Apartment Living- the close quarters

Moving from a big 3200 sq ft house to a 600+ sq ft apartment has made us realize how good we had it.  :)  Kirk had to be in Texas in April.  We didn't come out till end of June once school and graduation was done.  He just wanted an apartment close to base, cheap and clean.  He got what he wanted.  I will say he thought the apartment was just for him since we thought we'd have a base house before we came..he knew this would not be my standards. :)
After 3 days on the road we drove in and I can honestly say the car went into complete silence.  We were stunned.  My 10 year old said- "Is this where we will live?  It looks like the hood."



And it did.  We moved from this house:



To this: second floor on the left.



I was disappointed, they were devastated and we were all burning up - it was 101.  I said - hey it is temporary and it might be better inside.
Enter our LR/DR/Kitchen - I did say it was a 2 bedroom and only 600+ sq feet remember?



Oh look you can see the itty bitty kitchen there in the distance - like maybe 12 feet away :)  Boone, our dog is photo bombing all over- but hey it is a small place.



Furniture is at a minimum for size and also moving wise.  Most of it is for our sons' college apartment and will be moved to Appalachian in a week.
Lovely IKEA sectional - perfect as it also turns into a full sized bed - the college freshman slept here a few days till he took off for the Grandparents house on the lake for a few weeks.  Poor him.



That is my dropleaf table being used as a place for me to blog and also an entertainment center of sorts.  It does provide a good deal of space to store boxes underneath.  I know you are asking what that lovely artwork on the wall is- well it is a printout of the T-38 cockpit.  Kirk has to practice on it..yeah that is how we roll here :)



I knew I'd need a comfy seat to just sit in and read - well since there isn't much else to do or room to do much else.   I'm contemplating trying the fabric paint by Annie Sloan on this chair when we move in.  If it doesn't work then I'm not out much as I wanted to reupholster it anyway. And yes we do use the dog food container as an end table.  Don't judge- it is called multipurpose :)



I'm sure you've seen little kitchens but have you seen a tiny, almost playhouse sized kitchen?  You have now.  The table and chairs are the boys also.  The table was built - it has a drop leaf on the back side so IF they get adventurous and cook a meal for friends it can open and add more chairs.  The chairs are from the mecca for college apartments- IKEA.



There are two bedrooms.  This is the bigger one and it has a half bath- we knew it had to go to the kids as they needed more room to play.  We have the bed and then also a mattress underneath that we pull out at night.  Boone sleeps here too.



We totally made sure we had room in the truck to move the little farm table for their computer.  We needed something to entertain them.  And we gave them Kirk's dresser to hold clothes in and an Xbox on top.  (Yep awesome parents - we are using cardboard boxes for our clothes. )



It is such a romantic bedroom - Please let me be delusional- it is how we get through this adventure.  I'm sure everyone has a printer in their room and uses your son's computer boxes as your end tables.  And yes our bed is just the mattress on the floor.  For the record it is much harder to get up all night long to use the bathroom from such a low level.



It is an  adventure.  I will say - the area is not nice looking but the residents of the apartments have been some of the nicest people we have met.  They are helpful, caring, friendly and very nice.  We learned a good lesson- things are rarely as bad as they look and that the looks do not define the person.  I think this was a good thing- now the kids and myself will truly appreciate our home when we get back to NC. 
 Its like they say-
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until it is gone.

Jon visits the Grand Canyon

This summer.  We moved to Texas.  Jon drove out with us as we towed his car.  He had about 4 weeks until he could get into college.  While here he really wanted to visit with his grandparents and hang with his cousins.  His cousins were going on a 4 day trip to the Grand Canyon.  He tagged along and had a blast.
What a view...wow

Jon with cousin- Jarod.

 Notice the sign.  Notice my no rule following kid broke the rules.  Ugh

A trip of a lifetime.  One that will be remembered always.  I'm so thankful to his Aunt Jennifer and cousin Jarod for sharing it with him.

We've arrived - Texas!

It was a long journey.  A three day drive with two kids and a dog pulling my son's car behind us.  Atlanta about killed me with it's narrow lanes.  But we made it in one piece.  We arrived and were a bit disappointed in the living quarters hubby found for us for about 6 weeks.  Think low income housing- ugh.  Oh well I promised the kids and adventure so I guess this is part of that.  :)
It is so hot here- I mean hotter than hell hot.  We are bored and on top of each other in this two bedroom apartment so it didn't take too long to find a pool to cool off in.  Wow they said everything in Texas is bigger- guess that applies to mere swimming pools.



Yeah we are having fun here EVERY day.  Fun and staying cool.

4th of July - Belton, TX style

Its hot and dead in Wichita Falls, TX.  There is a no burn ban and a drought problem.  Thus no fireworks or sparklers allowed.  And its hot- did I mention that?  I mean, Hell is not this hot.  So, we decided to head a bit south to central Texas.  Belton to be exact..actually ON Lake Belton.  Kirk's family is from there and his parents have a house on the lake.  This was our view every time we went out back.



Now you know a husband and kids could not just look at that lake.  No way.  They had to get in it and play..Ride on the boat:



Get pulled behind the boat:  Go Jack Go !!!



Go Sophie- you can do it !!



Even Jon got in on the action.



When riding on the boat or being pulled behind it wasn't enough they had to go do things that scare a mama to death.  Good think I was not there.  I am not for cliff diving at all :

 

We did other things while there also.  There was tons of food to be eaten.  Lots of family: aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents etc..lots of family and friends.  We even went to our first drive in theater to watch Despicable Me 2.



And to top it all off we hit the Belton 4th of July parade.  Good Morning America ranked it in the top 10 of  4th of July parades.  It was long and hot.  But we did it like troopers.



It was a crowded parade with tons of entries.  I'll let you sit back and enjoy.

We are home from Belton now..but I know we will be back down that way often.  Now Texas get I-35 fixed already.

Leaving North Carolina - just for two years.

Its that time.  Time for this family to pack and load up and head on down the road to Texas.  Hubby has the chance to get back in the cockpit again.  He gave up the plane to chair fly so we could get the two big boys graduated in NC.  Time for his dream to continue. We are leaving for 3 years and I'm building it as an adventure for the little kids.  We are renting our house out and moving to base housing for our adventure.  It will be hubby, me, and younger kids plus dog in Texas.  Unfortunately for this worried mama- the two older boys will remain in North Carolina.
Jon said goodbye to his job at the nursery- Big Bloomers.



We all went and had lunch at Josh's new job- the Red Sofa.  He is assistant chef there so we stopped by to say goodbye.  Hate leaving him there with us all gone.



Then we said goodbye for now to our belongings..



Until Texas....

Graduation- another one off to college- Jon's day

He did it.



The second son- Jon is off to college.  It was a tough year but we all made it through it together. I'm so proud of him and so excited to watch his journey in college..he's off to Boone, NC - go Appalachian State University !!!




  Way to go Jon..



We made it through graduation- barely.  Tropical Storm Andrea hit us right as graduation started.  Yes, we had 2.5 hours of pouring rain.  The kids were soaked, their caps got ruined and most pictures were impossible because the rain was so heavy.  But, it was definitely a night they will NEVER forget.
Now only 2 more kids to go.

Jack's turn

Sophie had a recital.  And Jack had awards day and did track for the first time.
Awards day totally surprised him and he was so happy when he got that medal.

Track was his calling.  He enjoyed it so much.  I'm sure we will be looking for more track in Texas.

It was all about Jack.  I love that little man...