Ok, last entry I think. I can't seem to get any more pictures to load, so you'll have to live without the courtyard shots... come visit and see it for yourself. :-P

Because I posted this all at once, it's a little confusing to navigate... I suggest using the links at the right to read them in order (start with the bottom and work up). :-)

I love you all so much. Thanks for being part of my extended family!!
cmr

This one about some of the nearby essentials… again, so you can picture where we are. We live about 15 seconds off of Lake Avenue, which is a big street. So it was easy for (even) me to figure out how to get to the Post Office and grocery store. We also discovered that the library is SUPER close to our apartment—YAY!!! It’s got quite the landscaping; funny, because it isn’t particularly big. But it’s nice, and we are both official, card-carrying members! *happy sigh* I actually took Soph down that way to time how far it was (we found it when we were driving home), and it took less than 5-minutes door to door. Pretty rockin’.

Altadena is right at the foot of the San Gabriels—I mean RIGHT at the foot. Actually, Lake has a pretty steep grade. And if, instead of turning off on our street, you keep going… in about two minutes you hit Farnsworth Park, and in less than two more you can park and hike in this giant reserve-type area. Oh yeah. Can you see me smilin’? Cuz I am.

We checked out the hiking area with Bamberg, and have been back since to explore a little more. It will be a long time before we run out of trails and sights—and we look forward to continuing to explore. We were warned that snakes come out when it gets warmer, but also learned that the rattler is the only poisonous snake out here. So no nebulous worries about random snakes!

Farnsworth park seems like a pretty popular community park. We’ve played tennis (heh—badly) there several times, other times we’ve just walked and explored a bit because it was busy. There are also LOTS of little lizards to chase—they like to sun on the shrubs near the court. We haven’t caught any yet, but sure have fun trying! The other day we heard this BIG racket and discovered parrots shrieking in a tree… they must have escaped from somewhere, but it was fun to see them. We also just discovered Eaton Canyon Park—5-minutes by car—that we are anxious to explore soon.

I think that’s all I’ve got… hopefully it does the job as an update! My goal for next week is to get hoppin' on the job search thing. Love you all, and hope you take me seriously when I say we’d love to have you come visit!!

Miss ya.

Some apartment pics, so you can visualize where I am.

We were blessed with a lovely housewarming gift from the Menomonee Falls Freitags... she's labeled 'Sybil, Princess of Snow' in case you can't read it. We are still deciding where to place this treasure.

The kitchen and bedroom were a priority... I'm going to be nice and not post pictures of my brother's bedroom. :-D

Our living room is still pretty empty... but we're patient!

I'll take a pic of our courtyard tomorrow and post it.

I thought we were making really good time, and didn’t want to arrive hours before Ben was done with work… so we stopped to check out Meteor Crater in Arizona.

We were then welcomed to the state of California with a gargantuan detour off the interstate… about 85-miles on county highways to a different interstate. We followed the detour for a while, and then decided to take a different route through Joshua Tree which was a pretty drive albeit a tad light on gas stations… but we made pretty good time getting out of that traffic mess. We arrived in Altadena and, after a couple of quick hugs and big dopey grins, rushed to unload what was in the car… so we could get back in. Ha!

Ben Bamberg, who is brother Ben’s best friend (do you notice a pattern of Bens in my life??) was flying in and we needed to get to LAX to pick him up. Ben was originally going to ride my motorcycle out, but it needed a bit of work and so he flew out instead. Back at the pad, and REALLY glad to be out of the car, we unloaded the trailer and made an Official Moving-In Mess!

Life with the Ben’s was fun-filled. Aren’t they a pretty pair? :-D

We did a little hiking, a little pool playin’, some movie watchin’… Bamberg actually tried out CoH (woot!) And of course some of their own ‘boy’ stuff—please note what a good sister I am not to say more. Poor Bamberg had to put up with my boring company while Ben worked... and as I did some major unpacking so that it would feel more like a Place to Live rather than a storage facility.

We celebrated Bamberg’s birthday on the 19^th with cake and a trip to Redondo beach after which, somehow, he took US out for a sushi dinner… goofball. We waved goodbye (ok, at LAX it’s actually more like dumping someone on the curb and driving away fast, but.. you get the point) on Sunday. Come back soon, Ben!!

Sophi and I headed out early on April 11^th, after more hard goodbyes, toward New Mexico. Kari, who has been my friend for almost 30 years (wow—I feel old to be able to say that!!) lives in Gallup with her husband Steve and son Ray. We not only got to spend the evening, but the whole next day hanging out… chatting, hiking, hangin' in the yard. It was so good to see them!!

On Thursday morning Sophi did NOT want to get in the car. She had decided she’d had enough. I headed out with her and turned to put my backpack in the car… and she was gone. Before completely panicking, I walked back up to toward the house and sure enough—she had walked up the steps and was leaning on the gate to the yard, pushing on it with her nose. Poor girl. It was a lot of car time, even with the nice breaks we had and she was SO good.

We arrived in Oklahoma a little after noon on April 3^rd to visit sister April and her husband Ben. Ben thought it would be fun to surprise April, so she didn’t know I was coming… or that he had planned a birthday party for that evening (her birthday being the following day). She was… very surprised! :-D

It was fun to get some hang-out with April and Ben and their pups… we chatted, watched movies, went fishing, went to campus where Ben works and April goes to school, ate great food, and wore out the dogs… Also got to spend some time with Ben’s wonderful family, which is always a treat!

Dad & Jackie came down for Easter weekend. April was at a conference all day on Saturday; the rest of us spent the day in Oklahoma City. We visited the OKC bomb memorial, saw an amazing Cihuly exhibit at the museum, did some walking along the waterways, and (of course) visited the Bass Pro Shop. Ha! We spent a wonderful Easter with Ben’s family, and got to drive out to see Jean, Jody & Vance later in the day.

Whew!

Ok, here we go… with just a few introductory caveats. I have NO idea how to make a blog… or format one… With that said… here we go! :-D

Sophi and I left Wisconsin early on April 2^nd after many difficult goodbyes—and after Dad worked so hard to wrap our little trailer (thanks, Dad!)

We drove all day with a few fun stops… our favorite prairie restoration hike right on the interstate somewhere in Iowa (where we discovered a new little spot with a stream!)… and one of the bridges of Madison County (because we needed gas and it was a nice spot to stretch our legs). We spent the night just outside of Kansas City, and woke up to leave in the middle of a torrential downpour! It let up after about 45-minutes, and the remaining drive to Oklahoma was uneventful.