You're Gonna Miss This....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIBediEAcUQ

I was thinking the other day that some of you may not understand the title of my new blog. "You're Gonna Miss This". Let me explain...there is a most sweet country song (giddy up, I'm a country fanatic) that just really embodies how I feel about this season of my life. I tend to be very emotional with my memories in life. I hold them in my heart with every breath I take. A simple smell or the familiar crunch of gravel underneath my feet can transport me back to the ranch I grew up on and my eyes fill with tears. Not sad tears because it's over but happy ones because it Happened. I've been through a lot, I've walked through fire and have grown and expanded in ways I never asked but my heavens...would I take any of it back? No. I've loved and lost in life and I truly know how fast it goes. I've seemed to always have this gift. In high school, I bawled listening to Celine Dion on my way to my senior dance team performance in my little yellow VW convertible bug...just shattered and crushed that I knew it would be my last. I cried when my mom dropped me off at college...and pretty sure I tried to switch my major 10 times at least trying to figure out how to never leave college. True story. The night before graduation was spent with my best friends at our local hangout where many a memory went down, Murphys. The token closing time song came on, which very oddly was always "New York, New York" and I completely lost it. My friend Katie has it on tape. My point is that I really soak it in, this life. Now that seasons have come and gone and my 2 babies are at this beautiful stage of life that I know is so fleeting I hold on to each day like the sun may never rise again. These kids and us...we have fun. We do have boundaries and all that but we really try to live. We dance wildly, we swim and get ice cream almost every day. Bedtime is usually just "whenever" especially in the summer and I look at both of those little blonde darlings every single day in the eye and tell them that they are special, smart, gorgeous, polite and fun.That any kid we meet would be lucky to have them as friends. I tell them both at bed when I tuck them in that they are my best friends...and they are. When they crawl in our bed at night..we don't kick them out usually. Know why? Because I know something....we will MISS THIS. We'll want it back. We'll wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times so take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you'll miss this.

This weekend we got out a little more in town. Downtown South Bend really is neat. It sits right on the river and has quite a cute and lively little life of it's own. They have this crazy man made white water rafting/kayaking course right in the middle of town and you can just hang out and watch them all go by. We spent most of the week busy with our new playgroup the "Michiana Moms". I've met some new friends, yay! What is so weird is that most people I've met here are also transplants, which I consider very odd for the Midwest. It has a lot to do with the colleges here and this area also some major corporations which seem to bring a lot of jobs to the area. I have a new friend who just moved here with her family from Hawaii. Um, I'll stop complaning now about leaving CO:)

On Saturday we made the quick 30 minute drive to Lake Michigan. I'd never been before...and yeah, it's HUGE. I really thought I was on the beach in FL. The only shoreline you could see was the one you were standing on, like the ocean, there was just no end in site to it. The sands were white and the beaches were happenin'...tons of people out! The town of St. Joseph where we went was adorable. Very picturesque and full of darling boutiques and places to dine outdoors...which we had to do because for some reason we brought our monster dog with us. We lunched at a fab little Mediterranian restaurant, got ice cream twice in a day (cause that's what you do when you're a Pettit) and the kids played in this ginormous spray park on the beach. Cuteness. Definitely will go back. Soon.

* Doggy ice cream for the hot golden retriever


We also headed to the river in Mishawaka for "Summer Fest" where we met our new friends. We walked around, ate fair food and let all the kids get their faces painted. The evening ended with an absolutely amazing fireworks show. Really, it was better than the 4th of July at the Air Force Base in CO Springs which claims to be the best show in the US. Maybe they manufacture fireworks in Indiana or something...not sure.

On Sunday after a family trip to Starbucks we went to church. This is the second time to go to this one and it's mainly because the kids were crying and begging to go back. The new childrens wing is AH-MAZING. I've never seen anything like it. You check in upstairs and get all their codes and nametags then you walk them to their "launch pad" where they shoot down long, twisty, slides into their individual rooms. The whole time the parents can watch them going down and arriving in their rooms via flat screen tv. It's wild. The rooms are state of the art and huge. It's worth visiting at least once just to see the kids wing. We taped Claire going down but the video is upside down on here..oopsie. Also, excuse the lack of REAL camera pics. Somehow my USB cord to my camera is missing (ie packed away in storage with the rest of my life) and I'm using my iphone for the ol' blog pics:) Until next time! Let's see what this week brings shall we?

New Friends!

This is Claire's new friend, Maggie. Isn't she a doll? She has a little sister named Mollie. Cutest sibling names on earth in my opinion. Their mom is super sweet and full of southern charm. They have found themselves here recently too and are from New Orleans. The girl can cook, lemme tell ya. Oh, and even better...she GETS the ruffles and bows. I mean, some of these girls bows give Claire's a run for her money. Never thought I'd find a kindred spirit like that up here:)! Pretty sure when we're out and about people must think we all just left a big Toddlers and Tiaras style pageant. Just how I like it.

4 States in 6 Years...Why Not?

New start, new beginnings, new blog.....new STATE! The little Pettit fam has begun a new chapter in the Hoosier state, otherwise known as Indiana. The good ol' Midwest where the livin' is easy and fireflies are abundant. There are some definite plusses to Midwest living and thankfully I was born and raised in Oklahoma or this state would be a shock to my system after living in some of the countries most cultural and beautiful spots. (Los Angeles, Orange County, Portland, OR and Denver) I'm not sure if they know what recycling is here yet and the idea of eating organic is almost unheard of. However, there is a Whole Foods set to open down the street and I'll be camping out in the parking lot the night before. Word. This was a hard move for us, to say the least. Leaving Co is one of the more impossible things I've been asked to do in my life. We loved it there, in every sense of the word. Great friends, an abundance of things to do, amazing place to raise kids, family, etc...truly a great life. That being said, we were only there for under 2 years and we all quickly adapted. I was told once by a sweet friend of ours that "cream always rises to the top, and you, my dear, are the cream" Very sweet words I've held in my heart in relation to starting over and making friends. Because it's Ex-Hausting. Every playdate, every dinner...those first ones really feel like job interviews. Do they like us? Will the kids get along? Dear Lord don't let me say anything offensive....There is just something so comforting to me now after moving so much about walking into a room full of people that know your story, know your heart, your joys and your pains. I've fully reached that in OR and CO so I tell myself that I will here too.

* This was somewhere in Nebraska. Our movers parked the trucks outside like this at night outside the hotel. Somewhat genius if I say so myself! Nothing more worrisome than the ENTIRE contents of your worldy posessions just sittin' in a parking lot at night. Sheesh. I drove by myself for 18 hours and followed the trucks....with 2 kids, a golden retriever and 2 elderly geriatric kitties.

I suppose I should finish my story about our trek across the country to come to Indiana. My husband was offered a promotion job wise that we didn't want to pass up. It is his literal dream job at this point and he was so blessed to get it. So blessed. It was all a God thing (but really, what isn't?) But this was one of those things that was SO clear to us that it was where we were supposed to go. God wants us in Indiana...why? Um, no idea yet. But I will. And I'll take all you lovelies on that journey with me. We've settled in the South Bend area...and at this point I'm convinced that if you have to move to the midwest, it's actually right where you want to be. We are 90 minutes from Chicago, 30 to Lake Michigan (actually only 4 miles to the Michigan border which is still weird to me when I'm driving around and find myself in michigan all of a sudden) and we have 6 colleges in this county....including Notre Dame and Purdue. So, because of the bustling universities there is a lot to do here. A lot of arts, concerts, nice restaurants, etc...Oh and let's not forget all the neat Amish towns surrounding us. Erik, my husband has a full blown facination with the Amish. He compares driving around their little towns to "Disneyland" Um...okay. I will say that we ate at Amish Acres, a highly recommended restaurant in Nappanee, IN and it did NOT disappoint. We had the "Thresher dinner" and it consisted of about 20 family style platters of food being brought to our table...all made right there on the premises. Homeade warm bread, apple butter, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, shoe fly pie, ohmysweetlord.....the works. Definitely a place to take out of towners when they visit us.  My husbands company has put us in a 3 bedroom apartment for the summer while we buy a house. We are hard core on the real estate prowl but haven't seen anything we must have...well, I have actually. In typical Amanda style there are all about 200-500k above our budget. That's how I roll. So, I am taking a step back in time to my single days and living in an apartment...with 2 small kids, a large dog and those two geriatric cats. It's actually very nice though but all of our stuff is in storage. Like all of it. We brought in our sofa, 1 tv, computer, mattresses, dressers and some toys for the kids....less to move when we close on our new house:)  SO READY to have my life out of storage and back to normal. Our stuff has basically been in storage since last October if you know our moving story from last fall. But we have a pretty great pool, basketball gym, workout facility and a tanning bed...which I despise now but would have been my best friend about 9 years ago. Cause I looked so much better in my backless shirts with a good tan.

* Amish Acres, eating the famous Thresher Dinner. Go there. You wont' be disappointed. Oh and that's Toomas, our Russian friend who helped us move. Good people.

* This is Notre Dame. Giving my children a tour of their future Alma Mater.

Um, completely breathtaking, this campus. I thought Oklahoma State was gorgeous....

And this is my little Claire at a darling Lavender farm in Niles, MI. I've already joined a playgroup and this day was "Lavender and Lambs" The air smelled like heaven and the lambs were only 2 weeks old. Totally presh.

* And last but not least..Happy 6 year Anni to my amazing hubby. This was in Oklahoma City last month in front of the Hefner Mansion where we got married:)