The Crew Family

Settling In

Well, we have unpacked most of the boxes and are finding our way around. New pictures are posted in the "Settling In Pictures" album. Here are some things that  have been happening:

Aerin and Jack are enjoying rooming together, maybe a little too much. The only downfall is that the sun doesn't go down until after 9:00 pm and Aerin thinks she has to stay awake for the last ray of sunshine.

Jack has taken to the place pretty well and even felt comfortable enough to write on the walls with a colored pencil and then later with a green bean. Thanks to the "Magic Eraser" the walls are back to normal and Jack is banned from writing utensils (but not green beans).

The other day we went on a mad hunt for some staples such as Dale's Sauce and grits. We forgot we were in the north. We got some strange looks and came up empty handed on the Dale's Sauce. We did manage to find one brand of plain instant grits that when cooked looks more like cream of wheat.  The kids were not impressed.

We found a new grocery store today called Biggs and it is classified as a hypermarket. Weird thing is you have to pay a quarter to use a grocery cart. All the carts are chained together and have a slot on the front to put your quarter. The plus side is that we found Dale's Sauce. All is well.

Aerin has decided that the best thing in the world is jumping. Needless to say, I am glad we are in a townhome with no one above or below us. Check out the new pictures for some shots of her in mid air.

Since we have been here we have been to the pool almost every day. The kids have made some friends and are starting to get little tan lines. Aerin is doing very well with the basics of learning how to swim. She has really gotten a lot more comfortable in the water. Today at the pool, we got invited to join a playgroup with some other moms in the apartment complex and surrounding neighborhoods. They meet every week or so at local parks for some playtime and a picnic. We are going to join them this Thursday.

The local library has been found and we are proud owners or a Hamilton County Library Card.  The kids are happy because story time is twice a week and tomorrow is a special puppet show.

Check out the new pictures in the "Settling In" photo album, to the right.

First day at GE

Hey everyone, Jason here.  Just wanted to give a quick update on my first day at GE. 

It was pretty boring, as most first days are.  I spent a lot of time trying to get my new laptop to work, figuring out the software and passwords, etc.  Typical stuff.  I did get to spend several hours getting up to speed on the various engine variants that we make, the technologies, pricing, etc. 

One big piece of news was presented during the ECLP con call with corporate.  If you didn't catch it, GE announced a high-level reorganization last week, moving a few businesses around into fewer, larger industrial groups.  As a result of this change, what was once three commercial segments within my program has been merged into two, which creates significantly more opportunities for me in future rotations.  Whereas before the change, I would be rotating between Transportation, Energy, and Healthcare; now I will have the opportunity to bounce between all of those, plus water technologies, applied materials, appliances, other industrial businesses, and NBC Universal.  The latter is especially exciting to me because of my background in the entertainment industry.  More on this as we move forward.

This being the first full uninterrupted work day I've had in a while, I'm pretty tired, so I'll sign off now.  Have a great evening!

Update & The New Digs

Well, we've nearly unpacked every box at our new home in Cincinnati.  Considering how many boxes sat unopened for two years in Alabaster, I think it's safe to say that we've surprised ourselves at the pace. 

A lot has happened since we last updated the site (Jason's graduation, moving out, moving in, moving out again, and now moving in again), and we'll get to that in the next few posts, including some pics from graduation.  But, for now, we'd like to share a few pictures of the new place.

As many of you know, Jason is starting a two-year management program at General Electric, which will take us to a new city every six months.  The first rotation is in Cincinnati, and we are renting a 2BR/2.5BA townhouse in an apartment complex in Loveland, just northeast of the city. 

View from the street

We're just steps from the entrance gate

View from the inside of the front door, looking up the stairs and into the kitchen / living room.

Looking slightly to the right, you can see the whole kitchen and into the living room.  The stairs are just to the left.  The half bath and laundry room are along the left wall, under the stairwell.

Turning further to the right, here's the dining room.  The kids' little table and their train table can be briefly seen behind the dining table. 

View of the kitchen from in front of the half bath. 

View of the half bath (left) and laundry room (right).

We played around with the living room layout, trying to give the kids a play area downstairs, while keeping our living and dining rooms at least somewhat intact.

The entertainment center is angled to reduce glare from the windows, so angling the couch actually helped make the room more comfortable. 

A few books for the kids downstairs, and our computer.  Aerin really likes to play computer games, so we were happy that we could put it downstairs.

Reverse view of the kitchen from the living room.

View from the back door - parking is really convenient.

The patio.

View of the sitting area from the front of the entertainment center.

Another kitchen view.

View from the top of the stairs.

Just to the left is the kids' bedroom (right) and their bathroom (left).  This is seen from the door to the master.

The kids' bathroom

Master bedroom

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Master bathroom

We'll try to post a pic of the kids' room tomorrow.  Good night!