Instagram: June 2016

When you eat, sleep and breathe baseball, this is really your only option in sleepwear.

I'm a little behind on all of our happenings, but at the end of May, we officially handed over the keyes to our first home. Such a bitter sweet moment. So many memories, two babies came home to this house, countless hugs and kisses (and kid-scuffles) took place here. Blood, sweat and tears were put into updates and the yard. We are so blessed to be in the home we now have, but we were also blessed in this little home.

On May 31st, we closed on our new home. We are loving the space and the view. It feels so surreal to finally be living in the place that has consumed our lives for the last 9 months.

Instead of dealing with this mess, I'm sitting down to a very large bowl of ice cream. Even though I know I'll just have to deal with it later, sometimes it feels good to procrastinate.

These cute girls have been the best of friends since birth. Devynee asks to look at pictures of Saya on my phone everyday and has plans for a wonderful pen-pal relationship until they can be roommates at college.

Kendree hitting off the tee! the kids and I had a long, hot morning at the ball fields, but both Kendree and Easton played great!

This guy is our favorite. Happy Father's Day Ronnie! We sure are glad you are ours!

Easton's first swim meet! So proud of him for swimming his hardest. And in true "oldest of 4.5 children" fashion, mom missed his first event (freestyle).

Random Pictures: June 2016

A little sliding at the mall play place.

If I fits, I sits.

I was putting felt pads on the bottom of all of our new bar stools and Devynee decided Ariel needed an eye mask, I guess.  Then she signed her work.

Easton at Cub Scout day camp.

A dear friend moved away in June.  We had a girls night (lots of ice cream) to say goodbye.

 The kids had to say goodbye as well.

Although she was cranky this day, Brynlee loves Jill and would cry if we drove down her street and then didn't stop in to visit.

Devynee hits the ball.

Easton has loved spending time with our new basketball game.

 Easton playing pitcher.

Easton and Brynlee playing catch.

A tour of our place

This time around, I decided that I would do things a little different and take pictures as my house was at that. exact. moment.  So, there are toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, "stuff" on the counters, etc.  But, it shouldn't make you feel like I live in perfect-ness, since that would be FAR from the truth. Without further ado:

This is what our neighborhood looks like (this may or may not be our street, you know, for privacy reasons).

When you come in the front door, you see this:

And then turn to the right to see this: (the door that is cut off is the coat closet, door straight ahead is the half bath, you can't see the garage door, but it is directly to your right).

Then when you step into that little hallway, you have the stairs directly to your left(door with the Halloween hanger thing is the pantry which is located under the stairs):

And the kitchen to your right:

And this is the view into the living/dining room:

A view to the left:

And to the right (why hello Easton):

Then if I stand by the back patio door, you see this on the living room side:

And this on the dining room side:

Now, if we were to go up the stairs, this is what you would see at the very top (straight ahead the main bathroom, closed door on the left is Kendree's/guest room and the closed door on the right is the linen closet.  You can't see Easton's door, since it is directly to the left:

A view of Easton's room:

And one of Kendree's (diaper changing station on the bed):

If you turn to the right at the top of the stairs, this is your view (closed door is the laundry room and master bedroom is straight ahead):

View from the door of the master bedroom (bed skirt still hasn't made it on there):

Standing in the doorway to the master bath you see this:

And this is a view of that bathroom:

And that concludes our tour. [Sorry we ended in the bathroom!]

The trip of a (Ronnie's) lifetime

My dad's brother has a boat in Alaska (and yes, I realize I could have used "uncle" in that sentence, I was just wanting you to understand where all the connections are).

Three to four times a year he invites three people to go up to Alaska with him to fish.  They do halibut fishing, salmon fishing and some crabbing.

On the 5th of July, at the family barbecue, my dad was bragging to Ronnie and I about how depending on when his Alaska trip panned out, he may not be able to help us move (luckily for us, and unluckily for him, he was indeed around for the moving).  Ronnie mentioned that he would LOOOO-OOOO-OOOVE to go sometime.  My dad said that he would ask Larry (my uncle) if all of the slots were full.  Ronnie and I didn't think it would actually pan out, since Larry normally has a line of people ready to go.

The next day, my dad called Ronnie and asked if he was serious about Alaska.  Ronnie responded "YES!" and the plans were set.  It took a bit of schedule re-arranging and all of the budget for Ronnie's birthday and Christmas's for the next five years or so, but he was ready to go.

There are just four things you have to do to go on  an Alaska trip:
1. You have to not annoy Larry, my dad, or the other gentleman who went.
2. You have to be okay with eating seafood for every meal for a week.
3. You need to be able to sleep through multiple people's snoring.
4. You have to not annoy Larry, my dad, or the other gentleman who went.

I guess Ronnie passed all of the tests, as he did not get thrown overboard and came home safely.

Now on to the pictures!

Ice from the glaciers.

Beautiful scenery.

Ronnie catching a skate ray (unintentionally)

The ugly side of halibut.

Whales, whales and more whales.

Ronnie with a silver salmon.

Waterfall

Ronnie with another salmon

Crab!

Ronnie and my dad by the very large halibut that my dad caught (pretty side of the halibut shown).

Moved

We're here.

With all of our stuff.

Three trailer loads (just ask my dad--he can probably tell you the number of boxes).

I really, really hate moving.

I thought that if I talked myself up before it happened and continually chanted "Moving is great!" it might help.

It did a little.

But not a lot.

Hopefully we can dig ourselves out of the boxes in the next few days!

P.S.  I'm sending an email out with our new contact info.  If you don't get one and would like one, let me know.

Answering your Questions: Part 1

When are you moving to Cheyenne?
Ronnie will graduate on May 15th and then begin the bar prep courses here in Laramie through the rest of the summer.  He will take the bar the end of July and we plan to move to Cheyenne in August (although exactly when in August we are unsure, that will depend on availability of housing over there). Ronnie will begin work on September 1st, so we know it will be before that.

Where are you going to live in Cheyenne?
We have absolutely no idea.  With Ronnie's busy summer study schedule, we'll be a bit pressed for time to make trips over there, but we are planning on renting for 6 months to a year before we begin looking at places to purchase.  There are several reasons for this: we would like to get more familiar with the Cheyenne area since the only place I know at all is the mall; we'd like to be able to save a little for a down payment; and we'd like to see how those things called school loans are going to pan out.  We've also decided that we are kinda done with the apartment thing, so we will be looking for a town house, duplex, or single family home to rent (hopefully).

Tell us about your work schedule
I am fortunate enough to have a fantastic part-time job.  That translates to four hours in the office every day.  I am super blessed to have a mom and sister in town to take care of my kids for me--it is the best!

And then we know....

...where we will be living after graduation that is.

Ronnie was offered and we accepted a job with the firm that he did his internship last summer with, so as of August 2010, we'll be residents of Cheyenne!

If anyone would have told high school KaLee that she would be living in Wyoming later in life, she would have laughed in their face, but life has a funny way of working--you know?

Having grown up 45 minutes from Cheyenne, most people assume that I am very familiar with it, but aside from how to get to the mall and Target, I know nothing! It's a whole new adventure people. Very exciting.

Plus, I will actually live somewhere that has a Target, and that right there is cause for a celebration.

The place where we dwell

Here it is--the long awaited apartment tour. I'll put the captions *above* the picture that I am describing. I don't really know what is standard in that regard.

A view of the living room.
And this is the view into the kitchen/dining area. I love the open floor plan, but could use a bigger kitchen for sure.
And here is a view from the couch. The door on the left is the front door and the door on the right is Easton's room. That ugly grill is our air intake for the heating and A/C (yes, we do have A/C-hallelujah!) so we can't cover it up.
A view of the kitchen. We are going to be putting up a shelf next to the cabinet that in set into the wall for the microwave to live on. That way I can have a *tiny* bit more counter space.
And here is the dining room. That bin is awaiting all of the clothes that Easton has outgrown so it can go to long-term storage.
Now we will move into Easton's room. Here is the view straight ahead from the doorway. You can see the door to the walk-in closet (BOTH bedrooms have one) and the built in bookshelves.
A view of the office/stamping space part of the room.

And a view of where Easton's area starts.

Here is the crib. Easton has almost made the adjustment to a new home. He is still waking up twice a night (instead of the once he was doing previously), but I think he feels like this is home now.
This is the view of the built in shelves I just mentioned. They are great for game and kid book storage.
You know that I really love you since I am showing you the inside of this closet. The closet in Easton's room houses all of my craft/stamping stuff as well as our short term storage (or things we get into more than once a year).
Another shot of the closet. In order to redeem my organization status, I'll have you notice that every drawer is labeled. Does that count for something?
As we exit out of Easton's room and turn left, this is the view. The bi-fold doors on the right are the laundry closet and the other door on the right is the linen closet. The open door on the left (of which you can only see hinges) is the bathroom.

And here is the bathroom. Nothing too exciting, we put up the over-the-toilet cabinet to try and combat the lack of storage in this room.
And here is my laundry closet. I love my new washer and dryer. Why is the blue protective plastic still on, you ask? I am my mother's daughter. Taking it off means that they are no longer "new." My previous washer and dryer (which we sold before moving to Laramie) still had the plastic on after a year and a half. My grandparents (who purchased them for their cabin) were THRILLED.
And now we walk into the master bedroom. I really need something above the bed--but have no idea what. Suggestions? The major problem is that the height of the headboard means that normal artwork doesn't look quite right.
A slight turn to the right from the doorway.
And now I am standing by the headboard. The door to the outside leads to the patio area (which can also be accessed through the kitchen) and the closed door is the one that goes to the hall.

The closed door on the left is the one that goes to the hall and the other closed door is to our walk-in closet. (yes, that is a moose antler on top of the armoire)
A view into our closet. I just have one thing to say about this. It is HUGE!
And these are the shelves that are on one entire side of the closet. I am in love with them.
Finally, this is our patio area. The open door goes into the kitchen and the door straight ahead is the one I discussed in our bedroom. You can also see our storage closet.
Do you feel at home? I'm starting to. No pictures of the outside since this is a fairly recognizable complex in Laramie and while I like to believe there are no crazies out there, the truth is--they exist.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that our patio opens right up to the playground and sandbox for the complex, which I am sure Easton will LOVE in the future.