We Made It!

It was a tough move, but we drove two cars, two parents, two kids, and a dog 1200 miles from St. George, UT to Dallas, TX! Actually, the drive was the easy part. We left St. George -- with many tears -- on August 15th and drove to Farmington, New Mexico (via the Four Corners -- we have now been in four places at one time. Pretty cool! ), where we stayed with my cousin and her family, David & Ruth Holland. They were such gracious hosts, and we really enjoyed our time with them. We really hope they will stop in on their next trip to Mississippi -- hint, hint! They even put up with our dog -- that's true hospitality! From Farmington, we made a big push to get to Amarillo, TX. It was a very long trip (for people not used to driving very far!), but we did it. We stayed in a posh Motel 6 (not!), and found a church meeting to go to the next day. In the rain. Our spirits were a little soggy as we slid into our row, late, but the meeting seemed to be geared directly to us. It really buoyed us up, and gave us the will to drive our final leg, on to Dallas. We pulled in to our hotel, a Holiday Inn Select, grubby, saddle-sore, tired, and hungry. Aaah! A little "oops" here. Southwest e-mailed us two options for a company-discounted hotel. One was an extended stay place, which welcomed pets and had a fridge and microwave. Guess which one we DIDN'T get... The place we stayed was very nice, but eating out every meal was expensive and not the best for our digestion. And as for Buttons, well... read on. Jordan started work early the next morning, so the children and I thought we'd start the apartment search bright and early. Maybe we could even move in the next day! It was raining, again. I don't think we had seen this much rain in years! We started looking, only to find out that most apartments needed about a week to run a thorough background and credit check. Argh! So we found a place to board the dog, as the ringing sound of cash registers filled our ears. Finally on Friday, we were able to move in to the Marquis at Vista Ridge in Lewisville, Texas. Wahoo! A hotel room is a nice luxury for a day or two, but five is too many! Our apartment is on the 3rd floor, no elevator. Luckily, the day we moved in it wasn't raining. It was, however, hot and Texas humid. Thank goodness for the brave Elders who came to help! They got a workout, up and down for a few hours! After a crazy-busy Saturday, trying to unpack enough for school, church, and work, we were ready for, well, school , church, and work. Mostly. When Maaike and I went to register for school, we really got the run-around. Finally, after lunch, Maaike went to her first class. I went home to try to fit 1700+ square feet of stuff into a 1200- square feet apartment. Yikes! The best news about the apartment is the master closet. It is bigger than I have ever had before, so it is my "happy place." When I get discouraged, I plan to go there! :-) Other benefits include a swimming pool and hot tub which we have used several times so far, and a fitness center I plan to start using this week. Last week, my fitness training was lifting, carrying, bending, etc.! We spent today hanging pictures and curtains, and making adjustments to furniture placement so that our aparment looks cozy and homey to us. It seems like everything is miniturized compared to our St. George home, but we think we can make it work. Still not sure about the kitchen. It is really small! Maaike is loving her new school. It is a Middle School, grades 6-8, and she rides the bus, which she is thrilled about. She loves her Science class, and the fact that they are going to do cool experiments, with fire and animals (not together, I hope!). She has made a few friends, and is so glad to be in school. It was a long wait for her, since her St. George friends started two weeks earlier. Jordan is enjoying most things about his job. He has 4 weeks of training to start (2 down, 2 to go!), and some days are rough. For the most part, though, he really likes the people he works with. Everyone is so friendly, he says, and so welcoming. It's a great environment. Boone has really been a trooper, through a lot of things he didn't understand. It helps to have a fabulous big sister and a patient daddy. Just today (the 30th) we finally got his crib set up. After spending two weeks sleeping in a Pack-n-Play, he was very excited to see his mobile and bed again. At least we think he was. He has been having a tough time teething, so when he's bad, he's very very bad, but when he's good, he's adorable! Our ward is very young. They have a small Young Women program, so they were extremely excited to hear that Maaike will be 12 within a year. With 4 nurseries, they weren't as anxious to meet Boone, but they do think he's cute, so that's good. The church makes the world a small place, so neither Jordan nor I were surprised to find connections the first week. In this case, one of my DSC students is on our ward. We expect to find more as time goes by. I guess that's about it. If you are interested in the not so upbeat parts of our move, like when we opened the moving truck to find many of our belongings scratched, dented, or destroyed, or the details of my fight with Maaike's principal, give us a call. :-) We are pretty well past it now, and feeling good about life. Big BIG thanks to the family members who sent us a timely care package. It really brightened our spirits and made us feel happy. You are great! We hope to get some pics up soon, and keep this going. We love and miss our friends and family!