Again, no pictures (sorry, I'm a slacker). While we're staying at my parents' house, our laptop is stowed away. I'll have a few on Facebook soon, but we've been laying pretty low and trying to save some $$ in preparation for our little one. As a result, our love for travel has taken a backseat, which we expected. However, travel doesn't even come close to comparing to having a CHILD! Cari and baby Lebron (no, that's not REALLY what we're going to name him) are both healthy and active. Cari continues to experience the ups and downs of pregnancy and has officially entered the third trimester, which I call the "it doesn't matter how I sit or lay down, I'm just uncomfortable" phase! We're continuing to learn about exercises, what to eat, what works and doesn't. We're going to be pros by the time the baby is born!
Everything is still on track for a late-January delivery. We even took a "preparing for childbirth" class last weekend and learned a LOT about the delivery and labor process. We toured the hospital, and more importantly, I learned how to change a diaper. That's right folks...WATCH OUT! In related baby news, my sister had her second child, Camden Matthew Comiskey, on 11/2/12! We took the day off to drive down to Concord and see her and her mini-linebacker (all 9lbs 4oz of him). What a blessing it is to actually be able to drive 2 hours and see family instead of pay $600 and fly all day long!
In NON baby-related news, we finally signed a lease on a rental house, starting 12/1. It's a great place near Lake Johnson in a small, quiet neighborhood. It has an attached garage and fenced-in backyard, and it will hopefully be enough space for us, baby, and some guests. As gracious as we are for my parents allowing us to stay in their house, we are excited to be in our own place with our own things and feel a little more settled.
There's not much else going on around here! We got to enjoy tailgating at JMU for homecoming this year with some great friends and dinner afterwards (again, another event we haven't had the opportunity to attend until we moved back). Otherwise, we're gearing up for UNC basketball and hunkering down for the "cold" southern transition to winter (ha. haha.). Keep checking back for more updates!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
It's about time...
You'll notice that there are no pictures to go along with this post (which is out of the ordinary). That's mainly because I don't have any pictures loaded on this computer. However, it's also because there are too many words to describe the past several months which leaves little room for pictures.
It took a few weeks to get over our travel hangover. 2 weeks on the road staying at a different place each night is a LONG time. I had to go to work the next day, and I was exhausted. It was a rough recovery, but we made it through. Only after a few months did I get to the point where I looked back on our journey and thought..."Wow! That was incredible. Let's go travel again!" I'm not quite sure Cari is at that point yet, but it's understandable since she's..... PREGNANT!!
That's right! We're going to be parents. What an incredible, God-blessed summer we've had. We actually found out Cari was pregnant a few weeks before our trip, but didn't make the "formal" announcement until July, and since I haven't posted since June, I didn't include anything here. However, despite our plans to try to start having kids AFTER our trip, God's will was done in His perfect timing and we were blessed with a little bean BEFORE the trip. There's no romantic or surprising story about how we found out -- Cari just peed on a stick one morning and BAM.. two lines. This put a slight twist in our trip though; two weeks in the car on many curvy mountain roads with a pregnant woman in her first trimester definitely makes things a little different. Cari was a rockstar though. She didn't start to feel too bad until midway through the trip, and even then she was off and on (mostly on). Luckily, she was able to enjoy our experience on the road with very little difficulty.
We are now down to being less than 4 months until our sweet baby BOY will come into this world. We've been to the doctor multiple times, seen our little man 3 times, and adjusted to the life of "parents-to-be" (as much as one can adjust to that lifestyle). Cari is most definitely showing, but she's feeling much better and we're both learning a lot about the process. It's simply miraculous that God has constructed such an intricate design in child birth. I find it hard to fathom learning about the details of our baby, created from next to nothing, growing inside of Cari for a specified amount of time at a specific rate and not believing in Jesus. My heart breaks for those who cannot experience this process and those who experience it but don't know or understand God's love.
In other news, we are back on the east coast!! Our original goal of making our way back here has been realized. I received an offer for a job in Fidelity's quality management organization, a job which was posted in North Carolina (where I used to work). After being offered the job, we made the decision to use our own money (again) and move back to be closer to family. Similar to our move to Albuquerque, we were incredibly blessed by the outpouring of friendship and love that we received. We had a small army of men helping load our 16-foot Penske rental, which we accomplished in under 2 hours. We had an empty apartment full of close friends and family with who we enjoyed pizza and beer during our last night. When we arrived in NC, we had several old friends (many of who we had not talked to since we left NC) help us unload into a storage facility which we accomplished in under an hour. What an amazing blessing! Thank you to all who helped and who might read this one day..
While it took a lot of planning, the details of our move were relatively simple. We wanted to make sure to spend time with as many of our close friends in ABQ as we could before we left. The last week, we enjoyed some of our favorite restaurants, such as Sophia's Place, went to a beer festival, had one of the most incredible dining experiences ever at Cocina Azul, and just remained in community as much as possible. We packed for several weeks before the move -- our apartment was full of broken down cardboard boxes and packed boxes stacked high. We even made a fort for Belle! :) On the afternoon of Friday, Aug 31st, we loaded the truck with some great help. Additionally, Cari's mom, dad, and sister flew out to ABQ to help us drive back. We took off early Saturday morning and spent a long 15 hours on the road before making it to our less-than-stellar Best Wester in Clarksville, AR. After a short 6 hrs of sleep, we drove another 14 hours and got the opportunity to see and stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Asheville, NC. It was great to see some familiar faces on the road. Finally, we arrived in Cary, NC at Extra Space Storage early afternoon and moved in to our storage unit before going back to my parent's house for a "thank you" cookout to all those who helped. No tornadoes, hail, or dead batteries during this trip, so we count it a success!
Since then, we have been living at my parent's house. It has been yet another blessing that they've allowed us to stay there. We are in the process of looking for a place of our own, but the process is relatively slow given our already busy schedule. Being back on the east coast and near family is great, but it's much harder than we thought it would be. We never thought we would miss ABQ, but we do...mainly because of the people. We became close with so many great people, and now we have to start that process over again. But, we believe God led us back here to be closer to family for the birth of our first child, so we know He'll provide local friends for us in His timing. We've also been able to enjoy a plethora of UNC athletic events (soccer, volleyball, football), experience some amazing southern sweet tea and BBQ, and take in a few events/activities that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to be a part of (First Fridays in downtown Raleigh, Green River Ordinance concert, Tiger Conservatory).
That's all for now (yes.. "all")! I'll try to keep this thing updated more as we experience new things "back home." Prayers are with my sister who will be having her second child, Camden, in less than a month!!
It took a few weeks to get over our travel hangover. 2 weeks on the road staying at a different place each night is a LONG time. I had to go to work the next day, and I was exhausted. It was a rough recovery, but we made it through. Only after a few months did I get to the point where I looked back on our journey and thought..."Wow! That was incredible. Let's go travel again!" I'm not quite sure Cari is at that point yet, but it's understandable since she's..... PREGNANT!!
That's right! We're going to be parents. What an incredible, God-blessed summer we've had. We actually found out Cari was pregnant a few weeks before our trip, but didn't make the "formal" announcement until July, and since I haven't posted since June, I didn't include anything here. However, despite our plans to try to start having kids AFTER our trip, God's will was done in His perfect timing and we were blessed with a little bean BEFORE the trip. There's no romantic or surprising story about how we found out -- Cari just peed on a stick one morning and BAM.. two lines. This put a slight twist in our trip though; two weeks in the car on many curvy mountain roads with a pregnant woman in her first trimester definitely makes things a little different. Cari was a rockstar though. She didn't start to feel too bad until midway through the trip, and even then she was off and on (mostly on). Luckily, she was able to enjoy our experience on the road with very little difficulty.
We are now down to being less than 4 months until our sweet baby BOY will come into this world. We've been to the doctor multiple times, seen our little man 3 times, and adjusted to the life of "parents-to-be" (as much as one can adjust to that lifestyle). Cari is most definitely showing, but she's feeling much better and we're both learning a lot about the process. It's simply miraculous that God has constructed such an intricate design in child birth. I find it hard to fathom learning about the details of our baby, created from next to nothing, growing inside of Cari for a specified amount of time at a specific rate and not believing in Jesus. My heart breaks for those who cannot experience this process and those who experience it but don't know or understand God's love.
In other news, we are back on the east coast!! Our original goal of making our way back here has been realized. I received an offer for a job in Fidelity's quality management organization, a job which was posted in North Carolina (where I used to work). After being offered the job, we made the decision to use our own money (again) and move back to be closer to family. Similar to our move to Albuquerque, we were incredibly blessed by the outpouring of friendship and love that we received. We had a small army of men helping load our 16-foot Penske rental, which we accomplished in under 2 hours. We had an empty apartment full of close friends and family with who we enjoyed pizza and beer during our last night. When we arrived in NC, we had several old friends (many of who we had not talked to since we left NC) help us unload into a storage facility which we accomplished in under an hour. What an amazing blessing! Thank you to all who helped and who might read this one day..
While it took a lot of planning, the details of our move were relatively simple. We wanted to make sure to spend time with as many of our close friends in ABQ as we could before we left. The last week, we enjoyed some of our favorite restaurants, such as Sophia's Place, went to a beer festival, had one of the most incredible dining experiences ever at Cocina Azul, and just remained in community as much as possible. We packed for several weeks before the move -- our apartment was full of broken down cardboard boxes and packed boxes stacked high. We even made a fort for Belle! :) On the afternoon of Friday, Aug 31st, we loaded the truck with some great help. Additionally, Cari's mom, dad, and sister flew out to ABQ to help us drive back. We took off early Saturday morning and spent a long 15 hours on the road before making it to our less-than-stellar Best Wester in Clarksville, AR. After a short 6 hrs of sleep, we drove another 14 hours and got the opportunity to see and stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Asheville, NC. It was great to see some familiar faces on the road. Finally, we arrived in Cary, NC at Extra Space Storage early afternoon and moved in to our storage unit before going back to my parent's house for a "thank you" cookout to all those who helped. No tornadoes, hail, or dead batteries during this trip, so we count it a success!
Since then, we have been living at my parent's house. It has been yet another blessing that they've allowed us to stay there. We are in the process of looking for a place of our own, but the process is relatively slow given our already busy schedule. Being back on the east coast and near family is great, but it's much harder than we thought it would be. We never thought we would miss ABQ, but we do...mainly because of the people. We became close with so many great people, and now we have to start that process over again. But, we believe God led us back here to be closer to family for the birth of our first child, so we know He'll provide local friends for us in His timing. We've also been able to enjoy a plethora of UNC athletic events (soccer, volleyball, football), experience some amazing southern sweet tea and BBQ, and take in a few events/activities that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to be a part of (First Fridays in downtown Raleigh, Green River Ordinance concert, Tiger Conservatory).
That's all for now (yes.. "all")! I'll try to keep this thing updated more as we experience new things "back home." Prayers are with my sister who will be having her second child, Camden, in less than a month!!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
NW Trip '12 - Day 16
6/17/12 - Day 16: Well, there's not much to this day, but for good measure and for closure, I thought I'd add an entry. We decided to sleep in a little since we were up late the night before enjoying all that Vegas had to offer (not really, just blisters on our feet). We grabbed Starbucks in the hotel on the way out and began the 9+ hour journey back to Albuquerque. The good thing about the trip from Vegas to ABQ is that the roads are straight/flat for the most part. The bad thing is that it takes NINE HOURS!!
We broke up the trip by stopping in Flagstaff for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. We also got a chance to talk to our respective fathers since it was Father's Day!! After some brief conversations and bellies full of food, we finished the rest of our drive to ABQ. We arrived into town around 8:30 and hit Taco Cabana for some quick tacos before we went to pick up our sweet puppy from her dog-sitter's house. She was excited to see us, which was surprising; I didn't think she'd remember us after 2 weeks!
We arrived back at our apartment around 9:30, unloaded what we could, and passed out.
NW Trip '12 - Day 15
6/16/12 - Day 15: The first half of our last full day and night on the road was about 50/50. The morning was breathtaking. Well, I guess the evening was too, but not in the way one would think. I woke up early (while Cari continued to sleep) and drove up to Glacier Point, which is an unbelievable overlook that gives great views of the entire valley, multiple waterfalls, and Half Dome (pictured above). The early morning sun made things a little hazy, but the rubbery feeling in my legs while looking out over the cliffs and vast expanse of the valley made the drive and the time well worth the lack of sleep. Once I got back, Cari was ready to go, so we had breakfast at the dining hall across the street again and hit the road.
We backtracked a little, heading west before changing direction northeast through the park. We drove through the Toloume Meadows section, and we took a few pictures on the way out. We escaped the mountain passes unscathed and were back on flat desert nothingness on the way to Las Vegas. We stopped for lunch at a random roadside cafe on the way once we arrived in Nevada where I had a roast beef with green chile and Cari had some fruit and a cheeseburger. It was definitely "roadside cafe"-type food, but we managed, as we've been doing for most of the trip. We made it to HOT, sunny Las Vegas in the late afternoon, found our hotel (the Tropicana), checked in, parked, and changed in our pretty nice room on the 20th floor.
We had been to Vegas last fall for a night, and we decided to go to same place where we ate last time, which was a little Mexican restaurant inside the Venetian near the man-made canal. We took a cab there, found the restaurant, and had a burrito/fajitas and a couple of margaritas. After dinner, we decided to walk down the strip back to the hotel, which ended up being a lot further than we thought. We stopped at the Bellagio for the fountain show and didn't stop again until we got back.
I have to say a few things about Vegas. I know a lot of people like the city, but I also know a lot of people don't read this blog. Or...maybe 2 people have ever read this blog. Regardless, Vegas makes us sad. It's truly unbelievable to me that sex, alcohol, and gambling attract so many people to one place. I certainly understand the appeal to go once and experience it, and I know the food is good and the shows are entertaining, but I believe the majority of people that go are not there for the food. We've walked the strip twice now, and the amount of nudity, drunkenness, and yes, even child exploitation is appalling. There is desperation in the eyes of almost everyone in that city. Cari and I have decided that if we do go back, it will only be to sit by the pool, enjoy some good food, and see a few shows; but I think we could probably get that at a number of places. Anyways, that's my venting session, and it's also my encouragement to pray for the people who truly enjoy those things. I'm not perfect, but being in Vegas really makes me run towards the Lord more than I do on an average day.
NW Trip '12 - Day 14
6/15/12 - Day 14: I can't speak for Cari, but I struggled a lot the next two days with my emotions. I desperately wanted to be done traveling. Almost two weeks staying at a different place each night takes a toll on the body (physically, emotionally, mentally). I wanted to be home with familiar sounds, smells, roads, friends. However, we literally spent about a year planning this trip. It's good realizing that all the planning, all of the excitement, and all of the effort put into the trip paid off, but tough knowing that the trip was coming to an end. Either way, I set my mind to ensure that we made the most of the next couple days, starting with Day 14!!
We woke up early in San Francisco after a great birthday evening and walked through the ghetto to get to Dottie's True Blue Cafe for breakfast. We were at a disadvantage with not really knowing the city. As a result, we found out quickly which areas were good to stay away from, but unfortunately, we found out the hard way. Regardless, we made it safely to the cafe and met up with our good friends Nate and Susan from Raleigh, NC! Nate was in town for a work convention, and Susan had flown out the night before to join him. They were kind enough to sacrifice sleep to see us. We had a great breakfast (lots of good home-cooked food) and fun conversation before walking back to the hotel the safe way. :)
We packed up, checked out, and hit the road by about 10 a.m. The drive out of the city wasn't too bad, and we were on the interstate for a while. Unfortunately, the flat/straight road didn't last long, and we hit yet another incredibly windy road with big hills. We battled the road for a little while and stopped at a quaint little cafe on the top of one of the hills about an hour outside of Yosemite. The food was average (hamburger for me, ceasar for Cari) and the service was poor, but it was the best place...no, the only place to stop.
Back on the road towards the park, the drive was incredibly scenic and rewarding. The road into Yosemite was along high cliffs (which we had actually gotten somewhat used to) and offered some amazing views of the forests and valley floor. Of course, we stopped along the way to take pictures of El Capitan (large exposed granite rock face) and Yosemite Falls (pictured above). The park was very commercialized and felt a little more developed than we prefer, but it was so large and beautiful that, given the amount of tourists each year, it probably couldn't function well any other way. We parked at the visitor lot and walked the almost one mile to the visitor center where we watched the "Spirit of Yosemite" video. After the short film, we took the shuttle to the hotel because it was pouring. Check-in went smoothly, and I got Cari settled in our rustic, but convenient hotel room before I made my way back to the car to pick it up and park it at the hotel. See what I mean? Lots of roads and shuttles and bus schedules -- not exactly what I think of when I think "national park."
NW Trip '12 - Day 13
6/14/12 - Day 13: Happy birthday to me!! After a rough drive the night before, a day in the city with my beautiful wife was the best birthday gift I could ask for. We grabbed Starbucks for breakfast in Fort Bragg and hit the road (if only I had a dollar for every time we sang "on the road agaainn...")! Since we drove a little further the evening before, the short drive to San Fran was a welcome change. We only had to stop for one bathroom break (and ironically, it was for me!). Since we were coming from the north, we got to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way into the city, but we stopped on the north side at a scenic overlook to take a few pictures (see above). It was a little hazy, so seeing downtown as more than a shadow was difficult, but it was still a great sight to see.
We drove in and found our way downtown to our hotel, the Intercontinental, where we were able to check in early. We splurged a little for our hotel decision despite booking on Hotwire, and it was a little fancy for my taste. But it was definitely nice to stay in a less-rustic place than we had been the past week and a half! Not only that, but my parents had shipped a yummy birthday treat of homemade cheese biscuits which were waiting in our room upon arrival! Our first stop was lunch...Chipotle to be exact! We walked to a 5-story mall and ate a much needed lunch. "Since we were already therrrrree" (can't you hear Cari saying that?) we walked around and shopped for a little bit. Next, we decided to head to Alamo Square Park, the site of the intro of Full House.
We started walking towards the park and began to get into a very shady part of downtown. I think Cari even saw a drug deal go down. Needless to say, we hailed a cab the first chance we got and made it there much quicker than we would have walking. The park was beautiful and gave some great views of the city, so we just hung out, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed some great people-watching. After an hour or so, we hopped in another cab and went to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, where Cari had planned a birthday dinner. We had a little time before dinner, so we went to Hard Rock Cafe for drinks (for me) and a big plate of nachos! We also had a nice pre-dinner walk around the pier and a great happy birthday conversation with my parents.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
NW Trip '12 - Day 12
6/13/12 - Day 12: I woke up early and drove back up from our cabin at to Crater Lake to take some morning pictures. The weather the day before was chilly and windy, and I wanted to see the lake when it was calm and sunny out. I'm glad I sacrificed sleep to do so, because the lake was even more beautiful in the morning under a bright sunny sky. After taking a few pictures, we grabbed some breakfast snacks at the nearby general store and hit the road (again...).
The drive through southwestern Oregon into northern California was just as incredible as the drive the day before. Oregon officially makes the list of "beautiful states to drive through!" We stopped in Crescent City for gas (> $4.00/gallon...yikes!) and lunch at the Harvest Cafe, which was the top restaurant on Tripadvisor. It seemed to be a local homecooked food type of place, and despite the bad service, the food was pretty good. I had a grilled ham and cheese and Cari enjoyed a BLT without the T (a "BL," if you will).
Full of food, we drove south on 101 through the Redwood National Forest. We stopped on the way to the visitor center and took several pictures next to the colossal trees. Taking pictures with the trees was a little more difficult since it's hard to get an entire tree into one shot, but we managed. We got to the visitor center, bought a postcard, and saw lots of male elk grazing in the field in front of the building (and lots of dumb people getting as close as they could for a good picture). Our next stop after driving through more of the forest and along the coastline was Fern Canyon, which was recommended in our Fodor's National Park book. About 90% of the drive to Fern Canyon was dirt or gravel, and the first part looked like another scene out of Jurrasic Park - very dark drive through forest with huge trees and eerie moss hanging from everything. The road was barely big enough for one car, so we had to use the pullouts when there was another vehicle approaching. Once we made it through the forest down to the beach, we drove along the coast for a few more miles, having to drive through some flooded creeks (only about a foot of water though). Finally, we arrived at the trailhead to Fern Canyon.
The hike was short, but was not very well marked. We found what we assumed to be Fern Canyon, which was a creek bed with high walls on both sides covered in different types of ferns (hence the name, Fern Canyon). We walked over rocks and rotten boards down the creek bed for about a half mile, enjoying the scenery and taking some pictures before turning back. It was a beautiful area and a fun hike overall! We didn't have much time to do anything else, so we continued through the park down the Eureka and ate dinner at a wine bar/bistro. The food was excellent, but the service was such that we felt like we didn't fit in (especially in our grungy hiking clothes).
After dinner, we had a rough drive down to our cottage in Fort Bragg - we took a long, EXTREMELY windy road toward Route 1 and then made it to the beach. The drive along the beach would probably have been nicer in the morning, but it was somewhat terrifying not being able to see the ground/water below, driving along cliffs, and knowing we were a hundred feet up. We got to our cottage pretty late and stressed out, but enjoyed the friendly service and the quaint, but very nice accommodations. San Francisco in the a.m.!
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