Things I love about living in Cincinnati

Maybe love is too strong a word. But these are the good things about Cincinnati, and why I think it's the perfect place for us. At least right now:

1. The Cincinnati Children's Museum. Located at the Museum Center. Three museums all in one spot. If you get a pass you can use it to get into any of them. If you get burnt out on one you can try a new one and they usually have an extra exhibit depending on the season. For example for Christmas they had a train exhibit. Wyatt loved to watch the little model trains and Bianca loved to go on the train ride. Now their exhibit is about Dinosaurs. Great thing to do when it's not such a good weather day.
2. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. On those nice warm days it's a great time to visit the zoo. Our favorite exhibit is the manatees. It's awesome to watch them. This zoo also has a carousel and a train.
3. The Gap/Old Navy outlet. This is actually in KY but not too far away from us, about 20 minutes. They put out bins of jammies, for a dollar each! For kids. And they have great prices on all sorts of clothes for kids and adults.
   
4. Winton Woods. And all the great parks of the area. You pay 5 dollars and get into all. They take a lot of care in their parks here. Lots of space to run, beautiful surroundings. Playgrounds and our new favorite, the wet playground at Winton Woods. With little water spouts coming out of the ground and a spraying rainbow. They also have the best soft serve there. Love it.
5. P&G. Proctor and Gamble. For those of us who are stay at home Moms, it can be stressful knowing you aren't in a position to contribute monetarily to the family. But proctor and gamble has trials that you can take home, fill out a survey or go in, test a product, get interviewed and receive a gift card for Kroger or some other local grocery stores. What a blessing that is to get some extra "income" in that way.
   
6. Housing. The housing here may not be the most modern, but even students can afford to buy a house out here. I always think it's a good investment to own a home if you can.
7. Diversity. Let's just say Bianca was thrown a little off guard when she saw that our neighbor was African American. She had not seen many people of this race in Utah. Now she can experience the different cultures and backgrounds that people have to offer. Also our church population is diverse. All ages, many people with different cultural backgrounds. Lots of younger families, some or most associated with Cincinnati Children's Hospital where Eric works. We've made some great friends out here who have acquainted us with the area and let us into their homes and we feel like we've always known them. The people here are genuinely friendly.
   
8. Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Eric loves working here. They have endless resources for him and he is able to get the respect he did not receive at previous companies. They recognize his contributions to the research are immense and he feels appreciated and IS appreciated there. This makes our home life much easier, when we have a happy Daddy who isn't stressed out all the time with work circumstances.
   
9. The Public Libraries. There are wonderful people in the communities who volunteer in the libraries and I believe this makes a big difference. They read and tell stories to children, they keep the libraries humming and keep things in order. Which makes the library a nice welcoming place to come to. They have toys and puzzles at the one near us and story time and activities. When Eric's parents were out they had live Celtic music and crafts and cupcakes for the kids. It just brings the community together and allows my children and myself to read books and check out movies free of charge.
   

Overall I'd say the Lord blessed us tremendously by pointing us in the direction to move here. I just wanted to document it all and remember the opportunities and luxuries he has provided for us and for all those who live in this area.

Happy Halloween - 2008

I love it, love it, love it! Halloween out here was Awesome. The weather the day of was 70 degrees. I took the kids to the playground because they were so excited all day for trick or treat time to come. So we got some energy out there, it was so beautiful. The leaves have all changed colors and the weather was perfect. This is the first Halloween in 4 years where I was looking forward to going trick or treating with the kids and not freezing my tush off.

Here is WyWy, he is our little sucker monster. He kept bringing me suckers like this and whining for me to open them. He would taste one for a while then throw it down and bring me another. It was funny.







Bianca was a butterfly. The costume was a little big for her but it kept her nice and cozy for when the sun went down. She also wore her kangaroo costume for some October activities and that was pretty cute. She went trick or treating at a friends neighborhood and then in ours. She had a blast. Sometimes she would forget to say trick or treat, she was just running to the houses and holding her bucket out.

Apparently the Ohio way of trick or treating is to sit out on your porch with a fire pit and throw a few back with friends. I watched as people got their lawn chairs out one by one and was like, hey this is kind of neat. We didn't have a fire pit or beer but we did have a porch and some friends. It was really fun. When you go inside no one even comes to your door! It's like you are telling them you are done giving out candy. It's polite I guess but I still kept waiting for someone to come to the door to finish off our candy.





We all had to have our turn with the clown hair I guess...(:

















And this is why clowns really are scary. This is what Eric intended when he spent a whopping 3 dollars on the wig. Congratulations honey, you did it!

Power-less

(This is a sign posted by a neighborhood in Cincinnati who still does not have power after 6 days. Duke is the name of the power company out here)

Many of you have heard about the terrible hurricane Ike that stormed through Texas. Sunday I started to notice a really fierce wind in our backyard as it knocked over our barbecue, apparently the wind was from remains of the hurricane. I was kind of bummed that we lost our barbecue handle but at least we didn't have trees fall on our house or cars. When the power went out that night I wasn't too surprised..... but three days later I was. It's not like we are living in a third world country. So no laundry, no air, no heat, no dishwasher, no tv or computer and the worst was no refrigeration. We have an ice maker and we couldn't get the huge chunk of ice out so we had to let it drip out. Wyatt still drinks whole milk frequently through out the day so that was my main concern. Luckily a friend of ours offered to take our perishables to her house. She got power back Sunday evening. Thank you Rachel! So we didn't lose a ton of food but we did lose some.
Aside from that I got to spend some quality time with the kids and was just grateful that this didn't happen in the dead of winter. Then Wednesday rolled around and I was feeling pretty cranky as I was gathering the candles and flashlights to prepare for the evening. I couldn't understand why the street lights outside of our neighborhood were working but we didn't have power. Then around 7:00 p.m. it came back on. Just in time for me not to have a break down.
So today I was looking at the news in Cincinnati, and my heart is heavy for these people who still don't have their power. This is one of the stories:

"As they endured their sixth day without power today, Fort Wright residents Laura and Patrick Anneken erected the following sign on their porch: “Duke Energy bill: $500; Lost groceries: $500; family of 7 eating out every night, $400 and counting; No power for six days: Priceless.”
The family of seven is keeping milk for their five children in an ice-filled cooler. Because of the size of her family, Laura Anneken says she doesn’t want to impose on friends and relatives for meals."

That really is sad and frustrating! I can say that I know a little bit about how they feel and with five children! We are so grateful to have our power back but please continue to pray for those in Texas who are recovering and that Duke will be able to get the power back to those in Cincinnati who are still suffering from the aftermath of hurricane Ike.

An ode to Summer

It's been a great summer, we look forward to seeing you again next year.

Skyline Chili

Does this look good to you? At first it looks like spaghetti with cheese, let me tell you my friend, looks can be deceiving. When we were looking for houses in Ohio our realtor asked us if we had ever tried a 3 way? We were thrown a bit off guard, when she saw our expressions she blushed a little and said, "no, no, not that type, at skyline chili!" Skyline Chili is a very popular fast food restaurant in Ohio, (it falls close to White Castle) especially in Cincinnati. Every time we would drive by one I thought, how can people just sit down and eat a bowl of chili for lunch, seems a little heavy to me. Then I found out what it is. It's spaghetti noodels with ground beef and sauce on it, this would be called a one way. With the cheese it's a two way and add beans, it's a three way. The sauce is different than regular sauce though, apparently invented by the greeks, it contains cinnamon in it. So, I love chili but I never got around to buying anything there until this past wknd while at the zoo. I know, sounds gross, but I wanted a chili cheese dog. And when I say chili cheese I mean like the ones at Weinerschnitzel. Now that's a good dog! But much to my disapointment this dog was from skyline chili and it was a sad excuse for a dog, it was really limp and almost white. It was tasteless, and the "chili" on top, ewwwwww. Let's just say I would have rather been eating what some of the zoo animals are given over this. I like my sauce to be salty not sweet, those greeks must have been crazy when they made this recipe, it is SO not good. People out here say that you have to develop a taste for it. Anything you have to develop a taste for is probably not worth it. YUCK. So here is a little tip for the travelers...... if you ever come to Cincinnati, skip the Skyline Chili and get a wrap.

Green

One of the reasons I made our blog the bright green that it is is because of our new surroundings. It really is a new kind of beauty for me, the first thing I remember when we landed here on the plane was thinking "It's so green". Everything is so fresh and green, including our lovely backyard. It's so nice to have that space and to not hear cars constantly going by, it's really peaceful. Every night after dinner we swing the kids in the backyard, they just love it.
Recently we found out that this beauty however comes with a price. We got a letter in the mail without any return address or contact information (we think it was from our neighbors) stating that we needed to cut our lawn in the back or else they would turn us in to the green township. Our realtor failed to mention just how much land we were actually responsible for.... here is an idea:

This is the hill in our backyard, you can see our neighbors yard to the left with nice mowed lines in it (they have a riding mower). That is our neighbors son helping Eric with ours. Our land goes back to those trees and includes the detention pond, where that concrete is.
This kid, Zachary who helped Eric told us that they were worried about setting off their $2000 worth of fireworks on the 4th if our grass wasn't cut. That's why we think it was them who wrote the letter.. It was nice of him to help out though.



This is the view of the back of our house from the furthest point of our yard. You can click on the picture to see if bigger.
You see that little tree with the two bushes on each side of it. The people who lived here before had not done any yard work behind that. So we thought that was the line where our yard ended and we were happy with that. Now we just have a little extra mowing to do. Maybe our freakin neighbor will lend him riding mower once a month if he wants it mowed so badly!
So yes, the yard is lovely, we just weren't expecting so much of it!

New House

Finally, the long awaited pictures are here, just keep in mind that some of the rooms are not done. I wanted to wait until they were to post the pictures but I kept getting requests so here you go! Click on the picture below to open the album..........

House

A few firsts

We are here in Cincinnati in our new house now. The movers unloaded everything yesterday. So I am sitting here looking at all the boxes and don't even know where to begin! The trip went well. Bianca slept on the plane and Wyatt was good. I've learned some things about myself from this move and had a few firsts throughout the process, for example, on the plane ride here I changed Wyatt in the lavoratory and managed to go to the bathroom myself while holding him. That may be too much info for you but I had to brag because I'm pretty amazed I pulled that off. And all the while the "please return to your seat" sign was on. No pressure right? haha. I now know that I would rather leave some things behind and have them shipped rather than tug them onto the already huge load of carry'ons onto the plane, Eric however wanted to take everything at once. Another first was falling asleep in the living room while Bianca and Wyatt played and waking up in a pool of drool. I have never been a heavy sleeper and I can't believe I did that. I must have been pretty tired. This is the first house that Eric and I have had since we were married 5 years ago. We have had nice places to live though in the meantime. So now back to those boxes.... yesterday the guy who installed our phone line was talking to Eric and told him that he hated moving, actually I think his exact words were: "I would rather sit and take a beating than move again, I hate it." hm. Nice sentiments for the new family in the neighborhood. The more boxes they brought in the more I thought about what he said and I think I would have to agree. We are taking it slow since the kids take up a lot of time and attention and we've gotten pretty good at living out of a suitcase. I'll have some pics in my next post. Keep in touch and everyone in Utah: We miss you tons. Bianca wanted some of her old freinds to come over to see the new house. She doesn't understand the distance. It makes us sad. Hopefully we will see each other again soon.

Moving

The last couple days have been kind of a whirlwind. The movers came and packed up our things on Thursday and then the truck came the next day to pick everything up. I packed the clothes and things we would need for the next two weeks and put them in a suitcase and hid them from the movers so they wouldn't take it. So we've been taking things up and down the stairs (from our house to Eric's parents) for the last 3 days. It was really nice not to have to pack everything!
We are now still living downstairs with a few of our things and a pack and play that our neighbor so generously lent us for Wyatt. We were outside talking to our friends and it made me sad we are leaving. But I am glad that Eric's parents are staying, so we can visit them here and see our friends again. We've said goodbye to some people, our cousins and some others. Tonight we are going to see the Lynch's probably for one last time before we leave. ): We've been visiting with my sister Mandy and her husband almost every day too. It's really hard to say goodbye to a place and to people who we love so much. It would be easier if we knew exactly what good things were ahead of us but we don't. I am also looking forward to the weather out there. It seems to be about 15 degrees warmer than here. I can finally break out my short sleeve shirts again! (I know I'm such a wuss, but I'm from California).
Our car is being shipped so the last day we'll have that is Monday and then we are flying out on Wed morning. Then when we get to Cincinnati we'll be in a hotel until our things arrive at the house. They said they would be there by the 19th at the latest. I'll post some pics of the move and things when I get a chance. Thank you and Jeni and Toni for lending us things to make the transition easier!

Oh why Oh

As a friend of mine recently stated, "Oh why Oh are you moving to Ohio?" haha. I thought that was pretty funny. We leave the 14th of May by plane to the Buckeye state. I should be stressing right now but I'm not because of one main reason, I don't have to pack! Eric's company is relocating us so they come and pack everything and truck it out. The only thing I have to plan for is the time in between when they take our personal things and when they arrive at the house. We will be here a few days without beds, furniture a car ect. and then when we get to Ohio we are staying in a hotel for another couple maybe 4 days. I'm trying to look at it like a mini vacation. I'm sure Bianca will be a little confused when we don't fly back though, poor girl. She is going to miss her Grandma and Grandpa and Mandy and Ben's a lot. Anyway that is the update. So if you want to see us out here, call me before the 14th, after then we're outta here. ):
By the way we are going to have a NICE guest room with a big bed if anyone wants to come out to visit!!!!

Hotel room or closet?

OK I was just looking through our photos from the trip and I had to put these pics up. Eric's boss put us up in a really popular hotel, let's just say I was expecting a little more than what we got. I could not believe it when Eric opened the door. The room was so small that we could barely even walk in it, the bed was right up against the wall so we could hear people walking by and talking. There was no room to put Wyatt anywhere so we ended up making a little "crib" for him in the closet. Luckily the maids didn't report us for child abuse! He did pretty well in there actually.

Back from Ohio

We are back and we found a house, picture above. Everything happened so fast! Ohio is very different, everything is really hilly, it was hard to find a nice subdivision, a lot of the houses are on main streets or by themselves on a huge lot of land. We found a nice neighborhood though on the West side and it's just around the corner from the church. The trip was like a whirlwind and I think the move will be the same way. We are looking at closing in a month so we may be out there very soon.
Bianca did well while we were gone. She was mad at first and didn't even want to talk to us on the phone but after a day she talked to us and she wasn't thrilled but grandma and grandpa took good care of her. I was so happy to see her when we got home, she looked different to me. She looked at us for a long time and then wanted to tell us everything that had happened while we were away. She understood why we went and last night she told me she didn't want to move. It will be a big change for all of us but I think it will be good.

Over it

So today it's snowing AGAIN! I'm so over the 9 months of Winter out here. I looked at the weather in Cincinnati today and it said clear skies and 72 degrees. Maybe this move won't be so bad. We are leaving on Friday to look at houses and I'm getting sad and anxious about leaving Bianca. We have never left her overnight, except when I was in the hospital with Wyatt but at least Daddy was with her then. We'll be gone for three nights. Ugh. I'll post again about the trip and how Bianca did when we get back. Wish us luck!

Goodbye Corolla

We sold our little Corolla today. Eric bought it in 2002 and has used it ever since until today. He said it was hard to let it go, harder than he thought it would be anyway. We put a magnaflow muffler on it and kept it in great shape. We decided to sell it because we only wanted to ship one car to Ohio, not two and more importantly in order to have a down payment on our first house. . The banks don't do 100% financing anymore, so we have to put 3% down. We don't have any debt but we don't have that much money saved up either. This gave us the money that we needed. So I guess there is no turning back! We are moving to Ohio into our first house. We are going out there to look at houses in a couple of weeks but there is one in particular that Eric has fallen in love with and has his heart set on. Hopefully we can get that one. He made a sacrifice giving up his car so we could.

OhiO

Eric is seriously considering taking the job at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Ohio. He hasn't told them yes yet, but he has already started looking at houses. They are going to move us out if we do go, which I think we will. We are trying to find where the best place to live is, so if any of you have any insights, they would be appreciated. It will be a big change, but we are excited to move into this next phase of our lives.