Back in the Saddle again

It’s been a while since my last update. We took a little trip back to NY to visit with our family and do some house hunting. The family visiting was marvelous. Ellie entertained everyone and showed off her new skills. Gary got to celebrate his birthday three times this year once with Ellie and I out to dinner, once with my parents, and once with his family. He is a well loved individual. We got to visit with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins at Jessica’s wedding. What a beautiful wedding it was! The setting was perfect at a winery up on the hill overlooking a classic New York Finger Lakes landscape. We had so much fun watching the kiddos dance their hearts out and the ladies in the family as well. We also got to enjoy another trip to the Ithaca Farmers Market. Ellie got a fab T-Shirt from the Sundancer Designs Clothing Co. We also picked up some purple asparagus and a gorgeous white bleeding heart for Linda. So fun..

As for the house hunting we did good. We familiarized ourselves with the Ithaca area much better. We managed to narrow down our choices and pretty much came to the conclusion that we are in love with the village of Trumansburg. It is practically Mayberry reincarnate. We also learned that NY’s taxes are unbelievably high and painful. (We knew this, but just didn’t digest it until now) Yikes! We have decided to attempt a contingency offer on a cute little turn of the century farm house just out of the Trumansburg village. It sits on nearly 6 acres mostly wooded with trails and has a lovely distant view of the lake. It is a small house with a few imperfections but oh so cozy and warm and inviting and the property is so wonderful. So wish us luck. We still haven’t gotten any bites on our Timberlakes home for sale here in Utah but we are being patient and just keep trying to put good thoughts out there into the cosmic soup.

Ellie did good on the airplane. She got a bit fussy at times and tired of being held and the tight spaces but no major tantrums. On the way back we experienced the dreaded diaper blow out so we now join the ranks with Kim and Charie and the mile high diaper duty. I had to throw away the onsie and all! Nasty. She actually had quiet a few adventures, 6 plus full days of car rides and car seat confinement, 4 airplane rides, a two hour time change, a bonk on the forehead from a toy, and the porch swing breaking under her and Grandma Marcoccia. Well done Ellie your a trooper.

Getting Off the Fence

Ok, I have an emotional grip now I think. Gary and I have decided to mix things up a bit and relocate ourselves in the Ithaca, NY area for a while. We made the decision way back in January when we were on the long drive home from our visit over the holidays. Believe me it was discussed thoroughly as we had hours to spend on the topic while watching the yellow stripes pass by. I felt good about it for a while but I will admit that once I got home I found myself getting back up on the fence and avoiding the topic. I was finding that for every good reason to go to NY there was and equally good and opposite reason to stay. Family and friends being the best example of this. My heart aches when I approach the subject with my Mom or when our friends say how much they will miss us. Then I hear the excitement in Gary’s parents voices when we talk about the real estate we have been looking at and I get goose bumps over the prospects of being close to his family and discovering a new place. (emotional grip is lost as I have a big lump in my throat now) So we had another long talk the other night and we realized that we should do this. We are in a unique situation with Gary’s job (he works from home) and we should be taking advantage of the freedom it allows us to choose where we want to be and we should be doing it while Ellie is young. So who knows maybe in another three years I will be writing about our next big move to the coast of Oregon or the mountains of Montana or the beaches of the Great Lakes. The future is wide open…

A Happy Birthday it was

Yep it was my Birthday yesterday. I was trying to ignore it and pretend that 32 was actually 25, but I can’t work that kind of magic. Gary and his family helped me enjoy the day, they spoiled me with love and cheer. Gary took me and Ellie out on the town Friday night. We took a short drive to Ithaca to do some shopping at the Green Star COOP Market. Its a favorite little grocery market in town that sells local items, organic foods, and all kinds of good green products. We always have a hay day when we shop there. Then Gary took us to the Dewit Mall where the famous Moosewood Restaurant is. It is one of my favorite restaurants ever with an eclectic vegetarian menu. Unfortunately Ellie decided to fuss a bit so Gary and I took turns walking her around in the lobby while the other got a few delicious bites in. Of course she passed out just when we got our food all wrapped up and we were ready to head out, but it gave me time to pick out a new cookbook and a few other treats. After dinner we bundled up the wee babe and went for a walk in the Commons were all the shops were featuring ice sculptures. We were very impressed with the detail and the beauty of the ice it was a nice winter welcome.