The Big Day

So, we moved all of our stuff this past weekend.  Closing on the house on Jonquil went smoothly on Friday, after a really late night on Thursday “just finishing up” the last few things to do at Jonquil.  I never expected it to take so long to “finish up” before we could leave.  But we ended up with two absolutely packed cars, some short tempers, and a very late bedtime (it was about 10:30 before we made it to Mom & Dad’s on Thursday).  Plus one very cranky cat and one very confused dog.  It wasn’t all that pretty, I’ll be honest!  But it was done, and the closing went fine.

Saturday we just stayed at Mom & Dad’s, and went to the wedding, and that was about it.  Well, and tried to keep our dog from killing their dogs, and Truman from escaping and hiding forever in the basement.  But totally uneventful, besides that! :)

Sunday we headed out with one seriously packed trailer, and one seriously packed Subaru.  I wish I’d taken a picture of it, because we had Josh, the girls, and me, plus the dog in her crate in the back, and Truman in his pet taxi jammed in between the girls’ car seats (literally jammed- we had to put him in, then put the car seat in next to him for it to fit. 

We got to Grandma’s house in So. IL on Sunday, and mostly just chilled for the afternoon/evening.  We locked Truman in a room downstairs, and kept Isa caged most of the time (but we did take her on a long walk in the evening). 

Monday morning, Josh and the girls (and the dog and cat, of course) jammed ourselves back into the Subaru and headed out around 5:00.  We headed straight to the new house so we could do the final walkthrough, and then to the closing at the realtor’s office.  The closing went alright, except that we forgot to bring a certified check.  So, we had to set up a wire transfer, instead.  We got out of there and headed back to the house to meet Mom, Dad, & Charlie with the truck and trailer, and the church members who were coming to help.  Only problem: the truck and trailer (along with Mom, Dad & Charlie) were stuck on the side of the road in Indiana because of a busted wheel bearing.  So, we went to the house anyway, and the girls and I just played in the empty house while Josh ran some errands to get utilities switched over.  We also let all of the church members who showed up know that we’d call them again in a couple of hours!  It actually was kind of nice to have some just chill out time after so long in the car and then at the realtor’s office.  Audrey napped, Laney watched movies (our portable dvd player MORE than earned it’s price tag during this move!), and I read.  Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, really! 

Once the trailer got there, it didn’t take long for the group that came to help to get the whole thing unloaded.  We were just in time, too, because almost as soon as we were done, it started really storming.  While Mom & I tried to uncover enough floor space to sleep all 7 of us, Dad, Josh & Charlie made plans for the shed and headed to Lowes to buy supplies (the first of MANY trips to Lowes). 

Tuesday Mom & I spent the day unpacking, and the guys spent the day building the shed.  It was soaking wet outside, so it was pretty nasty, mucky work.  And unpacking, well, it’s always nasty work!  We focused on the kitchen and living room, and actually made pretty good progress.  The shed didn’t go quite as quickly (it was so wet the concrete took forever to set), and we pretty quickly realized we weren’t going to be able to drive back on Tuesday.  We ended up staying until early afternoon on Wednesday, which meant Mom and I got a lot done in the kitchen and living room, and the shed was at least watertight (it still needed shingles, some trim, and to be painted- all stuff Josh could do himself).

The trip back was blessedly uneventful, which was amazing considering the crazy weather that went through Southern IL that day.  We only made one stop (amazing with the two girls), and we were home by 9:00 (and in bed by 10:00!).

And now that you’ve suffered through 773 words on moving, here are a few pictures to reward you for your time!  Although, not much of a reward since I managed to forget both my cameras, so these are just cell phone pics…

From the hellacious last day at the house on Jonquil.  Note to self (and anyone about to move with small children):  FIND SOMEONE TO WATCH THE KIDS THE LAST DAY! Just trust me!

A, having a snack in her seat on the floor… the best thing she did, ‘cause she was CONTAINED!

Laney was not so bad, she mostly watched movies… again, the portable dvd player to the rescue!

And, we’re off to KY!!  Wouldn’t be right without a few traveling pictures of my girls:

Elena, the Jedi knight…

Audrey says: M&Ms are DELICIOUS!  So much for melt in your mouth… more like melt ON your mouth…

And, we MADE IT!

First, and most important, the new house:

(actually totally forgot to take a picture of the house and had to have Josh send me one… such a crazy couple of days!)

It’s a cute little ranch, clearly, and it’s all brick, which is fantastic.  I love the green shutters and door, and it’s got great, mature trees.  Despite the 1 bathroom and lack of a garage, I really like our house.

Laney supervised the unloading once the trailer got there:

Monday evening, while Mom & I were working on finding spots for everyone to sleep, Laney and A were just playing around.  Then Mom realized that Audrey was sitting next to Laney, playing with her Belle doll, and there was no screaming or fighting (a rare occurrence for my girls).  So Mom complimented Laney on playing so nicely… and got no response.  She said it a little louder, and still no response.  So she really looked at Laney, and realized she was TOTALLY ASLEEP, crouched on the floor next to the dvd player.  Poor thing had no nap, and she was just exhausted.  Had to take a picture before I moved her to our bed!

 

Tuesday: Unpacking like crazy, and shed building!

Laney alternated between watching movies on the portable dvd player (are you sensing a theme?!) and picking every dandelion in our new yard.  Not a bad way to spend a couple of days!  And she was totally thrilled that I let her watch several movies in one day (usually a no-no).. and Mom & I were thrilled that she was occupied!Meanwhile, Audrey helped with the unpacking!

Truman skulked… (he’s actually doing amazingly well, considering the craziness of his last week!)

And the boys built the shed…

While unpacking the kitchen, Mom & I quickly ran out of space, b/c this kitchen does not have nearly the counter/cabinet space that our old one did.  We knew that when we bought it, so we figured we’d buy a buffet.  So, of course, Mom and I did some online buffet shopping when we ran out of room to put stuff in the kitchen, but we couldn’t find anything that I liked, that would work, and that was in our price range.  So I decided to try Craig’s list, which I’m not usually very successful with, but thought was worth a shot.  And, eureka!, I found the PERFECT buffet, and it was in Etown, AND it was only $150!  So we picked it up Tuesday evening, brought it in the kitchen, and immediately filled it with stuff!  I LOVE it! 

At first I was going to paint it, ‘cause the red doesn’t really go with anything else in my kitchen, but it’s kind of grown on me…  Just for reference, here’s a shot of the kitchen, with the buffet there:

See what I mean about the no counter/cabinet space actually in the kitchen?!  At least it’s really nice, though.  The house was bought in foreclosure by a builder, who flipped it.  So everything inside has been redone, which is awesome- new fixtures, new appliances, new paint, new floor, etc.  Such a good deal!

There was some time for fun while we were there, although not a ton, we were so busy!

We discovered a VERY FULL nest in one of the apple trees in the backyard (yes, we have TWO apple trees in our yard… awesome!)

We set up the girls’ slide in the backyard, and A tried it out:

Grandma, reading her girls some books:

And, then, Wednesday, we headed out.  By then, the shed looked like this:

Like I said, pretty easy trip, other then some serious wind and awhile with some pretty strong rain, too.  But, the storm did provide us with this beautiful double rainbow:

It was one of the clearest, brightest rainbows I’ve ever seen.  I mean, holy cow, look how bright it is on a cell phone camera held out of the window of a truck going 70 mph! 

So, now Josh is finishing up the shed, and working on unpacking.  Charlie and Corey are headed to Etown the week of June 6th to help Josh build a privacy fence for Isa (she has already escaped once, clearly the chain link there is not dog-proof!) who is spending most of her time now on her tie-out.  And, two weeks from today is my last day at work, and we’ll be headed out for good that weekend.  I expected to be more sad as I say goodbye to a lot of the teachers I’ve worked with and to be more sad about the idea of leaving.  But, maybe it’s because this transition has been drug out for so long, I’m just ready for it to be over so we can be settled, which makes me look forward to moving. 

And there’s a ridiculous amount of writing and pictures about a simple move… but we really are excited to get this new phase in life started.  It’s going to be quite the adventure!!