would LOVE her headstone!

Our beloved

A few days later we took out for Denver.  John and I have been doing lots of house hunting in CO.  We were hoping to rent something for a few months and then get settled.  So, we packed up the car and headed out.  As our luck would have it, the apartment we wanted to rent was rented out from under us. So, we retained yet another storage unit and left a load there and drove on home.  Poor John celebrated his birthday on the road this year.  I hope he gets a proper 38th Birthday celebration next year.  37 was uneventful and somewhat boring.  He did get to eat his favorite pancakes at the Original Pancake House in Denver before we left.

Breakfast of Champs!

Next up on our June schedule was Father's Day.  Dad came up to celebrate with us in Little Rock.  We went to see Superman on Friday night, shopped and had an awesome lunch on Saturday and rounded out the evening watching Clay shoot in the Arkansas Skeet Shooting tournament.  Number 1--Superman was REALLY good.  Great moral to the story and really good acting.  Number 2--Local Lime is awesome!  It was our first visit there, and it is as good as everyone was saying.  Number 3--We have NEVER seen Clay skeet shoot before, and it was lots of fun.  He is so good, and it was great to see him in action.

Cheese Dip & Salsa Trio-so yummy.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Dad and his eldest

Dad, John, Clay and Chris (Clay's other brother-in-law)

Whitney (Clay's sister) and Kerry-watching Clay shoot

Last but not least, John busted out his new golf clubs at the end of the month.  He got them for Christmas and this is the first time he has had an opportunity to use them.  He was fitted for them in AZ, and they were ordered and shipped to us in El Dorado.  That took about a month or so, but still...the guy has been too busy to golf.  We had an unseasonably cool few days in South Arkansas, and John was finally able to hit some balls.

He loves these clubs!

Almost finished.

Buffet & Birthdays

Still in catch up mode, but I think we are making progress...finally to May!  May is always hectic.  We celebrate Mother's Day, my birthday and Kerry's birthday.  It is also Memorial Day weekend, so we are opening up the lake house for the first time, and it is typically tornado month for Arkansas (and much of the country).  This year was no different.

The weekend before our birthday celebration, John had to go to Dallas for some business.  He invited Kerry to come along and took us to see Jimmy Buffet.  Such fun!  It was my first Buffet concert, and I am so impressed at the amount of effort the true parrot heads go through on concert day.  Tailgating and costumes...oh my.

Only picture I got of our Buffet trip to Dallas! 

The weekend of May 10 was my birthday and Mother's Day weekend.  We went to Shreveport and celebrated.  Kerry came too, and we celebrated her birthday as well!  Dad/Suzanne took us to Superior Grill on Friday night, and they cooked lobster on Saturday.  As Granny would say...we were "eating high on the hog" all weekend!

Happy Birthday to ME--May 10 @ Superior Grill

After a tough day lounging in the pool, we are having appetizers on the porch.

Ok, fine...we are celebrating Kerry too :)!

Oh my...blue cheese crostini with onions.

In the meantime, supper was being prepared by the chefs.

Performing surgery on the lobsters

Making them pretty

Pommes Anna

Plated Goodness

The dinner table

This is what it looked like before the food was plated.

Did I say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME???

I had more pictures, but can't seem to make them upload to the blog.

We are so thankful we enjoyed every minute of the weekend, because the house was hit by a tornado the very next Thursday.  It damaged the house pretty bad, so the rest of the summer looks like it is going to be spent managing construction crews.  They are getting a new roof, a new back wall, new furniture, a new piano, new carpet, new windows, new gutters, and lots of new landscaping.  No lives were lost, so it is really hard to complain.  Regardless, it is putting a damper on the summer season for them!

The tornado that hit Dad's house in Shreveport!

The back wall of the house was literally pushed out by the pressure.  Needless to say, we are so thankful nobody was home!

Finally, we went to The Bee Hive for Memorial Day Weekend.  Kerry got another little birthday celebration, and we had lots of good R & R.  John and I bought our new favorite lake toy at Sam's Club this year.  We are thrilled with our purchase!

There really are no words to describe the joy that this seats 6 adults lake toy has brought to us!!!

Bush Library Dedication

I'm still catching up from a very busy spring!  At the end of April, we attended President George W. Bush's library dedication in Dallas, TX.  There really are no words to describe how great of a time we had.  John and I met in DC working in the Bush Administration, so this was special for us.  Also special was seeing many of our friends and former colleagues.  There are lots of pictures from this trip...so let's get to it!

First night--Executive Office of the President, Reunion Party Hosted by the former Chiefs/Deputy Chiefs of Staff

Luke Frans and Lori & David Raad--riding to dinner and the party in our fancy stretched SUV/Limo

John & I with Luke--in above mentioned fancy stretched SUV/Limo

The next morning we were up early and in line for the buses.  It was chilly in the morning and we all walked away with sunburns.  Mother nature can be so deceiving when it is cold outside coupled with major sunshine.  Of course, some things never change and with all five living/current Presidents attending, security was tight and so we had to get there extra early...and wait.  It was worth it!

Surreal!  

The program for the dedication

John & I waiting in line for our shuttle bus

John & Luke 

Sarah Beth & Mitchell

Ran into Chad Barth after the main event...of course, he was helping out and making sure everything was running smoothly!

John and I snuck a ride after the event on the "Ritz Carlton" bus.  We did not stay there, but we certainly played the part.  I was nervous, but John made me loosen up and hop on with the diplomats and other mega donors.  Good move, Mr. Eddy.  We attended an Office of Political Affairs lunch afterwards and saw even more old friends.  Food was good and the conversation better!  Later in the evening, there was a Bush-Cheney Alumni BBQ complete with a little Pat Green.  It was for everyone who worked in the Administration and/or on the campaign.  Oh my...very fun.  

Dave McMaster, one of John's great friends (and a groomsman in our wedding) taking a picture of the flags welcoming the Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus.

John & I at the BBQ 

Super fun surprise that President & Mrs. Bush came by AND VP Cheney!

Both the President and VP were in great spirits and were very funny.  So great to see the VP feeling and looking good--and as witty as ever.

LOVE!

Finally, the day after the dedication and BBQ, we were able to take tours of the library.  I'm not a library guru, but this was pretty awesome.  It is very interactive, and we were encouraged to touch, read, sit on, pick up et al anything that wasn't nailed down.  President Bush wanted people to get a sense of what it was like to be in his shoes while he was President.  The enormous weight of what he was facing on top of the intelligence and information he had at the time is pretty staggering.  I can't say enough good things about the library.

The front of the George W. Bush Presidential Center

John walking up the sidewalk--Beautiful Texas landscape

Holland and Momma Jan in the Freedom Tower (part of the Library)

The Freedom Tower had a special lighting ceremony after the BBQ.  The "art" is digital and is constantly changing.  You will see scenes, landscapes, people, words etc.  Very cool.  This is a photo looking up.  It is a very tall "tower" and makes an impact.  A great way to begin the library tour.

Father & Son

Children's Reading corner--guests are encouraged to grab a book and sit on a bench and read.  Literacy and education--hallmarks of the Bush Administration

Steel from the Twin Towers.  Again, they let you go right up and touch it.  So very moving--John is in the bottom left of the photo.  It takes your breath away.  Keeping America Safe--also hallmarks of the Bush Administration!

The famous bullhorn (the man who gave his bullhorn to the President also attended the dedication), clippings, program from the memorial service and his speech--History!

John using the interactive/touch screen displays.

John & I working on diplomacy in the Oval Office.

Holland & I also working on diplomacy!

TERRIBLE photo quality, but it had to be included...I gave a lot of West Wing tours during my tenure at The White House, so this was a must :).

A Texas version of the Rose Garden--TX landscaping!