Some differences that take getting used to...

Last night made me wonder if this slight cold i have been fighting might actually be allergies.  Its probably not, but it carries all the symptoms that it could be.  My eyes were watering and itching like crazy, burning itchy.  I sneezed about 10 times in like 15 minutes, slight runny nose and somewhat of an itchy scratchy throat.  Problem is, everyone in my family has a cold. Maybe mine is both lol :)

Im starting to feel a little more settled here now. I guess i should have already been to that point since we moved in 2 months ago but i finally started to hang things on the wall.  Pictures here and there in the living areas.  So it makes it feel more like our home :) I made sure to get stuff on the walls in the girls rooms right when we moved in, since i wanted them to be comfortable sooner rather than later. You know whats great about my kids?  They really havent shown any signs of being scared to live in a new city, and house.  Some may say they dont fully understand that they live so far away now.  But they do.  At least Julia and Madisen do anyways.  We talked to them long before we started packing our old place, and continued to talk about the whole process of moving here.  They have grandparents that live far away so they know about needing a plane to fly and see people. The girls were actually excited about the move too.  I think because we made sure to always show them we were excited too.  I explained its ok to miss our friends and family in Oregon, but its also ok to be excited about our new adventure, even if others were sad.  We will keep in touch.  And we have, so far, to the best of our abilities :)  Now that we are more settled, the girls will be able to write their friends some letters and send them.  

Sending mail from here is different than we are used to though.  We live in a subdivision that has multiple mail boxes in one unit at the end of the street, only problem is, it doesnt have a mail slot to leave mail to be sent.  This has really bugged me!  I dont have a car half the week and the closest USPS blue drop box is over 5 miles away. After complaining about this amongst ourselves for a few weeks, we learned that identity theft was so bad in this state, that they took the mail slot option away for protection.  Whatever :)  Fine, i've had to remember to send it to work with my husband or wait until a day he is off to send something.  I know i should get with the times more and just use online billing, which we do for some things, BUT it also scares me to just have money come out of the account.  When i find the time, i can organize a list of bills and what days they would come out of the account and keep track of it like that.  Like everyone else lol  

Besides the mail box thing, pumping our own gas, taxes and the weather, there are still some major differences here.  People either drive way to fast (i have no problem with this lol) or they drive incredibly SLOOOOW.  You would think i would be used to this coming from Oregon where the speed limit is 55 mph max..ugh.  But im talking about people deciding to do 45 on the freeway.  NO reason..just because.  The posted speed limit here is 65 so 45 is just unacceptable!! Or people who decide to do 25-30 in a 45mph zone, and there is no way around them. 
 
The water is 'hard water' here, i HATE that!  Ya know when you go to unload the dishwasher and there is still some water pooled up on a cup or something?  Well it already makes a white ring here from the water.  We cant just drink it from tap, its nasty!  I know, i know, i came from a state that has the best drinking tap water in the country, so i was spoiled.  Definitely different feel to my hair and skin too after a shower, so it didnt take long before we installed water filters on the showers to protect the kids as well :) We have a huge bottled water thing that we use to fill or own water bottles and drink from those.
Places are way more spread out as well.  They will put a bunch of stores together on a big lot, but from that group stores to the next...is kinda spaced out.  You can have a nice subdivison and right next to that is a couple houses with a lot of land and a bunch of horses, or goats, or cows, and then a gorgeous subdivision right next door again.  It made me laugh at first...i was like WTH?  Its probably just in the city i live in tho, since its so new.  Unlike Phoenix or something.  I am used to the farms and homes with land being further out of the city, like portland to Banks kind of space between them. 

The turning lanes are kinda weird here too.  If i had a picture i could explain it better. So until i take a pic, i wont go into detail.  Actually if i had a picture i wouldnt NEED to go into detail, you would know what im talking about! lol

The weather is getting so beautiful here.  Not gross hot, but still kinda hot.  There was a crisp cool feeling this morning when we walked Julia to school.  Not quite cool enough to need a little jacket or zip up or anything but i can see how in the coming weeks it definitely will be cool enough for that.  I cant wait to wear my Oregon Ducks hoodie, and represent! hehehe  Unlike a whole day of wearing in OR, it will only be a morning thing here.  Back up to the 70's or higher by noon.  Not complaining!!!

Have a great Wednesday!  Until next time... 

A smile from this morning :) 11 weeks old today!