Summer Time

Life has been chugging along and I'm trying to keep up with the old blog! We've been trying to consciously slow down, simplify, and not sweat the small stuff while purging lots of clutter.  The girls are growing and changing quickly and we have also had a lot of life changes lately.  

For starters, Pat started a new job in the middle of June.  It's at a completely new company that is slightly closer to home, but offers more financial security, an interesting client base and workload, and a great work/life balance thus far.  It is such a great opportunity for him and we are so proud of the work he's done to get to this point.  

We also traded in Pat's car for a mini-van!  I never thought I'd be excited about a van, but the stress it saves me is fully worth the less than pleasing exterior.  The automatic doors/trunk, DVD player, captains chairs, and blue tooth are all responsible for making this mama happier to be around during all of my taxi-ing around.  

Finley will start pre-school at the end of August and we can't believe how fast time flies.  She cannot wait for it though and talks about it constantly, wearing her backpack around and "going to school". 

Fiona is busy moving around exploring nooks and crannies of our house and yard.  She can climb up/down the stairs, get off the couch, and loves to pull her sisters hair.  She isn't walking consistently yet, but takes steps between the couch and ottoman.   

As Pat now has a new job that affords us a little bit more flexibility and stability in the future, we've begun to start thinking (albeit not seriously at this point) about making a move to ultimately be closer to our work, since we now work pretty close to each other.  

The logistics of this are quite complicated given the housing market (which is quite improved in the Twin Cities), daycare/preschool/elementary school, and overall timing of when this might be right for us.  Or, if it even would be right for us.  While we adore our neighborhood and treasure our neighbors, and feel so comfortable in a house that fits us just perfectly, we can't help but wonder what it would be like to live within miles of both of our jobs.  

There would be gains and losses and pros and cons if we stay put or move south.  And we're taking our time trying to figure out what makes the most sense.  But at the same time still dreaming and listening to our hearts and what feels right for our family.  Summer has been slow enough for us to ponder these deep thoughts : )

We have had the best time the past few weekends - you know the type where you have absolutely nothing to do except explore your own backyard.  

Summer seriously rocks - and we have the second half still to go!!

This quote seems to fit our family perfect right about now.  We started out this year with simple plans that pretty much kept us on the same path as we'd been on.  We handled the big daycare change without much ado and thought that was all the boat rocking this year would contain.  We had vacations planned out in our heads, expenses divided up in appropriate places, basement designs to consider, all while continuing to work hard at what we do and enjoy Finley getting older. 

Well,our path came to a fork about 3 months ago.  It involved a position change for Pat at work - a department switch.  Pat had been hoping for an opportunity like this for a long time, but each one that appeared to come along panned out differently than we'd hoped.  So, when the opportunity for Pat to join an advisor team arose- we had some decisions to make.  The biggest challenge is the location of Pat's new office.  It is about 35 miles south of where we live.  And involves some dicey commutes espcially come winter.  Also, this means that Pat can no longer pick up Fin from daycare, so we needed to extend our current daycare by 15 mins so I could get there.  And lastly, it involves a somewhat different compensation structure that will put us on a shorter term budget until he learns the ropes.  But, all of these challenges aside, the opportunity has seemed too great to pass up. 

As of 2 weeks ago, Pat started his new position.  We have arranged daycare and I now do mainly all of the drop-offs/pick-ups.  Pat has experienced rush hour that still pales in comparison to Chicago, but is no treat!  Pat gets home later and often I'm fighting to spend time with Fin and get dinner on the table for her and our family together.  We have cut back our spending and I haven't been to Target in over 2 weeks.  (but I'm planning a supervised trip soon!!).  And lastly, my dreamy basement has taken a back seat.  We are attempting to finish the drywall stage prior to the TC marathon in Oct since we will have a house full of Morgans and the basement bunkhouse will be put to good use. 

This isn't at all what I thought our year would unfold like, but I can't wait to see what the life is that is waiting for us! (a smart car, a move, cancelling our cable, more financial freedom...who knows!!)