hotel living truths.

We have been living at Homewood Suites for a little over a week now as a family of 4.
These are few truths I have learned about hotel living thus far.



1. unlike a dorm, or even apartment living ... our neighbors are not here as long as we are. 
 
we have many times said hello to families with kids on our floor (or at the communal breakfast times) and have always been met with a very reluctant and suspicious hi back.
wyatt even offered to take the luggage cart back downstairs for a man, he felt very uncomfortable with us asking ... but in truth, wyatt just wanted to ride it down to it's place. ha!
the good in this is that the kid who liked to jump on the bed and stomp across our ceiling was only here for 2 days, and the dog next to us that kept trying to open the door was only here for an evening.


2. people love themselves a free meal. 

it doesn't matter if it's the breakfast or the simple salad and cheese and cracker tray out at dinner time. the ways that people can manage to fill a plate (or three) amazes me.


3. taking down my personal coffee cup in the mornings signals the staff that we are not the typical short-term visitors.

we have met some really great staff here at homewood suites. they are friendly, accept daily hugs from our kids, and truly wish us luck with the home selling/buying and with john starting his new job.  in several ways they are becoming friends.  which is super beneficial when my boys want a blueberry muffing with the case is out.  (or so i say because i really wanted it)


4. my kids do better in their own rooms

i know lots of parents love to have their kids sleep together, but it is not beneficial in our house. haden still is a very loud breather while he sleeps which causes wyatt to get less quality sleep.
when haden begins to wake at 5am, he runs over to wyatt's bed and begins banging him on the head in excitement that his best buddy is in the room with him. oy!
LACK OF SLEEP MAKES WYATT WHINY AND HADEN MEAN
a terrible combination when mixed together
oh Lord, help us survive these next 6 weeks in here.


5.  giving wyatt a key card was genius

first of all wyatt had to spend about a week in the hotel with us, proving to us he knew how to get to our room from all doors and front desk/food areas.
now that he has his very own card ... FREEDOM i tell you. not only does wyatt feel like an adult, but he's super helpful. I send him on errands several times a day. just today he changed out the laundry, got me an apple, took a tray back to the food area, and back down for extra coffee creamer.


6.  we are all starting to feel the tightness 

we miss the ease of a backyard play area, being able to sit on a soft couch, and not always HAVING to be in a room with someone else. there is so little alone time here for any of us.  Even now as i'm typing, john's on his computer 4 feet away doing his own thing ... several nights i've watched shows on my tablet WITH HEADPHONES as to not disturb him.  it's funny how i just miss watching tv with normal sound.


7. i never knew a rotisserie chicken with microwavable mash potatoes would ever taste so good.

it had been weeks for john and i of constant dining out. sure we ate at some nicer restaurants, but that first meal as a family, in our hotel room, using both office chairs so we all can sit at our tiny table. the four of us cleaned that whole chicken dry, and the kids slept wonderfully that night.


8. i worry too much about a 'proper' dinner for our family.

one night we all ate corn dogs. that was it. nothing to go with it, just corn dogs. it wasn't awesome, but they were microwavable and in that moment that was good enough.
another night we had frozen lasagna and nothing else. we ate it and were happy enough.


9. hercules is a great cat

he doesn't meow, he sleeps most of the day and plays throughout the night. he lets the boys look at him for a moment before he disappears again. i never expected him to be this great. he must just feel happy to not be left at home alone anymore.


10.  swimming everyday is fun and exhausting

the boys love the pool. i love that it is only a short walk down the stairs to it.
it's really awesome to watch them giggle and play, and that 45 minutes is full of giggles.

WE MOVED? WHAT!??!!!

As to quote the Disney cartoon Little Einsteins "I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!"

I, Kara Rocha, Married to one John Rocha CALIFORNIAN, am sitting here in a hotel suite in DENVER COLORADO still in somewhat disbelief that the last 8 weeks just happened.

First of all. John had been contemplating Denver for the past 4 YEARS.   He has been researching the dynamics of the city for years and lead by God decided it was time to move his boys to the mid-west style of life.

I have known that he was considering moving since the end of OCTOBER.  That's six months from first thought that MY husband would ever move out the bay to actually doing it. AHHHH!

From the moment John submitted a resume ....  to (no joke) hours later with the first phone interview ... to me sitting here now ... GOD has lead this process.  
My parents were visiting us the first week in May John flew to Denver for the in-person interview. They painted and touched up our walls and baseboards just incase we would need to sell.

About a 3 weeks go by and there is no yes, nor a no.
Our preacher gives a great lesson on God truly wanting the BEST for his people,  and God is WANTING to give you a YES to whatever your question to him is. At the end Shane said something like  "ask God for your yes this week and wait to how much greater his yes to you will be."  So I waited ... and I prayed in the car a lot that week. I realized deep in my soul that I wanted that YES. I wanted to move out of the Bay Area. I wanted that Mid-West style of calmness, family, and lifestyle.  Sunday came and I felt a bit discouraged. I wanted a YES, and didn't get it ... I got silence. So I prayed that day to remember God's timing.

Monday, May 18th,  I'm at a therapy session with Haden and I check my email. 
John has sent me an email from the company he interviewed with.  It is an job offer. 
And it has everything. From a good wage and benefits, to paying for a moving truck and a 2 month stay in an extended suite hotel. This company WANTS John. 
And GOD HAS GIVEN US A YES WE CANNOT BELIEVE.
We sat at the table that night and there was no "no" for us to say.   A few hours later we called my parents and Memaw to tell them the news.

It took us about a 10 days for it to sink in enough to start telling our friends we were moving.

We have spent 6 great years at our church.  And we loved it.
We have had Granny Gerry and Papa Garey in our home apart of our lives for the past 3 years. And we deeply love them.
I have made lots of good mommy friends, and how do you leave that behind?


By the time word had gotten out about our move. It was already June and the typical end of school year chaos has began.  Last play dates were scheduled, but the rush of it all and the time of year made it not feel sad or real at all.

They boys had a few days in our home after school ended before I flew them to Ks.
They spent from June 10 until July 5th with Grandpa and Grandma. And they were so happy there.

John stopped working on June 12th. He made a quick trip to Denver on the 14th to settle us into a hotel. He found a great spot.

We packed and packed and did have the opportunity to visited with friends until our moving truck came to take all our belongings away on June 23rd. (except a few items and a few suitcases of clothes in which we will survive on until we own a Denver home.)
It took John and I until the 26th before we left the bay.  Something was always more important than cleaning the house. (like the 2 hour lunch we had with the Castles & holding baby Sophie one more time)

John, Hercules, and I had a nice drive together. We left about noon on the 26th and went to Las Vegas. We stayed at a beautiful resort at Lake Las Vegas and started our drive to Denver around 8am the next morning.  We enjoyed listening to old podcast of  Click and Clack, quietness, and not packing/cleaning! We made it to Denver about 8pm and were happy to be done with the drive.