I'm back...with lots to update!

Well we are finally settled in our house and have wi-fi...we are back in touch with reality! I started this post as I was laying in bed yesterday morning enjoying a morning off for Mother's Day waiting on my Starbucks and am just now finishing it up a day later...we've been so busy!

I'll rewind over a week to finish up our trip out here. When I left off last time we had made it to Salt Lake City and spent the night. We both though Salt Lake City was beautiful...as we left the next morning the view of snow covered mountains on every side was so neat and downtown Salt Lake is nestled right in the mountains...very cool! We had a long day of driving and contemplated driving straight through to California which would have been a REALLY long day...the moving in and out of a hotel room was becoming burdensome and the lack of sleep we were getting was catching up with us. We called the base and they didn't have a room available for us so we decided to spend a relaxing evening in Lake Tahoe...neither of us had been but had heard how gorgeous it was...this was a GREAT decision! So we made our way through Salt Lake seeing the salt lake...

we drove across the entire state of Nevada...

and started climbing the mountain to Lake Tahoe!

We had a good day of driving...we did stop in one town in Nevada where gas was $2.79 a gallon and were fearful of what kind of gas prices we would be paying in Cali but this station must have been set out to rip off road trippers because we are only paying $2.19 a gallon here on base...not too bad!

We had to drive through a VERY windy valley on our way to Tahoe where Jason was technically supposed to not even drive with the U-Haul...but he did anyway...and it all turned out ok! I don't know how he did it though because my little car was ALL over the road...the gusts had to have been around 50 mph! Once we made it through the valley we began to drive the roads that are all too familiar when we have gone on ski trips in the past...these were not scary roads though...they just had lots of twists and turns and our ears were popping! This was our first sight of the lake...it was sooooooooooooooo big, blue, and breathtaking!

We stayed in South Lake Tahoe which is just a few miles inside the California border so we had officially made it to Cali! We had a comfy hotel room on the lake and it was just so surreal to see such a pretty view! We ventured out to the beach area, met a few locals on the pier, and made our way to a restaurant they recommended...The Chart House!

The Chart House was a GREAT restaurant nestled up on the mountains with an awesome view of the lake...we totally splurged, but Riley decided to pick up the tab...what a sweet girl!
The next morning we drove around, did some shopping, and checked out the ski resorts...I can't believe we only live an hour and a half away from Tahoe...we hope to make lots of ski trips while we are in Cali! We would have loved to ride the gondola but ski season had literally just ended so they were closed as well as all of the ski slopes!

After all of our sight seeing we got in our cars and drove our last leg to Fairfield...we drove through the Eldorado National Forest...beautiful trees EVERYWHERE!

It is such an indescribable feeling driving for the first time to a place you are about to start your life in...so many thought running through our heads! The terrain here is beautiful...we are surrounded by rolling hills like I have never seen...I will get pics for you soon! We were blown away with how nice everything is. Notoriously areas right around air force bases tend to not be the nicest areas, but we have yet to come across any area that we find "run down". It is just beautiful here...that's all I can say...you'll have to just come see for yourself!

Riley was a happy girl once we arrived...she was glad to be out of the car and roaming all around!

Once we arrived we unloaded the u-haul into a storage unit, unloaded our things into TLF (temporary lodging on base) and tried to hit the ground running trying to find a house! We looked at 3 houses and knew the one we are in was the right house for us from the get go...it's just right for us! We were somewhat discouraged as we began our hunt because many of the houses we had seen online were already gone and there just wasn't too large of a selection! We spent all day Thursday just driving around...we found areas that we would consider living in and just hunted for "for lease" signs hoping to find something...and we did! We drove by this house in Paradise Valley which is a golf course community and saw a great ONE story house and called...the lady that answered put me through the ringer at first and then said we could come look at the house right then because her and her husband owned the house and happened to live next door! At first we weren't sure if having landlords next door would be a good or bad thing...it turns out they are the sweetest couple! They have 4 daughters and 14 grandchildren so they loved Riley...we spent over an hour with them both at the house looking and chatting. They were convinced they wanted us as tenants when our sweet girl decided to show them her newest trick as she checked out the kitchen cabinets...pulling her shirt over her head and running around topless...so ladylike!Deep inside we both loved the house but were afraid to jump the gun...they had another family VERY close to renting but they told us they would rather have us in the house so they said they would give us 24 hours to make a decision. We looked at another house the following day and did some more driving and we knew it was time to seal the deal! Here's our new house!!!

Not only are one story houses hard to come by but spacious backyards are as well. With our two puppies we really needed a place that they would love too and this backyard is just perfect for them! We are right on the fairway of the golf course and have a great view of the greenbelt behind the course as well as the rolling hills!

Another perk is that we have use of the pool and tennis courts as part of our homeowners association...I think I need to get on the ball and get Riley signed up for swim lessons!

So once we signed the lease we spent part of the weekend relaxing because we had been going going going ever since we pulled into town! Life in TLF was not bad but having to kennel the dogs and take them out to walk was not fun for any of us! The room itself was very spacious as we had two bedrooms, a full kitchen, living room, and washer/dryer...but no fenced in area! Jason took care of the dogs and I took care of Riley in the mornings...we had a system down! Riley loved playing on the couch because it was short enough for her to climb up herself...here she is trying to tickle her own belly button with a pen...don't worry we had removed the ink!We were anxious to get into the house but didn't think we would be able to have our household goods delivered for a week or two...lo and behold Jason went in Monday morning to request delivery and they said they could deliver everything Friday...WHAT? I forgot to mention that we had agreed with the owners on repainting pretty much the whole house...and we wanted to get the painting done before our goods arrived...we started painting Monday night and finished up Thursday night at about 11 pm....it was pure craziness and I honestly can't believe we did all that we did but we are so glad we decided to take the plunge! One of us would play parent during the day...Riley would nap at the house while we both painted...then we would put her down for bed at the house and paint until the wee hours of the morning...scoop her out of one pack 'n play, drive back to base, and put her down in another pack 'n play...and wake up early and start all over...12 gallons of paint later, many sore muscles, and pure exhaustion...we finished! Thank goodness Riley adapts well to gypsy life...she's such a trooper! While one of us was painting the other would often take Riley to the mall to ride the carousel and play...she loved riding this same bunny each time!

We have also been hanging out with Jenn and Cooper...Jenn and Paul are friends of our from Texas A&M...Paul and Jason were in the corps together...and they have a little boy Cooper that is three days younger than Riley! They have played together, fought together, and shared many meals so far! Paul is deployed but comes home VERY soon!

Our household goods were delivered Friday...luckily I was able to get Riley into childcare on base for the day...I'm not sure how we would have gotten everything done if I hadn't! Jason loaded up our storage unit and unloaded all of our stuff at the house and then went and loaded up all our belongings at TLF and brought them to the house...meanwhile I was checking off the boxes and furniture as it was being delivered at the house! Technically the movers are required to do as much unpacking as I choose and last time we moved I opted to just let them put the boxes in the rooms and I did all of the unpacking! This time I had them unpack most of the kitchen boxes but requested that they just stack everything on my counters and not put it into cabinets...this eliminated many boxes and lots of packing material for us to mess with! I left to pick up Riley when they were getting ready to start unpacking and this is what I came home to later!!!!!!!!!!

At first glance I began to regret my decision to have them unpack anything because it was quite overwhelming, but in retrospect it was a good decision and I will do it again in the future! It was hard to decide where to start, but I could pretty much see everything and didn't have to wonder what box something might be in!

Luckily we have had some help since DiDi flew in Saturday afternoon to help unpack/watch Riley! She leaves in the morning and in a few short days we have completely unpacked the kitchen, Riley's room, our closet, and most of my decorations! We have been working pretty much non-stop and have gotten so much done! Jason went back to work today and DiDi leaves tomorrow so the rest is up to me and Riley to take care of! She's a big help...you can see she helped her Daddy put our bed together!

We have had some fun while DiDi was here too...eating lots of good food on our patio! We have a big dining room and no dining room furniture...yet! I have been joking though that we don't even need dining room furniture because we will be eating on our patio all the time...it's just too nice to pass up eating a meal outside with this weather! We had a few days of rain when we first arrived, but now the days are very sunny, warm during the afternoon, and cool in the evenings! We miss all of our friends VERY much and wish they would all just move out here with us...so far we are loving it here!