Good Friday movin' (2014 edition)

Our family moves more than any family I know personally. What's funny (strange, not ha ha) is that I was adamant that I would not be the kind of family that moved all over the place after living a childhood of that very thing. God laughs at my plans. He also know that moving to the places we have has been life-changing for me and all of my boys. But, this current move is totally just basic materialism and a need for me to love my "space" (still from California in my heart). 

We flew home from Spring Break and immediately started moving. Thanks for RKZ's brother, Uncle, and a new good friend, Coors, I only had to finish packing 100's of boxes while the men did the heavy lifting. 

We rented a Uhaul for the furniture going to our apartment

Wrapped up like professionals

We rented 2 pods for the remainder of our house (and hired professional movers to carry 80% of our stuff into them). 

A fleet of trucks to take the odds and ends

Coors and RKZ piled in most of the furniture and boxes. Young Uncle had to do a lot of the physical side :)

Our new "home sweet home" - a 2 bedroom apartment near the elementary school. 

Our Master (aka: "where the magic happens" according to RKZ). Note the walk-in (but still small) closet 

My new kitchen and office area. This compact organization makes me so happy, it's ridiculous. I am an OCD psycho. To the left (the doors with the arm on them) is our laundry closet. Moms of young (or now older) kids will appreciate that my entire life will be lived in this room until August - and I'm ok with that because it means less mess!! 

The view from our patio. The apartment is on a large park with chirping crickets and frogs. It's really lovely and makes the home seem much more open. The boys play back here a lot already by hopping our fence. 

And lastly, a bit of a video on the Pope's activities last night. Love. Also, I'm happy I learned to imbed videos! 

Post by Catholic News Service.

What's going on in Ukraine?

If you read or watch the news, you'll know that there is quite the stink going on in the Ukraine. Here's a little bit of info I lifted from a more news worthy (CNN) locale:

The short version is that Ukraine has long been split between folks who look West toward Europe and those who tend to lean East toward Russia. Last year, now-ousted President Viktor Yanukovych decided to scrap a European trade deal that promised long-term rewards in favor of a pile of quick cash offered up by Russia. The pivot toward Russia set off protests by the pro-European crowd that climaxed in deadly clashes with security forces last week. Dozens died before a European-brokered peace deal ended the fighting. But Yanukovych fled before the deal could all be implemented, first to pro-Russian strongholds in Ukraine, then finally to Russia.

Ukraine's Parliament says it's running things. Lawmakers have named an interim president, started to set up a new government and called elections for May. They've also been talking tough to Russia about keeping its military on its leash and avoiding anything that seems provocative. 

 Why does Russia care? Well...Why does the United States care what's happening in, say, Mexico? Pretty much the same reasons apply -- the two countries have traded territories back and forth, they have a shared border and there are lots of business and cultural associations. Ukraine is literally on Russia's doorstep. It's home to the country's Black Sea naval fleet. Ukraine used to be one of the republics in the Soviet Union, and Crimea used to belong to Russia. The countries are big trading partners, and Ukraine hosts part of Russian state-owned natural gas provider Gazprom's network of pipelines that serve European markets.

Keep an eye on Crimea. Pro-Russian forces still hold several government buildings, and lawmakers there have voted out a government they saw as too pro-Kiev. With so many ethnic Russians and a big Russian military presence there, it's a potential flashpoint.