Quakin' in my boots! :)

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're okay after yesterday's earthquake here in Va. The kids were in the garage and I was on the first floor. I ran through the house, yelling at them to get out of the house. I was like a mother hen with my arms open wide, shooing them out with one child in the crook of each elbow. We huddled in the driveway until the ground stopped roiling. Then 4 families from our street sat in a neighbor's front yard, awaiting after shocks and passing a cordless phone line line that worked b/c all cell service was out. A weird note, while out in the yard, the kids noticed droves of crickets and bugs hopping like made from the forest toward our road. I guess even insects have the survival instinct to get to open ground!

My parents' VA house is about 3 miles from the epicenter. Thankfully, Mom and Dad were on vacation at my sister's in TX. And with double thanks, the protective equipment worked at the local nuclear power plant!! So there was minimal damage at both our house and my parents' house. We have a crack in our porch, some stuff fell off shelves and easy stuff like that. My parents had slight damage to some of their decorations and that was it. All in all, it was not such a big deal. Scary, yes! but minor nonetheless.

Now we'll see what happens with this hurricane nonsense that's headed our way. My guess is it will be a category 1 or less by this weekend. For those of you who don't know, category 1 is like a big rain storm. I'm not too concerned yet. We'll see. Never a dull moment!!

True to the Title

When I started this blog, it was mostly for chronicling a bike event I did across Alabama~ hence "There and back again". I didn't know at the time how applicable that title would be in regular life as well. In May of 2009, we left VA bruised and battered (from a van wreck and some emotionally difficult circumstances). The first 6 months of Travis's grad work and living in Auburn were kinda rough, but the last 20 were completely amazing! The Deep South opened up a whole new world for us and we very open to staying there or moving elsewhere. After Travis applying to 70+ jobs in various places, we are surprised to find ourselves "Back Again" here in VA in the same house we left. He has a different job, but associated with the same people, just in a different company.

We're very thankful for a great job, especially in this economy, but I'm a little unsettled from the move. The adage is true: one never can "just go home" after moving away. Things are always different as people and things morph and change in this ever fluid craziness called life. But here's a good part: I don't WANT my old life back! Yes, some key friends are keepers for life, but for the most part, our family is ready to take what we've learned and apply all our changes to life wherever we are. Fredericksburg has sure changed since living here too. And it's nice to see so many positive changes in friends' lives as well. Seems we're all pressing in to find our paths.

This month should prove to be telling for us. Travis starts his job Monday, we have to make decisions about the kids' schooling next week, and I'm not sure what's in store for me personally yet. We're also searching to find our place in the greater community. We're going to be checking out some churches, service organizations, and clubs to see where our family's experience can help the most. Not only that, but we need to find what is the best fit for the atmosphere we crave.

SOME things are familiar, though. True to form, we've already had an ER visit within 2 days of being back. Our son decided to cut a cardboard moving box with his new and bigger pocket knife he got for his b'day. He ended up slicing his thumb something fierce. But all in all, this probably saved us a longer hospital stay. When the doctor asked him what his was making, he replied, "a snowboard so I can ski down our stairs." (Can you tell Monkey-boy has lived in a one level rambler for the past 2+ years?) So that prompted our 8th talk with him about what function our stairs will and will not play in his life. We sure hope to extinguish our hospital prone tendencies. Let's pray this is the last one we'll have until one of our kids is married and has a baby!

Thanks to everyone who helped us move in! Thanks to everyone who just stopped by this week. I LOVE THAT! :) And to those in Auburn, I've cried over missing you this week. You are loved and missed!!