Top Ten Things I Am Thankful For

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is what I am thankful for.
1. A Very Amazing Husband: I know there are many ideas I have that anyone else would say NO WAY! But I am grateful that Justin not only supports my ideas but actually helps to make them reality.
2. (Related to #1 since Justin's supported my visit to see Renate and her whole family) I am thankful that Renate reminded me that I actually DO like to cook- I just needed to add a few quality tools to my kitchen. After seeing Renate effortlessly prepare tastey healthy food every day, I decided to put a little more effort into my kitchen habits... I still have a ways to go but very thankful to Renate for the inspiration.
3. Friends and Family who know when to talk and when to keep quiet. I know my idea to head to CO sounded crazy to most. But I appreciate the support when I needed it and not telling me what you were really thinking.
4. Becoming ever so less of a worrier - There were such big unknowns these past few months like if I would get my teaching license in time, when Justin would be able to join us, when the house will sell, wondering if there was something more to Owen's frequent and intense migraines... that I simply had to learn to worry less or else I would be crippled with worry that wouldn't change any of the outcomes anyway.
5. Thankful for Change: Change is not easy but it is worth it. I am grateful that we had the guts to try a new place out. If nothing else we are making new friends and finding new places to enjoy on the weekends.
6. Music: Music has been a big part of this move. On our drive out, the three of us would sing along to The Plain White Tees. Then when we got here we would all share the same bedroom until Justin got here and fall asleep to The Lumineers. I also made a playlist for each child to play when they are feeling down. Now that we are settling in we enjoy live music when we can. Overall music is just a great way to feel alive and connect with people.
7. Can't say it enough- I am grateful for my health. Just got a note from my good friend that her infant son is in icu. In a second everything can change. That it is why I try to keep it in perspective and enjoy life. It sounds cliche but there is nothing more important than the health of our loved ones.
8. Thankful that my children share so much with me, even though sometimes it hurts to know when they have been hurt, I am grateful that we talk, laugh and enjoy each other.
9. Thankful for traditions- old and new. I love all the things that make the holiday season special. I look forward to keeping some of the old traditions and also starting some new ones.
10. Thankful for laughter. Most of my favorite memories involve either awesome food and funny, funny stories, or both. I hope, above all, no matter what comes our way, my family will always remember the importance and joy of laughter.

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks
It has been awhile since updating this blog. Way back in August I was hoping that by Thanksgiving things would be settling down a little. It looks like that is happening. Here is a little run down of what is happening here:
Laurel is doing a good job with school. The weather is cooperating well and now that we fixed her flat tire she is back to biking to school. I am really happy with her school and the balance that she has- learning a lot of school but also growing as a person and having time for family outings and cooking. She really enjoys chopping and experimenting. Lately her specialty is a killer tuna sandwich.
Owen is still going strong with scouting. This weekend he is making a rocket for the space derby. Last weekend he helped collect food for the local pantry. He is also in a jump roping group at school. Soon basketball will be starting up.
Justin likes his new job. For the first time he has his own office and Boulder is a nice place to work.
We have an offer on our house in NJ and hope to close before the holidays. That will be a wonderful gift. Then we can start looking for a place to call home here. As much as I was surprised by the hot weather in the summer, I am equally pleased with the warm autumn. It has been a wonderful month- lots of sunshine, warmth and time to be outside. Last weekend was the first weekend we got to enjoy Colorado as a family. On Friday Owen and Justin and I went PlanetBlueGrass in Lyons to see a bluegrass band. Then on Saturday Justin and I went hiking up to Button Rock for a really nice hike. On Sunday we all took a family bike ride which got cut slightly short because of a flat tire. There are these things called goatheads out here and they really do a number on our east coast tubes. I have since ordered new tubes for our bikes that are much thicker and resistant to these thorns.
Well- now that I have been mostly positive I can mention a little bit about the reality of moving. There is still a lot of drama in the Robbins house. I am not sure how much is pre-teen hormones and how much is from the move but there are certainly days that I think I am in over my head in the world of parenting. Some days I think it is impossible to be a working mom and other days I think it would be impossible to be a stay at home mom. So the bottom line is- it just feels impossible. But then there are those wonderful moments of playing catch with Owen or snuggling up with Laurel or taking a great walk with Justin and it all feels right. And those are the moments I try to focus on.

Two months

Subject: update from helen

Last Friday marked our two month anniversary and also the end of the first marking period at school. For the most part it feels like we have been here for years. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I cannot believe all that has happened in only two shorts months.
L and O continue to make me proud and I wish I could be as strong as they are. O ran for student council and he wrote a great speech and created really funny and original posters. It was 100% kid effort and if it was based on his speech and credentials, he would have won but alas we all know that school elections are more of a popularity contest than anything else. But it was still great to see him excited about something and if nothing else I think it helped him come out of his shell a little since people would come up to him to say they liked his posters.
L really enjoys her independence. She often rides to and from school on her bicycle and stays after for various reasons.... anything from a new direction fan club to a worm club (yes- collecting worms for a worm farm.)
It is really hard to be this far apart from Justin. We are all happy and excited that he gave his two week notice. He accepted an offer for a job in Boulder and will begin there on 10/29. It will be really good to have the Robbins family together again.
One of the best things about being here is all of the time I get to spend with L and O. It really is just the three of us for now and we spend a lot of time enjoying the simple things like swimming, cooking, and exploring our new town.
Here are a few surprises about moving 1700 miles away:

As much as I thought technology would keep the sting away, there is no substitute for a real hug and I miss all our friends and relatives. I try to focus on how fast time goes and that we will be visiting before we know it but on a bad day it is a scary feeling.

So far life is not less stressful at all. For example last week O was home sick with a 103 fever, L got stranded at school with a flat tire and I am still working long hours. I REALLY REALLY hope things settle down but I am starting to think life is simply stressful and there is no escaping that. But even still I am happy to be living here and exploring new places and people.

Longmont had their first snow two weeks ago -according to the paper it was the earliest snow since 2000. I hope that means a snow-filled winter. Since we live in an apartment I do not need to worry about shoveling and O and L got this great passport to ski- 3 free lift tickets at 20 different resorts. So hopefully by the end of winter L and O will be actual skiers.

Well that's about all to say for now. Hopefully my next update will have the words SOLD in it!

One month anniversary

On Wednesday it was our one month anniversary of living in Colorado. This month has been one of the hardest months of my life. I have new found respect for single parents and I hope we will return to a nuclear family soon. I am amazed at how much my children have grown in this past month. Laurel now bikes 2.5 miles each way to school most days. Owen has had it very hard. I think fifth grade is a tough time to switch schools, especially since he had so many friends in Denville. But I also know in time he will make more friends here while still staying in touch with his NJ friends and eventually his world will become bigger with new experiences here. Justin has been visiting this week. It is so good to have him here.
There have been a lot of surprises and stressors but even with all of that, it still feels really good to be living here. I enjoy getting to know the students at my high school. With every week LHS feel more like a community and less like a job. I am so excited to explore the beauty and seasons of Colorado.
Note: I never did finish this and now too much time has passed so I am just going to post and move on.

How to buy a bed in five minutes or less

We are settling into Colorado. A lot has happened in a week. After about five trips to Target, a kind coworker helping us get a table from Craigslist and a bed delivery on Saturday morning, and Owen's purchase of a couch at Target, our apartment feels more like home everyday. Thursday L and O had their first day of school and they both came home with huge smiles which is all I could ask for. My first week went well and I look forward to getting to know the staff and students better next week. Tomorrow morning I should finally get to go for a walk and I will try to take some photos to share. It is really hard to believe we have only been here a week. It already feels so much like home. The only thing missing for now is Daddy! Nana came to visit our first week and she did a great job of getting the kids all settled and ready for school. Justin will arrive around my birthday and Grammy will visit soon after that. This photo below is a view from the walk I took Sunday morning. I have been composing this tiny blog all week so that is why the time references are off. At any rate today is our one week anniversary of living here and so far, so good. You likely won't hear from me for awhile since I am quite busy getting L and O off to a good start and adjusting to a new job.

One last day

This morning we found a bakery with smaller Danish so Owen could try more variety. But both of us still find our favorite to be the sesame/poppyseed/ buttery, light with a hint of sweetness. I need to find out if I can bring these home on the plane... What better treat for Justin and Laurel than a Danish made by the Danish?

Many good trips have some sort of theme... Some people visit stadiums at each city, others focus on fine museums... One of my favorite themes is microbrews but not so interesting to a ten year old. As I look back on this trip I would say it was somewhat of a sweets and treats theme. While we were on the night train our Swedish roommates said that while they do not have Swedish fish, they do have some of the best candy in the world. Owen and I had to look into this for ourselves so we took a short train ride to Malmo Sweeden in search of the perfect candy. We were not disappointed when we got there and saw just about every shape and flavor of gummy candy. My favorite shape were these tiny monkeys. Owen really liked the tennis ball gum and mushroom marshmallows.

When we got back to Copenhagen we had one "must do" left on Owen's list. He really wanted to get a bike to ride around this bike-loving place. We walked over to the tourist place to get a place to go. The. We walked about a mile to the place suggested. He told us there were not any child-sized bikes left. Who would think a place filled with bikes would have so few rentals? Owen was really disappointed but I told him it is always good to leave something for the trip back. We managed to find a positive side by coming across a really cool park that we never would have enjoyed if we were on a bike. Then we leisurely walked around the pedestrian area and enjoyed street performers and people watching.

This photo was one of our last stops. We passed the station of Hans Christian Anderson daily but this time Owen hopped up on his lap. Time to pack up now and head back to the states- a quick stop in NJ to change bags and then off to Colorado!

Exploring Copenhagen

First off I forgot to finish my notes about our first night in Copenhagen. We arrived at our B&B which turned out to be an excellent pick even though I pretty much just went online and picked whatever one was available for my dates. We are staying in the front part of a Danish couple's beautiful apartment. We are in a large room with a private bath. It is closed off from the rest of their place so we have our own space but they are only a knock away whenever I have a question. We went out for a quick bite to eat and found a bank to change our money into Danish Kronners. Then we got picked up by Ben's friend,Thomas. (They met while studying abroad in Australia.). We went to a BBQ with Thomas, his wife Susan, and their two younger children. There was so much to enjoy about this BBQ. First off, Thomas and Susan are both incredibly friendly people and it was a pleasure to chat. I also really enjoyed seeing how friendly the teens were. They would come up and shake hands with every single adult and say hi. The children start learning English in the third grade so Owen was talking to many of the children. They were all so friendly and incredible at speaking English. It was just such a wonderful way to start off our visit to Copenhagen.

The most appropriate way to start a morning in Copenhagen would of course be with espresso and a Danish. They were so good Owen had to go back in for another.

Next we started to walk off our breakfast. One of our first stops was to see the changing of the guards. While it was not on the scale of Buckingham Palace, it was better in some ways because there were no crowds and we could practically stand along the guards as they paraded around. This entertained us for close to an hour.

We continued to walk around Copenhagen and enjoy popular and less popular sights. The little mermaid was crowded and we both enjoyed the genetically modified mermaid further up the path. At this point we hoped to ride the free city bikes around but they only had one size and it was too big for Owen to safely maneuver through the heavily used bicycle lanes. So we moved onto plan B and hoped on one of the many boats for a harbor cruise.

While on the Harbor Cruise we noticed a sand art display so we walked over to take a closer look. This was AMAZING. There were dozens of sculptures - with each one more incredible than the one before. At the end they had a huge area for children to build sand castles of their own. So I enjoyed a coffee while Owen played in the sand.

We finished off our day with a visit to Tivoli. This is a unique amusement park/ garden/ eatery place. It is hard to explain unless you have been there. But we loved it. The rides are fun and sometimes a little too thrilling. The restaurant choices are endless and delicious and there are areas of gardens and paths that are so magical you would think fairies live there.