Guess Who's Home

Well, Jerry is home of course, as of this past weekend. He said it feels strangely familiar to be back in our new apartment--not quite like coming "home" yet because he had only lived there one week before leaving for the California trip.

But anyway, my current joy also stems from the fact that our car is home as well! It got dropped off this afternoon, and nearly took out a powerline or two in the process. Fun to watch (though not so fun to be the driver of the trailer, I'm sure). I met him out on the main street so he didn't have to try to turn the corners into our condo parking area.

Business as Usual

One of the things I love about Jerry is his ability to weave his playful nature into whatever work he does. This guy has a talent for laughing and bringing joy to himself and others...so, though his time in Southern Cal. this week is technically a "business trip," it doesn't surprise me to find my sweetheart taking time to meet up with old friends and enjoy himself. Jonathan (pictured)was one of the witnesses at our temple sealing, and is somebody Jerry truly admires. The two of them, along with Jonathan's wife Sunny, reportedly had a great time Monday evening with dinner and fireworks at Disney, plus dessert at the Cheesecake factory. Wish I could be there! But it does my heart good to see Jerry having a nice time anyway.

24 Week Belly

Since Jerry is out of town this week, the sisters in my new ward have done great keeping my lonelies at bay. Today I ran errands with the Relief Society president, and yesterday I shopped at the mall with a new friend who is also expecting a baby soon. We went to Kiddie Kandids, where I got an 8x10 sheet of my latest belly for just $2.00! Not sure if it violates some kind of copyright to post this photo, but the store did send me a link with the instruction: "Share your photos with friends and family online." So here we go. Yay for officially looking pregnant. Also note how I have learned to make the humidity do good things to my hair. Thank you. Thank you.

Little Tam jumps around inside my belly all the time now, and I keep telling Jerry, "Look! Did you see my belly move? Feel it." But then Little gets performance anxiety and stops moving suddenly, and becomes very still for his Daddy. So Jerry hasn't seen or felt the movements yet. Soon, I'm sure.

America the Beautiful

Finally reporting on the Steele Family Rodeo 2009, held at Uncle Mark & Aunt Michelle's farm. We are so glad we had time to attend right before moving far away from all this Western stuff.

Though the rodeo happened a couple weeks ago, this video of my little brother Justin doing opening ceremonies for it seemed appropriate to post as our tribute to the 4th of July. As a side note, for our Independence Day celebrations here in Massachusetts, we got invited to spend the evening with another young couple in our ward. They took us to a nearby park where we ate food from outdoor vendors (pierogies and Chinese!) and then watched the fireworks. I felt paranoid about all the cigarette smoke the baby and I were inhaling, but overall had a nice time.

More rodeo shots...pretty self explanatory, but I cannot help making comments (sorry). Cute Jerry is getting more and more confident on a horse. The video with people holding water cups is an equestrian game. The object: to keep as much water in the cup as possible while moving the horse through various gaits. My sister's husband Matthew made a good attempt but his horse wasn't the most cooperative, as the video illustrates.

And here is Matthew again, providing a second round of brave entertainment.Jerry and I, on the other hand, opted to spend most of our time with the tamer side of the rodeo. We volunteered to supervise the petting zoo for an hour.

"Yep! I'm a Boy"

We had a lot of fun in the weeks preceding our move, but didn't blog about any of it because we started to get busy packing.

Here are the pics from my Boise baby shower, hosted by my cute sister Jessica. We all loved the balloons that gave their declaration, "Yep! I'm a boy!" and also visible in this first pic is a GORGEOUS handmade quilt made by one of the sisters who was in my ward during my growing up years.

To add to the baby theme, my brother-in-law brought in an armful of kittens for me to cuddle. It may be hard to count them, because most are solid black, but there are SIX little guys nestled in my lap here. My sister and her husband live in a farmhouse, and used to have a huge mice problem until they got a few cats. Well, now they have more than a few cats, so if anybody is searching for a good mouser, be sure to let them know.

These three women are all from my original home ward. We also had aunts and cousins come--what a fun group to reconnect with! It had been years since I had visited with some of these ladies.

From Left to Right: Childhood friend Holly (she is expecting a baby at the same due date as me!); Jessica the greatest sister; and me, enjoying another darling little boy outfit. Who knew BOY clothes could be so fun? We got cowboy gear, dinosaurs, little planes and dirt diggers, aardvarks, puppy decals, and all kinds of exciting themed clothes as well as lots of other useful items as well. Thanks everybody who came--we feel so loved!

Explanation & Addendum

One of our commenters on the last post expressed shock regarding the lengthy time it takes to deliver our household goods. It seems the answer to her question about WHY that happens might even be useful to other people who find themselves getting moved by a company. So here is a heads up about why we might opt to just pay to transport and move ourselves next time:


When Avery (and any large corporation) moves employees, they contract with a vanline to transport household goods. Thus, an 18 wheeler is used to transport the employee's goods--and we share that truck space with a dozen or more other families. So the truck does not just drive straight from Utah to Massachusetts, but rather travels across North America like a city bus, making stops all along the way, while gradually dropping off stuff at each stop. And apparently the vanline misjudged how much stuff we would have based on averages, so that is why their original time estimate changed (since we have less stuff than the average family, it means our assigned 18 wheeler truck is able to squeeze in more goods from more families, which adds more loading and dropping off time, if that makes sense).

Neither of us Tams have ever done a major move--our parents pretty much picked a place to live and stuck with it for our whole growing up years. Even the several moves we did after leaving our parents' homes were minimal, either because we had so little goods to relocate or the distances were generally shorter. So this whole deal has been a full of surprises.

In thinking ahead, it seems impossible to go several weeks or more without regular supplies while simultaneously having children underfoot. Since the rotational program will move us another couple times before we settle down, we are already planning what it would take for us to just load up a U-haul and drive ourselves across the country next time. Assuming it would be better to drive a couple thousand miles with an infant rather than fly to our destination quickly, but then have no supplies for a month after we arrive. Hmmm...quandry. Guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Anyway, this move has been a huge learning experience, which we are glad to have had sooner rather than later, because if we had gone through the "big move" for the first time after already having children, our naivete would have invited more complex challenges.

Moving Meltdown and a Miracle

When we spoke to our moving consultants again today, they gave a new estimate of when our household goods will arrive: between 6 and 21 days from next Tuesday. About three weeks longer than we originally anticipated. Our cheerful "camping" in the new apartment will probably not be as enjoyable several weeks from now, and to be honest, after just the past couple days of experiencing overly simplistic living, disillusionment has already begun to set in. So I searched this morning online and found a few deals on Craig's List to purchase temporary furniture, tiding us over until our regular goods will arrive.

However, this afternoon our attempt to get a futon from one of the Craig's List postings fell through. How good it would have felt to sit on something soft, something besides either the floor or one of the hard kitchen chairs we recently picked up from Goodwill! As we drove away from the seller's house, self-pity, pregnancy hormones, sleep deprivation (apparently the air mattress just isn't doing enough for me), and who knows what else combined to trigger a meltdown. Suffice to say my eyes were puffy and my nose sniffling as we pulled our U-haul truck into our apartment's parking space. We had prayed so much about this move; I caught myself returning to prior pleas to the Lord that all would go smoothly. THEN, before I could even unbuckle my seatbelt, came the miracle!

An elderly neighbor of ours hobbled up to our truck. Without even introducing himself, he asked Jerry, "Are you the boss around here? Could you please help me get rid of a sleeper couch?"

Speechless for a good 10 seconds, Jerry and I finally told the man, "You are an answer to prayer!" I briefly outlined our situation, and how grateful we would be to take the sleeper couch. We immediately went to his home, but the couch proved too heavy to move without at least one extra pair of hands. Recalling our realtor had mentioned selling a different unit in our complex lately, I telephoned her and asked if she would contact the buyer to request his help in moving our couch. Within minutes, this kind neighbor was at our side, and in yet another few minutes, he and Jerry had moved the couch up to our condo.

The couch is amazing. Used for only about 10 years by a clean little old man, it seems nearly new, and the color matches our curtains, and--and--I could go on and on! How perfectly it fits my needs and wants! I feel thrilled to sleep on its mattress tonight, which is more comfortable to me than the air mattress. I am relishing the softy seat cushions, as I now have a place to cuddle up with one of my new library books. Suddenly the weeks until our household goods arrive seem bearable. Nay, even enjoyable. It might be overly obvious to say it, but I will forever regard this experience as a tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father. He knows how to direct even the smallest parts of life, and though He sometimes chooses to withold aid for His own wise purposes, I am grateful this day He saw fit to give us a couch.

Frugal First Days in MA

A cross-country move is fraught with expense and inconvenience. To compensate for the hassle and cost, the company gives us a lump sum for incidentals—meaning we get to keep any excess for personal use. Naturally, being frugal folks, Jerry and I have strategized how to get the most out of our money over this past week.



1. Transportation: Had to start with a rental car (approx. $110 per day after outrageous taxes, insurance, and mileage, etc.), because our flight came in late and that’s all that was feasible from the airport. Granted, $110/day is painful to behold, so as promptly as we could, we downgraded to driving a U-haul truck (brilliant! we know!) to total approx. $36 per day after taxes, insurance, and mileage, etc. After learning our car may take yet another two weeks to ship here, we have seriously considered downgrading from the U-haul—is that possible?--to riding bicycles around town. But as it has been raining every day, we are still in the deciding phase of that option.
2. Food: We were brave and ate the free continental breakfasts at EconoLodge, because savings were approx. $5/each for the meal cost. By the way, “brave” is the appropriate adjective, because that place was smelly and dirty like none other, with insects on the appliances and employees who touched things with sketchy hands. Also, since we moved into our apartment as early as it was available, that means we have started cooking meals instead of eating out. Spaghetti last night turned out to be veggie-less when we realized we forgot to pack a can opener. Anyway, the stay in our new apartment brings me to my next point…
3. Housing: Obviously renting. The realtor who assisted us in finding a rental said most people with our income are looking to buy a home, so we feel more frugal than the average consumer already. (all you home buyers, we know it was probably the right option for you—but for us right now a mortgage is just a big liability). Econolodge was approx. $50/night. As soon as the signage occurred for our new apartment rental, we moved in, sans furniture, to save that amount. Our landlord was generous and let our rent begin on July 1st, so these last days of June in our apartment have been actually free.
4. Sleeping: Did I mention we have no furniture? When the air mattresses at Wal-mart looked expensive ($11) we decided to sleep on the floor. Our living room carpet is fairly padded, but it was still soaking wet from being cleaned yesterday. So we slept on the bedroom area carpet, which is equivalent to a firm, firm, firm mattress. Recall what sitting on the floor does to us and it will not surprise anyone to learn that we had a hard time falling asleep last night due more to laughter than discomfort. We laughed hysterically as we discussed ways to save money further. I will refrain from sharing any of the ideas we brainstormed last night because they were coming from sleep-deprived minds and are therefore embarrassing. Funny but embarrassing. Anyway, one night on the floor is all this pregnant woman could take so we did splurge and get an air mattress & pump today.

Well, there is our report for the first few days in Massachusetts. We have found the people friendly, the setting green and gorgeous, and our initial reaction is extreme gratitude to be assigned to this location. We are excited to go to church tomorrow and meet our new ward family. More updates to come…

Location, Location, Location!

Just in the knick of time, a mere week before the official move-out date from our current apartment, we received notification of the location for our next abode. A few fun facts about the state where we are headed:

1. Home of the first Subway System



2. Home of the first basketball game (played in 1891)












3. Home of the first United State's postal zip code (01001)







4. Home of the first Thanksgiving Day celebration (in 1621)











5. Home of the first college established in North America (if we tell you the college name, it would be even more obvious, so we'll attempt to let the suspense hang a little longer...)












6. Official State Dessert: Boston Cream Pie










Have you all guessed it?




Massachusetts here we come!

Concerning heroes, pancakes, and horses

Though a week after the fact, I figured we might as well still document Memorial Day 2009.

This year more than ever, I seemed to focus on the deeper meaning of this holiday. As a child growing up, I largely looked forward to Memorial Day for our annual pancake breakfast with extended family and friends. Tradition requires borrowing a huge grill for it and everyone has their fill of talking and eating.

But this year, I found myself thinking less about pancakes or chatting with favorite cousins--and instead musing more on the ancestors and heroes of days past.

The day before Memorial Day, the Sabbath, I watched my parents and little brother sing in the church choir. The choir program gave homage to the prophets--both ancient and modern--who mark our heritage as Christians of the Latter-day Saint variety. Then, that evening after church we gathered with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. for the grave site re-dedication of Uncle Tony, my father's brother. (re-dedicated because they moved Tony to rest next to his parents' graves). He died as a toddler about 50 years ago, so most of us alive today never knew him. But I feel like I know him better now, and look forward to the day when we will all rejoin him to live as an eternal family unit in the life to come. Of course, Memorial Day also means celebrating those who work hard to preserve our freedom and way of life; I felt glad to talk with my cousin Drew who just completed his military service in Iraq. I am happy for him to have time now to be nearer his family.

We also had a Memorial Day barbecue dinner on Monday evening with family on my mom's side. Pictured above is a cute three generation shot of grandpa, son, and grandsons.

During the trip to Boise, of course we took a moment to say hello to the family horses. I get so tickled watching Jerry interact with farm life; everything about it is novel to him. It is like seeing my old world through new eyes as I watch Jerry point to the tractors, ask questions about hay, snap photos of cows, etc. I guess the cow he captured here is a little unique (classy horns). Here is a video of Jerry frolicking with the horse Jasper. My little brother Justin is the expert cameraman whose voice narrates.