Becoming Midwesterners

So, here we are, living in Illinois and adjusting to life in the midwest.  It's been strange how easy it's been to switch gears into my new reality.  Sometimes I feel as if Spencer and I never lived in Provo, but have always been residents of Illinois.  Everything about our life before seems so distant.  And, obviously, it is (literally), but we've only been out here for a few weeks!  I guess, honestly, when you're home full-time with a baby, it doesn't much matter where you live.  Life goes on pretty much the same as it did before.  And I don't mean this negatively, I just mean that's how I feel.  I can feed, change, bathe, cuddle, and put Grace to sleep no matter where I am.  The routine remains constant whether I be in Utah or Illinois.  I guess, in that way, having a baby with me has made it easier for me to adjust.  My purpose and basic life outline haven't changed much.  I just do it amidst humidity.  :)

I think Spencer's life has changed much more than mine.  A salesman's life and hours are not exactly what you'd call ideal.  But, it really hasn't been as bad as I would have thought.  I guess I can only speak for myself, though.  Spencer may think differently.  :) From my point of view, I get to see Spencer more than before--it's just at different times.  Spencer is home with me for pretty much the entire morning and lunch.  He sees Grace more than he ever did before, minus the fact that he works on Saturdays.  With his previous job and school schedule, on a good day, he only saw Grace for about 2 hours.  More often than not, it was more like an hour and a half to one hour.  She just goes to bed so darn early!  Now, his Grace time has doubled if not tripled.  I love that.  

Plus, since moving to Illinois, we have become a two tennis racket family.  We may never make it to being a two car family, but at least we are covered as far as tennis rackets are concerned. :) Meaning, Spencer and I have already spent many a morning out playing tennis together.  When Spencer is feeling especially amiable, he is willing to go jogging with me as well.  This would never have been an option with his old job.     

So, with the difficult, there comes a lot of good.  Spencer doesn't get home until late every night (minus Saturdays), but there are things to make up for that.  And he's been doing really well selling, so hopefully our crazy plan will work out after all.  

I think that, besides family and friends, the thing I miss the most is my home.  It hasn't been easy to go back to renting, but Spencer and I do feel that this sacrifice will be worth it.  I loved our house so much and Spencer and I put so much of ourselves into it.  We joke that we took about as many pictures of our house and yard before we left as we have of Grace since she was born.  This isn't exactly true, but you get the idea.  We loved that house. :) It hurts to think about it and realize that we're not there to take care of it.  I think often about the grass, the flowers and the cherry tree.  I never thought I could get quite so worked up about a bunch of plants and bricks.  But it was ours.  And it meant so much to us.  But there will be others.  :)  And we're so happy about it's new family.  We give them to our house highly recommended. 

But there is so much to love about Illinois.  We live within 5 minutes of the Mississippi and there is a lovely little jogging trail that curves along it.  And there are bunnies, squirrels, and ground hogs everywhere.  They just hang out in plain sight!  Love that.  Not to mention it's nice and green here and the people are really friendly.  Plus, we get to have missionaries over for dinner!  Hooray!  Not so much an option in Provo.  And...we once again live within walking distance of a library.  :)  I couldn't be happier.  Oh, and one more thing: when you live in an apartment building, you can do more than one load of laundry at a time.  That can make it all worth it.  :)   

So, goodbye Utah.  Hello midwest.  And now...the above information in picture form. :)

Some of the many wonderful people we will always remember:

Snapshots of the house and  yard we will greatly miss:

And last but not least, a shot from our drive out to the midwest:

Grace was more than willing to do her share of the driving.  :)

The Kite Runners

For my first official Mother's Day, Spencer surprised me with a lovely pair of genuine, hand-crafted WalMart kites. :0)  I was so excited!  Kite flying is something that has always held such wonderful appeal for me.  It  seems such a romantic pastime.  I believe that if there are still people in this world who spend windy afternoons flying kites, then all is well.  

Spencer has mentioned to me many a time (and quite nostalgically) his kite flying experiences as a child.  He describes himself lying on a blanket with his brother and dad, relaxing and watching their kite fly higher and higher into the blue.  So, I, of course, had already decided to get Spencer a nice kite for his birthday. And he, of course, beat me to it.  Spencer is the murderer of birthday surprises.  :0)  But, at least this way he got to pick the kites out and I didn't accidentally buy the cheap kind that doesn't work--which I am always apt to do.  

At any rate, we took our kites on their maiden voyage that very day and had a lovely time.  Grace, turns out, is an amazing kite-ist.          

First, Spencer taught her the ins and outs of being a chill kite flyer.  She listened and studied attentively.

Then came the legendary hand-off.

Grace got it down to a science.

And soon, she discovered that kites were not only good for flying, but for eating, as well.

She found the whole thing so easy, she decided to lay down for a bit and rest (notice the kite continues to fly with ease, as is evidenced by the string still held taut).

Spencer was pretty good, too (as seen with the more advanced, but slightly less restful, two-handed kite!).

And now, a shot of the happily soaring turtle kite.

All in all, the afternoon was a big success.  As was Mother's Day.

P.S.  This blog steals its title from the book, "The Kite Runner," which I highly recommend.  It got me interested in all things kite and Afghanistan.  For those who have read it, Spencer and I took turns being each other's "kite runner."  I loved it.

An overabundance of blogging ideas...

I finally seem to have developed a taste for blogging.  And it all came because, for once, I couldn't blog when I actually wanted to.   It's funny how I tend to not miss things until they're gone.  Ever since Spencer and I moved to Moline, IL., I have spent many a moment fantasizing about all of the amazing blog posts I would create about our adventures once we finally got the internet for REAL in our apartment (sneakily stealing it from other unsuspecting people's unsecured wireless routers does NOT count, though it does seem a cheaper alternative...).  At any rate, I am so excited!  So, here it goes.