And he's off...

Joe left today after I packed the car with as much stuff as I could. Along with Dexter, the cat, Joe is also taking 4 of my house plants (the ones I'm most attached to). 

He'll arrive in Ashland, MT on the 31st. 

What am I going to do?

Over the holidays Joe and I fielded many questions about our move to Montana. One of the main ones was what I was going to do out there.

Well....

Here's a list (I'm all about making lists these days):

• Create/maintain websites for various people who hire me
  
• Cook and bake -- it's a good thing I went to culinary school, eh?
  
• Watch the kids (mainly Miles)
  
• Make candles (found wax and candle-making supplies in our closet)
  
• Finish a hook rug that Grandma Cook had bought but didn't get around to finishing before she went into the nursing home
  
• Write to my heart's content -- blogs, articles, possibly a book
  
• Pet the cat
  
• Grow lots of veggies
  
• Go bowling (yeah right)

I'm sure I'll find some other things to do, like work on a puzzle or see what's happening on The Young and the Restless.  

Ashland, MT

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Montana

This is just the start of an adventure. We're moving to Montana at the end of January. Joe got a job teaching theology at St. Labre Indian School in Ashland, Montana. He'll be moving there first on December 29 to set up house and get ready for school. I'll be in Chicago packing up all of our stuff and trying to survive without a car. I normally wouldn't mind if, say, it was one of those winters that happened to be abnormally warm. But no, Mother Nature has decided that Chicago needs to be buried in snow and shivering in temperatures of -5ºF. 

This move comes as a shock to all of us. When we made the decision to look for jobs elsewhere, I never dreamed it would take us to Montana. We like Chicago but feel it's time to move on from here. Both kids were born here and Joe and I basically started our lives in this city. It will hold a special place in our hearts but we are ready for less traffic, less people, and an slower pace of life. 

We realize how far this is from our family in Ohio but we have to go where there's a job for one of us and this job will actually give Joe some teaching experience and will use his education. He'd be foolish not to take this job especially since I'm out of work. 

Knowing this will be a big change for us, I'm dedicating this blog to our experience with moving and settling in Montana.