Jets, boxes, and my obsession with white ceilings

Jets. You guys, we have jets.

Almost every morning, from 9:30 to noon, jets scream past our house. It's pretty awesome and quite loud. When my kids aren't in school they race to the backyard, shade their eyes, and yell at each other to look at the jets.

When we moved to Davis County, twenty-nine days ago, we wanted a shorter commute for Marco. Driving an hour from Cache Valley alllll the way to Hill Air Force Base was eating up a lot of our family time. So when we found this place, a mere 15 minutes away and in a neighborhood that seemed teeming with kids, we were excited. Little did we know we were moving into the flight path of the Air Force Jets.

Good thing we're patriotic. Because we love those jets.

However, we miss Cache Valley. Like crazy. I miss passing tractors on the roads, going to the park and thinking it's crowded because two other families are there, meandering drivers on main roads going five under the limit (because, hey, it's Cache Valley and why should we hurry anywhere?), and all the mountains. Those glorious mountains that I saw every day from my kitchen window for nine years are now far away.

But that's all okay because I know we're going to make new memories in this hew house with new friends.

For some strange reason, people keep wanting to see our new place. Good thing I'm diligent about photo-documenting my life, because I have some. And they were all taken the day after we moved in. 
So get ready for the chaos:

One of my Cache Valley friends teased me about all the diaper boxes we had. But guys, if you ever need to move, get diaper boxes! Those things are sturdy and come with built-in handles. That same friend moved three weeks after we did and I gave her some of our unpacked diaper boxes (see, I have unpacked some things!). I bet she wishes I'd given her more!

Now, I know that you're all thinking I must finally be coming out of hibernation because all my boxes are unpacked, the books are alphabetized, and the house is organized. 

Ha! Nope, sorry. 

But let's not talk about unpacking boxes today, okay? Or how we still can't park in the garage because of all the stuff in there; that's such a depressing subject. Instead, let's talk about what I've been doing to not unpack boxes.

For one thing, I've been painting ceilings. I have this thing for white ceilings. I don't care how gorgeous a home is, it needs white ceilings. So, while we love many things about this house, after living here a few weeks, I realized I needed white ceilings. And I needed them ASAP.

And now you've seen that super exciting photo of me painting above the bathtub. But imagine how cheery bathing is for us now!

Actually, don't imagine that. 

Moving on.

I've also spent some time in our hammock under the trees in our new backyard.

Dear former homeowners, thank you for planting these trees, we love them.

Did you like how artistic I was with the above photo? See how I got the glint of the setting sun in it? So I was actually hoping for a smaller glint, but that's what I got. So just roll with it.

This is my view from the hammock:

Pretty, huh.

We tried to give the boxes away, but no one wanted them! So we kept them around for several days, let the neighbor kids build forts in the front yard (yeah, we were that house with so much cardboard you could barely seen the lawn), and then finally hauled them away to the recycling bins. 

The below photo is just one of many stacks of flattened boxes.

And we're still hauling them away. Because, although I'm not nearly as fast at unpacking as I was a few weeks ago, we're still unpacking.

You know how, after you move you unpack all the important things as soon as possible? And then you get to the boxes where, after you open them you think, "why do we still have this?" or, "where on earth will this go?" Yeah, that's about where we're at now.

Any time I feel overwhelmed by all the unpacking/painting/newness, I just help myself to something one of my CV friends gifted me the day before we moved:

Pft, I still have no idea why people keep associating me with chocolate. My plan is to turn a new leaf and prove to everyone in our new neighborhood that I'm a health nut.

I'll let you know how that goes.

PS: I have some book reviews coming soon!

PS, part 2: and I AM working on the next chapter of our love story. I haven't forgotten!