House Hunting Download...it was a success

Well, it's been some time since the last post. We have been up to our eye balls in chaos. Kirk is doing a great job keeping us organized which is great. OK, where to start?

We took a trip down south to house hunt last week. We stayed with Kirk's parents in a vacation rental house in Durango, CO. I've never been to Durango and fell in love. It's beautiful and the town is neat. I look forward to future trips we will take to visit the ol'west town. We took the red eye trip from Anchorage to Salt Lake City via Delta Airlines on Sunday the 10th at 1am. We were hoping that we were going to be one of those lucky parents with a sleeping toddler but oh no, that was not the case. It started out with Kirk and I being separated by one row on the plane. Thank you Delta for doing "all that we can to get you seated together". I got Sarah since we purchased a seat for her and she has been a mamaholic lately. We asked the people sitting next to Kirk if they wouldn't mind swapping seats so that we could sit together and it was the first time someone actually respectively declined. Little did they know they weren't going to sleep much given their decline since Kirk and I ended up passing screaming Sarah back and forth during the flight to help minimize the disturbance. Kirk was able to dance with Sarah in the back of the plane towards the later part of the flight to finally get her to sleep about an hour or so. I must put a disclaimer on the back of the plane since most of that time was actually in the lavatory in order for Kirk to sit down because Sarah was getting heavy. That right there my friends, deserves a hand! I wouldn't have survived a whole minute holding a sleeping toddler in the airplane bathroom. The faint smell of those things makes me gag.

Once we finally landed in Salt Lake, we were able to get out and move around. We felt sluggish coming off the plane like we just got hit over the head due to the lack of sleep. We slowly shuffled our way to a Starbucks in the terminal. As I was rifling through the bags looking for my purse, I noticed it wasn't there...crap! I asked Kirk, in the typical wife fashion of blaming her husband for no apparent reason, where my purse was and he didn't know. Crap crap! It was on the freaking plane!! So I left Kirk and Sarah at Starbucks and proceeded to run down the terminal to the gate where our Anchorage flight came in. As I approached the gate agent, I heard my name being called over the intercom. They found it. Thank goodness! I was visualizing the madness that could have come with not having my license, credit cards, etc. Plus it's a beautiful black Coach that I love (I sound superficial here but I do love my Coach purses). I met up with Kirk and Sarah to proceed with the much needed Starbucks purchase and shuffle to the next gate after a little breakfast. The flight to Durango was nice and short. Sarah crashed upon touching down and then proceeded to crash again once we got our assortment of bags in the rental car and the AC running. Kirk's parents met us at the airport to help with the Sarah and bag shuffle to the rental car. We got to the vacation rental, ate lunch, set up the crib (while Sarah was still crashed in the car) and the three of us took a much needed long nap. That was Sunday.

Monday morning we all woke up earlier than normal around 6am. We got Sarah dressed and gave her breakfast leaving her with the grandparents as we left for day 1 in Farmington. It's a nice 1 hour drive from Durango to Farmington through beautiful rural country. We met up with our realtor and proceeded to go through at least 12 homes before 1pm. It was a warm day as well. We weren't used to the constant temperature swing between the car AC and the 95 deg F heat outside. By the end of the day, we were tired and our stomachs were a bit off from the all day temp swings. We narrowed our list down to the top 3. All 3 homes had a hitch to them making us feel not so great about day 1 of the house hunt. Panic was starting to set in.

Tuesday we woke up bright and early again. This time we cruised the neighborhoods before meeting our realtor to see if anything else was out there that we missed including any for sale by owner properties. We managed to come up with a couple more we wanted to see. We met up with our realtor and he too had a new property for us to see. It was outside our original price range and wasn't on the market yet. A realtor in his office told him she was going to put her house on the market in a couple of weeks but let us tour the place. Up until this point, there were little to no Wheel of Fortune "ooohs and ahhhs" as we walked through the homes on Monday. But the Wheel of Fortune love came out for the place not on the market. (address: 4220 Cristo Rey Ave) We walked in and were instantly in love. Again, it was outside of our price range by a little bit. So, we talked and toured other properties for the remainder of the morning. After lunch, we talked more and decided to put an offer on the Cristo Rey property. We were feeling skeptic about the whole thing knowing the probability for a counteroffer was 99.9%. And so, we drove back to Durango after day 2 of the house hunt ready to relax and enjoy a nice evening.

We had dinner on day 2 with Brant and Clotho, our ol'Alaska friends now living in Baku. It was great to see them and Brant's mom Letha and step dad Bill. Letha and Bill graciously opened their home to us for a wonderful meal. Oh, what a beautiful house they have! The view is fantastic and overlooks the Durango valley. The home is so nice inside and Letha has many wonderful pieces throughout the house. It was great to see everyone especially Brant and Clotho. They look great and are enjoying Baku. Plus it's always great to hear about their latest adventures. We sure do miss them ALOT! :-) As we were settling down with drink in hand and enjoying conversation outside on the deck, our realtor called to tell us that we had a counteroffer. So, day 3 was going to be interesting. But we didn't worry about it and enjoyed every bit of time we had with our friends.

We took a more leisurely pace on Wednesday, day 3. We arrived in Farmington to review the counteroffer. We decided to go out once again to look at our top 3 properties including Cristo Rey. Again, when we walked into the Cristo Rey property, it was Wheel of Fortune love. So we sharpened our pencils and gave it good thought. We decided to counter the counteroffer and....well....we bought a new house! It's awesome. Great neighborhood, awesome house, life is good. 4220 Cristo Rey is up on a hill in the Ladera area of Farmington which is a good part of town. It's a few blocks from a great park so easy to walk, run, or ride our bikes to with Sarah. The house itself is a ranch style 3 bed, 3 bath, 3 car garage built in 2002 so it has nice trim, white doors, crown molding...oh yes, it's nice. Goodbye Alaska 1985 era oak trim and doors and hello new. The kitchen is great overlooking the area down the hill and has granite counter tops. Sweet! The garage is HUGE, allowing the third bay to be easily converted into a small gym area which will also be nice. The front yard is zero scape and the back is similar with a small patch of grass. The neat part of the back is the fireplace on the back patio. Oh yeah. That will be great come this fall when the temperature is a bit cooler and we can enjoy a glass of wine after Sarah is down for the evening. All bedrooms have adjoining full baths which is nice. Plus the guest room and bath are on the opposite side of the house allowing our guests to feel 'free to move about the cabin' without fear of waking up Sarah. We are excited about the house and the neighborhood.

So, the rest of the trip was much more relaxing once the hunt for a house was at a good spot. We were able to get Sarah lined up with the pediatrics team at the San Juan hospital in Farmington which is great. I feared not being able to get in and having to drive to Durango for her medical care. We also toured three day cares. One was down right scary. One was OK. The best was Emmanuel Baptist Academy and was very similar to the BP Early Learning Center in Anchorage where Sarah is going now. We are on the wait list at the baptist school. It's the best in town and the wait list is insane so we will keep our fingers crossed and review our alternatives until then.

We went to the Durango Rec Center which is a new facility and very nice. It was our first time swimming with Sarah. They have a great toddler/smaller kid pool area indoors. She took some time to warm up but eventually liked it. It was a kick. Grandma Darlene has pictures that we will post once we get copies.

On Friday we met up with Brant, Clotho, Letha, Bill, Tad and Todd for New Mexican food. It was nice to see them once again plus Tad and Todd (Brant's dad and brother). The last time we saw them was at Brant and Clotho's wedding. Boy time flies. It was hard to leave everyone after dinner knowing that was the last time for now that we would see each other. But we are hoping that having us closer to Durango will help with future visits.

We came back to Anchorage on Monday. The return trip was much better and Sarah slept on the plane a bit for a nice nap. I was able to nap a bit as well. We were happy to be back in Anchorage and come bedtime, back in our beds. Today was crazy again with phone calls and errands. We are looking forward to visiting with co-workers tomorrow afternoon and friends throughout the next 4 weeks or so. We are trying to land on the date we get on the plane south...this time one way. (again, read the Yancey blog One Way ticket. just thinking about it makes me want to cry again) September 18th seems to be the current target date.

Our home in Anchorage is still on the market. We had a few showings with one leading to an interesting turn of events. Our friends Mikie and Rodney were keeping an eye on the house along with our realtor...so we thought. Mikie called on Friday to let us know that when she came in the house, someone had left the back patio door wide open. Nice. Everything seemed to be intact and nothing of value missing which was good. I proceeded to call our realtor to chew some hide. And then in turn, he made phone calls to the showing agents to do the same thing. Just another thing to keep the nerves on edge I guess. We have an open house this weekend and hope it goes well.

I think that is about it for this post. It's time to catch up on the track and field events of the Olympics. Next week, the movers show up and then Kirk is off on his Cessna adventure September 2nd. More to come before then I'm sure.

Finally, the cat is out of the bag!

Finally! The cat is out of the bag. After knowing about the change since the first of July, we can now safely say to all that we are about to embark on a change. Kirk and I have accepted jobs with ConocoPhillips in Farmington, New Mexico. We finally told BP today that we are leaving the company and Alaska. My last day is Aug 7th and Kirk's is at the end of the month. It was a difficult decision to make especially since we have to say so long to so many wonderful people and this amazing state. But it's not goodbye forever and that is what we have to keep reminding ourselves everyday. It was time to get back closer to home especially now that we have Sarah.

Moving has always been a subject in the Johnson house but timing just never seemed to be right or the potential jobs weren't quite right. Our last attempt to move was in 2006 before Sarah was born when we thought we were going to move to Houston. After job hunting for a week, we decided Houston wasn't for us. At that point, any potential for a move was put on the back burner. But after Sarah was born and we took a couple of trips to Colorado, we decided it was really time to be closer to family. We made contact with a former BP co-worker now in Farmington and it took off from there. Our interview trip was over the Memorial Day weekend. It was the first time Kirk and I left Sarah overnight with anyone. She stayed with Kirk's parents in Delta, CO (3 hours from Farmington) and we headed down to interview and tour the area. Boy was that hard to leave her! Plus she was teething, had an ear infection and wasn't sleeping. That added challenge to having composure during the interview process.

Farmington will be a change for sure given it's a smaller town than Anchorage and a flatter terrain than what we are used to. I've lived next to a mountain range all my life so it will be the first time that I won't have that...instead we have to drive 45 minutes to Durango. But trust me, that is going to be one drive we will take many times to some of the best skiing in the Rockies. And it's even better that Telluride is only 2-2.5 hours north from Farmington where the skiing is great and we have family. My folks are in Denver and we will also be closer to my brothers in Phoenix and Orlando.

With that said, the chaos will now begin...

The house is now on the market as of yesterday. We celebrate our 10 year marriage anniversary Aug 8th. Right after that, we head down to Durango, CO/Farmington, NM for our house hunting trip Aug 10-18th. We are excited for the trip since we will also be able to visit our close friends Brant and Clotho who will also be in Durango for a visit with family. We plan to stay in Durango and commute to Farmington since Farmington doesn't have vacation rentals/hotel suites. We ended up renting a condo in Durango to share with Kirk's parents who will be taking care of Sarah for us during the day. THANK YOU! Once we return to Anchorage from the house hunting trip, the movers will show up to pack the house on Aug 25th and then we will be 'camping' in an empty house until mid-late September. After the movers leave, Kirk's dad will show up from CO to help Kirk fly the 182 down to Farmington while Sarah and I hang back in Anchorage. Kirk is forecasting about 10 days to get the plane down to New Mexico. Let's hope for a great trip! There are some days built into that for fishing stops along the way.

Needless to say, our heads are spinning and emotions are on a rollercoaster. The waterworks are easily turned on at times...we read our friend's blog (the Yancey's posting "One Way Ticket") and cried. We are trying to keep it together so that Sarah doesn't think her parents have lost it. (it may be too late for that already!) Stocking up on natures' prozac (vitamin B complex) is helping. ha! We will keep trying to update the blog as we go along with the process. Once the movers take the computer, we may be out of communication for a little bit. Until the next posting...

As Kirk says: Wings up, wheels down, blue skies forever

Shoes, Baskets and a Twirling Office Chair

All is well at the Johnson house. The sun has finally graced us after an extended period of straight rain and socked in weather. YAHOO! The newspaper says this is the coldest summer in a while. There is fresh snow on the peaks outside of town to boot that will hopefully be gone within a few days.

Sarah is doing well. It appears that more teeth are making their way through...two molars on the right and the next set of bottom teeth. She is doing well considering. We have great videos of her playing in the rain puddles that I need to pull off and post. But for an appetizer, below are some recent shots of her playing in the office. Her latest favorites are a basket from our friend Mikie lined with tissue paper, her shoes and the office chair that twirls. She likes to carry the shoes in the basket and walk around the house. Sometimes it's the magnetic letters from the frig instead of the shoes. She also likes to put things on the office chair and twirl them. Too cute.

She has also expanded her vocabulary and can say bubbles, "arah" for Sarah, "mmmm" for moo and ba ba can mean ball, "ba ba" as in what the sheep says or bye-bye. She also shrugs her shoulders and holds up her hands when she is looking for something.

15 Month Check up, First Haircut and other Pics

After receiving some feedback regarding Sarah's hair and Kirk also feeling it was time we had Sarah's hair cut for the first time last night. The 'ram horn' curls in the back were starting to get unruly. Though it took some convincing, I eventually got on board. So we took her to Great Clips. The beautician placed the booster seat in the chair and we thought we would try to see if Sarah would sit on her own. She did - and loved it! The beautician gave us a card with pieces of her hair to remember the event. The cut turned out cute and the ram horn curls are gone for now.

During the hair cut:

Ta Da - the new Princess Peanut!

We went to see the doctor today for her 15 month well child visit and shots. She is now:

Weight: 23 lb 2 oz (50-75th percentile)

Height: 31-3/4" (75-90th percentile)

She was quite emotional through the whole thing for whatever reason - must have been too close to the lunch hour. She is now good with shots until 2 years.

Here are some other recent pictures:

Action shot of Sarah coming down her new slide. Since the Alaska summer has been less than ideal, the slide has seen more inside than outside days.

At the Anchorage Zoo carrying her rain suit at the Brown Bear exhibit.

Walking her duck that Grandpa Len made for her.

Removing the entire contents of my wallet:

Her new walk lately - the inspector with her hands behind her back. Too cute!

Arctic Thunder

After living in Alaska for over 10 years, Kirk was finally able to attend the Arctic Thunder Air Show at the Elmendorf Air Force Base last weekend. Sarah and I missed out because of other commitments. Check out some of the great shots Kirk captured.

Videos and Ketchup

Here are two short clips of Sarah we finally took off the video camera. Enjoy.

Sarah's Bike Helmet:

Sarah's Belly:

We also found today the secret to getting your toddler to eat something they really don't want to - ketchup. I couldn't understand why Sarah wouldn't touch her chicken nuggets at home but would take second helpings at day care...until today. If the nugget is presented in it's plain old fashion, it's a no go. But with a nice red hue, it's all good. Once the secret was revealed, we put ketchup on the halibut we were trying to feed her at lunch in addition to the chicken nuggets. Ketchup on pasta, soy beans and corn is also good. Yum Yum.

More words and body part identification!

I mentioned in an earlier post that Sarah is starting to expand her vocabulary. It's amazing what each day brings. She is now saying: bye-bye and when asked to say doggie she proceeds with "uoof, uoof, uoof". She can also tell you what a monkey says "ooh, ooh, ooh". Too cute. She is obsessed with her belly lately. If you ask her where her belly is, she will pull up her shirt and show you...unless she is wearing a onesie in that case she proceeds to get royally irritated because she can't show you. She can point out her nose (most of the time by picking it with her little finger), eyes (but again most of the time pokes her eyes), head, hair and sometimes ears.

The day care tries to sign to the kids and she has picked up a couple of basics either there or here at home. So we try to keep it up. She is really good at doing the sign for more. But it seems she does it to not only indicate hunger and when she wants more crackers but also when she wants more of something else like playing, etc. She can do the sign for finished but just shakes her hands instead of the illustration. We are trying to teach her please but so far it's been more of a belly rub.