We've been here for two weeks!?!

We looked at a few more apartments and we think we found one that we really like! Hopefully we'll have a nice little home to move into soon. Of course, that's just as I'm figuring out the area around the hotel. (Just found the supermarket.) I am excited to learn the area near our apartment, though. Friday we decided to drive into Houston to have dinner on the patio of a really cute pub and that only made me more eager to move because downtown is a little bit far from us right now.

I've come to really appreciate Skype and FaceTime and just video-chatting in general. I've been able to have normal conversations with everyone and it makes me feel like I'm not so far away.

And speaking of feeling far away, this coming weekend is The 4th at the Lake House and I'm sad to miss it. Next weekend is Chelsea and Dave's engagement party and I'm going to miss that, too. Once the fun things are over it'll be easier. And I do have my own fun things to look forward to and then everyone can come visit.

How Doyle spends his days

Our first week

We've made it through our first week in Houston!


Tuesday was our lazy day. We ran a few errands and just hung out.


Mark started work on Wednesday. Doyle and I went to the pool.


Auntie, Uncle Tom, and Michael came for lunch on Thursday. And they brought everything! We'll be set for a while. Doyle's even set with food and a couple of new toys.


We looked at our first apartment on Saturday and on the way back to the hotel I drove through my first Houston rain storm. The storms here don't seem to last long but it really rains!


And a couple of fun tidbits:


Doyle was almost kidnapped by a bird about 1/4 his size.
I've been called ma'am a lot.
I was able to practice a little Spanish with housekeeper.
The weekend was spent at the pool!

The guys

We're here!

Today was the final stretch! We drove from Little Rock to Houston!


We made sure to stop at the Texas Welcome Center and we had our photo taken with a cutout of the state.


Ignore that Texas is backwards



We knew we were in Texas when the car said it was 99 degrees outside! And I felt it when we stopped for lunch. I tried to walk Doyle around the parking lot of the deli and he was not having it. He had a quick sniff and then was desperate to get back into the air conditioning if the car. So was I.

Now that we're checked in to our hotel home for the month we've found the and plan on using it. Often.

Almost there!

Today we drove from Knoxville, TN to Little Rock, AR.

It rained for most of the morning but nothing too bad! It was really just a lot of driving.



Doyle didn't mind.

Our hotel put us on the 7th floor so Doyle had his first elevator ride today!

He's fearless.



There's a sushi and steak restaurant across the street so we thought we'd have dinner there and leave Doyle back at the hotel. I was a little nervous about leaving him alone because he gets a bit nervous in new places. I downloaded an app to listen in and hear how much he barks. The whole hour. That's how long he can go! So we're working on that.

On the Road

Today we drove from Reading, PA to Knoxville, TN. I have a horrible cold but an getting through it with DayQuil and wads of tissues I stole from the hotel.


The day started with some old cars driving with us on the highway.

We stopped in West Virginia so Doyle could see where he came from. He didn't seem fazed but he loved running around the pet area they had at the rest stop.

When lunch rolled around we found a Subway and ate our lunch under the shade of tree with a view of fields and hills. Doyle found a nice spot and just took it all in. I think he's trying to figure out where he is and if he's been kidnapped.

On our way to Knoxville we drove through Pigeon Forge, TN. Dolly Parton is from around there so there were billboards for Dollywood everywhere! There were also billboards for a year-round Christmas village and a museum showcasing the Titanic. Apparently Pigeon Forge has it all.

Here We Go

The movers arrived around 8:30 in the morning and it was amazing how quickly they packed everything up! I think it took us just as long (if not longer) to pack our few bags.

Mark & Doyle are ready to go!

Dad and Tereza stopped by with some lunch before our big drive. With bellies full of BBQ we packed the car and were off!


We're spending our first night in Reading, PA and we saw some interesting things on the way to the hotel. Apparently there's a restaurant in Kutztown, PA that serves pig stomach on Tuesdays. We're quite upset that it's Friday! We also saw an antiques shop with a sign out front that said "soon" so I guess the antiques needed a few more days to ripen.

The Bit Just Before

I'm not sure if moving is stressful, yet.

Some moments I think this is great since packing seems easy enough when someone else is doing it and I am excited to live somewhere else. Then I think about all of the unknowns and let myself worry. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster!

I think the hardest part is all of the good-bye's. Flowers delivered to my office from Mark and Doyle do help, though.

From The Boys!