Whirlwind January

January was a whirlwind of activity. On January 4th we had our walk through on our house. We didn't find too many issues which was exciting. On the 5th we flew to California. We spent the night at my aunt's house so that my grandmother wouldn't know we were there. On January 6th we surprised my grandmother (mom's mom) for her 80th birthday. It was so much fun! On Friday, January 8th we had a memorial service for my Grandpa (dad's dad) who passed away in December. In the morning we went out on a boat and spread his ashes. Although it was very sad, it was amazing to get to spend time with all of my cousins. We hadn't all been together in over 10 years. The memorial service was very nice and all the grandchildren participated in some way. After the service we had a celebration of my grandfather's life at his favorite Mexican restaurant. On Saturday, January 9th we had a birthday party for my grandmother's 80th birthday. It was a great day! I think everyone had a good time. Our trip to California was great, but very busy and an emotional roller coaster. We flew home Monday, January 11th. Our flight was a bit delayed, but we made it home safely. Then Rod and I drove home. We got home about 2:30 in the morning and got up the next morning at our regular time for work. I think Rod got a total of 2 hours of sleep that night. Tuesday evening we spent some time packing. On Wednesday, we had our final walk through on the house and closing. Unfortunately I had a 24 hour stomach bug, but I still went along for the ride I was just miserable the entire time. The rest of the week was spent packing and on Saturday we had a bunch of family and friends help us move from our apartment to our NEW HOME!!! It was the perfect day for moving. The weather was beautiful for a Saturday in January. Since our move we have been busy cleaning the apartment to return our keys (which we did on Friday), unpacking, receiving furniture, oh and figuring out the best way to get to work. It’s nice going to work together, but it sure is a long drive. I used to get up at 7:30 to get to work by 8:30, now I get up at 5:30. YUCK! Although I hate getting up earlier, I love our house. I can’t wait to have everything unpacked. This weekend was great because we finished cleaning the apartment on Friday, Saturday we celebrated my birthday, and Sunday we spent some time with Rod’s Aunt and went shopping at the Leesburg Outlet Mall. I almost bought myself a purse from Coach, but I decided to wait. Today I am going to try to get my closet unpacked so I don’t have to search through boxes in the morning when I am trying to get ready for work. Hopefully the GE guy will come to fix our dishwasher (which hasn’t worked since we moved in) but I am not sure. He was supposed to be here between 8-12 and it is almost 11 and I haven’t heard from them. This week is going to be very busy. We have a lot of unpacking to do and getting ready for our new puppy to arrive on Saturday. I also have workshops going on at work with my students. Hopefully work will make the week fly. I’ll try to update next week with pictures of the house without so many boxes and the new puppy!