Pennyslvania - the adventure begins!

Finally settled in after a crazy couple of months preparing for the big move up north. My mind hasn't yet grasped that I am...living in PA! WHO KNEW?!

I am ready to get the kids out and meeting friends. Boredom is setting in (sigh). Friday nights on post they have 2 hours of dodge ball for the kids. I am hoping they love it! They have youth sports through the post and lots of kid activities. Still trying to figure out all of that!

We are all registered for school and anxiously await orientation. Luke will be taking Spanish this year. Luckily, his father speaks it WELL! The middle school is under construction and will remain that way during the year. The orientation will be held at the high school and they aren't allowing students to step foot at the middle school until the first day. I was hoping to be able to show Luke around before the first day. :-( We have been assured that tons of teachers will be available to show the kids where to go. I hope it goes well! Luke's school starts really early and he will be riding the bus as it is several miles away. Logan's school is small and not far from here so we will figure all that out, but he starts a full hour after Luke.

Andrew is all signed up and ready to roll for his War College classes to start on August 5th. At least then we will start some sort of routine. For now, we are winging it each day and going around finding stores (I am ready to find my "go to" store for gifts, etc.), things to do...it is sort of fun finding new towns and exploring them. We found Chic-Fil-A about 20 minutes away in Mechanicsburg, and thought we hit the jackpot! HA! Next stop will be Harrisburg, where the "big" airport is and apparently they have a mall but I have been told not to get my hopes up. I am afraid I have gotten spoiled living so close to downtown McKinney!!!!

I have continued my walk/running each morning. The dogs are seriously lacking exercise since we do not have a fence here. The hills in this neighborhood are KILLER, so I have to walk more than run, but the hills make up for it. I have been taking Rocko with me for the first mile and 1/2 each day, then I drop him off and continue on my own and run as much as I am able. I tried to take Charley one day, but she spotted a rabbit and nearly took me down. I literally had to sit down on the street to keep myself from falling on my face. Both dogs have escaped more than once and it is soooo stressful!!! We have a large 10x10 kennel that is 6' high we leave them in when we leave the house. Other than that, they are connected to dog leads or we let them sometimes hang out on the back porch, which we can close off. Much easier to have a yard with a fence!!!

We had our first dinner guests over yesterday. Andrew knew one of the other students from some other class they had taken together. Turns out he and his wife are Aggies and she lived in Austin for years, so we have lots to talk about! Super nice. Their daughter is Luke's age and they have a son who is 8, so he and Logan played well. It was nice to get to know such a nice family so quickly. The Mom left town today for a week, but I think I have found my first official friend! She is texting me as I type! :-)

The house is starting to feel like home. It was weird trying to entertain without my big kitchen bar. Counter space here is limited so I am going to have to figure out where to put out food for buffet style - may have to actually use the buffet in the dining room, instead of cramming everything in the kitchen. (Brilliant, I know!)

The weather is WEIRD here! At first it was VERY HOT and VERY, VERY HUMID. ICK! I was very surprised and wasn't expecting humidity like that! Now it has cooled down and we are almost cold in the mornings! Yesterday afternoon was mid 70's and absolutely gorgeous. I can live with that! I want to get a fire pit, I think that will get a lot of use! Planning to order more cushions for the teak furniture we have put on the screened in porch (to replace the ones Charley ate!). It's a GREAT place to hang out - when we have cushions to sit on! ha ha! Luke likes to read out there.

Our first out of town visitors were Kris and her girls, visiting from South Carolina. They are a hoot and kept us entertained! We went to Hershey Chocolate World (very commercial...kind of disappointed) - we did not go to Hershey Park (amusement park) yet. We also went to Gettysburg and it is IMPRESSIVE. The museum is VERY well done - and the battlefields are massive. The kids are already saying they don't want to go back - it can get old, but definitely a must see when any of you come visit!

Well, there you have it for my first installment of life in PA! I found myself repeating stories over and over, so I think this may be a good way to give updates to family & close friends if I can be good about making the time to blog on a regular basis! Love to all!