E.D.

That's Shane's new job title.

Wipe those Viagra commercials from your mind...I'm talking about a different kind of E.D.

Executive Director.

Colorado fit all of our requirements. Temple, strong church, great outdoor activities, lots of sunny weather, good schools, health conscious, affordable homes. So we decided to move. Shane planned to start a new practice or else join up with an existing practice. He began calling up chiro school classmates who now live in CO to get the scoop on the state.

One of his calls was to Bobbee. The first words out of Bobbee's mouth were, "Funny that you're calling right now." He went on to explain that he and his wife Jonna, also a chiro, were ready to work on other business ventures; they needed someone to come and run their office and eventually buy it. It was too good an offer to refuse. Jonna and Bobbee are fantastic business people. Shane loves being mentored by them and being part of such a great office.

The Downside:

• No adjusting--this is purely business stuff
  
• 9 months of training (yikes!)
• 14 employees to manage---12 of whom are women. Estrogen overload!
  

The Upside:

• His schedule is super flexible and he sets his own hours
  
• No more working on Saturdays!
• The office is right next to Whole Foods so he's got yummy food available at all times
  

P.S. His new office is called Cafe of Life...kind of a fun and funky name eh? Their tag line is, "Boulder's cure for the daily grind."

A Christmas Carol

We finished! Sage and I began reading Charles Dickens' classic on December 1st. I fully intended to finish by Christmas Day but we got a bit behind.

Sage's thoughts on the story:

"I loved Christmas Carol. It was so great. It's pretty scary. Bob Marley is in the story."

I think you mean Jacob Marley kiddo.

Quotable Sage

A: "Sage put your hat on."

S: "I don't need a hat...I've got all this hair on my head."

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Right now we live in a little vacation rental on a street called O'Neal Parkway. No garages in this condo complex so everyone parks on the street. A few nights ago Sage informed me,

"I know why it's called O'Neal Parkway. Because there's lots of parking space."

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I helped out in Sage's CTR class today. The teacher told a story about a boy named James who wanted to choose the right. She gave a few scenarios and asked how James could CTR. The last one: James wants to bring a pet to Primary, is that choosing the right? All the kids shook their heads no. Teacher asked why that's not choosing the right and Sage expounded,

"Because it might poop all over the place."

That's my girl.

Journey to Our New Home

I often joke that blog are for moms and sisters because really who else is interested in the nitty gritty details of our family life? Consider yourself warned...this is a long post.


We found a vacation rental (fully furnished) on CL; it was the only one available for a whole month with such short notice so we snatched it up. We decided to leave everything in storage in OC and once we get settled in a home (in 2 weeks) Shane will go back to pack up the truck and then the movers will bring our stuff to us.

Our amazing friends Nathan and Emily let us stay in their home, while they were in UT, so that we were free to pack up all of our belongings and still have beds to sleep in and kitchen tools to cook meals with. We spent our days packing and our nights at Em's. It worked out beautifully. We took nothing but clothes and a few odds and ends..whatever fit into the Jeep.

Here's the trip blow by blow. Ready moms and sisters? I'm sure everyone else is bored to tears by now.

• We left OC on the most gorgeous day...blue skies, sunny and warm. We wondered why we were trading beach weather for cold and snowy Colorado.

• Directions to Colorado? I-15 for 500 miles. Turn right at I-70, go another 500 miles.

• Somewhere between OC and St. George we stopped at the best rest stop ever...clean and beautiful. First time ever I wasn't scared to sit on a rest stop toilet seat.

• We stopped at the St. George temple, got out, admired it for a minute and got back on the road. How do they keep it so white?

• Our Thanksgiving dinner was eaten at the oh so classy JB's Restauarant in Richfield, UT; it was that or Super Walmart. Shane had turkey with all the trimmings and Sage and I ate BLT's and french fries....All American family eh? Sick food and we had sick bellies after. In case you wondered, the female mullet is alive and well there in southern Utah.

• We moseyed on over to the hotel next to JB's. Quality Inn...classy with a capital "K." Smelled like smoke and our comforter was 1/8 of an inch thick. Shane was sandwiched between Sage and I on a King. Micah got the floor all to himself (Shane was jealous). It was COLD!!
  

• We stopped in Grand Junction (Southern CO) to gas up. I dropped into a Wellness Center by the gas station to ask directions to the nearest health food store. The owner told me where to go and then told me about the services he offered. His last words to me were, "We take medical marijuana to the next level." What the...? More on that in a future post.

• We brought along snacks including some treats like a dark chocolate bar. Once Sage discovered the chocolate she asked about it constantly (no exaggeration there). Finally we told her that if she asked again she wouldn't be able to eat any with us. That kept her quiet for a while but we could tell she was thinking about that chocolate...thinking hard. Pretty soon she piped up, "I know not to ask for my chocolate." Shane and I laughed pretty hard at the sly way she found to ask without asking.

• We did get pulled over once... sort of. Right as we drove over the state line into Colorado, a cop waved us over (he was on the side of the road writing a ticket for someone else). So we pulled over. The cop started by politely introducing himself and his title. Apparently, there is a law in Colorado that when an emergency vehicle is on the side of the road, all cars should attempt to move to the left lane to avoid a possible accident. This was news to us, of course, so he didn't get us a ticket. He did give us a business card with his contact info in case we had any questions and wished us well. He wouldn't last a day in LA.

• We arrived in Boulder around 5 pm Friday evening, just before the sun set. We quickly found our condo... only problem was the combination to the lock box on the door (that contained the key) wasn't working. After a crazy week of moving and packing and 16+ hours of driving, we were definitely ready to rest our weary bodies. Instead, we were texting and calling the owner looking for the correct code to the lock box. While we waited to hear back from the owner we went to Whole Foods and ate yummy food, and then to Barnes and Noble where we read stories to Sage by a huge fire. After 2 hours, the owner finally called back. After a few minutes of her making sure Shane lined the numbers up correctly, jiggled the box just right, tried to lift the handle, she finally confessed that she was off by one digit. That made all the difference. We hurried in and went to bed.

• The kids were great on the trip... including Alicia, who isn't a fan of long car trips. We were packed tight as sardines but managed to enjoy the ride.
  

• Sage's favorite part of the trip was a gift from Grandma Mia, actually about a dozen small gifts that she was able to open, one each hour.
  

• Driving through the Rocky Mountains was amazing! We can't wait to go and spend weekends in places like Vail, Steamboat, Aspen, etc.

• The first 3 days in Boulder was perfect: sunny and warm. The next 6 days were snowy and single digit numbers, in the daytime! Not something we (wimpy) Californians were used to.

Inspite of missing friends and the familiarity of a place we've been for so long, we feel very happy, light, free and extremely excited about this new chapter in our lives. We've thought about this moment for a few years now and to have it actually be here is amazing!