We Moved.

The Army decided it was time for us to live in a new place.

So we packed up our stuff and loaded it all into a uhaul truck and drove from Washington to Colorado. We went the long way since the long way is safer and is less likely to have pass closures.

As we left the Pacific Northwest the sky itself seemed to bid us a farewell.



Along the road there where many beautiful things to see.

In California I was reminded of why California is so beautiful year round:



As we left California I was smitten with the colors of the sunset. I had to pull over and take a picture. (with my phones camera no less!)



We passed through Nevada in the northern part of the state. We spent the night in Reno and drove through the state on I80. I was amazed to see the sky so blue. I had only ever really been in Vegas and there is smog there so.... yeah.



We drove through the state until night fell. As we came to the end of our travels for the day I was excited to see the colors of sunset through a winter storm forming over the mountains.



Our "hotel" stay in West Wendover (just inside the Nevada border)was horrific to say the least. In the morning when I was checking under things to be sure nothing was lost I found a used condom under the bed. EWWWWWWWW.

When we left Nevada the following morning it was snowing and overcast. Even before the sign I knew when we had passed into Utah. Look at the sky! So beautiful!



When we drove through Utah we swung by to see the LDS Temple in Salt Lake. I had heard that it was a beautiful structure and I am a sucker for beautiful architecture. It was an interesting building but I was unable to snap any pictures of it as it was rush hour traffic in downtown Salt Lake by the time we found it. We continued on through Utah and found a scenic viewpoint pull off right as the sun finally dropped below the mountains. I snapped a few pictures with my phone because the saturated purples of nightfall in the mountains is just so beautiful!







Shortly after passing out of Utah into Wyoming we stopped at a Mc Donalds with a playplace. It was the first time in days the kids had gotten a chance to really run around and play. When we stopped it was only 1 degree outside so we left the van running and locked so our pets didn't freeze to death. It worked pretty well actually!

After dinner we continued on to Rawlings. It was super icy there. In the morning we continued on. We were going to make it to Colorado Springs if it killed us!

It was so cold in Wyoming that we felt like it almost did kill us.







I was very glad to be a knitter as I had very warm accessories.



Owen seemed unphazed. Crazy person.



As we drove into Colorado we saw Bison! (sorry for the picture quality. I was doing 60mph and didnt wanna focus on the picture!



Just as we were running out of steam a small miracle occurred.



Oh Hi Denver! We knew we were close and managed to press on to Colorado Springs. As soon as we got here we were warmly greeted and fed tasty food. I am very glad we already knew people in Colorado Springs! We have been staying in their house while we try (pretty much entirely in vain) to find a house or apartment that is big enough for us but can be entirely paid for with BAH.

I have to admit being able to stay with them has been super fun and a serious blessing. As I type this Owen and Jessie are moving our "nonessentials" into a storage unit.

That is all I have for now! More later on our adventures in our new home!

A day at the Seattle Aquarium

So we are moving. We have known for a while now that we were probably getting moved... but it wasn't really FINAL until about two weeks ago.

Of course shortly before we found out we were probably moving we bought a year pass to the Seattle Aquarium. We figured that in three trips it would completely pay for itself. What we do is this:

1. Drive to Bus Depot. Leave van in parking structure.
2. Put 4 kids on back of bus. Sit in the row in front of them to give them room to be kids without pissing off other passengers.
3. Get off bus with sanity barely intact.
4. Cut through Pikes Market to get to Aquarium, which is located on a pier.
5. Enjoy day at Aquarium. Loose at least one kid for at least 2 minutes at least twice.
6. Drag (sometimes literally) 4 exhausted children back to bus stop. Listen to them whine about having to take the much-less-expensive-than-driving-and-having-to-pay-to-park-the-van bus.
7. Count to 100. By then at least 2 if not more of kids (and possibly husband) will be asleep on bus. Read fairytale to whoever is still awake, including other bus passengers who will pretend they are not listening.
8. Wake up kids at bus station
9. Drag (sometimes literally) 4 tired kids to van as they complain about the bus not just taking them all the way home like Aeddon's school bus.
10. Go home and go about evening like we weren't just out all darned day.

So that is an Aquarium trip for us. Now for the pictures (which are all from my cell phone since Liam pulled my camera off my desk and broke it again and I dont have time to get it fixed again before we move....)


























I am gonna miss the Aquarium when we move...

New Years Resolutions, Part One.

This time of year most people make resolutions. I am very rarely most people.... but this year I felt compelled to make several resolutions of my own.

My first resolution this year is that I plan to read one classic literature novel (that I have not read before) a month.

For my first book I have chosen Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I don't know why I have never read this book before... but there you go! I started the book last night and I am already on chapter 15!

I do not know what next months classic novel will be yet. Please share your suggestions!

Testing...

Down

My life is spiraling out of control and I don't know what to do about it or what to write about. I have so much I want to say, but I don't know if this is the forum to air out all my dirty laundry and that is what I want to do cause the release would feel good. However if I were to do that I think it would blow up in my face and make all of this worse.

I am lost.

Rough.

The past three weeks have been rough for me. I got called suddenly down to Southern California to testify in a triple murder trial. I did my best to make the trip feel like a vacation for the kids, and in that vein I have some cool pictures to share with you..... but not right now.

Then we get back here an Owen is sick. Big nasty cold sick.

This weekend will be filled with trying to get Alexander caught up in school and getting Owen well enough to work next week.

I will do my best to tell you about the good stuff that has happened in the last three weeks over the next few days.

Saturday at the Pumpkin Patch

Saturday morning we rounded up the kidlets, shoved them into the van and headed out to the annual Madigan FRG trip to the Schilter Family Farm Pumpkin Patch. We have gone to this event in the past and loved it then so we HAD to go this year seeing as this will be our last fall here in Washington.



The day itself was crisp, but not cold. The sun was out and the sky was a fantastic shade of blue that I have only really ever seen here in the crisp months of mid-fall and mid-spring here in the Pacific Northwest.




The Schilter farm is a great all day activity. They have:
A fantastic pumpkin selection,



A petting zoo,



A hay bale maze,



A Giant corn maze(Owen says that is redundant.) a corn launcher, a kids play area with fun activities,



A kiddie train pulled by a small tractor that is strong enough to pull Owen holding Liam and a kid in every "car",



A hay bale ride pulled by a really big tractor,



Plenty of places for parents to take cute photos of their kids,



A picnic area to eat at, (they had a slightly pricey, but very tasty place to buy food at if you did not think to bring your own....)


(ps. That is Owen's First Sergeant.)

A pyramid of hay bales to climb on,



And of course a shop to buy your pumpkins and all sorts of other farmers market type things from.



We came home with a pumpkin (26lbs for 29 cents a pound!) Apple Butter, Blackberry preserves, Carmel Corn Nuggets, a baby tiger pumpkin, two bags of cotton candy and something else.... oh yeah! Ring pops!

It was a day well spent.

Stop Begging me!

I dont know where he got the idea... but Aeddon has been begging me for a pair of mittens lately. Like every day, five times a day begging. Well I couldn't start a project I wouldn't finish in time to get full class points in the HPKCHC.... so I waited till new "classes" were posted and cast on the mittens for Aeddon.



I actually finished the knitting in about 2 days (what I have kids... plus I actually knit 3 gloves... Just because a pattern says it is the right size doesn't mean your kid fits the size designated for their age! oops.) but was unable to finish them since my darning needle went missing! (yeah I know. What kind of knitter owns one darning needle!)





I think he loves them!

A quick hello

Not much going on around here. Our van is out of commission. A piece fell off! A piece of the brakes... which I have been told is super important and therefore makes the van unsafe to be driven.

Also my Camera is in the shop. Again. See the last time I had it fixed I told them that I thought the focus ring crack was a problem and that I was pretty darned sure it was sticking a bit when I tried to zoom in on stuff. The guy basically told me I was being dumb and that of course it was sticking a bit... they had just worked on it!

Thanks idiot. You were wrong! Hours after getting my camera home a bracket inside the lens came loose! It moved around in there and I tried to pretend it didn't happen... but it became impossible to take a decent picture... so back to the shop it goes!

In all the time I am spending not going anywhere or taking pictures of stuff I have been knitting... and playing WoW a little. This is a shawl that will be a Christmas present, but I am not telling who it is for. I know she probably wont see it, but still.



Pretty right? The shawl is the Traveling Woman shawl and I love the pattern! I will probably knit more of these at some point! Maybe even one more will find its way into my Christmas knitting pile.

That is all I have for now... Oh yeah! I started a Twitter account today. Look me up. JaclynBailey13.

I want to do this!

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately. Owen and I have been going through a rough patch financially (who isn't right?) and I am finally admitting to myself that I need to do something to help bring in income. However with my health being what it is, I can not at this time work a "job".

So I would like to craft for money. I am looking to open an etsy store... but I lack the funding you buy the yarn to get started or the money to open the etsy store itself. So this is my thought:

I would like to craft for you. Please look through my pictures and tell me what you would like me to make for you. Then we can figure out what yarn to buy and I will craft for you for money. Then I will take that money and use it to begin the process of getting the stock I need to have my own online shop. In that way you can support this woman's goal of having her own shop without me asking for something for nothing!

Take a look at things I have made in the last three years. If you see something you like, let me know and we will talk.




Hope to talk to you soon!