New place

I got back from my Omaha work trip late Friday night and started operation "Move" on Saturday morning after Ella's swim lessons. And we've been moving every since, well today is Monday and pretty much everything we had in the apartment is now in the new home, situated where it belongs for the most part. The rest of our stuff from storage is scheduled to be delivered on Friday, so you know what we're doing next weekend... ! It's all good though, Hrishi is amazing and made my job so much easier. We love the house, it's really perfect for what we need right now.

Saturday between moves, we checked out the community pool and boy it looks like a little resort: slides for all age groups, lounge chairs, umbrellas, really beautiful. A big plus is that there is a park next to it. In fact, there a couple pools and several parks throughout the neighborhood, but this one is right next door to us, and someone is very happy about that. 

(Just can't get over these beautiful big blue skies.)

And my little ballerina who found her recital costume from last year and did a little demo for me requesting that I take pictures.

And big breakthrough at swimming: she's got the logroll going good!! She was proud and happy with herself. I was itching to take pictures or better, a video but I was in the water with her. Love her spirit!!

A good time

As much as I miss my sweethearts, Ella and Hrishi, I have to admit that I am kind of enjoying my time away from home. You see, once in a while I get to travel for work; most of the times to Omaha. And even if my pre-trip days are very hectic, trying to plan, cook, and leave all the instructions for Hrishi, once I leave town and get to my destination, I discover this nice little thing called freedom. And boy, it's a good feeling! :) I miss her to pieces though... but I'm so happy to hear that she's being such a big girl and doing so well for daddy.

Inspite of having a very long day yesterday with getting up at 4 am, getting on a plane, and working til 5:30 pm (and having lots of meetings), I managed to somehow make it fun. First off, it was great seeing co-workers friends and catching up with them. I had a nice dinner at one of my favorite places in Omaha, and even ordered a dessert. YES!!! I had a delicious bread pudding. I ate the very last bit and didn't feel any remorse or regret! Lol! :-) This is big for me as every time I've deviated from my diet, I would go on this self-induced guilt-trip. But I did hit the gym before dinner. I guess that helped. :) After dinner I got a pedicure, a very rare event in my life. It was nice and calming. I finished the day up with a little bit of gift shopping for Ella.

Tonight is gym time, dinner, and window shopping.

Tomorrow afternoon: team outing, going to a College World Series game, the biggest thing in town and not only. There are so many folks at my hotel that came in town just for that. That is passion.

Flying back to Houston on Friday. Until then, I'll enjoy this different kind of fun away from my daily chores and responsibilities.

Turn it upside down

I was just telling Hrishi over the weekend how all my days have been so great lately, infused with tons of good things, making and keeping my spirit up and happy all the time. I must have jinxed it because yesterday was a pretty tough one, at work, at home, every single direction I could look, there were challenges and issues to solve. I felt a bit overwhelmed but kept my chin up and decided that I was not going to give in and let the hard stuff bring me down, wipe me off, and overcast my sunny skies. Luckily, with a good attitude, help from above, and lots of work things turned around.

It's during the hard moments that I need to draw in all the wonderful things happening in my life, and use them to counteract anything negative.
Plus, this girl's smile and sweetness will always change up any sads in happies in a matter of seconds.

Dazzling smile aside, this girl has strong hands, legs, and overall body balance. Buzz was a bit of a naugthy on Monday when he almost threw her off her saddle. She held on tight though and didn't fall. We came to find later, when the trainer "took him to the principle's office" (that is, she rode him around the arena), that there were some noises adjacent to the ground that apparently were bothering Buzz.

I held my breath for a few seconds, it happened very fast and I gasped because it really looked like she was going to fall (Funny that we were talking about helmets and safety that very day on the way to her lesson...!) Proud of my little rider. Ms. Jacqueline told her that she'd be switching horses starting next week so she can continue to learn and not have to work so much on getting Buzz to listen while learning too! :)That same day, on the way there she told me something that made me realize how deep her love and interest in horses and riding really run. She said that she'll ride til she dies.

Catching up

Life's been really busy lately so I have a lot of catching up to do here. First off, we're grateful and happy that we were able to finalize a house rental in a neighborhood that will allow Ella to go to a good school (good not only by state rankings, but also by quality of staff.) You see, we've visited a bunch of schools and this was the one. I want an environment where children can feel cared for, loved, wanted, and appreciated for their own unique skills, and not just a number and I realize this is pretty hard to find in the public school system but we're hopeful this will be a good place for her. Also, school building security and location were two other criteria for our search.  The really nice thing is that the school is within walking distance from our rental! Yay, Ella is very excited. The house is tiny but cute and well-kept. We're excited to move in in a few weeks.

And while all this was happening, she graduated from kindergarten!!! :)

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(We've got an engineer in the making because she wants to be just like her daddy!) :) Of course, the maternal grandparents are pretty happy with this decision! ;-))

Now that we have a place, we'll be registering her for first grade next week. Istill need to make a couple of doctor appointments with new allergist doctors and such for her asthma and allergy action plans so we can have everything ready for the school nurse. And I just can't believe that my little baby will be in first grade!!! Wow, how does the time fly??

But right until before school starts, this baby of mine will have a busy fun-filled summer at Primrose camp. They have field trips almost every day, wow!! There will be lots of sack lunches to pack! :)
Not only the summer camp will be keeping her busy but all the things she's been doing since we moved here: horseback riding, swimming, piano, and now she wants to pick ballet back up. I honestly don't know how she can keep up with all these activities that not only take about an hour or two themselves, but all the other time that goes into it for practice. We'll have to see.

We visited the Houston temple grounds again a couple of weeks ago and had family home evening there. That place is literally my personal Garden of Eden, if it makes sense. It's so absolutely beautiful in every single way, and peaceful that I can't imagine the Garden of Eden feeling beyond than how this feels.

Horseback riding is going great, the new instructor, Ms. Jacqueline is working her very hard.

Bare back riding (bonding time with Buzz.)

And a close-up.

Buzz is quite a horse with lots of personality. Fortunately Ella has been able to handle him very well so far.

Riding backwards for balance.

My favorite thing to watch so far is when she is in her two-point position and the horse trots. It is amazing to watch. Building some strong legs and balance for sure.

Swimming has been fun. Here too she's been blessed with a really nice and hard working instructor who really cares for the children to learn and make progress. Ella has been doing very good with her backstroke, she can swim an entire pool length on her back, and is working hard to get her freestyle better. I don't have good action pics but will post what I have for now. :-)

Squeezing the water out of her swimsuit.

Swimming to get her ring.

The real fun part is when after class, they turn on the water slide. All the kids taking lessons at the time get to go down the slide.

At the Houston zoo, brushing the goats. I love the sweet smile.

I think that is it for now... .

Looking forward to the weekend for some active relaxation and swimsuit shopping.