Dominie Days: Absence makes the heart grow fonder...right?

I hope the title rings true as I have been "absent" from posting for close to two months. In my defense, I had a great post all written up a few weeks back and lost the whole thing while uploading pictures...#$%&. I was pretty ticked and decided not to start all over again. Lol.

We have been pretty busy and at this point, I won't be able to remember every little thing we have done since my last post. (Pictures will be RANDOM!) There have been rodeos, Jackass Mail Runs, fairs, BBQ's with friends, Mother's Day, picnic fishing...etc etc.

We continue to enjoy our surroundings, our friends....life is pretty swell. :-) We've got a great little circle of friends which has helped ease my still lingering home-sickness.

School is officially out for me! It is completely surreal that I have finished my first school year here in California. Plain craziness. I have made some good friends and discovered a new love. Working at a continuation school introduced me to a completely different population than I had ever been around or worked with. It was a slow burn, but I ended up falling in love with that part of my job. Seeing my Seniors graduate last week was so touching and I couldn't have been prouder of them! My focus will turn to Addy's first go of swim lessons and planning her 3rd birthday party. She starts the swim lessons Monday and will go for two weeks 30 minutes a day. I'm thinking she will be a little fish before we know it! And yes, I said 3rd birthday...I don't know how that happened. Three? Really?

We are down to 19 day until TEXAS! Addy and I will land on June 21 and be there for almost 5 weeks until July 25. Dusty will join us for the week of the 4th. Wish he could join us longer. I am a little anxious at the thought of flying with Addy alone. I trust she will be a good little girl and that you won't see us on the news getting kicked off of our flight over a temper tantrum. Have I mentioned the child has an attitude for days? Don't know where it comes from. Lol. Someone I recently met told me within 5 minutes of meeting Addy that she has a lot of "moxy"...I like that and I'll go with it.

Big news for the Felderhoff world...my brother and his beautiful family have moved back to TEXAS as of yesterday!! Woohoo!!!! Go Ray!!! They have been in the Seattle area for close to 8 years (I think) and he has been looking for something in Texas for the past two years. Well, he finally found the job and its in Waco...halfway between Austin, where his wife's family lives, and halfway between Dallas, where our family is. Don't forget that he is an AGGIE...so Waco puts him within an hour and a half to his college roots. :-) Our family is overjoyed...my parents are thrilled. It goes without saying that when Dusty and I made the decision to move to CA, I struggled with a lot of guilt. Self inflicted, of course. I felt like I was "abandoning" them seeing as Ray and his family were already so far away. I have struggled and struggled with it, weighing heavy on my heart, and when I got the news that Ray was moving home, I felt this sudden weight lifted off of me. I am beyond happy that one of us will be near our parents. I thank the good Lord that they won't spend another holiday season without either of us. Despite us both being gone this past year, they have been nothing but supportive and we couldn't ask for more in our mom and dad. :-)