We are Moving!

Well, actually, in case you hadn't already heard - we've moved!

Remember that fly-out interview Mr. Michal had?  Well, it resulted in TWO job offers - BOTH in North Carolina.  One was in Charlotte, the other... Winston Salem.  Guess which one we chose?

Winston Salem!  Home of Wake Forest University, a million baptist churches (as opposed to Mormon Chapels, or Catholic Cathedrals where we have lived before), and not a whole lot of anything else!

We decided to "jump in with both feet" and "grab the bull by the horns" and make the most of this exciting new adventure.  

We accepted the offer on August 1, 2013 and Michal's start date was August 19, 2013.  That didn't leave much time for anything.  So here's a brief little outline of how things went down.

August 1 - Accepted Offer

August 2-7 - Packed up whole house, moved everything into my Great-Grandmother's Garage (who has recently relocated to an assisted living center)

August 8 - Packed whole garage into 2 storage PODS (they wouldn't deliver them downtown - hence having to find another location to move our stuff from)

August 9 - Sold existing contract

August 9 - 11 Katie & Michal (and Lily) moved in with Katie's parents

August 12 - Michal drives to North Carolina

August 14 - Michal arrives in Winston-Salem

August 15 - Michal goes apartment hunting

August 16 - Michal signs on an apartment

August 17 - Michal moves in ONE POD (The other one got separated and was somewhere in West Virginia or Ohio or something)

August 18 - Michal goes to church - they read our records in (WHAT???)

August 19 - Michal starts his new job

August 21 - 2nd POD arrives - Michal unpacks

August 22 - Katie flies out (courtesy of Frontier Airlines) to Greensboro (about 30 minutes from Winston-Salem)

August 23-25 Katie's mom helps unpack

August 25 - Katie's Mom goes home

August 26-28 Katie finishes unpacking and feels 100% finished

(**September 14 - Katie is still lost when she drives around)

Coming out (via plane) was actually quite a pleasant experience.  Lily was such a good girl and really enjoyed her first plane ride.  She didn't cry and actually slept on both legs.

We arrived in Winston Salem and this was the first thing to greet me here:

 We have a bunch of frogs, and froggies which like to hang out on our front porch at night and greet us when we come home.  Their acoustics really add to the cicadas, crickets, and other thousands of bugs I've been introduced to since moving here.

Michal was so excited to see his little girl again after being away from her for about 10 days.

My mom was sure a big help coming out here.  She went on walks with us every day, helped us carry in all our groceries as we started over with groceries, and helped me to unpack WAY more than I could have done all alone.

(I love these two pictures because on the left a little butterfly hitched a ride for the whole walk, and on the right Lily is experiencing wind for the first time - she couldn't figure it out).

We were sure sad to see her go, but she'll be back... right Mom?

... to be continued...

6 Month Photo Shoot

For her six month pictures, Lily & I went to FotoFly in Draper.  After going there - I was sold... I don't think I'll ever go anywhere else.  The price, service, and experience was just amazing.  After a 45 minute photo session (one in which Lily was NOT a happy girl because she didn't have a morning nap at all)... I feel like the photographer there was able to capture some special moments on film.  While I was a little sad that she would hardly smile for the camera, they did a pretty darn good job of getting a few little smiles.  Overall, I am exceptionally pleased and (of course) I have too many favorites.

You can pick your favorites below...

Exploring Salt Lake

Michal had some fly out interviews - which means - that if a company is invested enough in him to fly him out, there is a pretty good possibility that they will ask him to come back... for good.

SOOOOOOOOO... while he was gone, Lily and I went on lots of walks together and explored more of Salt Lake.  While we didn't go to any museums, or stores, this post is more of the hidden treasures that we found together on our walks.

Check out this awesome home... I love how it looks like a doll house... admit it... it does!!!

And this home below is just beautiful also!  It looks like a plantation mansion - right here downtown Salt Lake!

 I know I'm an Art History Major, but I have to admit - this random sculpture totally stumped me.  I have no idea what it refers to - or means.  Any ideas?

 How many cities have a "Q Street"?  Okay - so maybe a lot of cities do - but... how many of them imprint the name of the street on the sidewalk?  I bet not many.  Salt Lake is so cool!

 Here's one that blew me away.  I was walking by this home and I saw a harp in the window.  So, of course, as I'm exploring - I had to take a picture of it!  But as I got closer, there wasn't just one harp - or two harps - or three harps... but there were NINE harps in the front living room of this home.  They were all pedal harps (as compared to lever harps) - which retail for at least $30k.  Think about it $30k x 9 harps = $270,000.  That's AT LEAST over a quarter of a million dollars (probably closer to about a half million) just sitting in the front living room of this home.  I sure hope they have a good alarm system going on in here!

Lily was such a good girl just chillin' and enjoying the scenery while I was busy taking random pictures!

 Look how massive this Ronald McDonald house is going to be?  Fun fact - most times when you donate to charities - your money doesn't go DIRECTLY to the cause (it goes to overhead, and employees, and CEO's - you get the picture)... but with the Ronald McDonald house 100% of the money donated goes directly to the house - not a penny on employees of Ronald McDonald's house.  That's like tithing money - or temples!

I couldn't forget to take pictures of two awesome edifices located within one block of where I lived.  The Cathedral of the Madeline (which I'm kinda jealous that Mormon churches don't have bells - or play them either - every time the bells play downtown I always tell Lily that they are playing just for her) and the Salt Lake Temple - which is literally like 200 steps away from our apartment complex.

The next day Lily and I went to the Downtown Farmer's Market.  Everyone knows what a Farmer's Market is - and everyone's seen the goods they sell - but has everyone seen one of these:

A KEG COOLER

(I think my dad needs this for his birthday)!

 A didgeridoo!

(Which you have to play by circular breathing - which is like constantly blowing through a straw while breathing at the same time - try it - it's nearly impossible to do).

 And this...

I'm not quite sure what it is... but it's some weird instrument that the guy claims is from Sweden.

 Even though we had a lot of fun adventures - our favorite was chatting with Daddy each time he had a free minute to spare.

When Michal returned home he was so excited to see Lily and she was so tired from playing with him that they fell asleep together.

Michal is such a good daddy. Lily is such a lucky girl to have him as her daddy.  And we are all so grateful when he's home and not away interviewing.