feature – Heartswell Adventures

Wow. So I just logged into this and realized that it’s been over three years since I last posted. So much has happened in that time.

So since we last talked, the whole world has changed. And, as I think is true with most people, the pandemic changed our outlook on life. I think I’ll make this an overview post, and then write some other posts tailored to some of our other adventures.

In March 2020, I was dealing with an infestation problem in our rental house – rats. This led to me taking the kids on a cruise so the exterminators and our landlord could do what they needed to do.

What do you do when your house is infested with rats? Run away to a cruise and leave your husband to take care of it

Didn’t work – it took them 3 months and several exterminators to fix the problem. At the same time, everything was shutting down, and I had to keep my kids home. In a rat, infested home. My boys love going out on adventures, so keeping them home was a challenge. We tried to combat it with adding things to the backyard- like a trampoline, a climber and a swing set. But it didn’t really help.

So as you can imagine, this caused a lot of tension in the family. Then we learned that my in-laws community was opening up and we could visit them. That day changed everything. We were all relaxed and had such an amazing day. We missed these days. Damon and I started daydreaming about living this life and dreading going back to the rental house. But this community was out of our budget. Or was it? You know what happens when you assume!

Playground Near Granny and Grandpa’s House

At that very moment, a townhouse was having an open house, and it was in our budget! I couldn’t believe it. The house had everything we wanted, and it was literal walking distance to my in-laws without being too close to one another. So, like a lot of people, we moved in the middle of the pandemic. And it was so worth it.

We absolutely love our new neighborhood. It’s walkable, friendly, and so much more relaxing to be here.

Halloween 2021

Then, just as we started to organize our new abode, our favorite activity opened back up – cruising. So we flew to The Bahamas to hop on board one of the first cruises to return to service. I think it’s funny that I was on one of the last cruises to sail, and I was on one of the first to return. We had so much fun on this trip. And we came home with a surprise.

I felt off on the trip and discovered I was pregnant with #4. However, this was definitely my toughest pregnancy (another blog post story). The hardest part was is delayed a lot of our plans and organizing. But we got through it as a group and in March of 2022, we welcomed squishy to the family. And with him, we’re done. No more kids.

The past year had involved a lot of me getting better and being able to finally get the house into shape. We’ve been renovating the backyard this whole time, too. Thanks for the construction slowdowns, pandemic.

We finished off 2022 with a huge, family reunion cruise. This was the first time we’d all been together as a family in over 10 years. We’d originally planned this cruise for April 2020 and had been rescheduling it ever since.

As for the future, there is so much excitement for this year. Some are small, like local community activities, and others are HUGE, like my first trip to Europe!!! We’re 6 months away, and I’m already starting to pack (lol).

Unfortunately, during our stay at the Painted Desert, I developed a tooth ache that cause me great pain. And while I saw a dentist, he could help with the tooth that day. Instead, I got antibiotics and an appointment to see a dentist at the Grand Canyon. Turns out, I had a massive infection under one of my crowns. We made it to the Grand Canyon, but I felt horrible.

I spent the next few days in bed while the antibiotics did their job. I felt bad that we were so close to the Grand Canyon but hadn’t seen it yet. Fortunately, we have a flexible schedule and Damon was amazing with handling the kids.

By the time my dentist appointment rolled around, I felt a lot better. At this appointment, I learned that my crown is pretty much ka-poot and I need to get an implant. Fine by me if it means this pain will go away. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that until I finished my antibiotics and the infection went away. At least I felt better and could finally explore the area.

Mini-man in his happy place – in a comfy chair watching George and eating strawberries

We started immediately. The dentist was in Flagstaff, Arizona, and had a lot of Goodwill’s and grocery stores. Man, did we score! Books, toys, and some other accessories that we needed. Plus, we were able to stock up on food at Sam’s Club. A very satisfying outing.

The next day was another accomplishing day – this time with paperwork. Since we’ve been sick for so long, we put off a lot of important paperwork, which we finally got done! Now we can enjoy the rest of our trip.

The next day brought snow!?! While I love seeing it snow, the whole point of leaving the northeast so fast was to avoid the snow and get someplace warmer. Often times, the weather limits how much exploring we can do.