Blessings, Bliss, and Bailey: Together Again!

Well, after only living here for a month, Christian took off for his first trip to Asia! He was gone for 3 weeks but it felt like FOREVER! He traveled to Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Malaysia, and a few others I can't recall right now :/ I added some of his pictures at the end, but keep in mind, men don't take good pictures :( ha!
There are some aspects of his traveling that I like... uninterrupted real housewives episodes, eating cereal for dinner, watching romantic comedies, and sleeping in with B :)

Then, there are the bad parts... being paralyzed by fear because I think I hear something outside, freezing all night alone in the bed, and NO alone time.

This trip combined all those - One night I was so terrified and SWORE someone was outside the house that I called Christian at like 2 in the morning. He assured me that:
A) we aren't in Atlanta anymore
B) if someone wants to break in they will, but they won't just walk around the outside of the house making noise (duh)
C) I have 2 huge dogs and a few choice weapons...

Well, all rationale goes out the window at 2am when I swear I hear noises. Anyhow, long story short - I eventually fell asleep from exhaustion and had my phone die at the same time. This posed an interesting scenario when Christian called the cops at 4am in CR because I was not answering... jeez. I guess I learned my lesson :)

Well, he is finally back and NO ONE is happier than Bailey. She was like a tumor on me for 3 weeks, then Christian comes home and I'm chopped liver! They are like 2 little peas in a pod :)

Upon Christian's arrival, which was the same day as my mom's would-be birthday, Bailey and I attempted to bake a cake. I thought - "I should make the cake that my mom always made for us!" Well, I guess I over-calculated my abilities... it was a disaster - but nonetheless tasty :)

The same weekend Christian came back, the temperature here in Cedar Rapids dropped to 23 degrees! Well, I quickly called our firewood guy and had a huge stack delivered for the winter. We spent the weekend relaxing, cooking, watching football, and sitting by the fire - life is good!

In the last couple weeks I have really settled in here and am starting to meet some super cool people. Interestingly enough - my three best friends in Atlanta are named Megan, Ashleigh, and Heather. Well, here in Cedar Rapids, my 2 new closest friends are... here it goes... Megan and Ashley! LOL! I'm still waiting to meet a Heather :) Now Christian REALLY doesn't know who I am talking about when I say, "Ashley and I are going to the Pumpkin Patch today..." He is like, "Ashley who?" I tell him to use context clues... Ha!

Anyhow, Ashley (new Ashley) and I have been having a blast! She has been here a while and has been awesome at showing me all the cool stuff every good mid-western housewife does :) She has a daughter Genevieve - whom they call Evie. So far, Bailey and Evie have been to the Science Center, the Children's Museum, a couple play dates, and Bloomsbury Farm. It has been HYSTERICAL seeing these 2 together!

Bailey's other BFF is Ruby - this is Megan's daughter. Ruby is seriously precious - she reminds me of the Cindy Loo Hoo from Whoville! They play and "talk" all day but spend most of their time fighting over "babies"...

Last weekend Christian and I took Bailey to Chicago to visit some college friends but luckily were able to see Christian's brother Ryan and fiance Jen as well. They are doing their residency there and have CRAZY schedules so you never know... Our friends Logan and Pat have a baby girl on the way - due October 17th! So crazy! Anyhow, we had a blast but I think I only took one picture of the entire trip:( We will be back though... only a 3.5 hour drive!

Fall is upon us here and the tress are GORGEOUS! Christian and I are loving the cool Iowa nights and the breezy days - I better soak it in because this winter is gonna be CRAY CRAY! I had the lawn guy come out this week to quote us on snow removal for the winter... This is new territory to me... Apparently, on average, Iowa gets 20 snowfalls each winter... that is 20 plowing jobs on the driveway... and a lot of dough. Ugh.

Christian is expected to head back to Asia again in the next couple weeks - many ask me if he goes often and if it is hard. Yes, he is expected to go 4-5 times a year and his trips last from 2 weeks to nearly a month a piece... and yes, it is hard. That is why Iowa was thought of as a stepping stone... A stepping stone to Asia.
There is a real possibility that we will have to move there next, but just playing out things here for a while :)

Cheers!

xoxo