Life Update! Oh My! We Moved!

 It's been a very Spring. Our town home finally sold end of May and we closed on everything three weeks later. There was also some question of whether we'd get the home we wanted...and lots of other moving related craziness. Moving is hard and I never want to do it again! But we had amazing friends help us get all of our crap moved out and back in and I'm so grateful for them! I really don't know what we would have done. Some of them even put their strong male teenagers to the test! Some drops of blood were drawn but nothing that some ointment and a bandage couldn't fix...whew. 

View from my bedroom

View of my backyard (needs work but nature!)

We are only a few miles away from our old place so we can easily have friends over and visit our old neighbors. But we have some amazing views of the valley and mountains. It's so quiet. And our cats love the birds in the backyard and the space. They were a bit hesitant the first week or so but they're getting into the groove of the best spots by the windows and the couches, of course.

We're also still unboxing everything and patching, retouching paint, figuring out sprinklers, where to hang our pictures, how to decorate, and where to put everything....it'll be a work in-progress for awhile. And no HOA here. And a few of the neighbors dropped by to say hi while we were moving in and they all seemed very nice and welcoming.

I even managed to go on a mini wine trip with some friends right before the big move. It was a welcome vacation!

G finished up grade 8 and middle school officially. He'll technically be in high school in the fall! What? He'll still attend 9th at his charter, so there won't be a big difference between last year and this coming year but yeah I can still call him a high schooler....

Oh, and my nephew got married as well! Whew! It was a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful venue. I'm so happy for him and his new wife.

Finally bought G a tie!

Grateful For:

1. We are moved and I'm so excited it's happened!

2. The weather. We've been having thunder storms and lots of rain in our deserty state. We're opening windows well into June which is so unusual. It's been a nice spring and I'm soaking it in.

3. Meeting a new friend. She's one of my neighbors and we just went to a movie together! She's great!

4. My cats. I love watching them discover the house and take some trips out back and loving their new spaces. It's been a rough few months on them as well and I am happy they are happy! They are my babies too.

Books

I have started and am working on so many but I did manage to read 4 books since my last update so I feel that's pretty good considering how busy and no time for reading I've been! Wahoo.

Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality (Aru Shah #5) by Roshani Chokshi

This was the last in the series and me and G really enjoyed it. It was a fitting ending and so much fun.

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

This was a stand-a-lone fantasy/horror. I was hoping for a bit more. The plot was a bit lackluster and the world-building wasn't sketched in as fully I was would have liked. But it was entertaining and I read through it relatively quickly.

The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth by Jonathan Rauch

I'd like to go back through this one again and do a full review. He really lays out how important truth and transparency is in all of our institutions and how they have been slowly eaten away and how. And how we can hold our institutions more accountable. It gets a bit repetitive in parts but overall it's a timely and important book.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

I actually started this in April but due to my move....it just didn't quite sit well with me. So I actually didn't finish this until we had moved into our new house and I read it really fast. Hendrix is a quirky author and I'm always entertained.

I just need to get this up! I finished a couple more books this last week but I'll put those up next time.