The Big Move

How do I sum up the last few weeks of complete chaos, trials/victories, adventures and stresses?  We went from a family of 4 to a family of 5. A family living in a modest home amidst boxes and items needing to be sorted into donate, storage or trailer to a family living in a travel trailer amidst boxes and items needing to find a home.  We knew it would be tough to ready ourselves for such a move with a preschooler, toddler and newborn, but goodness, I've never been less prepared for something so much in my life.

First, let me back up.  About a week before the big move we had two of our three cars inoperable for various reasons and the third was temporarily blocked by one of the broken vehicles.  This was followed by our plumbing backing up into our basement on a Sunday evening.  The fixes on the vehicles were either a fortune to have fixed or a time hog to fix ourselves.  The plumbing was what we thought we could fix but ended up costing us hours of trying followed by a moderately steep plumbing bill. All of this during the time period we were supposed to be packing the trailer and sorting the home.  Give me a few days and maybe I can laugh about it, but until then it was by far the most stressful part of this journey thus far.  Between having our vehicles and home cursed, having three packers and three movers show up to pack our not-yet-sorted home, and having the kids running around the packers and movers, it was a tough week.  (BTW, in my two military moves I have never seen more than two people packing or moving at a time, so we were a little caught off guard to have our entire house simultaneously being packed by six people.)

But we are on the road!  We may have left some things behind that Dad will grab when he is back to ready the house for showings, but we are wandering down to Dallas as I type this.  Our first night in the trailer was great!!  It may have been 20 degrees outside but our furnace kept all five of us,  plus Khaki, nice and toasty for the best sleep I've had in a week.  Hallelujah!  It's times like these that I'm reminded of 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."   Time and again He likes to remind me of this. 

The kids are being rock stars and the trailer, well it's still attached to our truck, so we must be doing something right.  Do you know the reminder the flight attendants give you after landing, "Your items in the overhead compartment may have shifted during flight"?  Yeah that one?  Well there are no flight attendants in our trailer, but our items in ALL compartments shift with every mile, bump and sway.  Dad learned that the hard way when he got a Tervis to the face after towing the trailer to the scales yesterday.  Live and learn my friend!  We will constantly be shedding stuff, adding securing devices and learning through trial and error on this adventure. 

After one of the most hectic weeks I've experienced I cannot explain the excitement I am having over beginning this awesome new life two years in the making! See ya later Nebraska!! 

The boys playing in their new room.

Packing the trailer on the street in -20 windchill.

We finally made it on the road.

Dallas Photo Blog #1

The boys making friends at the Fort Worth Rodeo

Our site at Lake Lavon, drying clothes and playing soccer

My washing wand,  this thing is awesome!  Especially when you are dealing with newborn blow outs and two boys with no laundry facilities.

Trying out the tractors at the rodeo

Dad doesn't let a Dallas visit go by without a stop to In N Out

Bittersweet Nebraska

One week....that's all we have left, one week.  We are supposed to roll out of town in one week.  After my years of complaining about Nebraska and wishing to be somewhere closer to family and the beach I'm beginning to feel the emotion of leaving a place I've made home for the past 8 years.  While the weather is my nemesis in this state I have transformed over the years and can recognize the great qualities of Nebraska.  The best thing about this place, by far, is the people.  I may not have family nearby but I have a Nebraska family I'm not anxious to leave.  The friendships I've made over this stage of my life are like none other.  Some of these people have already moved on to their next adventures but some call Omaha home.  There are people who have held my babies before my blood relatives have.  People who have comforted me through the trials of my once long distance marriage.  People who have seen us grow as a family, spiritually and in numbers.  Some have been there to watch AJ's first season of soccer and LJ's first steps.  Our Nebraska family will never be forgotten and will always be missed.

We brought the trailer home today.  It's parked outside waiting to be made into a home.  I'm so excited to begin this adventure but the bittersweetness of leaving is hitting hard right now.  This house, this old and tiny house....Dad W proposed to me in the back bedroom, it's 2 guest rooms have been converted into a nursery and child's room having welcomed all 3 of our children home from the hospital here.  I'll never forget seeing Dad W pull up in front of this house when he first moved here, after 3 years of longing to live together as a real married couple, that day is engraved in my memory.  The feeling of welcoming my husband home for the first time.  Two of my kids have learned to walk in this living room, build snowmen in the back yard, and share joy on the tire swing hanging from the tree.  Why did I complain so much about the horrible plumbing and old damp basement?  Why didn't I relish the stories that these walls have seen?  Now that I'm leaving I see the magic that this house has experienced.  The joy and laughter that has echoed in our hallway.

And yet, I know this isn't an ending, it's only the beginning.  I look forward to the stories we will create on this next adventure.  I will forever have Nebraska as a fond memory and experience.  This place was the beginning of it all.  My life as a wife and mother started here and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.  The people we have come to know and love will always be a part of our lives.  We look forward to coming back and reminding our kids of the place where their story's began.

Thank you to everyone that has made this chapter of our lives so special and unforgettable.  We love you and will miss you terribly.