Leaving on a Jet Plane...

... and returning in a CAR!!!

So sorry it took me until Thursday to post - I seem to have lost my camera cord to upload photos, darn it all! So unfortunately you will only get a photo from my phone at the end of this post.

This week has been a completely crazy debacle of a time! But before we catch up to today, let's start with last week - I'm not sure if I can even remember that far back!!! Well last week I got to feeling under the weather - AGAIN, I KNOW! - so I took it really easy on Thursday and Friday to be sure I was over anything before the big trip this week. The weather turned unseasonably hot on Friday, so I had to get out of the house no matter what and enjoy it Saturday. I drove up to my parents lake cottage, and it was the first time I'd been there in two years! My parents have owned the place since I was about 10 and I have spent many days throughout the years taking in the fresh air and all the pleasures of being on a lake! This past Saturday was no exception and I spent the day relaxing in the sun with family and pups! My sis and bro-in-law stopped by for a few hours and it was great imagining what this will feel like in a week with Ben around ---- so complete! :)

On Sunday, again with beautiful weather, I had a bridal shower to attend for my good friends Rachel and Matt (Kwapick). It was cool to see some folks that I hadn't seen in years or since high school - I guess that's what happens when you are gone for so long. I know when all the hermits in Milwaukee start to come out of their homes for the summer I'll probably glimpse way more blasts from the past!

I concluded the evening spending about 3+ hours watching the Lost series finale. I will NOT get into the details, I pretty much know most of my friends/family do not share my interest in the show - but I will say I feel fine with the ending and am glad to have been a fan for the past 4 or so years. What a thrilling life I have.. hardy har har.

For the past few days I have been calling Ben non-stop to make sure all addresses have been changed (just thought about the mag subscription addresses... will do that next!), bills adjusted and final preps have been made. Not going as well as desired - still no lease solution, and got bumped from a 14' Uhaul to a 10'. Bummers all around. At this point we have less than 12 hours til I get to Phx, so it basically is what it is. Hoping to enjoy some sort of delicious dish in AZ when I arrive, but probably will only be a quesadilla - Ben's dish of choice for EVERY night of the week. AND then we leave in the morning... Can't wait to take some photos from the trip and post when I return - let's add some positivity to the "TRIP"... as if it was planned to be this way ;)

Well, sayonara I guess, until 4,000 miles from now!!!
Bethers


Couver was pooped after a day at the lake!!!

LOST!

Normally I post on Sundays... but since it's the Lost Series finale, I'll have to wait until tomorrow night to add something. But you can bet it'll be a juicy addition when it happens.

Bethers

And the Countdown Begins

Ben officially has less than 2 weeks left in Arizona! For real!
I can't believe he is "this" (imagine me holding up my hand to show an inch) close to being back with Couv and I - and the rest of our Krey/Fredricks clan!

Side note: I probably will use many exclamation points in this message, deal with it.

I know Ben has quite a bit of work cut out for himself to try to get the place move-out ready and I'm almost positive he's not thrilled, but in two weeks it will all be over with. We are working on renting the beast of a house, and it's really been tough to find someone, but we've had a few people interested and they have both submitted applications. Cross your fingers yet again that something will come through - or else Ben and I have to pay through our ears to leave!

In all of this moving the thing I am most concerned with is our TV. Our beloved TV. I definitely do not want to harm it in moving so I am trying to figure out the best place for it - is it between two mattresses in the moving truck? In the back of Ben's car with soft things all around it? Or somewhere else I haven't though of??? Hmmm... this will eat me up.

So, Ben's dad is flying down on Wednesday the 26th and will help with the finishing touches of packing and cleaning - or relaxing in the 90 degree weather. He and Ben will get the truck on Thursday and take the couches to Sarah P's and other stuff to Goodwill. Hopefully most if not all of our stuff will be loaded before I arrive on Thursday evening at 10 PM. Then we will depart after rush hour Friday morning for three long and fun days of driving. I'm not thinking about how long the shifts will be.... three people to drive 2 vehicles - one ford focus and one u-haul truck... but it's going to be A DRIVE.

Either way, I'm looking forward to helping Ben make this trip so we and our stuff can FINALLY be together. The craziest thing is that I have been away from Arizona for four months already. I can't believe it's been that long. Since leaving people have gotten married, had babies, gotten pregnant (again:)!), and started dating. I guess that's what people do, but I feel like so much has happened in this time and it's felt like 2 minutes. Cheers to being together again!

Gotta go. My mom just informed me we are eating take-out from House of Fong. Yum!

Ode to Couver

I want to dedicate this post to my little boo boo... Couver. Yesterday we went to the vet for the first time in Wisconsin and got her hooked up with all the correct shots and vaccines here, including tick/mosquito prevention, which makes me so happy she will be healthy all summer long. She also got her valley fever blood draw - hopefully her last, cross your fingers - so we should find out this week if she can be off her meds she takes twice a day. In prepping for the vet I gathered a bunch of her previous vet history sheets together and came across her Humane Society papers. It was so funny to see our sweet "Cindy" - her previous name - and think of how well she has progressed over the past two years!

From the moment we took her home she was really shy and scared of everyone. She took immediately to Ben and I and was and is still a good and protective dog. She barked and barked at strangers and didn't really want to eat. She's always listened well and is very gentle. When we moved to south Phoenix she gained a stronger will and was able to hang out all day not in her kennel. She has never been destructive, only a few random things when she's angry - or hungry (sorry pecan pie and hot dog buns). Ben always says she will let me do anything to her, and I take full advantage of that - i.e. wearing halloween wigs, putting my glasses on her, sporting scarves. She loves to fight with blankets and unfortunately sheds a lot! But she is a great snuggler and very happy dog.

She has had her share of issues, we don't really know what her previous life did to her - she has facial and arm scars to prove it. We didn't know it at the time, but she was harboring an expensive and long disease in her elbow when we picked her out - Valley Fever. Since being diagnosed almost immediatley after we got her, she has recovered really well and doesn't seem to mind the medication each day. Hey, she gets it with a bite of turkey, so who wouldn't like that?!?

Since moving back to Milwaukee she's had a dog friend - something we weren't sure would ever happen. My mom's dog Caeser and her enjoy play fighting each day, walking together, eating together and even sleeping on the same dog bed together sometimes! The best thing I've seen is her happy attitude since moving, and her enthusiasm for my parents each day - another thing we weren't sure if she'd get used to. Even yesterday, we went to my sister's house and Couver played in the backyard with her dog Indy - a dog over twice her size.

Cheers to the future Couver - it just keeps getting better.


In mom's glasses!


All rolled up!


I love grass!

Love ya Couver, Couvs, Couv, Couv-Dog, BOO!, Couv-Dog Millionaire!

What's been going on!

So... already I'm lacking in my posts! BUT it has been a really busy two weeks since my last post on April 25. I'll give a quick recap on what's been happening.

After April 25 I had a really busy week at work. I coordinated my second large event at school and it was a success! We hosted a Community Day Walk-A-Thon for our students - they raised money in advance, and the day of they had activities to build a sense of community with one another. After the day ended I took a group of kids to the Brewers game as a fundraising benefit. I left for Phoenix on Friday April 30 - when I left Milwaukee it was about 70 degrees and when I got to Phoenix it was about 75! Milwaukee has been unseasonably warm over the past month or so, but has cooled down in the last week.

In Phoenix I was really excited to do the LAST of everything... last great dinner, last hike, etc. Things didn't turn out as planned and I didn't really do anything that was my favorite. Surprisingly, that was fine with me! Ben and I ate at some new restaurants - all good - the Roosevelt for good beer and food in downtown Phoenix and Thai Elephant. We also ate at Caroline's - the best Mexican I've had yet in Arizona. We bought ourselves some cowboy boots, watched the fight at a friends, pulled A TON of weeds, caught up with great friends and I even got to lay out in the sun by a pool!!!! Short, too short, but definitely sweet.

After I left Phoenix I was really tired the entire week, and couldn't accomplish much ouside of work. I've been extremely stressed because Ben and I are trying to get out of our lease early, we're trying to plan our move across the country at the end of the month, and we're looking for a job for Ben - probably the biggest need. The Milwaukee Public School system is laying off quite a few teachers which doesn't bode well for his job search. Cross your fingers for him!!!!!

This past weekend was really a lot of fun. On Friday, my sis Aly was in town for the weekend so I took Couver to see the in-laws and Aly - so great!!! Saturday morning and afternoon was spent with my mom, sister and aunt at the spa and the evening was spent at our high school baseball fundraiser. I had a great team and we participated in a 9-pin tap tournament and I was the lowest scorer on my team - which means I won a 40-ounce and a Subway sub! I spent a relaxing day with my mom on mother's day which was the first time in years!

Up next: dogsitting the whole weekend while my parents are gone, some bridal showers and on May 27 I fly to Phx to take the final trip from Phx to Milwaukee with Ben, a Uhaul, the Ford Focus and Ben's dad!!!!!