The Big Move.

I’ve being MIA lately. The main reason, as I’m sure everyone knows, is we’ve moved to Dallas, TX for the summer. We were originally assigned to Denver, but there was a last minute change. Moving 2 times in four months has made me a bit more loopy than usual and I’ve misplaced my camera cords, camera chargers and my memory…

Bridgette’s First Road Trip:

During the trip Bridgette was heavy into a new addiction. She craved it the entire trip, she cried when we wouldn’t let her have it. It was difficult to not enable her addiction, as it made the 20 + hours on the road bearable, almost enjoyable.

Blues Clues. We had to wean her off of it slowly when we arrived in Dallas. It took a few weeks of daily distraction and a little Elmo to help take the edge off. She’s fairly clean now, but we let her have some Blues Clues here and there.

Other than the “addiction” Bridgette’s been good. She was confused when we first got here, and cried a little and had a short adjustment period…wait, that was me. No, she’s been really good though. Just playing a lot, enjoying creating chalk art on our 3^rd story patio. She doesn’t have my fear of heights. She had a little accident and sprained/ strained her ankle a few weeks ago. She’s a trooper though, and insists on walking up & down our three flights of stairs when we go anywhere, and the sprain didn’t deter her. She has Dan’s determination that’s for sure.

The Accommodations:

Oh, back to the road trip. We left Utah Easter Sunday. Dan thought that leaving that day would prevent us from eating a gallon of Cadbury mini-eggs. It did, but Lynsey gave Bridgette a bag of goodies and we ate a lot of that (I gained about 5 pounds on that road trip!) We didn’t get very far that night because we (I) were exhausted. We stayed at a hotel in Farmington, NM.

Now, I have never wanted to go to prison, but that hotel was even more of a deterrent. They should have troubled teens stay there to show them what a night in jail might be like. The bed linens were about as thick as 1-ply toilet paper, the toilet paper was probably ½ ply, if that exists. There was not tub, just a shower, with no door, just a curtain. The toilet also had no lid; it reminded me of the toilets, well, the toilets in a prison. The carpeting was that industrial sisal material, real scratchy. At least it exfoliated my feet. They didn’t put chocolates on our pillows, however Dan did get a chocolate colored curly surprise on his towel.

Enough complaining! I got a decent 2 hours’ nights sleep and we were on the road again! The only problem was I recently started a medication and ignored the little side-effects pamphlet, which were dizziness, sleepiness and nausea. So, we didn’t get too far the second day.

We stayed the 2^nd night in Amarillo, TX. The hotel room was like the Ritz compared the 1^st night.

Yummy Breakfast:

We ate breakfast the next day @ Cracker Barrel, which was my first time having breakfast there. YUM! There was this sweet older couple sitting across from us practically flirting with Bridgette, but they left a few minutes after we sat down. Then, a couple minutes later, the man came over to our table with this little chicky toy and handed it to Bridgette. He just said, “This is just too cute for her not to have.” And he left. It was so sweet! That was our welcome to Texas.

The Rest:

The drive to Dallas was not as painful as I thought it would be. The route took us through lots of little towns and farms. It was quite nice, really.

So we’ve been here about a month. The weather was mild through most of May and now hovers around 100 everyday. Luckily, we have a pool right out our back door. I’m always trying to come up with ways to stay occupied (I need some that don’t cost anything though!) Dan works 14+ hour days, so Bridgette thinks the Mexican maintenance guy is her dad and I am watching “Lars and the Real Girl” and taking notes on how to have a pretend relationship. Seriously though, he’s working crazy hours and we miss him! But we get to see him on weekends, which is better than when he sold before!

Any post that has to be separated into chapters is too long. So, I’ll end it now, but will hopefully write more soon.

I just wanted to post this... I walked into our bedroom and Dan was tickling her back and she drifted off, mid granola bite.

Bridgette's 1st Easter Egg hunt. Nick, she never would've made it without you man!

Her last hoorah at the old house. This was her favorite spot.

Our hotel wall artwork.

Blues Clues overdose (do ya like her new chair, we finally turned her front facing.)

At this sweet park playing with her friend Cavington. An older man, how scandalous!