8 1/2 Weeks To Go!

The end of September is getting closer! The big day is about 8 1/2 weeks away. The pregnancy is still going quite well. No complaints here. It's always fun to watch the belly move and feel the baby kick.

We toured the Labor & Delivery and Postpartum wards at the hospital today - both very impressive. One of the great things about living on post is that the hospital is only 7 minutes away.

Here I am at 31 weeks.

The nursery is a work in progress. I will post pics as soon as it is finished.

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All Moved In

The house is now feeling like our new home. All the boxes are unpacked and pictures are slowly making their way onto walls. We are slowly meeting neighbors - so far, so good. One neighbor (one of Justin's new bosses) gave us one of his 50 fresh Sockeye Salmon that he caught by netting on the Kenai. Time to find a yummy recipe.

It's cool, cloudy and rainy. I can't complain much, especially when we keep hearing about the record highs in the Seattle area. Happy to say we are not there!

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The House

This is our new home. Fort Richardson has been busy building new housing around post. When we checked into the Housing Office this house was just turned down by another officer and they let us have a look at the house. It is bigger than our home in Puyallup and it has a two car garage (a must have). After spending months looking at rentals on Craigslist we were set on renting something that probably wouldn't have met our standards. The moment we walked in the house it just felt right. We move in on Tuesday. The hunt is on for paint to fix up the nursery. Kara is excited to start "nesting" soon. Anchorage - so far, so good!

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Our New Home

Family room and kitchen. Living room and dining room. 2-car garage. Kitchen.

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Northward Bound

July 6 - 6 movers packed and loaded our house in 8 hours. Celebrate 7 year wedding anniversary.
July 10 - Drive to Bellingham, WA to board the MV Columbia for a 2+ day ferry ride to Haines, WA.
July 13 - Depart Haines, AK and drive to Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada.
July 14 - Haines Junction to Tok, Alaska.
July 15 - Arrive Anchorage, AK.
July 16 - Sign into Fort Richardson and receive on-post housing. Receive notice both our household goods and car have arrived. Smooth!
July 21 - Move into our new home for the next 3 years.

The "Housing Gods" blessed us (thank you Gloria) when we went to the housing office yesterday. Since Justin is CPT-P we were able to get Field Grade Officer housing...and it's amazing. We will live in a single 3-bed, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage home in a new neighborhood on Fort Richardson. We're pretty sure it's bigger than our Puyallup home.

Initially we were going to buy, but the sale of our house went south after a VA appraiser messed up the sale process (under valued our home). We're fighting the appraisal and the house is back on the market (anyone need a new home in Puyallup?). We weren't going to live on post but couldn't pass up the opportunity. A house this nice would probably rent for upwards of $2,500 a month out there in the real world.

We have had a busy July so far. We are now finding our way around Anchorage and the surrounding area. We really like it. Tonight we're headed Moose Tooth's Pizza & Brewery with a high school friend for good food us and beer for Justin.

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