I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

...I just got buried in boxes and packing paper for a bit there. But we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and are starting to think about doing things other than unpacking...like blogging and even a bit of sight-seeing!

But first a bit about the house...I don't know if you all remember how stressed I was back in the March/April timeframe...a lot of that was because we were trying to rent a house online (without actually seeing it in person) and doing a LOT of long-distance emails between North Carolina (where I was), Iraq (where DH was), and Illinois (where all prospective houses were.) It was a bit crazy and really harried/stressful. But it all came to fruition when we walked into our house...we LOVE it!!! It could not be a better house for us...the floorplan just fits our needs perfectly! We really love the way that it is laid out and are thinking about rebuilding it again later for our retirement. How lucky is that considering we were just working/renting from photos? We feel VERY blessed.

But unfortunately, the move did not come without a cost...my PC died so we are temporarily working with the laptop as our main computer. My gorgeous red 12-cup coffeemaker also appears to be on its last legs. If you know me, you know that these 2 items are my life-blood to my daily life so I am mourning them a bit and resisting the need to replace them right now...denial is a good thing.

This is the view into our new office (it's supposed to be a formal dining room, but we prefer another room for storing books!) And that in the corner is DH's new recliner....it's soooo comfortable. We are supposed to be finding a more feminine version for me in the other corner, but so far we haven't found anything that seems just right to complement this one so we are still looking.

And here is a quick view of one of the vignette's of my stamp room. It is finally completely unpacked and I am anxious to get in there and get stamping. It has been several weeks so I hope that my muse cooperates with me.

DH actually goes back to work Monday. He hasn't done anything but move and travel since getting back from Iraq so we took a couple of days in the last week to do a bit of the tourist/relaxing thing around the St. Louis area. Of course, we had to go see the arch.

It's so good to have him home and to be having fun with him and as a family again.

The kids were watching a group of ducks by the pond in the park at the base of the Arch.

We found some new hats this week for $1...she looks so cute in them and knows it. She will pose for you as soon as you put it on her head. LOL!

Then yesterday we took the day to go visit an old pre-Revolutionary era fort located on the Mississippi, Fort De Chartres. The architecture and stone reminded us so much of many of the buildings in England and France. It was gorgeous!

At the entry into the fort...

The guys going up the tower at the entry...

Another cute new hat.... She really started walking the first day that the packers arrived at the house. Unfortunately, from that point on, she has been held more than anything so she is just now getting back to where she was developmentally with walking a month ago now that the boxes are out of her way. She is loving the stairs in this 3-story house and scaring momma to death.

Love this teen who will still humor me and pose every once in a while....

I should be around more from here on out...

smiles,

Christi