I Like This Ship!

It's exciting!!!

What a whirlwind!
The two big boys (that'd be my husband and my oldest son) left for a "Take Two" on the cross country adventure the very same day we got our keys to our new home.  That means the girls (plus a lil bird) got to unpack our move all by ourselves with our super awesome new church family.  What a blessing it was to get plugged in right away!  They really made our transition warm.

So we got our stuff, and it was like Christmas.  We hadn't seen much of it in 18+ months and I must say, I was pleased at how little-what in the world do I have this for?-stuff we had.  After going through every box, I only had one large donations box!  Yeah! There is a place for everything, and everything actually means something.  That is very exciting.  We got almost everything unpacked in under a week, despite the nasty fever/snot/cold virus that attacked us as our welcome gift.

I always think it is fun to know the very first new purchase in a new house.  Sometimes it's a rug, sometimes a paper towel holder.  This time, it was a plunger and it wasn't me 'nuf said.

So, the boys missed out on all the unpacking (that means I got to put everything exactly where I wanted it) but the girls were all scared with no one to protect us.  There are no curtains on the back side of the house and our dog doesn't like (that is putting it mildly) the cats the owner of our new house was feeding  (They all ran away now, save one.  She is holding out that I'll let her sneak in the front door and then pet her mangey backside) and the dog sounds like a rabid wolf when she decides to inform the cats she wants them to leave the back patio. That is an alarming sound when you are almost asleep, but quite comical in the middle of the day (think Scooby-Doo running on wood floor).

I love it.  I absolutely love the new house.
I have been meaning to share pictures, but I was holding out for when it looked all perfect.  Perfect, like THIS. But then I remembered that would be a lie.  I have 6 children.  I am ok with that.  My house is a mess.  I am still learning to be ok with that.

Open kitchen.  Running hot water.  Amazingness.
I'll have to take pictures of the upstairs and the guest room later so that is all you get for now...

So the boys had a good trip coming back.  Minus the part where their van broke down.
In the middle of Nowhere, Texas.
On a Saturday night.
As in, auto shops aren't open on Sunday so you are stuck in the middle of Nowhere, Texas Saturday night.  I was stressed.
But, they are easy going, they slept in the van and made faces at each other

until Grandpa showed up to tow them (400 miles) so they didn't have to wait in Nowhere, Texas for four days while the van got fixed...

Then they got held up because of some snow. The snow that the Whidbey locals said didn't exist...

9 inches of-Whidbey doesn't get snow, and Whidbey doesn't have a plow-snow...

So they spent and extra day at Aunt and Uncles house near Seattle.  We missed them sorely. But the dog sure enjoyed it.

Moving to Whidbey has been very expensive.  Like, more than what the Navy pays us expensive.  Two broken vans, ridiculous gas prices, RV park rent... not what we had planned on spending our tax return on... but,

But we are loving it here! This place is great. and we haven't even gotten out yet.  We are so excited about what God has in store for us here.

Day Nine- The Final Approach

I have never before cried upon arriving at our new home base, but I sure did this time.  Tears of relief and thanksgiving.  What a journey.  What an adventure!

Day Eight- Tackling Siskiyou Summit

This was my most dreaded day.  I had googled and read far too much about the mountain pass ahead of us.  My imagination can tend to run wild, and wild it ran.

Here was the sign, marking my end~ my decent, off the side of the mountain, plunging to my slow, painful, and untimely death...

My husband bought a labyrinth game for me on his iPad, Guys loaned me her mp3 player, Pops lent me his dirty t-shirt to put over the brim of my cowboy hat and I didn't plunge over the side of the mountain!  Thank you my sweet family, for humoring me.  And not taking my picture with a dirty shirt on my head.

We made it safe, and spent the evening relaxing and catching up with friends in Oregon.  It was a wonderful end to a not so bad day.

Day Seven California -The Grapevine

Putting SoCal behind us-

Rain, steep downgrades, four lanes of crazy drivers =

but then there was a reminder for me

He is always in control!

Day Six, California!

Gotta love California!

gas prices rose by a dollar a gallon in a matter of a mile!!!

Palm trees, and mountains!

yup, it is still there!

and we made it, anxious for a few days respite.  The salty air of Seal Beach and the warm grass was refreshing.

So we headed to our favorite West Coast Restaurant

For giant portions of Claim Jumper YUM

and Grandpa met us there.

Day Five, Arizona

We had to stop in Hatch, NM and buy some famous Green Chilies.

and some "burn your face off" green burritos.  YUM!

(made me think of my dear sweet friend, Amanda)

We were so glad for the drastic change in weather- 62 degrees in Tucson!

That was another interesting night, being squashed (I mean inches) away from a bunch of semi's.  We weren't sure if we were intruding on some truck driver rules of no travel trailers full of family members or something, but we sat our rosemary bush right out the door and pulled out our slide anyhow!

and we made good use of the Walmart parking lot to refill our supplies.

Day Four- New Mexico

This was probably my least favorite day.  It was stressful.  And long.  And extremely cold!

we were still getting a kick out of seeing our house in the review mirror

 We safely dodged the winter storms and made it down the Raton Pass without a glitch.

but somehow we weren't aware of the pass just out side of Sante Fe.  It was big- 7,500 feet.  It was dark.  And it was covered with sloppy snow (at only 24 degrees, we were glad it wasn't ice) and semi truck drivers who don't care our windshield wipers aren't working.  It was not fun.  

And the temperature inside our trailer never rose above 34 degrees that night in Albuquerque.  It was cold.  Thank goodness for down comforters and long underwear!  I doubt I will ever think fondly of Albuquerque again.  I am so glad that day is over!