Hello again...

I finally have a few minutes of down time and I've been wanting to write a post all week, but just never got around to it.  Things have been WILD around here for the past few months.  But Before I fill you in, how about some pictures of our girls.

Easter 2015 

This is as good as it gets!

 The week before Easter we made a HUGE decision...  a crazy decision... and so far, we are loving it!
At the every end of March, Nathan accepted a new job with a company in Raleigh, NC.  It was something that happened so quickly, we didn't have time to "think about it," we just had to decide.  Literally, he had an interview on afternoon at home, they decided to fly him down a week or so later, and by the next morning he had a verbal offer.  WOAH!

So we took the long Easter weekend and drove to WV, left the girls with Mom and Roger for the day and drove down to Raleigh.  Nathan's new company wanted him to start ASAP which meant we needed an apartment immediately.  We spent a few hours driving around, checking out apartments, houses, and just driving around the area and then headed North again.  It was a long day, but we hadn't spent that much alone time together in forever and it was nice.

In May we put our house in PA on the market and it sold within 4 days.  We couldn't have been more pleased.  Then Nathan left at the end of May and I stayed behind with the girls to pack up the house.  It definitely wasn't fun, but it was what we had to do.

In the middle of June the girls and I finally made our way South.  We moved into the small apartment with Nathan and tried out best to get settled into a new life. That included a good bit of time at the pool!

 In July the girls and I once again headed back to WV.  The girls were going to stay with Mimi and PawPaw for a few days while I traveled to Nashville for a business conference.

Sisterly love... they look so happy don't they?   Hehe...

 Seriously, I didn't know what to do with myself being without kids for 3 days... but I missed them and Nathan terribly. Even though I spent my birthday flying all day I had a great time and came back ready to help others with their health and fitness and keep my business moving in the right direction... which was good since we were about to move yet again!

We found our house right after I returned from Nashville and 30 days later we closed. At least moving this time was easier in the sense that it was only about 20 minutes verses 8+ hours.  Oh, did I mentioned it took us 3 times to move all our stuff.  Yeah... don't even ask. 

Our new house in NC!

 Ava's lost both of her front teeth in a matter of a week... of course this also happened while we were moving!  And shortly thereafter, it was birthday time for both of the girls!

Our little girl is a big 7 years old now! 

Pretty crazy.

Hannah had no idea it was even her birthday, she just turned 2, but we tried to make it as special as we could.  And it just happened that we were at the beach that weekend so we celebrated on the go.

 Ava wanted to make a cake decoration.  Hannah LOVES Frozen. 

 "loves" is an understatement. 

Ava thought the cake looked like a giant doughnut...  I think she was right. 

Hannah was not too sure about the sand or the water, but eventually warmed up to it and enjoyed playing and splashing in the waves. 

We had a wonderful weekend away together, something we really needed.  We stayed in a lovely little condo right on the beach in Kure Beach.  It was the same beach my cousin got married on three years ago, we were only about a 1/4 mile from where we stayed that time.

On Sunday we visited the aquarium at Fort Fisher and enjoyed seeing all the different animals and again just spending time with each other. 

Ava was a bit scared to put her head in the Croc's mouth... a fear that it might come to life.
 

Ava's first picture with the big camera... she did a great job.

All in all, it was nice, although short weekend away.  But now that we are only 2.5 hours away, we can visit more often.  Shoot, we can even go for a day if we want!  We really enjoyed Kure Beach and will definitely be going back.  Our condo was the perfect size for our family and you can't beat being right on the beach and the view.

Life has been non stop, and it's not going to be slowing down any time soon.  We are still looking for a home church here, and I desperately miss singing in the band.  Ava started school in July (boy was that a mess!) and is currently enjoying the year round and track out system.  We have heard rumors that next year she she will attend a different school, one that is closer to our house, and return to a traditional calendar year. But for now, she loves 1st grade, is making friends, and doing well.   Nathan is in his final year of graduate school at NC State.  He has been able to go to class on campus and takes tests, which is much nicer... and cheaper! He is also enjoying his new job.  He hasn't ever worked with so many guys rough his age, but I think he is liking the new atmosphere. Tomorrow we are going to a picnic that his company is having and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people. Miss Hannah... well, she's into everything.  She loves taking Ava to the bus stop and picking her up in the afternoons, and it's been nice to have a little time for just me and her.

Hope to update again soon.  Once I get some pictures of the house we'll post them.  Although there are several things we want to do inside and house, we aren't going to be doing any renovations until after Nathan is done with school in the Spring.  So we're living with things the way they are.  It isn't super easy for this interior designer, but I'll live.  And once we can get to a point where we are doing a few things to make the house the way we want it, I'll share that process too.  For now, we're just living and loving the NC life.