at my age, you don't get too many of these... :)

Let me set the stage for you:
I just got done running, hopped in the shower, pulled my wet hair back into a pony, applied no makeup, threw on what I like to call my house dress(sometimes I use it as a swimsuit cover-up too ~ it's just a cotton simple sundress) and was out the door to the grocery store because I am one HUNGRY chica. Needless to say, it was one of those times where you just hope you don't see anyone you know at the grocery store because you look a 'little out of sorts.'

I'm in the dairy section contemplating the cheese I'm going to get and a man comes up to me and says, "Might I be so bold? ~ but did I miss the beauty pageant?" I was thinking to myself who is this crazy man?. Then I got the message that he was paying me a compliment. Sweet! I said "Awww! Thanks~ that's very nice of you!" and he responded "You have my vote...you're very beautiful." I sort of did the 'talk as you walk' trick and said thanks again and was on my merry way. How nice, right?

Now ~ Let me set the rest of the stage for you. This man did not walk up to me but he electric wheel chaired(I think I just made up my own verb) up to me and he had to have been at least 80-85 years old. :) But I won't make excuses for him and say his eye sight could be poor or from his angle maybe I look better or maybe he just wanted to chat with someone (HA!)...nope!...I will take the compliment and think that WAS pretty bold of you sir but very nice. Us women deserve to be paid a compliment every once in a while...whether from strangers or our loved one's. :)

I miss my husband...

I've been with Mike long enough to not really be sympathetic to his sometimes crazy schedule because he 'signed up for this job'...but I miss him TONS when he is not following his normal schedule. He started his work week on Saturday and worked 6pm-6am(normal schedule), then he signed up for OT on Sunday from 12-5pm(so he slept at the station that morning since it wasn't worth driving all the way home), then worked 6pm-6am Sunday night...then due to an arrest he made this weekend, he unexpectadely had to go to court this morning. He got home today around noon, slept until 4pm, then left to report to work at 6pm. UGH! I don't know about you but I'm a solid 8-9 hrs per night sleeper and if I don't get it, I'm a crank. Don't get me wrong, Mike certainly has his lack of sleep/crank moments but he doesn't ever complain about going into work. Since I've known him, I don't think he's ever considered 'calling in sick' due to his lack of sleep, unless he's really sick. THANK GOODNESS for the fabulous officers that give up their sleep to keep our communities safe and allow us to get the 9 hrs of sleep we require!! I value and appreciate ALL of you!

What have I been doing since Mike is gone? Luckily I worked today so I wasn't bored without Mike. I had book club yesterday so I did a lot of reading to finish July's book and then I started August's book. I've watched a few of my favorite TV shows. Yesterday I mostly spent my time mentally decorating the house that we found online that we REALLY like and, depending on what we see when we go visit Santa Fe, hopefully will be able to purchase. And I'm not exagerrating when I tell you that I look at the 15 pictures of this house about 10 times a day. :) I'm so excited to have a house again so hopefully everything works out as we hope! :)

Thursday Night Knitting Club

Well ~ it's not really called that but I did learn how to knit last night and last night was Thursday. Adena, Kate, Allison, and I got together last night for some Big Brother watching, beverage drinking, and knitting lessons from Allison. I learned how to cast on, knit, and pearl. I'm not sure if I totally understand it yet because everytime I thought I had messed up, I handed my project to Allison and she fixed it for me...but it was lots of fun. I probably should practice this weekend before I forget everything. On that note, I better write down my "saying" for each step. I felt I did better when I repeated my saying as I did each step.

Cast on ~> under, over, through the middle
Knit ~> through the back, around the needle, pull through, ditch the stitch
Pearl ~> through the front, around the needle, pull through, ditch the stitch

Now I have it all writen in a place so I won't lose it.

Washington County MD Fair

On Friday we took a journey with a couple friends(Morgan and John) to the Washington County Fair for the bull riding. I really enjoy going to the rodeo...they really are a lot of fun. Mike said that the highschool bull riding national finals are in New Mexico!! :) A guy from Nebraska was riding at the Washington County fair too...but I was screaming too loud when they said NE that we couldn't hear what city he was from. Ooopsy! He rode 7.8 seconds so didn't get to the final round. :(

(Mutton Bustin' - Those kids are so adorable as they hang on for dear life.)

(Thought this shirt was worth taking a picture of - HA HA!)

(Mike, Morgan, and John)

does this sound familiar?

Mike was offered and subsequently accepted a job offer with the Bureau of Land Management(BLM) in Sante Fe, NM, also known as Mike's 'dream job.'
EXCEPT for one tiny little change??

Once again, you read that correctly...we are now headed to Santa Fe, NM! Mike had interviewed for this job around the same time he interviewed for the WY job but so much time had passed that we assumed someone else was offered the NM job. Boy were we wrong!! I won't bore you with all the details and our decision making process but he was offered the job this morning, I woke him up 4 hours earlier than normal so he could get the offer,(I originally took the call since Mike was sleeping) he made a bazillion phone calls to a bazillion different people, we chatted in the few breaks I had from meetings/work today, and he accepted the job this afternoon. Amazing how quickly the direction of your life can change!

I have two things to tell you:
1) We're both SO excited because this was our original hope as for places to move.
2) We're both TOTALLY bummed because the distance to both of our families just increased. (10 hrs to Mike's parents, 12.5 hrs to my family) We shouldn't complain because it's a lot closer than we are now but still dissappointed.

Other than that, I know nothing about Santa Fe compared to what I know about Rawlins. I'll be glued to the computer tonight and will report back soon.

so much to do in so little time

After a little additional thought, we decided to push Mike's start date to September 7th to give us a little more time to get things ready to move. Besides the obvious, there are a few things we want to get done before move.

Most critical ~ Finding a place to live in Rawlins. We hope to go on a 'house hunting' trip in the next couple weeks to see what we can find. We've found a potential rental apartment/townhouse complex and have found many potential houses to buy. Guess we'll see what happens when we go visit.

Second on the list ~ Going on a quick trip to Ocean City, MD to have an early celebration of our 1st anniversary. Since I doubt we will be able to get back to OC (the place we were married) for awhile due to our move, I want to ensure we go back.

Third on the list ~ We haven't been to Gettysburg yet so I hope we can take day to visit.

Fourth on the list ~ When we were in Charleston this last February, I bought a National Parks passport. As you visit different national parks, you can get your passport stamped to show where you've been and when you were there. I know - kinda nerdy. So - I need to get my passport stamped up with all the monuments and parks out here.

And, of course, enjoying the friendships we've made out here...goodbye's are always a little tough for me.

guess I picked the wrong blog url address 'cause...

We're moving back to the midwest! Mike was offered and subsequently accepted a job offer with the Bureau of Land Management(BLM) in Rawlins, WY, also known as Mike's 'dream job.' Mike's report date is August 22nd and he'll be covering 12.5 million acres(Yes! You read that correctly!)

We're both quite excited about the move and the change. I wasn't too sure about how I felt about moving to such a small town with the next largest town(Laramie) being 40,000 people and it's 1.5 hours away. And let's be honest, have you ever heard of someone in there 'right' mind choosing to move to WY? :) BUT...I think I might know everything I could possibly know about Rawlins with all the research I've done. It's a town of about 9,000 people and is the 'hub' and biggest town in Carbon County. It kind of reminds of Crete, NE(which is where I went to high school). I'm a bit concerned about my shopping opportunities :) as it seems the only main place to shop is Pamida(I told you it reminded me of Crete). I'm super duper excited for the outdoor activities, excited to be closer to family(2 hrs from Mike's parents, 9 hrs from my family), looking forward to going to a street dance again, happy to be in the kindness of the midwest(no offense east coasters, but you really aren't the nicest bunch of strangers), AND anxious to have a husband that works a semi-normal schedule. Did you know that Mike has worked nights the entire 6 years we've been together? Mike is already talking about how we're going to get up and eat breakfast together...sounds wonderful honey, as long as you're making the breakfast every morning. :)

I've already identified a few potential volunteer opportunities for, not only helping the community but, meeting people. I get the opportunity to continue working from home with my job which always brings a little challenge when it comes to meeting new people. Here's a few places I'm looking into as far as volunteering: Carbon County Boys & Girls Club, Rawlins Rochelle Animal Shelter, Carbon County library, & there is a cheer program at the local highschool so I'm going to try to volunteer to help them.

Rawlins will be great...where else can you partake in a Cow Plop, shop at the local Davidson's Gun & Grocery Store, and do a little handgun practice after your workout(yes ~ they have a shooting range in the gym/"community center"). I already told Mike that he has to be nice to everyone even off-duty because EVERYONE is probably going to know who he is. :)

Found this excellent web site on events happening in Carbon County. http://www.wyomingcarboncounty.com/index.htm

I'll have a...

...Grande Skinny Iced Caramel Latte please!

This is my new obsession from Starbucks and I'm not even a "huge" coffee drinker. One of my Poms parents bought me a gift card to Starbucks as a thank you for coaching her daughter. It was one of the sweetest things.
So ~ I know that there are so many high calorie coffee drinks out there but the above tastes so delicious and it's low in calories and fat. I'm telling you, it's like having dessert!

Don't make fun but ~ I also just recently learned(by our friend Jayme who was just recently visiting) that ordering something 'skinny' means that it comes with nonfat milk and sugar free syrups. And here I've been ordering 'Grande Iced Caramel Latte with skim milk and sugar free syrup' and could have just been saying 'skinny.'

MMmmm...it's delicious! Give it a try!

this post is for all my 'lurkers'

A fellow blogger has mentioned a couple times in her blog "for her 'lurkers' to make themselves known." Got me thinking...do I have people lurking around my blog? :) I am definitely a lurker sometimes and find myself looking at random people's blogs. Not sure if that makes me weird or maybe it means I have too much spare time on my hands.

Are you out there? Anyone out there reading my blog but not making themselves known? Are you linking to my blog from another friends blog? Do you have a blog?...I'd love to read about your life/hobbies/passions. Become my follower, leave me a comment(even if you don't have a blog account, leave your message anonymously w/ your name), let me know your blog/web-site address, tell me about yourself. :)

Really people?!...I'd love to see who's following 'Life with Mike & Kirsten.'


Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July holiday!!