The Bickmore Buzz is back in business! As you can see from the previous post, we had an amazing summer, including our big move from Tempe, Arizona to Warrensburg, Missouri. My mom drove with us and was a HUGE help. She stayed for a week and flew back to Utah. I was really dreading the 17 hour drive, but it turned out to be a very pleasant trip. We broke it up into two days. The first day we drove 10 hours to Nebraska and stayed overnight in Motel 6. The next day we finished up and drove 7 hours to Warrensburg. When we first arrived I was so overwhelmed with the house. When the water was turned on a few weeks before we moved, there was a leak in the water main. When the guys came to lay down some new flooring they noticed the ceiling in the corner of the garage was falling down so they tore out the dry wall and aired out the insulation. So the garage looked crazy. Then the kitchen was all dusty from the new floor and I tried so hard to fight back the tears. I wanted to be excited for our new house, but instead I felt miserable. I decided to just lay down my sleeping bag and go to sleep. The next morning, my mom and I got to work cleaning up the kitchen and laying down vinyl lining on the shelves in the cabinets. I started to feel better once we got cleaning. We made some trips to Lowe's and the grocery store. Then our POD was delivered and several people from the ward came over and helped us move our stuff in the house. It felt good to have our things back. I was really excited to hook up the washer and dryer. After the first load of laundry, we discovered our washer broke during the move so that's another repair I had to schedule with the home warranty. Good thing there is a laundromat just a mile from our house. My mom is the best at cleaning. She taught me the vinegar, dawn soap, and water trick for shower doors. That combo is magic in removing soap scum and hard water stains! So, the deep cleaning of the house is done. I still need to wipe out the window sills, but that's about it for now. We have a long way to go in setting up our house and finding a place for everything. I decided to hold off unpacking the non-essentials until the boys started school to give me something to do during the day. Overall, minus the pangs of home ownership with the water damage, we are so grateful to have a home in a safe neighborhood. Not everyone can say they have the American Dream! As far as Warrensburg goes, I LOVE it here! We've seen deer, an owl, bunnies, squirrels, frogs, cardinals, huge spiders (eek!) and amazing sunsets. We have so many walking trails by our house. The town has lots of hills so I've been able to get out and do some walking. I love walking along these country roads and not have to breathe in fumes. The people here are VERY friendly. I've always considered myself a friendly person, but these Missourians knock me out of the water. I thought I knew what polite was until I moved here. William commented the other day, "Mom, it's so easy to make friends here!" It's true! Everyone treats you like a friend and I love it. I'm thankful Will and Van can be around so much respect.
The weather here has been wonderful! There was one hot day where I was sweating because of the humidity, but at least I could be outside for 2 hours. That would never happen in August in Tempe. 2 minutes was the maximum to be outside in Arizona. I'm really looking forward to having a fall season again. We have so many trees and I can't wait to see all of the fall colors!!
Isaac loves his job at UCM. We live very close to his office and he can ride his bike there in 15 minutes. He just completed his first week. He is trying to stay one step ahead of the students and learn about all of his other duties as the Music Education Professor. He was asked to be the advisor for a student acapella group called The Rainbow Tones. He's the NAFME (National Association for Music Education) student group advisor. He's teaching three courses: Elementary Music Methods, Middle School Music Methods and running the collegiate choir. He likes his colleagues and is really glad that he got this job. He was sustained in church on Sunday as a primary teacher for the CTR 6 class. Van is so excited!
The boys started school last Thursday! Van is in first grade at Maple Grove Elementary. Will is in 3rd grade at Martin Warren. Van's school is grades PreK-2nd and Will's school is 3rd-5th grades. Although it's hard keeping track of the two schools, like mixing up their start times and making Will almost ten minutes late on his first day (MOM FAIL), I like that the schools can cater to the age groups. Each boy has only 20 students in his class. Maple Grove's theme is all about LEGOS--Building a strong foundation for learning. Martin Warren's theme is TRAVEL--experience the adventures of learning. Van's teacher is Mrs. Holmes and Will's teacher is Mrs. Watson. Get it?! Watson and Holmes!! Ha ha! They are both awesome teachers. It was so nice on meet the teacher night when I could just enjoy getting to know the teachers and not worry about having to set up my own Meet the Teacher night. I signed up to be the room parent for William's class so that will be fun. His class is a one to one iPad classroom so he's excited about getting his own iPad. We'll see how they integrate them. They both get student planners and lockers. In addition to a music and P.E. teacher, they also get an Art teacher. Each school has its own gymnasium with bleachers. WOW. I really feel like this move to Warrensburg has been a step up for our family. We're very happy here. Now y'all need to come visit!
I love our new ward too. There are lots of families our age and lots of new move ins so I don't feel so alone as the newbie. I've made a friend -Teresa, she goes by Tessie. She's a teacher too with three kids ages 8, 6, and 3. She just moved here from Olathe and feels the same way I do--that this is a really good move for her family and that she is going to love living here.
Warrensburg was in the path of totality for the solar eclipse today! There was a town 40 miles north called Waverly that was going to have 2 and a half minutes of totality as opposed to our one minute so at 9:30 this morning we drove to Waverly. Soon it started raining and at 11:30 when it didn't stop, I said, "We better go back. If this doesn't clear up, I'll be so disappointed." I called the owners of the Buckeye Acres Farm--we met them at the Farmer's Market and she told me they were hosting an Eclipse party at their farm-- and asked her about the weather. When she told me it was sunny with just a few patches of clouds, we got in the car and drove back. We arrived to sunny blue skies in Warrensburg at 12:15--just an hour before the total eclipse. You guys! The eclipse was an AMAZING sight! We watched it through our glasses and as the sun started to look more like a thumbnail you could just sense this eeriness. Then when the moon completely covered the sun, we got to take off our glasses and see the magnificent glow around the moon. We could see Venus shining below. The sky was dark and instead of orange clouds on one side of the sky during a normal sunset, they were all around. We were all cheering and laughing. Van kept saying, "My tummy is shivering!" because he was so spooked. Then, about a minute later, the sun peeked out the side and we put our glasses back on. I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. When I'd watch the news and videos about the eclipse in Oregon, I'd get goosebumps reflecting on my own experience. I wish it could've lasted for hours and that there would be another one tomorrow! If you ever get a chance to travel to see a total eclipse in the future, DO IT. The pictures do not do it justice.
Overheard at our house:
- The first Sunday we went to church here, I went to pick up Van from primary. He was very upset. His brows were furrowed and his arms were folded. I asked, "What's wrong?" He yelled, "Guess what? The bishop here only gives candy on your birthday! That is so DUMB!" Isaac interjected, "But in his defense, Van, he said that in this ward there are 90 primary kids and that's just too many kids to pass out candy to. And remember he told you that when you get your birthday candy, it's BIG candy." I looked at Van and he wasn't buying it. He said, "That rule is just so dumb!"
- The night before the first day of school Van said, "I'm so nervous! I'm nervous one thousand percent!"
- One day at the park I overheard William tell a little girl on the bridge, "You're faster than my brother on this thing." She asked, "Who's your brother?" He said, "That small kid over there with the big head."
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| Here we are leaving Sophie's driveway for Missouri! |
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| These Sinclair dinosaurs are everywhere in the midwest. |
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| Our first Sunday at church. |
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| These are all the before pictures of our house that I took the third day. Once things get put away, I'll post some after pictures for comparison! Here's the family room downstairs. |
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| Our laundry room/half bath downstairs with the broken washer. :( |
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| Our garage. The corner to the left (not pictured) is the one that's being repaired right now. It's almost done! |
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| Our kitchen with the new flooring. The previous owner installed brand new appliances! Woo hoo! I do miss my side by side refrigerator. I've already hit my head twice reaching in and pulling stuff out. |
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| Dining room |
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| Dining room |
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| Living Room |
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| Guest Bathroom with bathtub and shower |
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| Bedroom one |
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| Boys' bedroom |
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| Master bedroom |
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| Master bathroom |
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Backyard. No sprinklers in Missouri! We get enough rain.
We love all of our space and being able to spread out!! A huge change from our 1,000 sq. ft condo!
I'll take more pictures of the town and post next week. The Bickmore Buzz is back baby! |
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