I just ran across this photo....

I'm not sure what the occasion was, but I just love this photo.

This is why I HATE the DMV.

In order to get a job at the DMV you must:
1. have no personality
2. have no desire to help anyone
3. be able to work at a painfully slow speed
4. tell everyone that they are in the wrong line or have all the wrong paperwork
5. take at least 10 breaks a day starting at 9:30 am

This morning I got online to find out exactly what paperwork I would need to register my car and get an Alabama driver's license. I decided to get there early (like everyone else) because I had no idea how long it would take and I have lots to do before Thursday. I got there at about 8:15 (they open at 8) and went over to the Drivers License line where I stood for about a half hour and moved maybe 5 feet--seriously. At this point I think to myself "maybe I am in the wrong line, I should ask". So my kids and I trek over to the information counter and of course I was in the wrong line. I have to go in the door that says "drivers test" --OBVIOUSLY-- and talk to the woman there. At least I think she was a woman. Anyway she looks at me like I'm some stupid fool and like I should have known there would be no way they could help me today. "We is already filled fo today. These peoples have been waiting in line since 6 am." She then told me that I could put my name on a list at the information desk and come back at 1pm. I decided that would be a good idea. BUT since we were already there I decided to also register my car. Once again I got in line and once again it was the WRONG line. I am not kidding.
I think I got the gift for bad luck at the DMV from my mom. We took 3 or 4 trips to the DMV just to get my license when I turned 16 and only ever got it because she was screaming at the guy telling him he had to do it and we would not come back tomorrow. When I went to register the Civic when we moved to Conn. it took me at least 2 tries because we didn't have the right paperwork and then when I went to register the Camry it took me 4 trips to the DMV and I am not kidding. (You can ask Sumer because she watched my kids every time!!)
Anyway, getting back to my story.....I got in the right line finally and the lady was helping me get my car registered when she said we have to go outside and see the car so she can "inspect" it, ha! the lady behind the desk inspected it. I got worried that she would have to get in the car that is seriously smelling worse than anything I have ever smelled because our sunroof was leaking and it is so hot and humid PLUS Brooks gave us a bonus chocolate milk spill on the way home last night. She didn't need to go in but I warned her anyway. She laughed and asked me for the Conn. registration. I looked in the glove compartment and it wasn't there. I am not kidding again. WHERE IS THE REGISTRATION!!??"!!??!?!?!?!?!? I have no idea but I gave her my CT emissions testing results and she registered the car but told me to bring it in when I find it. I searched and I thought I found it, but it was our UT registration. I have no idea where the CT one is, but my car is still registered in Alabama.
We then went to Target so I could return the USB cord that I bought to replace our missing printer cord (are you seeing a trend here?). By the way I found the cords finally. I was recharged with positive energy at Target as always. We went back to the DMV at 12:45 and sat and sat until 1:45 when they got to me--I was the 3rd person on the list. By this point Brooks had pulled my hair out of my ponytail about 5 times and my kids were screaming and fighting and I was pretending I didn't know them. My picture is horrible. No, it REALLY is, but it will always help me remember this day and why I never want to move again. If only to avoid having to go to another DMV. (Oh no, I have to register the Camry this week too.....)

Beaver Dam Photos

Our First Visitors

My mom and John came to visit us last week. They flew into Atlanta and rented a car and got here last Tuesday night. We had a great time hanging out and they even got to see Lewis for the one minute he wasn't at the hospital! I wish I knew more things to do around here, hopefully I can figure some things out to do before the next time we have visitors. We did drive around Birmingham and also visited Oak Mountain State Park which is a really cool state park with a farm , a wildlife rescue center, a bird "treetop" walk, a lake with a "beach" and lots and lots of biking and hiking trails. I think we will probably do lots of camping there as soon as it cools down a little bit. On Saturday we drove up to Beaver Dam, KY and Jackie and Brian came down from Cinncinati to meet us there. We got to swim and hang out. The boys didn't get to golf as planned because it rained really hard the whole time we were there. We had a blast anyway though. My mom and John left us in Nashville and headed back to Atlanta. They will be in Utah (and Yellowstone, Oregon, and Lake Tahoe) for a few weeks until they head down to Mexico! I am so glad they made a stop here, the kids had so much fun with them and we miss them already. Thursday the kids and I head off to Houston to go to Clinton's wedding. Lewis will meet us there Saturday. SOOOOOOOOOO, today I am trying to get lots of things done, one being the DREADED DMV visit. I have already spent an hour and a half there this morning and have to go back. More on that later......

Happy Father's Day

We are pretty lucky because Lewis got to be home today for Father's Day. He worked a 5 day work week and put in 84 hours. Originally they had hom working today too which would have put him at 108 hours for the week, but because they are just getting on a regular schedule and they aren't "official" yet anyway, they were generous and let him have the day off. Hooray! I guess I can say goodbye to my husband for the next year! He got to mow the lawn yesterday and run errands with us. Being the gret father that he is, last night he took Aiden to see a sneak preview for the movie Ratatouille.
I am so glad that even though he is so busy Lewis always makes sure that our family is a prority. He is such a great dad and our kids are overjoyed when they hear the garage door open and he comes home. We are so blessed to have such wonderful fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers in our family. We hope they know how much we appreciate them and hope they all have a wonderful Father's Day!

My Little Fishies

Aiden did it--she jumped off the diving board! After only one false start, she was brave enough to try it. Totally on her own and everything. It was really hard to convince her to go home after she got started. Brooks also wanted to give it a try, but I think we'll wait a while on that!
One small observation I have made in Alabama--I have 2 words for you: monogrammed seersucker. Seriously, it's everywhere. Everything these Homewood children own is monogrammed. And seersucker. I have nothing against it, it is just different.

THE HOUSE!!

I finally can add some pictures of the house. The first one is the front of the house, second is the rear view, third is the view from the front entryway into the front room and dining room. Third and fourth are pictures of the kitchen slash den from either side of the room. Fifth and sixth are the kids rooms. Notice the nice colors behind the bunk bed. Our first night here Lewis ripped out a built in desk (luckily because now the bunk beds fit perfectly) and it revealed quite the color. I will be repainting soon, don't worry! Sorry I didn't bother to straighten up or even make the bed (I've never been good at that), but I just wanted everyone to get an idea of what our house looks like. No pictures of our room yet because it's nothing but a mess of stuff to put under our bed--as soon as we get one!

EDIT--I just looked at the blog after I posted it and I guess the pictures got out of order and I don't know how to fix them, but you can probably figure it out. SORRY!!!! (Brittanie can you help here?!?!?!?!!?!?)


The kids have been cracking me up lately. We have been going to the pool a lot and now every morning when Brooks wakes up he starts saying "pool, baby. pool, baby". He is loving the pool because it has a zero depth entry (meaning it is like the beach) and there is also a baby pool. Aiden is a fish and just swimming all over the whole pool. There is one of those mushroom fountains in the middle of the pool and she loves swimming up to it. I will have to take the camera to the pool.
This is the conversation I heard as we were going to sleep tonight. (All three of us in one twin bed):
Brooks: "You, you, you, you, you, you, you, eeeeeeeeee-yen!" (I love you Aiden)
Me: "Aiden, Brooks is saying I love you"
Aiden: "I know, I was just hearing him. I love you too Brooksy, to the moon. To Saturn, to the sun. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. ok?"
Brooks: "Go-night, eeeeeeeeee-yen"
It was so sweet. Now if we can just get them back into a NORMAL sleep routine.....

He's Home!! (sort of)

Hooray!! Lewis got home from his Italian vacation. The kids and I drove over to Atlanta after church to spend some more time with Sumer and the boys. We had a great time and I think it's just so wonderful that they have been so close. I honestly truly don't know how I would have made it through this week and half without knowing that I would see them three times. Lew's flight got in at about 8:30 and we got home at about 10:30 pm. Of course Lew didn't sleep well --probably a combination of jet lag and nerves. He was up at about 5:30 and out the door for his first day of residency training before 7am. He is on call tonight so we won't see him until tomorrow evening, but we are just glad that he is around. The kids were so glad to see him and so was I! Here are some of my favorite pictures from his trip, I will have him do a blog when he gets a chance.

Zoo Pictures

Settling In

Here are some fun pictures from our last couple of days in West Hartford. Goodbye Raymond Rd!!! and thanks to all our friends who stopped by to say goodbye!

Wow, is it really only June 7th? This might just have been the longest 2 or 3 weeks of my life. We are settling in here in Alabama (Lewis is still in Italy until Sunday) and learning our way around. Tonight I finally went out and bought a hose because I noticed that my hedges were starting to be brittle, ooops. Well, wouldn't you know it, it is raining now. It's a good thing too because I guess we are in the middle of a pretty serious drought. Everything is brown. ANYWAY, we have been staying busy. Since I unpacked in about 3 days we have had to find some things to do around here. But can I tell you how much I am loving the cable TV?!??!?!!? Obviously (from my last post) I found Whole Foods really quickly. It was nice to find it because it felt like home. I guess that means we spent too much time there in West Hartford. We were talking about West Hartford as we were driving down here and about how much we were going to miss it. I do tend to be the homesick type (I don't think I spent the whole night at anyone's house until I was about 15), but I am really missing West Hartford right now. It is just such a great place and our apartment was in a perfect location. Also, we truly met amazing people while we were there. I know that I will settle in here and grow to love it, but the transition is not easily made for me. I think that I am a pretty independent and adaptable person, but it is still always hard starting over. I think that having Lewis gone is adding to the whole thing for me. SOOOOOOOOOOOO, here's what we've been up to: the Direct TV people came last Thursday and told me that the only place there was a signal was on the front of the house, so I got cold feet and rescheduled. Friday we went to the park and checked out the library. Saturday after hitting Target we hung out with the Bradfords, our friends here that we already knew, and then the had us over for lunch again after church on Sunday. On Monday we hung out while the Direct TV people came (they found a spot on the back of the house where there was a signal, whew) and then the phone guy. We went to the county building to turn in our deed for the homestead exemption and then headed off to the park. That night I spent a long time on the phone with the support guy figuring out the internet since our computer wouldn't read the intallation disc. On Tuesday we hung out with Sumer and the boys and went to the Birmingham Zoo, the kids had such a blast. We were SO SO SO SO glad to see them and might visit them in Atlanta this weekend. Since Lewis has the camera I don't have pictures, but Sumer took a bunch so maybe I can figure out how to use the ones she emailed me. On Wednesday we hung out here in the morning while we had the windshield changed on the Camry and then went and joined the pool in the afternoon and swam our little hearts out. Today we went swimming again ( I got fried, what's new), and then to Lowe's this evening. See I told you we're busy! Tomorrow we are going to the McWane Science Center where they have a Bob the Builder exhibit going on right now. I think the kids will love it. After that I think we'll go join the library since we now have a bill with our address on it. Oh yeah, and I already got an email from some guy in the ward here asking me to come help clean the building on Saturday. That was totally random. That's our update, more exciting things to come I'm sure! Aiden keeps asking me about how the people talk here, she's fascinated by it. I will be sure to post pictures of the house as soon as Lew gets back! Peace.

sweet home

we're in alabama! the closing was hectic right up until the last minute, but everything wen't well. we are in our house but i hade to come to whole foods to use the internet. lewis is in italy with my brother kip for their "graduation present" trip. we don't have phone, internet or tv yet so i'm feeling pretty isolated but i'm staying busy unpacking. lewis is a champ, he pretty much unloaded the entire truck himself. 3 guys from the new ward came over to help at about 6:30, but by then he was already almost done. he missed his flight to boston (en route to italy) because we forgot about the time change--we're in the central time zone, but luckily he got on the next flight. the kids and i then met sumer and her kids at ikea. i think they might come visit early next week. that's all for now i think, lew has the camera, so we'll have to wait to post pictures when he gets back!