here we go again!!!

yes, it's official! the first week of august we will be moving back to the lone star state! after much discussion, debate, prayer and consideration of all the options, matt and i have decided that texas is where we want and need to be. it's where we have decided we would like to raise a family and the job opportunities are better for both myself and my now non-academic husband. yes, we are SUPER excited!

at the same time, it's bittersweet as we will have to say goodbye to all our friends and family here in the columbus area. while i've always been a texas girl at heart (no surprise there, i know!) i do appreciate all the things i have experienced, the opportunities we've had and the time we've spent here in ohio. matt and i have grown individually and as a couple and we are so thankful that we had the chance to live here, even if it was only for a short while.

and yes, i will miss the snow in the winter....but NOT the salt!

here's a video of a semi-appropriate song ("semi" because i didn't move here because of a guy named leeland!). it was actually one of matt and my favorite songs before we moved up here because of the ohio/texas connection... and because it's by bowling for soup (an awesome band). an extra bit of trivia....this song is the reason i initially *met* my husband!

the song that started it all:

a little more info on the move:

it truly became official on july 16th when i turned in my two week notice at work and we gave notice to our apartment complex, but we have been talking about it since the last part of april. yes, our many trips to texas did include some semi-covert interviews and house-hunting and there has been *lots* of planning involved in all of this. we are truly appreciative of the support of our friends and family through all this, and hope that this is the last time (at least for a couple years) that we will have to ask your help in moving us ;)

and for those who are curious, we will be living in plano and i have accepted a job as a staff nurse in the ER at children's medical center in dallas.

some pics of the preparation for your viewing pleasure....

getting started on the packing...matt tries to keep his energy up

lexi helps out by providing comic relief

the office after the first "round" of packing is done

another night of packing chaos

and no, right now it doesn't look like this...you know i couldn't sleep at night!

the office after "round two" of packing

and, for my fellow texans:

You Know You're In Texas In July When

• The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
• The trees are whistling for the dogs.
• The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
• Hot water now comes out of both taps.
• You can make sun tea instantly.
• You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!
• The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
• You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
• You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
• You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• You break into a sweat the instant you step outside... at 7:30 a.m.
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and get cooked to death?"
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
• Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
• The cows are giving evaporated milk.

Ah, what a place to call home.

independence day 2010

4th of july, 2010

my work schedule worked out so that i ended up with the entire weekend of 4th of july off work...crazy, i know! so matt and i spent some time together friday and saturday (i promised him i wouldn't pick up any extra shifts for one weekend), and then headed to urbana on sunday to celebrate our nation's birthday.

besides plenty of tasty food, we got to see and spend time with the family and i learned to play euchre (don't worry, i didn't know what it was either!). euchre (pronounced ewe-kher) is a northern card game that can best be described as "bridge" meets "hearts" but if you want more information on it, click here. i had heard about the game many times from my hubby and in-laws, but this was the first time anyone actually attempted to teach me. the game is actually a lot of fun, but i think i enjoyed watching everyone argue over the rules, how to deal and how many cards to use *before* we started playing even more than the actual game ;)

after eating (more) and watching some of Grease on TV, matt and i headed to the fireworks in plain city with his uncle chris, aunt natalie and their two kiddos. lexi also got to join in on the fireworks watching this year.....she wasn't all that impressed. fortunately, she wasn't upset by them, either.

a summer cut

as most girls know, it's impossible to have the hair you want:

- you have straight hair so you want curly hair

- you have curly hair, you want straight hair

- long-haired girls want a short cut

- girls with short hair want to grow theirs out

- let's not even get started on color....

...you just can't win!

so, with the heat of the summer starting to sneak into the ohio days, i decided it was time for a change....

before

and after (it was windy!)

not the *best* pictures ever, but they get the point across.

dad's day 2010

to all the dads, daddys, step-dads, fathers and future fathers out there...

happy father's day!!!!

"my father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it"

-clarence b. kelland

and here's just one of the many reasons i love my dad: he's thrify.

yes, not only did he change the oil, he re-used the window sticker. my favorite part is the correction from "next" to "last" oil change. and you know that was a free sticker, too.

and here are a few pics from father's day/heather's birthday dinner with matt's family at o'charley's:

jacquie & steve

miah, heather, me

the best thing since sliced bread!

the new octogenarian, my grandpa barak!

on sunday, june 13th my family -- the *whole* family -- got together to celebrate my maternal grandfather's 80th birthday (his actual birthday was on saturday, the 12th) at my parents' house in texas. matt and i were lucky enough to be able to be there to celebrate this momentous occasion and see the extended family, who we don't normally get to visit with while we are in town. while not every family member was able to be there (due to illness or work schedules or other prior commitments) the turn out was excellent and everyone had a great time! we celebrated with grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and a very yummy marble cake.

born june 12, 1930...

yes, my grandfather has seen a lot, done a lot and has been fortunate enough to witness all the wonderful changes in the world since he first entered this earth in 1930. he's been able to watch the advent and transformation of phones to cell phones to video phones, TV's to drive-in's to projectors to HDTV to 3D, the transformation of cars to minivans to SUV's to...cars. he fought in the Korean War, raised 4 amazing children and has been married to my grandmother for more than 50 years! he's survived prostate cancer and heart surgery, speaks and understands nearly a half-a-dozen languages and still sits down to write "old-fashioned" letters to each of his grandkids on a regular basis -- when he isn't hunting, woodworking, fixing something or spending time with grandma. he is truly amazing!

grandpa's 80th birthday

and, for your education, here's some extra info...

in the year 1930:

- the US was recovering from one of the worst economic depressions in history

- unemployment rates were up, and the nation was passing legislation to restrict immigration of foreign laborers to combat unemployment

- the US had won its group for the world cup

- congress was fighting to pass legislation to boost the economy and help the unemployed (the "committee for unemployment relief" and a $150 million stimulus package for public works to create jobs)

- healthcare reform and benefits bills were passed, creating the veterans administration under the VA act

...sounds familiar....isn't there a saying about this?

who else is celebrating the big 8-0 this year?

- sliced bread was introduced (so now, you can say "the best thing since 1930!"....okay, maybe not...), as was the electric toaster and the sunbeam "mixmaster"

- the snickers bar was introduced by m&m mars and became the best-selling candy bar in the nation

- mott's applesauce and hostess twinkies are new to the market, too

- scotch tape hits the market, originally marketed as a cellophane food package sealant

- pluto was discovered...as a *planet*

- the first world cup is played involving only 13 teams, uruguay beats argentina 4-2

- the chrysler building opened on may 27th, it replaced both the eiffel tower and the woolworth building as the world's tallest structure

- construction begins on the empire state building (which eventually replaces the chrysler building as the world's tallest structure)

- nancy drew books make their debut

- fun with dick and jane is published

- both American Airlines and TWA are created from the conglomeration of smaller companies

- amelia earhart flies her lockheed vega at 171 mph january 15, setting a new woman's speed record

- hans fischer of germany wins the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his analysis of blood, determining the A, B, O and AB blood types

- vannevar bush develops at MIT a prototype of the first analog computer, the Differential Analyzer, which can solve differential equations

- clarence birdseye markets the first frozen foods

deep in the heart of texas

texas, june 2010

i was lucky enough to have off a 4 day weekend that coincided with my grandpa's 80th birthday (see this post), so after working out the details, matt and i headed to texas....just not together. matt actually drove down on sunday (the 6th) so he could be in town for the world cup games, while i had to (sadly) not fly out until friday morning (the 11th), though my parents *were* kind enough to use some of their miles to secure me a non-stop first class ticket....so i'm not really complaining (thanks, mom & dad!!!). i had never flown first class, so it was truly an experience! i got a cute little omelet and hashbrown breakfast and everything!!!

once in texas, matt and i spent some time with the family and helped to prepare for the big party on sunday. matt was also utilized for some ditch-digging during his stay with my parents. yes, ditch-digging. apparently my parents needed a "root barrier" put in to prevent one of their trees roots from growing up and into/directly under the house's foundation. the idea is that the root barrier will force the roots to grown down instead of across.....i know, sounds like fun, right? too bad i couldn't fly in until friday....

in addition to the big party, i also was able to spend some time with the family, enjoy some *delicious* tex-mex and margaritas and catch up with a few friends. as always, the trip went by too fast, and by monday afternoon matt and i had loaded up into his little protege and started the approx. 15 hour trek via car back to columbus. i do love a good road trip, but for some reason it's not nearly as much fun when you arrive at your destination at 0630 and have to be at work a short 7.5 hours later :P

fortunately, we took a friend's advice and headed through arkansas, tennessee and kentucky this time (instead of the oklahoma, missouri, indiana route we used to move up here) and it saved us about 2 hours of drive time. it would have been 3, but true to dallas traffic, we got stuck heading north on 75 for about an hour thanks to the semi that caught fire on 380....oh joy. it all turned out well in the end, and i will never complain about a trip to see my family, friends and, of course, the great state of texas!

the kings would like to thank the following parties who made this trip possible:

john and sharon miller

red bull

my iPod

garmin (and a Nuvi traffic and lifetime maps subscription)

our faithful mazda protege (with over 100,000 miles on it already!)

OSUMC (for my time off work)

gerald j. barak, sr. (for being born 80 years ago and giving us something to celebrate!)

migrating south

matt and i had the luxury of being able to take a quick vacay to texas during may during a 5-day-off stretch in my work schedule. we were there the 21st - 25th and enjoyed catching up with family and friends and the warm, sunny weather (which i never would have guessed i'd miss!). i didn't take a ton of pics this time, due to the extreme exhaustion that tends to come with working several days in a row before leaving town, then attempting to see and do everything you want to while in town....some day i will learn to just take some actual vacation days! okay....y'all know me...maybe not. at any rate, enjoy the photos!

texas visit, may 2010