Home is JUST over that Mountain.

Well per the army way.. nothing ever goes as planned.. but it goes the way it was supposed to.

We intended to live on Post again, we like being close to everything & with any city there are rough areas -- that we weren't too sure about. 

But, unfortunately waiting months in an hotel - wasn't in the cards for us -- lol because we're not gluten for punishment.

So in two VERY STRESSFUL days of dealing with realtors we found a neighborhood we loved then a house in it that fit us perfectly.

We've spent the past 3 weeks trying to get everything together... and make it home again..

& the cats have entirely made themselves comfortable...

Seriously, how cute are they??

& as much as I would have been entirely content continuing to home school our Emmy, we happened to be zoned for the BEST school district/elementary in our area & she wanted to go..

The Bus driver/Principal ( I know how funny, right) picks up each kid at their house.. and then drops them off in the afternoon -- Did I mention it's a super small school?

She seems to be doing good in her new school.. aside from the early morning wake-up calls :)

& she LOVES getting dressed daily with a purpose. lol that's my girl!

I will soon share more photos of our new home.. as we get it just the way we like it.. 

stay tuned :)

The End of an Era

So it began, the packing.. it was very not endless however. it was quite quick & painless.

Considering movers came and took care of it all.

One day they packed (mostly)everything & then two days of living in a Box maze with one pot and pan the actual movers came and hustled to get everything out of our house before we had to be inspected.. talk about watching Josh be nervous & sweat it out.. lol

Our zoo were definitely fans of the empty house.. ours & Emmas ;)

They were not however, fans of being caged.. poor babies.

Our last look at our little home :)

We decided to make the best of our trek across the country & stopped along the way..

This was our Cabin-like room in Pigeon Forge!

We took Emma to the Dollyworld Waterpark too.. but decided to go unplugged for the day :)

Across from our hotel was an intense go-cart ride.. and emma tried her hand at driving.. needless to say the track race ended in tears and getting out early.. bahah

We checked out nearby cities & ran into more mitten friends.. that I somehow managed to not get photos with.. You'd think I'd be more on top of it.. but we were a little overwhelmed mid-move :)

another stop on our trip brought us to Nashville, where we had lunch with Miss Jennefer -  & then hurried on to Memphis.

You mean this isn't how ALL people travel across the country -- he loves this kitten. 

dont let him deny it.

it Seemingly took FOREVER..

And i'm sure the people behind us thought we were crazy people driving with animals everywhere..

It's pretty insane driving across the country, hoping your things will meet you there.. safely. and even more crazy doing it with a car full of kitty cats & a rat.. we apparently like crazy :D

The Newest Dunphy

On our most recent trip to the mitten, we brought home a new baby..
and by baby, I mean Puppy! lol

Everyone (not on facebook), meet Lady Minerva aka "Mini" :)
Mini is a pure bread merlequin Great Dane... she was only 7 weeks old when we brought her on the 700 mile journey from Michigan to NC, but did really well in the car!



Of course we still have our other babies; Fiona our Snowshoe Siamese,

Cher Bear our 6 year old rescue,

Grover(tonsonville) our Rag-a-muffin-fuzzy-bunny

AND Remy-kins, Emmy's pet Fancy Rat.. yep, Rat ;D

Currently, the puppy sleeps a lot, and allows Emma to walk her.. but as she's doubled in size since we brought her home, we know very soon Mini will be walking Emmy :)

 xo- The Dunphy's

Missing Daddy

Today, while driving through base - Miss Em being the nosey little booger she is was just staring around at all the buildings & soldiers & all of a sudden she was really upset & angry..

This is how our conversation developed...

em- momma why are those army guys here?
me- they are working?
em- well why aren't they in the desert like daddy?
me- bc they didn't go
em- that's bullsh*t
me- agreed.



I can't say that I LOVE the idea of our 4 year old swearing - but can you blame her - or be mad when she uses it in the Right context?

Fast forward & Pause

But - Don't forget to breathe.

Through a whirlwind of Subway lunch dates, weekly games of "catch up" and nightly phone calls to wind down, college flew by I even recall Josh driving all the way over from Grand Rapids to check in on me a few times... most of those included me falling asleep mid afternoon and him stuck watching whatever kid-friendly episode made emma happy - then there was the ever significant "date".. the casino and dinner.. and driving down memory lane.. it feels like that night was forever ago.

and off to Army Josh went..& I just wasn't ready to start a tough long distance relationship..  I was stuck. :(..


Meanwhile.. a little lost in translation floating along Miss Emma and I were trudging through winter in michigan..bleh. lol

then things got suddenly sunny (& warm) & brilliantly clear.

Let's Go Back..

Back to the beginning..

Ever taken a class you didn't need, or road the bus longer than you were supposed to? Or perhaps you've taken the long way across campus or stopped into a store you wouldn't normally patronize. It's the random things we do, that sometimes we can't explain or even realize we did them, and they end up being something more.

Well that's how our story begins.. I took an athrolopolgy class a semester after I had Miss Emma simply by chance, not because I needed it, but because we've all taken classes we didnt necessarily need to be full time or fill our time slot.

Then have you ever said "hi" to a stranger because they simply wore a hat or shirt or jacket that you liked or associated with something else? And then slowly, but surely those little greetings turn in full fledged conversations that are developed on everything but athrolopolgy, the bus route, or the random store you wished you'd found years ago.

And before you know it, you've made a friend, someone that makes your foreign teachers bad hair day something to muse about with, someone you didn't mind bumping into and someone that made the reason you attended class on the snowy days when you wanted nothing more than to crawl back in bed, worth while.

It's these tiny occurrences that happen without reasoning or expectation, that had you known in hind site bias, you would have spent more time documenting or enjoying each little moment to its fullest.

Had someone told me a year ago, my life - Our Life - would have dramatically changed so wonderfully in such a short time, I would have called them fools. I could have never imagined that everything I never even knew I wanted would be mine.(Im quite the lucky duck)

So, in a tiny classroom on the bottom floor of an old building in Detroit, we met & 3 years later we are married and following our dreams. (don't worry, all the inbetweens will unravel in time as well).

But just know that looking back I think a part of me always knew..