A photo? What is that?

It has been ages since a photo hit this blog, so brace yourself. I actually realized last night that i don't know how to download photos with the new camera since the chip is so small it does not fit in my adapter. Definitely something I need to figure out.

On a different note, we have a dear friend who would like to be glorified on this site! Byrd to most and Byrd the Unholy to others was kind enough to send me a photo to end the dry spell of photos on the site. So, here is a shot of two of the greatest members of Mt. Olympus- Byrd and Weasel- in Baghdad. Enjoy your ten seconds of fame!

In addition to the great photo that Byrd sent I have another shot of our new house with flowers blooming in the yard.

I am so excited to call this place home. It is stressful having a home in NJ to sell though. I really hope we can get rid of it soon and feel as though we have truly moved. Of course that would require me to stop working up here and move south first, but time is flying and soon I will enter my house through that gorgeous front door!

Geographically Separated.

MW and the pups safely arrived in Charlotte yesterday. The dogs are adjusting to their new environment and MW is trying to get a few things done before starting work tomorrow. A top priority for us is to change the registration on the vehicles. NJ is the most expensive of all 50 states to register your car in and we are really looking forward to the decrease in insurance. When we called USAA to ask about the rate change we found out that our annual insurance will be over 50% less than it is in NJ. On another fun NJ fact, our taxes on our house in NC will be almost half of what they are in here. We will have 2.5 times the amount of house and a yard, but will pay almost half in taxes. This place is crazy.
MW is going to send a few photos today of the exterior of the new house. I guess the bulbs are about to bloom and the shrubs are flowering. I would like to see, so he is going to send me the photos and then I will post them.
Today is our realtor “caravan” at our house here. The realtor has invited all sorts of Realtors in the area to check out our place. My thought: Strangers in my house when I am not home.” Saturday will be our first real open house.
Only a few more weeks and I will be heading south. Hopefully, our home here sells quickly and we can complete chapter 1.

UPDATE-

First off- Sorry for the delay in updates and the lack of photos.
I took some photos this weekend and have not downloaded them yet.

I am pleased to note that we have Mt. Olympus Alumni reading the blog. It is now complete- I have all of the readers on board and have fulfilled my mission. I would love to catch up with all of you soon- we were just talking about all of you crazy people! Here is an announcement: Dirty Larry is about to be a DAD!

For all of those who are not familiar with Mt. Olympus, that is where my and MW's story begins...There is not nearly enough time to tell the story...

MW leaves for NC on Wednesday with both pups in tow. I am staying behind for a couple of weeks. I am still working here trying to make sure we are covered on both ends. Our house goes on the market here this week. I don't like the idea of letting strangers in the house to look at it and walk around my house and i have to remind myself that one of those strangers is hopefully buying the house. We are keeping optimistic that we will sell the house fairly quickly and will not have to take a loss. It is tough since we have only owned it a year, so we are not sure what the outcome is going to be.

We did find out on Saturday that the house we love in NC is ours! Our offer was accepted and we are now homeowners in NC as well. It is sad to say goodbye to Freedom Lane, but we are now moving on to Linksland Drive. Check out the site for the development: http://www.skybrook.com/ I will post photos of the new house soon. They are currently on shutterfly. You can view the link: <http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYt3LRu5csmol> There are some absolutely horrendous photos of me in the album- please spare me the comments of my death look- The last two photos in the slide show are of a different house.

I will keep you posted on the happenings of this whirlwind move- It is happening fast, but we are really excited. It is amazing how many people we need to visit once we make it there!

A camera with no photos

We finally purchased a camera at the end of last week, but I am sorry to report we have no photos. I have not taken a singly picture yet. I will try harder.
We have been running around like maniacs. I will post again soon- with photos.

From 70 to Snowy!

I have had it with mother nature! Yesterday, the weather was warm getting up to nearly 75 by the evening and spring fever was everywhere. I enjoyed my walk and wore shorts to the gym. Today, the temperature is 50- not so bad, but tonight it drops to 30 and the rain we are having now will turn to snow. A nor-easter is on the horizon! That is not the kind of Easter I am looking forward to. Ughh. Winter- Ughh. Commuting in the snow.

On a happier note- We finally purchased a new camera! So, photos should become more plentiful on the site.

And on the major announcement side of the house: We are moving! yet again! We are heading south to Charlotte. I do not have a position lined up at this time, but MW will be working at Wachovia. I hope to find a role in a big bank down there as well. My resume is circulating so keep your fingers crossed. The move will take place soon- within the next two months I expect to be moved-

Take care everyone- and stay tuned!

Remember the Heroes

In a rare post from the husband- MW writes:
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 illustrated to every citizen in the United States just how valuable freedom really is. With the ensuing conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan, it became more evident to all of us that freedom isn't free. No one realizes the price of freedom more than the soldiers, sailors, marines, and their friends and families. Whether it is the service member placing themselves in harms way or the family back home putting in the additional effort to support their family and others like them as they endure the hardship of separation and uncertainty, they are all heroes. So I challenge everyone not to take for granted the freedom that we have, to take the time to thank the servicemen and women who serve / served our country, thank their families for the support and hardships that they endure so that our servicemen and women can focus on the mission, and take a minute to remember our fallen comrades. Don't ever forget the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom and maintain our way of life. Regardless of your opinion on the war and whether or not we should be there, these heroes gave their lives for US and our Freedom.

Three years ago, today, we lost a couple of great American heroes as we began our mission in Iraq for OIF II. In a cowardly IED attack within the city of Tikrit, John "Hans" Kurth and Jason Ford gave their lives serving their country. Hans was a good friend and a respected peer and will not be forgotten. Whether you knew him as Hans, Sir, CPT Kurth, or even dad, his laid back yet positive attitude would always resonate through the room. Having known him made me a better person and his memory drives me to live a life that is worthy of the sacrifice that he made. On this third anniversary of our loss, please take a minute to pause and reflect on the positive impact that our fallen comrades have had in your own life and say a quick prayer to say thanks.

Tricia and I want to personally thank each and every one of you for your service. It was a pleasure serving with each of you and look forward to getting together in the future. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten. Stay safe and God Bless.

Heading for the hills!

We are heading south again! Another arctic blast has taken over the region and we are heading out! The weather in NC is certain to be warmer. This is a last minute trip, but we are very excited. MW has a promising lead- an interview in Charlotte and we are crossing our fingers that it is a success. Until now, we have not shared with our blogging family about “operation Charlotte.” We have determined that Jersey is not the life for us and that we would like to head south for many reasons- We have family there, it is warmer J , the cost of living is nicer, and we really do like the city. So, about two months ago we began the initiative to head south and now here we are pressing onward.

This weekend we plan to do some house investigating as we look deeper into the communities to determine if this is “where we want to be.” Mark my words, if we do this, this will be the last cross country move for some time! I am focused on staying in one place for more than a year- or more than three. We have never lived in a house longer than 1.5 years in nearly 5 years together! That is nuts. We were in Germany for just under three years and that was our longest stay anywhere- BUT we lived in two houses during that time. Go figure- I had to get the crazy landlady. And for the record, I DID NOT break her lawnmower!

We will keep you posted on our travels!

Public Transportation

If you want to see it all in a morning commute you need to take your car to a park and ride, get on a bus to an underground tunnel to a subway to another tunnel and into the office. And, since it was freezing cold today I did just that. I was so cold at the bus stop that I had tears from my freezing eyeballs streaming down my face. Once on the bus we had the usual experience plus an added detour because the bus driver felt like it. The ride was lengthy, but I was warm and that was all that mattered. By the time I got off the bus it was late, but it did not stop me from following the slow maze through the tunnel to the midtown shuttle. Along the way there was a man singing and playing the guitar. He sounded good until I got close enough to hear the words to his song- something like: I have a shotgun…I stay drunk all night…if you don’t like…get rid of that Wall Street Journal… Um yeah- not sure. Then there were the usual religious activists that try and hand things out and have their microphone to scream out the word of God or just sing hymns. The singers are my favorite since they don’t have any background music and they just sing it- no tune necessary- just singing in the tunnel. There are far worse things that could happen inside the tunnel, and these people at least have good intentions, but I often wonder what possessed them to go and sing in the tunnel? There is another lady I see almost every night in the port authority that claps and sings and when she is not clapping she is waving her American flag as she sings. Again, harmless, but I just can’t imagine waking up thinking I would go and sing in a bus station. As long as it is not the person yelling the world is ending I am just fine. The crowded dirty tunnels would not be the same without all of the faithful people who come and speak to the masses. I can only imagine what the ride home will bring. Since it is only 7 degrees out I will take the underground route again. Public services- there is nothing like it.

The infamous RAT

Has anyone ever seen the NYC Rat? If you have seen it you would know what I am talking about right away. There is this giant inflatable rat that travels around the city and parks itself in front of anything it feels is corrupt. A pick-up truck actually drives it around and the rat is about two stories tall. I have seen it in numerous locations since I began my travels through the city. The Rat has been camping out on a street I walk down almost daily for a few weeks now. It has become a fixture in NYC culture symbolizing a protest- but you never know what the protest is since there is no other sign except the rat. On one occasion I did see people protesting with the rat, but all other times it has just been a rat parked on the street. It is pretty creepy looking with its teeth exposed. I was just curious if anyone had ever seen it.

Speaking of rats- did anyone see the photos or articles on the rat infested taco bell and burger king here in NYC? It was not a single rat, but an infestation in the entire restaurant! Yuck. The scary thing is that this was not far from where I get the bus each day. It is a good thing I don't eat fast food. I think you tube actually has a video of the rats running around in the restaurant.

On a different note...
The sun is shining now, but it is the calm before the storm. Tomorrow is supposed to be nasty with rain, wind and thunderstorms. Everyone who is getting this storm today- stay safe and warm, and those of you who get the rain or snow tomorrow- be careful! It seems like a nasty storm that will reach the entire east coast.

Take care everyone!