Epic Road Trip 2013

Oh hi!

I know, I've been absent again and you've missed me terribly (or not).

Well, no matter how you feel about my absence from the blogging community I'll give you a little rundown of our little (or extremely long) road trip, but I'm going to give it to you in pictures because: 1. I think it's more interesting; 2. I look pretty sexy in some of them; and 3. I have your attention for the moment.

Did you know that there are A LOT of different kinds of turtles and they ARE ALL OVER MISSOURI.  I didn't kill any with the car, but that doesn't mean that we didn't come close.  Who knew?

What the heck is a Prickly Pear Cactus doing in the middle of the Ozarks?  It was there to remind us of home?

Inspiration Point...very inspiring.

"What's that on her head?"  That would be the bug net that goes over my face to protect me from the million bugs that wanted to eat my face.

Sunrise outside the tree house cabin.

Noah in Dismals Canyon aka the Rainforest in the middle of Alabama where deadly lone star ticks come from and bite you.  Yes, I believe I picked up a tick here and it was traumatic.

Gender reveal for Katie and Brandon!  It's a boy!

This describes our relationship well.

You can be jealous now.

Oh my gosh he's handsome.  I win.

Oh it's us, please ignore the fact that I'm not wearing sufficient clothing.

Dead fish.  Noah took the teeth.  They weren't gross, mostly just really cool.

Wuv.

Naples + Best Friend + Manatee = WOOT!

Our cute little campsite at Mammoth Cave National Park.

The lady that took this in Kentucky took it and looked at it and said, "Oh that's so cute, you guys look great!"  Does anyone else see the irony?

Dear Utah,

I've been avoiding this for some time now.  I was in denial that I'd leave.  I came here for school and I didn't think I'd stay, but I did.

I fell in love Utah, with many, many beautiful people.  If I were to begin listing them you'd get really bored, but we both know their names.  

We've had good times and bad times.  I developed road rage because of your drivers, been sunburned on your mountain peaks, despised your endless trains, and shed countless tears.  Still, I've looked out on the water pocket fold as the sun rose, slept out under the stars in the Narrows, drunk from clear mountain streams, and laughed until my belly ached.

Now here we are on the road driving towards a new beginning.  I'll miss you and your funny pronunciations and your quirky LDS culture.  I feel like I've left a huge chunk of my heart there with my friends, colleagues and my students.

I think it's safe to say I've fallen in love, again, with you.

Love,

Becky

Why hello...

Hello there blog reading community.  I bet you cried yourself to sleep at night missed me.  Well I'm back!

And since we know how fond of lists I am I'll list the furniture we still own:
1 couch
1 mattress
3 camp chairs
a folding table
and a recently acquired ottoman

We've been packing like crazy.  Noah's quota is a box a day.  We sold off all of Noah's glass inventory tonight and are having a yard sale this weekend.  Whew, we have 13 days until our mover (Noah's dad) arrives to drive most of our worldly possessions to Chicago.  Here a few pictures of what we've done.

I should preface this by saying during Spring Break we took a trip to visit Shelley and Alan.  It was WONDERFUL!  Why did I ever say it wasn't a good idea.

Noah with the Whippet that he got to drive in Arizona.

The cake we made for Easter dinner.

We went with Shelley to the Desert Botanical Gardens where we fell in love with cacti.

Some of them were in bloom!

My personal favorite was the Saquaro.  They're like trees in Arizona!

I also loved these little Bishop's Cap Cactuses. 

After getting home we celebrated a birthday with Jessica.  We are REALLY going to miss them.

After I packed away our down comforter fickle Utah weather turned cold again and we resorted to using our sleeping bags.

What we sold at the yard sale.

Arizona inspired me to begin painting again.

What we had about a month ago to take.  This pile has grown a little, but not too much.  It still is in this one corner!

One reason I love being married to an artist...

Sometimes the prospect of being married to an artist who has chosen to pursue it as a career is horrifying a little scary.  This is one reason I love it:

Don't judge me on the status of my dishes.  They got done eventually.

The End and a New Beginning

In the last month we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting.  Finally, Noah's last graduate school letter came in the mail and we are going to Chicago!  I'm so incredibly proud of Noah and all that he's accomplished.  SAIC here we come!

Now to just fit all of my worldly possessions in a Toyota Echo...

You're invited...

Dear Family,

Hope you can make it!!!!!  It's at our place.  Should be a huge crowd and a whole lot of fun!

Love,

Noah & Becky

Christmas Eve :)

Skyped my family tonight.  Love my cute little Snuggie nerds.

We pulled out the china and had Thai food for dinner.

And finally, I finished my nativity puzzle!