"It's gonna be a bright sunshiny day."

Friday morning in Pueblo brought us to another elementary school visit, and to another house. We found time to pay a second visit to our favorite house, where we confirmed that this was our first choice. At least we had no disagreements on that point?

Pueblo is transformed in the sunshine!

We had recorded this video for the kids on Thursday morning at the Children's Museum. I'm including it so you can feel our excitement. 

Once again, we got up so early we ended up with extra time. One more trip to solar roast coffee, a few more pictures at the Buell Children's Museum. 

We can't wait to visit museums again! Blacksburg's a little wanting in museums and zoos.

we drove past the zoo and caught sight of some zebras, kangaroos and ostriches.

There's this park in Pueblo; we could see it, but we couldn't get a great picture. But it's right next to the zoo and has little permanent carnival rides that cost 25-50 cents a ride! I can't wait to make memories here!

Back we went to our favorite house that morning. I am superstitious and do not want to link to the house we chose. But here is view from across the street:

In the afternoon, we paid a visit to the Episcopal preschool. Adele has been saying she wants to attend this preschool ever since she learned there was such a thing. It's a charming little school, and since they have an afternoon program three days a week, we should be able to send her there next year.

Even the playrooms have stained glass:

Stained glass everywhere at Ascension. It's a joy to my eye.

In the afternoon, we started the drive back to Denver. We found the scenery improved by sunshine:

Having been informed that the trading post at Garden of the Gods was the best place to get Colorado tee shirts, we took a detour in Colorado Springs.

Our brief visit contained some majestic views:

We caught sight of a few mule deer:

There was so much glory. We cannot wait to bring the kids here! but first we'll have to get used to an altitude of 4,692 before we go hiking at 6,035!

We spent Friday night at my cousins, Joel and Bri's, beautiful home. We haven't seen much of them during their years in Denver; I'm very excited to spend more time with them out west. They gave us dinner and let us sleep in their bedroom, and they celebrated with us as we submitted our signed offer on our favorite of the houses we saw!

I need to tell you if you are used to a different sort real estate market, that I've been watching Pueblo's for months and I have learned that we can't afford to deliberate and ponder. Houses are posted and are sold in 2 weeks, on average. The house that was our favorite had been on the market for a full three weeks, which is an eon in Pueblo's booming seller's market.

We saw the house on Thursday and again on Friday, readers, and we made an offer Friday night, for the asking price, signing it on the iPad from Joel and Bri's house (you also can't afford to bargain in Pueblo. Someone will have undercut you).

On Sunday night, we got the news that the sellers accepted our offer! We bagged a house! We'll give the address when we move, and take pictures when we arrive (though some of you have seen it) but it's a sweet 3 bedroom house with a small yard that's across the street from a great elementary school (the school we liked better of the two we saw) and is a little more than a mile of very bikeable road to Jon's library on CSU-P's campus! This aspect of the move is working out better than we could have dreamed.

Saturday morning before dawn, we were off to the airport to return our rental car and get ourselves on another plane.

Our flights were all on time and none were cancelled. We rather thought the flight from Philadelphia
... to Baltimore was going to kill us. It was a tiny plane, and there was a lot of wind. A lot of wind. I pulled a muscle clinging to my seat. But we made it, and saw both the Rocky Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay from the air in one day.

But our day was not over. By 5pm we were reunited with our car and began the drive to Rochester. Had to stop for ice cream to keep from falling asleep. 

Being Rochester in April, of course, we had to deal with a couple inches of snow pelting us from the PA/NY border all the way to Dad's house. We arrived at 12:30 and woke up to this:

Leah and Matthew received us so graciously and provided a filling and delicious breakfast. Eventually, Dad joined us and we had a really lovely family party before loading everyone into the Versa and beginning one more long drive.

The other of Leah's long-suffering kitties

I'm so grateful for the prayers and support from all you folks. This is real now. Pueblo is not an abstraction. We have an address in it. and we have friends there.
You might not know this, some of you readers, but my parents spent several years in Colorado. Actually, mom kind of fled from her broken heart to Colorado and to a hippy, motorcycle-riding boyfriend out there. She fell in love with the skies and the sunshine and the freedom she felt there.

It's been hard for me over the years to be moving farther and farther away from my people, and from where most of my memories of mom are grounded. But as we walked among the mountains and the enormous western sky, I remembered her love for those landscapes. "Bright Sunshiny Day" was a favorite song of Mom's; whenever she heard it, she'd sigh and look faraway and say, this always reminds me of the sky in Colorado... It's become my anthem this past week. God is mysterious. I would not have thought I could feel so close to mom in a cross country move. But I do.

It really is going to be bright.

Back in Virginia, spring is dragging its heels. But we know what we have to do in the next two months; it's just a matter of getting it done.

We can see all obstacles in our way. 

Meanwhile in Rochester...

This was our first time leaving the children for more than one night. It might have been more stressful and worrying than it was, but for Leah's frequent updates on their antics and picture sharing. 

Here are a few she sent me (there were a lot more!) that made me smile the biggest and kept my heart light:

Leah & Matthew recently got kittens! And Adele is here for it:

Hanging out with Tai Tai (10 weeks and like three inches apart):

Brave Leah took all four kids to the science museum:


...and the Highland Park Conservatory:

Miles wore his dresses all week, so I guess they got to know him better.
Up the trees at the conservatory:

Playing at the science museum. I think these are supposed to be red blood cells?



Miles came home with this "blood" sample in a zip-lock bag, to our (at first) confusion and disgust.

They barely missed us. I can't tell you what a relief it was to know the kids were with family, safe, and having the time of their lives while we were in Pueblo.

"Coming home to a place we'd never been before."

We reached the long-awaited departure date for our trip to Pueblo one week ago. Tuesday afternoon we left Blacksburg for Maryland, where we spent the night in Dave & Cindy's empty house.

That the house was empty represented a change in plans. About a week before we left, we learned that Dave would need bypass surgery, and would be in the hospital for the week that we were gone. It was alarming news! He has come through the surgery, which was Good Friday, very well, and is home now, recovering. But the children needed to find a new destination. Thankfully, because of the generosity of our dear friend Anne and of my beloved cousins, Leah & Matthew, we were able to find other arrangements for them.

Anne arrived at the house at 6am so that we could leave to catch our plane! While we were running around airports and hurtling through the air, she was driving our children to Williamsport in her car, and transferring them into Leah's borrowed van (thanks Uncle Doug!) where Miles and Adele were able to spend the rest of the week in Rochester, with Abby and Tai Tai. So many hands helped to make our trip possible. We're so grateful! As you will see, the few days in Colorado were very, very fruitful.

On the plane to Charlotte

Flying over Virginia. Seemed a little silly. We waved. 

Flying over Kansas. We watched Adventureland, uninterrupted. Miracle!

When we landed in Denver, this picture was waiting for us, instantly soothing whatever worries about the kids I might have had!

They had a blast with their cousins; didn't even miss us. 

We rented a car and began to drive- in increasingly intense snow! During the two hour drive from Denver to Pueblo, I marveled, first at the emptiness of the state (it was like the unloaded gray portion on a google map, in places), and then at the beauty.

Colorado Springs was breathtaking! It was like the mountains had been creeping silently up and suddenly loomed up to flank the town. The pictures I was able to get just couldn't quite capture the majesty.

Our first view of Pueblo was not from its most advantageous angle. Our hotel was located in the commercial district, and we were mainly looking at big box stores and restaurants when first we got off the highway. After checking in and freshening up, we went to our dinner appointment with John and Rachel Gardner, priests-in-charge at Ascension Episcopal. Someone had already done some networking on our behalf to introduce us. Get this: John and Rachel used to be priests in Martinsville, VA, only 2 hours from Blacksburg! How small is this world?!
Rachel gave us a tour of the church before we left for dinner.

It's very formal! and lovely. 

I especially liked the Christ the King window:

The kids are going to love the blue windows on the sides. I took a shot of this one because it contained John the Baptist (Adele's favorite):

I love the rood screen:

We got to see the Godly Play/ Children's Chapel room. I sent this picture to the kids:

Our dinner with John and Rachel was abundant with benefits. Not only did we meet some fun people, also parents, also Episcopalians, with whom we had a lot in common, but they were able to give us gales of information about the town, and about the experience of moving to it. They have only been in Pueblo for three years, so we got a newcomer's perspective as well. Sadly, John and Rachel will be moving this summer! They're at the end of their tenure as priests-in-charge. But they promised to meet up with us again when we move in. They're even sharing their favorite babysitters with us!

I can't think of a much warmer introduction to our new home than this dinner with our new friends. We had Mexican food. Mexican food in Pueblo is SO LIT.

Thursday morning began early. We were on Eastern Standard Time, so we were up at 5 local time, breakfasted and out the door by 8, and in this coffee shop by 8:15. Solar Roast Coffee is very hip and will definitely be a favorite.

On the way to the realtor, we caught another view of the Rockies. They're hard to photograph, but so gorgeous in the sunshine.

We saw four houses that morning. It's hard work! I joked with Jon, we don't have the luxury of going on multiple dates with these houses;. we had to have a define the relationship talk on date one. It was funny how quickly the houses arranged themselves in our minds, ranked by desirability. And it was not the ranking we'd given them from our pictures that we ended up fixing on. We visited one elementary school, and then decided, since it was still so early, to visit Jon's new workplace. 

Unfortunately, we ended up with a fairly cloudy first full day in Pueblo, which made it hard to fully appreciate the view from campus. It's the highest point in town, though, so the skies are huge and the mountains line the horizon. I know on a sunny day it will be breathtaking.

The Thunderwolf is our new mascot. Isn't he cool?!

The campus is very modern, so different from the atmosphere at Virginia Tech. There is a wideness and a freedom to this town, this part of the world. Everyone seemed very relaxed. I'll get used to the vibe; there's a lot to love. 

You can see the library above, with the fountain before it. Jon's office window has a fabulous view.

Speaking of libraries, this is the public library:

We have a smaller branch library in the neighborhood where we're going to be living, but this is the downtown one, only about 15 minutes away. I can't wait to explore & find out what they offer.

Dinner on Thursday was our chance to celebrate 10 years of marriage. Though really, the whole trip was that. Last year at this time I would not have believed we'd be on the verge of buying our first house. It's so meaningful to spend our 10th anniversary shopping for homes and getting to know our new adventure. We had a great talk in this restaurant, with no interruptions from kids or anyone else, and gazed out the river at the river while we ate some surprisingly good Italian food. 

The riverwalk is going to be a joy. The Arkansas flows smoothly through town; it reminds me of the Erie Canal.

Among the many things this trip did for me was to make the move seem real, make the town real. There will be a lot of challenges, but there will be so much that is solid to love. I am so looking forward to coming home to this town.