I should be packing...

Yesterday I got an email from shutterfly.  You know the type.  "Reminder, only one day left to get your free photo book!"  And because I've had a project on my mind to do for awhile, I got on the computer last night and just sat for a few hours.  Working, editing, cropping, practicing.  You see, I'm new to Lightroom. I'm new to photography, and I want what I'm working on to be good. 

After my grandmother passed away two years ago one of my awesome cousins took the time to scan in a whole bunch of old family photos.  Then she sent everyone who asked for one a CD with all the pictures.  I thought it was brilliant, we all get to keep those precious pieces of our history.  The photos are not all picture perfect, they were scanned and many of them are almost 100 years old.  Thus, needing to know how to use lightroom.  If anyone has any tips on editing old photos, send em my way.  I will do this over and over until I get it right.

So, I decided to take advantage of my cousins hard work and make a photo book out of the pictures. Because my family is unaware of this blog (at least for now) I am going to post a few of the pictures I've been working on.  I want it to be a surprise when my mom sees it :)

My grandma as an infant.

My grandma as a young woman. For all I know it was the day of her wedding!  

My plan is to have my mom help fill in all the blanks and who's who, and then re-print.

Here's a few of my mom when she was a kid, she's the blonde.

I'm having so much fun doing this, but I really should be packing.

Getting it together

A few tidbits on what has me buzzing at the moment.

-Moving companies.  What in the actual heck.  Maybe it's just me but it's driving me absolutely bonkers not knowing when these guys are coming.  I know, we are very lucky my husband's company is footing the bill for some strong young lads to move all our crap into a truck, drive 9 hours north and unload it all.  But at the same time?  Not knowing when they are coming to get the stuff (Friday or Saturday) or when it will arrive (1-7 days).  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  This mama is more than a little stressed out.  

-The Virus- I caught a nasty bug last weekend.  I was in bed from Saturday morning-Monday night.  It was ridiculous. I don't remember the last time I was that sick and weak for such a long period of time.  Really put a cramp in my packing/organizing/sanity.  Thank God for my amazing husband who took on the role of "only caretaker" to our toddler without flinching.

-San Diego Safari Park- Pretty much our favorite thing about where we live now (aside from the obvious, the ocean.)  We planned to go over this afternoon and do one last stroll around.  Say goodbye to the Elephants, especially the babies we've watched grow into rambunctious kids.  And the sweet baby gorilla who is now a toddler and adorably hilarious.  And the relaxing tram where if you squint your eyes and are really good at pretending you can convince yourself (momentarily) that you are indeed in Africa on a Safari.  Such an amazing place we will miss so much.  Crossing our fingers and toes we can make it there later this week.

-Just plain stress.  I'm stressed.  I can feel my adrenaline levels increasing by the minute.  Instead of packed boxes, all I can see are things that need to be packed.  I'm buzzing with the fear that we won't get it all done (I know we will).  I just don't KNOW it yet.

-We really are ready for roots.  So excited to move into our new condo. Hoping it meets all our expectations for the next stage in our life.  We are so ready to move on, taking a leap and hoping our feet land in a nice garden where they won't mind staying for awhile.

Friday Evening Photos at the Antique Steam Engine Museum

There is a little place in our town where you can be and pretend you are somewhere else completely.  It reminds me of summer's on the farm up in Canada, but I imagine if it was flatter it'd look more like Texas.  Desert climate and all that.  Not that I'd really know, haven't been to Texas yet.

Anyway, we just love going there.  A few times a year they have a big fair and all the old antique tractor's and cars are up and running.  There is a tractor parade, it's just amazing.  Heaven for a toddler boy.  And literally only a few minutes away, though it is not always open to the public.

Last night we lucked out, they were having a movie night on the lawn.  The model train museum was open for a few hours in the evening and the grounds and playground were all open.

We zipped over after my husband was finished work and I'm so glad we did.  Here are a few of the shots I took while we were there.

 Always smiling while he's sitting on a "Drac-dor" 

 "What do you mean you brought me here just to look at it?"  He was pretty disappointed the train wasn't running like it has been at fair's in the past.

    Antique tractor, these are up and running during the fair's.

 Enjoying a little time at the playground "weee"

  Best buddy's taking a walk, checking out all the tractors.  Like I said, little boy heaven.

See?  Practically Texas.  We are going to miss this special spot a whole lot when we move.

Two weeks, let the countdown begin.

Just another day in the neighborhood

We've really enjoyed (most of) our time in our current neighborhood.  The people are (pretty) friendly.  There's a pool that's (sometimes) clean.  But most of all there is a tennis court.  And we probably use it more than any other family/individual in our complex.  Almost every single day that we've lived here we've gone down there.  Just a two minute walk out of our front door and there is open space to run and play.  A rare and special thing in our urban area.

Today I brought my camera along.  To document, to capture, to remember.  We really have enjoyed our time here.  I know in a few years I'll hardly be able to picture his chubby legs toddling down the sidewalk, jumping with excitement.  Time to run, time to play, time to just be a kid.

A day at the track

It was an odd choice to start a blog during such a busy period of my life. It's harder to get on the computer and update/edit photos than I thought it would be.  We are just busy.

Busy experiencing life. Soaking up the last few days of grandparents visiting (my husband's parents can actually drive to where we live now) and trying to experience parts of San Diego that we haven't had the opportunity to yet.

And busy packing, we've actually managed to get some work done.  Proof:

On Saturday our little family along with Grandma and Grandpa went to the track.  I'm not the betting/gambling sort but the track in San Diego is world famous.  Del Mar Race Track was a huge escape and pleasure for the Rat Pack back in the day.  Old Hollywood really enjoyed going there and because of that there is still a hint of glamour.  My mother in law and I had such a good time checking out all the girls in their dresses with their hats, dressing in old Hollywood style.  It was fascinating!

Here is a shot I took of the horses finishing up a race.  A lucky man a few rows ahead of us was pretty excited.  I'm so thankful Android phones can finally use the Instagram app.  It's so useful during this season in my life.

We have a few things left to do on our San Diego bucket list.  Time is running out, special moments are passing quickly and everything feels like "the last time" it will happen here.  We are all feeling a bit sentimental.  Only two weekends left!

A hint of wanderlust and a lot of hope

So this whole blog title is a little bit ironic.  My husband and I both have a hint of wanderlust.  We've both traveled some and lived in different places in the U.S. and though we haven't traveled as extensively as we'd like, we really look forward to being able to do that one day.

The thing is while we are ready for roots, we still haven't found that place where we feel so at home that we just have to stay there.  And we are picky.  So picky.  But we're odd (very odd).  We come from different states, with different cities and different suburbs with different cultures and we just haven't quite found that place to call home yet. We've considered moving to a lot of different places.  Some would be moving backwards, some completely new adventures.  We chose a new adventure.

My little family (we have an almost 2 year old) is moving for the 3rd time in less than two years and the condo we've rented up north will be our fourth home together as a married couple.  We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary last week and we are currently in the process of moving 9 hours north of where we live now in Southern California.

We are hopeful. The town we are moving to is absolutely beautiful, picturesque.  It's a good size downtown for a fairly small population, plenty of restaurants, and shops to entertain tourists for a day. The schools are good, there are no gangs (like where we live now!).  I'm excited.  But that doesn't mean I'm not terrified, and I definitely have my reservations.

The one and only time I visited was last November and it was freezing cold. Colder than I remember winters in New Jersey and I was wearing my ski jacket.  Brrrr!  I had to buy a hat and I couldn't find one I loved, (I don't remember needing a hat in November in Jersey) so I bought one with a funny animal on it.  I wore it everywhere. And I got a compliment (I didn't take it off, I was freezing!)  That was when I decided I liked it there.  Even though I was cold to the point of uncomfortable, I felt like there was a chill atmosphere to the town/area and I'm really excited about that.

So we're off, moving in three and a half weeks.  On to a new adventure, a new chapter in our lives.  We really are hoping to feel at home.  And while we look toward and plan the future, we're looking forward to cramming in a few more adventures here in San Diego while we still can.