Hi Friends!
That's right! You read that correctly :) We are still here. In NY. Waiting for things to happen. The boys and I are living in the finished basement of my parents house. I am completely appreciative to them for allowing us to stay, but man, I miss my bubble! I miss my hubby, I miss my stuff, I miss my space, and I miss the wholeness of our little family :( The boys are feeling this as well. Our little Lou has become increasingly needy, difficult, and horribly defiant and Xanny is very weepy (anyone that knows him well knows how odd this is for him). The family time with grandparents and relatives is definitely nice but everyday I miss our military life and family more and more.
On a less whiney note :) ... Xanny is doing pretty well in Kindergarten. He seems to like it quite a bit and always has stories to tell when he gets home. However, he is not a huge fan of the bus because the ride is lengthy so I have compromised with him; the days Louden doesn't have school I will take him and many afternoons I pick him up. I figure there will come a day when he doesn't want me to pick him up and drop him off so I will take advantage of the times he will let me :)
Hopefully in the next few weeks I can get some pictures posted. I hope all is well with everyone ...Have a wonderful week!!!
BRE
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Wow! Has it really been this long...
Holy Goodness! Has it really been since July since I've posted????? So much has happened, bu that is probably why I haven't posted. We are currently up in New York still. It looks like the boys and I will be staying here until November :( and Michael is actually going to be leaving this Friday to begin the journey to Australia. We hated having to make the decision to separate since the point of the Australia assignment was guaranteed family time, but we were having issues with some EFMP paperwork and refused to step away from this opportunity so this was the best option.
Xander will now be starting Kindergarten in NY at the same elementary school I went to so that's kinda fun and Louden will be going to pre-school at the same pre-school I went too. Kinda fun, huh?? Xanny begins tomorrow, I'm sooooo nervous! LOL! He is so excited and I hope it's a wonderful experience for him. People often forget that it is those first few school years of a child's life that are the most impressionable. I want him to love school and so far he has (Thanks to FPDS!!). I know it will always be a struggle for him but I refuse to have this affect his image of learning. I know he will eventually get a teacher that doesn't understand him, or have to deal with kids that aren't nice, but I will worry about that when we get there. Right now, I want him to LOVE learning and think of school in a positive way. Anyone that changes this for him will have to deal with me and Army Mike! LOL
Hopefully everything will go smoothly from here and we will be able to join dad the first week of November. I'm choosing to look at this in a positive way. At least we won't have to travel all over the place with the boys because Mike will be there way before us to take care all of the little annoying things and ...fingers-crossed.... get our household goods and house and have it set up before we arrive. :) Wishful thinking??
Have a Fantastic Day,
BRE
Xander will now be starting Kindergarten in NY at the same elementary school I went to so that's kinda fun and Louden will be going to pre-school at the same pre-school I went too. Kinda fun, huh?? Xanny begins tomorrow, I'm sooooo nervous! LOL! He is so excited and I hope it's a wonderful experience for him. People often forget that it is those first few school years of a child's life that are the most impressionable. I want him to love school and so far he has (Thanks to FPDS!!). I know it will always be a struggle for him but I refuse to have this affect his image of learning. I know he will eventually get a teacher that doesn't understand him, or have to deal with kids that aren't nice, but I will worry about that when we get there. Right now, I want him to LOVE learning and think of school in a positive way. Anyone that changes this for him will have to deal with me and Army Mike! LOL
Hopefully everything will go smoothly from here and we will be able to join dad the first week of November. I'm choosing to look at this in a positive way. At least we won't have to travel all over the place with the boys because Mike will be there way before us to take care all of the little annoying things and ...fingers-crossed.... get our household goods and house and have it set up before we arrive. :) Wishful thinking??
Have a Fantastic Day,
BRE
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Another home for now ...
We still have no idea when we will be leaving the states due to "Army" issues so we are anxiously waiting. Michael cannot join us in NY until everything is squared-away for the move. Not fun being split apart, but this is nothing compared to the times we've spent apart in the past. We've have transitioned a lot in the past few months and the boys are definitely reacting to this but I am growing exhausted and cannot wait for all of this to be over, and for us to be settled in our new home in Singleton :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The craziness continues...
Hi friends!
We just finished a wild week and walked into another :) Life is good though ! We celebrated Loudens 3rd Birthday the past weekend. Such a fun party. We had a jump house, lots of kids, BBQ, snowcones, and Toy Story everything! Plus, a pinata which was by far the most difficult pinata to bust, ever! However, I will say this ... I would NOT want to get stuck in an ally with a group of Ranger kids! Holy butt-kickers! LOL. This was the first big birthday party Louden has been able to have with his dad so that was really special as well. I was so happy that the majority of the people we love and spend our lives with could make it. I could tell he felt so special and loved. His little smile while singing Happy Birthday was precious. Pics to follow soon hopefully. Such an amazing day.
On Sunday I helped host a baby shower for one of the greatest ladies I've ever know. We have gotten really close over the past year but now it feels like we've been friends for a lifetime. I love friendships like that because they are the ones you really hold onto for the rest of your life. I have a group of girlfriends here in Columbus that I never would have met had we not been in the Army so when anyone ask "why do you choose the military life, isn't it hard, don't you want to get out?" My reply is always 2 things-- 1) Someones got to do it and 2) I never would meet all the wonderful people in my life had it not been for the military!
This weekend is the 4th of July weekend. We have lots of fun planned and plenty of work to do. We are still working on getting everything in order for the move. After this weekend the real craziness will begin. We will be bouncing around from the 13th of July until we finally settle in our new house in Singleton. Lots of transitions! I'm beginning to panic thinking about the boys and what all this transition will do but prayers and positive thinking will get us through, they always do :) However, if you have any tips or advice let me know!!!
Have a Wonderful week!!!
BRE
We just finished a wild week and walked into another :) Life is good though ! We celebrated Loudens 3rd Birthday the past weekend. Such a fun party. We had a jump house, lots of kids, BBQ, snowcones, and Toy Story everything! Plus, a pinata which was by far the most difficult pinata to bust, ever! However, I will say this ... I would NOT want to get stuck in an ally with a group of Ranger kids! Holy butt-kickers! LOL. This was the first big birthday party Louden has been able to have with his dad so that was really special as well. I was so happy that the majority of the people we love and spend our lives with could make it. I could tell he felt so special and loved. His little smile while singing Happy Birthday was precious. Pics to follow soon hopefully. Such an amazing day.
On Sunday I helped host a baby shower for one of the greatest ladies I've ever know. We have gotten really close over the past year but now it feels like we've been friends for a lifetime. I love friendships like that because they are the ones you really hold onto for the rest of your life. I have a group of girlfriends here in Columbus that I never would have met had we not been in the Army so when anyone ask "why do you choose the military life, isn't it hard, don't you want to get out?" My reply is always 2 things-- 1) Someones got to do it and 2) I never would meet all the wonderful people in my life had it not been for the military!
This weekend is the 4th of July weekend. We have lots of fun planned and plenty of work to do. We are still working on getting everything in order for the move. After this weekend the real craziness will begin. We will be bouncing around from the 13th of July until we finally settle in our new house in Singleton. Lots of transitions! I'm beginning to panic thinking about the boys and what all this transition will do but prayers and positive thinking will get us through, they always do :) However, if you have any tips or advice let me know!!!
Have a Wonderful week!!!
BRE
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
I'm terrible....
Clearly I am terrible at Blogging. However, I have figured it out... I am on the computer so much with school and for moving issues and by the time I'm done I want nothing to do with the computer :) BUT! I am almost done with school and then I promise... I will dedicate my life to Blogging.
Anyway, I would like to quickly announce that I am an Auntie!! My brother-in-law and his sweet girlfriend just had a little boy, Kean, a couple weeks go. Very exciting!!! He is so sweet and I can't wait to get my hand on him again next month.
We are still working on all of the paperwork and going to appointments in preparation for Australia. We are also finishing up the puppies import permits. They passed their RNATT testing and now we wait to receive our permits. Very exciting..and stressful. The packers are coming July 13th and then picking up our packed goods July 14th. We vacate our house at Ft. Benning on the 15th. At that point I will be headed to N.Y. with the boys and Mike will be staying in the old house until he ties up all loose ends :)
Yes ..that's right I said he will be staying in the old house. We had to terminate the contract on the house. There were some issues that came up in underwriting that the buyers had to fix and there was no guarantee that even after the issues were resolved they would qualify for a new loan. We did not come to our decision easily but we had to do what was best considering the market is terrible right now. It looks like come August we will be renting our house out.
Right now it is just a matter of getting things finished up and organized. After that we will have a small break before we leave and then the real craziness starts. I'm definitely getting anxious but I'm trying to remain positive :) Have an awesome week!!!
BRE
Anyway, I would like to quickly announce that I am an Auntie!! My brother-in-law and his sweet girlfriend just had a little boy, Kean, a couple weeks go. Very exciting!!! He is so sweet and I can't wait to get my hand on him again next month.
We are still working on all of the paperwork and going to appointments in preparation for Australia. We are also finishing up the puppies import permits. They passed their RNATT testing and now we wait to receive our permits. Very exciting..and stressful. The packers are coming July 13th and then picking up our packed goods July 14th. We vacate our house at Ft. Benning on the 15th. At that point I will be headed to N.Y. with the boys and Mike will be staying in the old house until he ties up all loose ends :)
Yes ..that's right I said he will be staying in the old house. We had to terminate the contract on the house. There were some issues that came up in underwriting that the buyers had to fix and there was no guarantee that even after the issues were resolved they would qualify for a new loan. We did not come to our decision easily but we had to do what was best considering the market is terrible right now. It looks like come August we will be renting our house out.
Right now it is just a matter of getting things finished up and organized. After that we will have a small break before we leave and then the real craziness starts. I'm definitely getting anxious but I'm trying to remain positive :) Have an awesome week!!!
BRE
Thursday, May 12, 2011
HOLY updates!!!
BOY do we have a lot of updates!!!
#1. Xanny got glasses!! So cute. Poor kid, no wonder life's been rough for him. LOL
#2. We have moved ... to Fort Benning. Our house it still under contract but we are praying we close next week ... please keep us in your thought, it has been very stressful around here lately. I've decided it much easier to buy a home than it is to sell a home. However, the boys LOVE our new house. Pictures and details to follow :)
#3. We are looking at driving out to the West coast (LA) in August and then flying from there to Sydney. Bulldogs apparently are even more high maintenance than we though...grrr... but I love those two brat faces :)
#4. We have hired a pet handler for the fur babies and they will be taking over most of the work for the dogs from here on out. YAY!
#5. Xanny graduated preschool yesterday :( I can't believe it. I teared up quite a bit yesterday. Our little man! However, Xander was very Xander during the ceremony. His window of attention came and went as fast has a mailman comes to the door. On a positive note, at least he made it memorable.
#6. Today was Xan and Lou's last day of school at First Presbyterian. I was filled with emotions today. We have been going there since Xanny was a year old. They are all we know. I pray that in the future we find a place just as wonderful, however I think I will find myself extremely bias. Nothing will be able to compare. Xanny graduated with several classmates that he has been with since the "ones room" and it has been precious to see everyone of them grow over the past few years along with their friendships.
I had pictures to post but yesterday when I turned on my computer it had made the decision not to work. It is now in the hands of the GEEK Squad being "disinfected". GRRR. I even had to push my class off by one week so last night was not a happy time for me. Oh well, a mini break ..I'll learn to enjoy it. I'll post pictures as soon as possible. :) God Bless and have a wonderful week!!
Much Love,
BRE
#1. Xanny got glasses!! So cute. Poor kid, no wonder life's been rough for him. LOL
#2. We have moved ... to Fort Benning. Our house it still under contract but we are praying we close next week ... please keep us in your thought, it has been very stressful around here lately. I've decided it much easier to buy a home than it is to sell a home. However, the boys LOVE our new house. Pictures and details to follow :)
#3. We are looking at driving out to the West coast (LA) in August and then flying from there to Sydney. Bulldogs apparently are even more high maintenance than we though...grrr... but I love those two brat faces :)
#4. We have hired a pet handler for the fur babies and they will be taking over most of the work for the dogs from here on out. YAY!
#5. Xanny graduated preschool yesterday :( I can't believe it. I teared up quite a bit yesterday. Our little man! However, Xander was very Xander during the ceremony. His window of attention came and went as fast has a mailman comes to the door. On a positive note, at least he made it memorable.
#6. Today was Xan and Lou's last day of school at First Presbyterian. I was filled with emotions today. We have been going there since Xanny was a year old. They are all we know. I pray that in the future we find a place just as wonderful, however I think I will find myself extremely bias. Nothing will be able to compare. Xanny graduated with several classmates that he has been with since the "ones room" and it has been precious to see everyone of them grow over the past few years along with their friendships.
I had pictures to post but yesterday when I turned on my computer it had made the decision not to work. It is now in the hands of the GEEK Squad being "disinfected". GRRR. I even had to push my class off by one week so last night was not a happy time for me. Oh well, a mini break ..I'll learn to enjoy it. I'll post pictures as soon as possible. :) God Bless and have a wonderful week!!
Much Love,
BRE
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Australia Blogging Begins!!!
If it wasn't a reality before, It is now! We have a contract on our house!!! Can you believe it?? Yea, neither can we!!!! We put the sign in our yard April 1st at 6pm, got a call at 7pm to show it the next day, two hours after our first showing our agent called and said they want to put an offer in but have to wait for the termination of their current contract and four day later we had a contract!!!! Holy LUCKINESS! As of May 10th, we will be homeless :( I can't believe it, our home will not be our home anymore. I think I would be more excited if Xanny's pre-school graduation wasn't on the 11th!!! The kid can't even come home to the only home he's ever know after his last day of First Pres. ever!!!! SOOO SAD! This might be a great time to get out the Dr.Seuss book my Aunt Jackie gave me after I graduated high-school, Oh the Places you will Go, this might be a good time to encourage changes and adventures :)
We are in limbo right now. Not sure whether I should stay here or pack up and head to NY so we can save a little money before we leave in August. Either way we have to decide quickly. We will not have our household goods as of May 10th a well because we have to send those early too. Good bye house, Goodbye stuff! Should prove to be an interesting 3 months. Pray for us! The "unknowing" is something I am not good at dealing with.
Have a great week!!
BRE
We are in limbo right now. Not sure whether I should stay here or pack up and head to NY so we can save a little money before we leave in August. Either way we have to decide quickly. We will not have our household goods as of May 10th a well because we have to send those early too. Good bye house, Goodbye stuff! Should prove to be an interesting 3 months. Pray for us! The "unknowing" is something I am not good at dealing with.
Have a great week!!
BRE
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
And so it begins....
And so it begins, friends...
First, let me apologize for the length of time between post. So much has happened, but I will be post a little more frequently from here on out. Australia, while it has always been a reality, is now truely a reality for us. For starts, the fur-babies (Abby & Adah) have started being prepared for the LONG trip. My poor sweet girl have no idea whats about to happen. I've been loving on them a little extra these day hoping to build their confidence, is that possible :)? Last week they recieved their micro-chips and completed the RNATT bloodwork required for the trip.
Another major step we just took listing the house. Last friday we posted our house for sale. It was a little emotional for me. I was thrilled but a the same time sad. This is the only home our boys have ever known. I brought both my baby boys home to this house. This has been a happy home, one of love, laughter, and craziness. I know this will be the same where ever we go, but still, nearly 7 years accounts for something. I love this house. Mike and I have grown together in this home. We inspire each other and motivate each other to great things. I will miss this house and can only hope the next owners love it as much as we do.
As of right now, we will be leaving mid-August. Well will also be staying in New York for most of June and July so we can spend as much time as possible with family before we take off for 2 years, and most likely it will be 2 years before we see anyone again because we've decided not to travel back to the States for leave-time during a 2 year assignment. It is very costly to travel and there are many hting we want to so while we are there.
Next week, I am sure I'll have more news/ info. Have a fabulous week!!!
Much Love,
BRE
First, let me apologize for the length of time between post. So much has happened, but I will be post a little more frequently from here on out. Australia, while it has always been a reality, is now truely a reality for us. For starts, the fur-babies (Abby & Adah) have started being prepared for the LONG trip. My poor sweet girl have no idea whats about to happen. I've been loving on them a little extra these day hoping to build their confidence, is that possible :)? Last week they recieved their micro-chips and completed the RNATT bloodwork required for the trip.
Another major step we just took listing the house. Last friday we posted our house for sale. It was a little emotional for me. I was thrilled but a the same time sad. This is the only home our boys have ever known. I brought both my baby boys home to this house. This has been a happy home, one of love, laughter, and craziness. I know this will be the same where ever we go, but still, nearly 7 years accounts for something. I love this house. Mike and I have grown together in this home. We inspire each other and motivate each other to great things. I will miss this house and can only hope the next owners love it as much as we do.
As of right now, we will be leaving mid-August. Well will also be staying in New York for most of June and July so we can spend as much time as possible with family before we take off for 2 years, and most likely it will be 2 years before we see anyone again because we've decided not to travel back to the States for leave-time during a 2 year assignment. It is very costly to travel and there are many hting we want to so while we are there.
Next week, I am sure I'll have more news/ info. Have a fabulous week!!!
Much Love,
BRE
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
It's Official....
That right, It's official.... we are moving to Australia. The process has been started!! I was shocked to see how long it had been since I last posted, but here I am, and hopefully I will keep up a little better now that we have started this new phase in our lives - preparing to move.
We recently have been able to get in touch with the family that is currently in Australia and now it's becoming real, we couldn't be more excited. We are also learning some others things that have been a little discouraging but in the end it will all work out. I have also been able to talk with people that have had the same assignment and I have found this incredibly helpful. One of our biggest challenges right now is our beloved puppies. Abby and Adah are in for a not-so-welcome surprise :( not to mention we also found out that it's going to cost us somewhere between $5000-$8000 just to ship them Down Under. Please Dear Lord,let our house sell!!!! LOL. We are literally selling our house so we can take our dogs, sounds a little off, huh??
The little town we will be living in looks very sweet, its called Singleton. It's in New South Wales, Australia. It about 3 hours northwest of Sydney. One thing that I'm very excited for is Hunter Valley. Its a wine region in Australia that's only about 30 minutes from Singleton. Very Exciting!!!! All my wine-o friends, start planning!!! Google it, its really pretty amazing.
We recent started working on staging the house to sell. Proving to be very fun (sense the sarcasm?). This weekend we will hopefully get some of the bigger projects out of the way so we can call a realtor next week. I'm very nervous about this whole process, but I'm sure it will work out fine. I will be sure to post as we go. Have a fabulous week!!!
BRE
We recently have been able to get in touch with the family that is currently in Australia and now it's becoming real, we couldn't be more excited. We are also learning some others things that have been a little discouraging but in the end it will all work out. I have also been able to talk with people that have had the same assignment and I have found this incredibly helpful. One of our biggest challenges right now is our beloved puppies. Abby and Adah are in for a not-so-welcome surprise :( not to mention we also found out that it's going to cost us somewhere between $5000-$8000 just to ship them Down Under. Please Dear Lord,let our house sell!!!! LOL. We are literally selling our house so we can take our dogs, sounds a little off, huh??
The little town we will be living in looks very sweet, its called Singleton. It's in New South Wales, Australia. It about 3 hours northwest of Sydney. One thing that I'm very excited for is Hunter Valley. Its a wine region in Australia that's only about 30 minutes from Singleton. Very Exciting!!!! All my wine-o friends, start planning!!! Google it, its really pretty amazing.
We recent started working on staging the house to sell. Proving to be very fun (sense the sarcasm?). This weekend we will hopefully get some of the bigger projects out of the way so we can call a realtor next week. I'm very nervous about this whole process, but I'm sure it will work out fine. I will be sure to post as we go. Have a fabulous week!!!
BRE
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy New Year! ..... and here come the Resolutions.
WOW! I knew it had been quite some time, but I didn't realize it was quite that long. The Elliott Family has been very busy. We are still currently in New York visiting family but will be packing up in the next few days to head back to Fort Benning to begin the 1st stages of our near future adventure. The goal for January is to get the house on the market. I'm excited but at the same time very nervous. I feel like this is going to be a lot of work and very expensive so wish us luck.
Christmas was wonderful! We were blessed to have so much time with family and were completely spoiled! I was pretty good this past year but I didn't realize I had been that good ..hehehe. Santa came to see the boys at each of the Grandparents houses. I really have to start questioning Santa's definitions of good and bad :) and Naughty or Nice. We have all had a great time and really enjoyed our families. After all, that's what the holidays are all about, right?
I'll be able to share more in the next week or so but I just wanted to say Hello, and Happy New Year! I am praying for good things in the year 2011. God Bless.
BRE
Christmas was wonderful! We were blessed to have so much time with family and were completely spoiled! I was pretty good this past year but I didn't realize I had been that good ..hehehe. Santa came to see the boys at each of the Grandparents houses. I really have to start questioning Santa's definitions of good and bad :) and Naughty or Nice. We have all had a great time and really enjoyed our families. After all, that's what the holidays are all about, right?
I'll be able to share more in the next week or so but I just wanted to say Hello, and Happy New Year! I am praying for good things in the year 2011. God Bless.
BRE
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