Our Favorite Hotel

I’m still trying to get to my Halloween pictures, but in the mean time I thought I would do a quick review of our favorite place to stay when we travel – The Holiday Inn Express! We first discovered it through our AAA (another company I highly endorse) book when we drove across the country for our move to North Carolina. Back in those days (was it really only 7 years ago?) there wasn’t the availability of information like there is now with Blackberries and i phones. So we became members of AAA and loaded up on travel books and maps.

The first time we stayed in a Holiday Inn Express we were very impressed. It was kept very clean, had a nice large rain-down-on-you type shower head, cleansers and lotions that have a slight cinnamonish smell, beds and pillows that are comfortable, and a great little free breakfast bar with things from cereal with yogurt or fresh fruit to eggs with bacon. The best part is that the cost of staying there is the same as their inferior competition. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not magical, but we love how it is consistently predictable in cleanliness and comfort for a family wanting an affordable place to stay on the road.

On this move down to San Diego we had one night in between loading our stuff on the truck and unloading it at the new house. We stayed in the HIExpress in San Clemente and it was beautiful, having just been remodeled, and was just as impressive as the others we have stayed in through our travels.  After another successful stay with them I thought I would give them my official  thumbs up and seal of approval. Next time you’re looking for a great place to stay I suggest checking to see if there is a Holiday Inn Express nearby and if there is, go there!

PS. We are loving our new home and have just the office and garage left to unpack. We miss our friends and family, but have found everyone at church and at school to be super friendly.  It has made the transition so much easier!

We Found A Place!

After a long search we found our new home! It should be a wonderful place for our family, especially because now Hunter and Emma will both have their own rooms and it is the same rent that we are paying now! Also, there are some great extra perks like an upstairs laundry room (by all the bedrooms) and a beautiful kitchen. Maybe I’ll actually want to try cooking again. Here are a couple of pictures: one of the back yard, and one of the kitchen. Tomorrow we will try to set things up with the movers and can move in as soon as October 22nd. A little crazy, so we’ll see how it all plays out.

Back Yard

Kitchen

Getting Back on That Horse

I got a friendly note from my blogher friends reminding me that I have not posted for two weeks. So in order to keep the ads up I need to “get back on the horse.” For some reason when I read the email this phrase popped into my head, and since I sort of lost my groove over the summer and want to get it back I started thinking of things to blog about. Of course there are a million since I was such a slacker all summer, but I decided today to write about literally getting on a horse.

I grew up in an agricultural community where there were lots of animals. Especially cows and horses. We didn’t have anything like that at my house but I would see them every day driving to and from school, church, etc. You would think I would be used to the idea of them, but horses freaked me out, and cows grossed me out. Horses were so big and I was terrified of getting on one and having it run full speed toward the cliff’s edge at high speed, then stop suddenly, kick up it’s hind legs, and boost me up and over into a deep ravine… My imagination had the whole scenario worked out.

When I was about fourteen, there was a youth church activity where we all went up to the mountains and did scary stuff like repelling down a cliff and riding horses. Not being known for an adventurous spirit, I did not want to do either one. But my pride and a greater fear of looking like a chicken convinced me to give it a try.

My bishop at the time, Bishop Gardner, who has now unfortunately passed away but whom I will always feel love and respect for, was leading a group of horses along a ride through the woods. He tried to convince me that it was not a big deal. I was still afraid of falling off and he told me, “just hold tight onto the saddle horn and you’ll be fine. If you do fall, you’d better have that saddle horn in your hands.” So with trepidation I got up in the saddle and rode with the group. He was right, it wasn’t all that scary. The horses were obedient and good at following the guide. However, after several minutes there was a large fallen tree in front of us and no way to get around it except to jump over. When it was my turn I held my breath, closed my eyes, and gripped the saddle horn as tightly as I could. As soon as the horse jumped I felt myself falling down to the ground. When I opened my eyes I was laying on the ground and the large dark horse was rearing up above me on it’s hind legs, probably just trying to get around me, but scaring me so that I froze and just prayed he didn’t step on me. When the horse was under control and out of the way, I was helped to my feet by the bishop who was I’m sure relieved that I was okay. I don’t remember what happened after that, or how I got back to the cabin, but I do know that the bishop and I created a bond that day. He loved to tell this story and laugh at how obedient I had been. The reason I had fallen from the horse was because the cinch (the belt part) had broken and so the saddle had fallen off,  me along with it. And apparently when I fell Bishop Gardner saw the saddle laying next to me and I still had the saddle horn in my hands.

I’m still not big on horse riding, but I have been back on one a few times since that day. So now you know one of my most embarrassing and terrifying moments ever. Sometime I’ll have to tell you about the time I was tricked into cleaning out a cow’s corral and how that scarred me forever too. Needless to say, I don’t envision myself ever living on a farm.

School Performance Map

So I’ve been doing a lot of research on the public schools now that we are moving to an unknown area, and just came across this map that shows the API scores for California. Academic Performance Index (API) is:

“the cornerstone of California’s Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999; (it) measures the academic performance and growth of schools on a variety of academic measures.”

I know that test scores are not always the best way to judge the success of a school, but it is a great place to start when I’m trying to get a feel for the neighborhoods.

I don’t know if there is much information for other states, but for me, this is fantastic! It’s easier to navigate than a written list when I’m looking at schools near a particular rental, and I’m just more of a visual person, so this really is awesome. I thought you might like it too.

Where Is He Working?

The job that Rob started a couple days ago is as in-house legal counsel for General Atomics. And since what they have written on their website goes way over my head and I could never attempt to re-word it, here’s a quote on what they do:

General Atomics was conceived in 1955 at San Diego, California for the purpose of harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefit of mankind. General Atomics’ basic research into fission and fusion has matured into competence in many technologies, making GA and its affiliated companies one of the world’s leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely operated surveillance aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies.

See what I mean? Way over my head, but totally cool. Our favorite part of what they do so far has been learning about the Predator drone they produce for the military. Here’s what Wikipedia says about it:

The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which the United States Air Force describes as a MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) UAV system. It can serve in a reconnaissance role and fire two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The aircraft, in use since 1995, has seen combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, and Yemen. In addition, since 2005, U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses the aircraft (unarmed) for border patrol within the U.S. It is a remote-controlled aircraft.

The MQ-1 Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. The fully operational system consists of four air vehicles (with sensors), a ground control station (GCS), and a Predator primary satellite link communication suite.

So in a way, Rob is working with the Department of Defense right? 😉 I guess next to being a JAG this is the closest he can come. You can thank him later for keeping our country safe.

Still Looking

We’re using Labor Day to drive to San Diego and look for more housing. We went down on Friday and spent all day driving through neighborhoods and by houses we found listed on Craigslist. We were able to look inside a few, but nothing has seemed right yet. We have a few references for realtors there and will be using them to help us find a rental. We’d love to buy of course, but it’s all a bit rushed to commit to that, so if we can find a reasonable rental we’ll go with it and have some time to see where we’d like to buy when the time comes… A huge shout out to my friends Heidi and Holly who are taking my kids for the day. THANK YOU!

We have moved about every two years, sometimes less, since we’ve been married. I have a pretty good system down now for finding housing.

1- Talk to friends. Somebody always knows somebody wherever we are going. Especially as members of a worldwide church, there is always a network of information on the new area. Ask them about the neighborhoods they like and most importantly, about the schools.

2- Go to greatschools.net and look up the schools in the new city. They are all ranked by their test scores, and you can also see demographics, teacher credentials, etc… and parent reviews!

3- Go to Craigslist and housingmaps to find rentals or homes for sale in the new city. You can map how far they are from work and figure the commute time. Then comes the really tedious part.

4- Print the addresses of homes that look interesting and drive by them. I usually print a stack and then go through and use the map’s street guide to mark where they are located on the map. Then you can organize them according to location and not waste a lot of time driving back and forth through the city. This gives you a good feel for the neighborhood (shopping, cleanliness of the streets and yards etc.) so you know if you even want to bother scheduling to see the inside.

5- Contact a realtor with access to MLS listings. That is the easiest way to find out what is available in the area. MLS has listings for houses for sale and for rent.

6- Pray that you find the right place without too much time and trouble!

Rob starts his job tomorrow and I’m curious how this first week will go. It’s a big change going from Big Law to In House Counsel, and I look forward to a life not centered around billable hours. However, you never know if the grass really is greener until you’re living in it. But we’re hoping.

School starts here on Thursday and the kids are all very excited. I think they are bored enough that they’re ready for it. I can hardly believe I’ll have 3 in school now, and worry that Sabrina will be bored with them gone. Lucky for me (but unlucky for trying to get things done) kindergarten is only half day, so it shouldn’t be too bad for Brina. I was planning to do a Joy school with some friends for Sabrina, but I chickened out and thought it would be too stressful trying to plan a move and coordinating that. So we’ll be looking for playdates instead when I feel like I can handle it.

Summer has flown by, and I’m worried about having to wake up early again! That is my favorite part of summer: sleeping in. We have had a lot of fun and I have a million pictures that I hope to look through soon. Maybe once we get this whole moving thing figured out.