It's update time, again.  Unlike the last couple weeks, this one has gone by pretty fast.  Perhaps that's because I spent the last 3 days making curtains.  Regardless, I can't believe tomorrow is Friday...and that Adam doesn't have to work for the next 4 days.  Both are crazy notions to me, at the moment.

So, to pick up where we left off: Last week was a rough week for me as far as being emotional goes.  It's safe to say that adjusting to a new place is definitely not something that happens over night (or is even complete after over a year).  I was really disappointed that we didn't get to see the Woods' while they were in California, and that more or less snowballed into me feeling a lot of loneliness and homesickness for my friends and family back in the midwest.  Saturday was no different.  I was really antsy and, while we had planned to spend the day relaxing and doing nothing, we ended up filling it up the morning and afternoon with grocery shopping and softball shopping.  Then we headed to Adam's friend Keith's new house to check out his new digs.  We ended up staying up really late (mostly because I was being emotional :-p) and then hitting the hay.

Sunday was Camille's last day at The Well and Arianna Niebling's baptism.  Both left most of the church in tears (I say most because I know at least one person (Adam) was not crying.)  To add to the fun, we also went out to a surprise lunch for my friend Christy Starr's 30th birthday.  We ended up going to the restaurant we swore we'd never eat at again after we had gone with Adam's aunt and uncle Julie and Jack, but it was for a good cause.  We learned yet another important lesson, though...do not eat out (especially at this place) right before softball practice.  It definitely didn't sit well.  And to add to the discomfort, the 106 degree temperature taught me what it's like to be seconds away from passing out.  Good times.  Needless to say, the rest of the evening was spent drinking a lot of water and trying to recover.  

So the last few days, like I said, I've spent the better part of making curtains to try and save on our cooling bill.  Strangely, some of the fabric I used seems to have an unbearable odor to them now that I'm done.  I've washed them 3 times, today, so we'll see if that did the trick.  Otherwise, I'll be making at least three more pairs of curtains before I call it quits.  I took a break from sewing, today (the sewing room gets quite hot during the day, so it was a welcome change) to paint.  I'd say I finished the gray, but some touch ups still need to happen, so I'm reserving the celebration until I feel completely done.

In other news, we met a couple of new neighbors, last night, and got to know the next door neighbors a bit better, too.  It was quite interesting.  The couple that just moved in across and down the street seem pretty cool.  He (Lee) works on base and his wife (Daniella) is from Germany and is going to go back to school in a month full-time to get a nursing degree.  They just moved from a rental in California City.  I somewhat volun-told Adam that he was going to help them get stuff inside, and though they didn't really need much help (Lee's dad came in to help) it was good to go say hello.  On the way back, we stopped next door to say hello to Tim and Sirell who were sitting out on their patio.  We figured it would be nice to talk to the neighbors we've "known" longer, too :-p.  We learned that Sirell is pregnant with her 11th child  and has served as a surrogate for the last 7 pregnancies.  She has 3 children of their own, and then 6 surrogates with another on the way.  I've never met a surrogate in real life, so it was really interesting to learn that we live next door to one.  She said this is her last pregnancy, but she keeps in touch with all the families she's carried for.  Crazy.  

So, I guess I'll take care of what is somewhat of an elephant in the room for me, on this day.  For people that don't know, four years ago today, my dad passed away very unexpectedly of a brain aneurism.  While I think about my dad everyday, there's certain days and moments that are harder than others.  Our family does their best to be strong...that's just the type of people we all are...and we try not to dwell on the day in a negative light, but there's so much of my dad still around during this time of year that's it's hard not to tear up and relive the moments of that day.  So much has happened in the past four years, and yet, it's still really hard to believe it's been that long since we had to say goodbye.  Thankfully, we have very understanding, loving, and supportive friends and family that surround us, hold us up, and give us strength.  Thanks for all your love and prayers.  You will never know how much it means to us that we are not alone.  Thank you.  That's all folks.