Into the fray!

We picked up J at the airport on Saturday evening. Saturday night I made a special dinner, we had cupcakes and just a general air of excitement swirled around our night. Sunday morning we woke up to chaos. All the DETAILS of moving your family across the country in THREE WEEKS kind of fell in on us.

It's crazy crazy crazy around here. This is the part I hate. I'm good with just jumping in and doing something but I hate getting the details up and running. Where will we live? When are we going? How will we get there?

We have movers coming to pack and move us. However, there are things we just don't think are worth moving so we need to get rid of them. We have to find out who will take what and their hours etc. We have to contact the movers and see when they can pack us up and move us. We have to find a house to rent, wait for the application to be approved, and set all that up.

There are family members that want to see us before we leave. And we want to see them. N has some vacation plans with his Grandparents and we want him to be able to still go for that so we are trying to work it into our very tight schedule. It's an adventure.

When it is all over and I can sit back and relax for 5 minutes I'll be a lot happier. Right now the excitement is buried in the details.

The many many details.

Hitch up the wagon train boys and girls...We ride west!

Our time here in Indiana is coming to an end. We'll be moving across the country and into a brand new life. It's a pretty long story but I'll try to be brief.

J's job here in Indiana started to tank a couple months ago. They ran out of work and out of money and basically it's all been falling apart. We came to find out that they lied to us when we moved here about the amount of backlog work they had. They've been forcing the employees to work "off the books" so that they can make some money on their projects. It's been a mess.

So, J started looking for a new job. We weren't having much luck for a while. He's a bridge engineer and with the economy in the tank, states were cutting back. In the last month, however, things really took off. He's had 3 possibly 4 offers on the table. Two of them are fabulous opportunities. The other two are still good but not the direction he wants to take his career. One of these opportunities stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's the kind of job we've been working toward for 10 years. Every move and every new job has been to advance his career in this direction.

It just happens to be in Utah. That's 30 hours from my family. Or a few hours by airplane.

Believe me when I tell you that we have thought, discussed and run the scenarios hundreds of time. We've decided to take the plunge and take the job in Salt Lake City. Things are about to start moving very fast.

Our landlord told me that she was glad we gave notice because the day she got our letter, she was working on a letter of her own letting us know that she was selling the house and we had to be out by June 30. She was upset about having to do it but her husband's GM plant is closing, and they may have days or months but they want to be "lean" when the closure happens. So they are selling off their rentals. I guess I didn't take as much of a gamble as I thought. I agonized over that for days and we were going to have to be out anyway. Isn't it amazing how things work out.

I am very at peace with our decision to take this opportunity. I know that Utah is far from home and a completely different culture. I'm comfortable enough with our own convictions and our independence as a family to not be afraid of the adventure. We are really excited about exploring the beauty of our new home. The mountains, the desert, weekend trips to Yellowstone or camping and fishing at one of the many many amazing parks in Utah. The first thing I want to do is see the Grand Canyon. A mere 6 hours or so away. I've wanted to see it my whole life. Granted it will be the north rim, not the popular view but I'll see it. Nicholas is going to stay in the car! My heart won't be able to take him peering over the edge of the canyon. He can see it when he's in his 30s.

Another thing I'm excited about is the long-term nature of this job. The project is something like 5 years. 5 years of stability! How wonderful is that?! I've learned to appreciate the small things.

Everything is going to be happening so fast at this point. We have 3 weeks to be out of our house. The new company is taking care of all the moving but we have to get all that set up and ready to go. I'm a BIT nervous considering we don't have anywhere to live in Utah, yet! The company will get us movers (YES!!!) and put us up in temporary housing if we need it etc. So, I feel good that it will work out.

I am also starting a 2nd blog. My family doesn't know about this one (except my husband), it's more my sounding board for how I feel. My other blog is going to be so that people who care can keep up with us, I'll detail the cross country move, our homeschool adventures and progress, and our day to day lives. I intend for it to be heavy on pictures and details. I'll still be posting here but this is more for me. I'll get it up and running just as soon as I get a few pictures to start off with.

I am happy, excited, scared and sad all at the same time. I have loved our time in Indiana. Our lives will really be changing. My son's life is going to change in ways he doesn't understand. However, just because it is different, doesn't make it bad. It's exciting and scary. It's life. And it's good.

Break it down...

I'm taking a little break while we finalize some plans and figure out what the heck is going on around here.

See y'all in a week!

The Gambler

So, we had to take a chance on something yesterday. I had to gamble with the roof over our head. See, we had until June 1 to decide to continue in our lease or to NOT continue with the lease. Our landlords raised the rent and we had 60 days to decide if we wanted to stay or to continue in our original lease with the new rent.

Jamie doesn't fly out until this coming Wednesday to finalize things with his new company. We have no idea of the time line of our move. He'll be meeting with a relocation specialist and looking for housing. They'll be discussing moving expenses etc.

We made the decision to go ahead and decline to continue the lease with the rental increase. This allows us to get out of our lease free and clear. The problem is that there are still so many things that could go wrong. Nothing is written in stone with the new job or the relocation. And now we have until July 15th to get our behinds out of this house. It was a gamble. We may be scrambling for a place to live and loading our stuff into storage.

It makes for an interesting dilemma. It makes my stomach hurt. I'm so NOT a gambler.

Home sweet home...

I've moved. A lot. I've learned over the years and the moves that it's important that each place you live, no matter how temporary, feel like home. And that is especially true if you are in a rental.

In order to make a rental feel like home I've learned a few tricks over the years. The first of which, don't be afraid to hang things. Cover those walls with precious pictures, memories, quilts, plates or whatever floats your boat. If you walls are rental white, it will give you color. If not, there is probably paint somewhere you can use to touch up when you move. Spackle is cheap.

If you are allowed to paint...do it. I've painted the living room in every home we've been allowed to paint, yellow. Not bright neon yellow and not pastel yellow. I've used a color called Centennial Yellow from Lowe's until they changed everything. So this last time I had to go out and find something similar.

Don't leave boxes hanging around. If you can't use everything you have, find some storage but don't leave stacks of boxes where you can see them. You'll just feel unfinished and temporary and that stinks.

Unpack enough of what you need. Just because you are in an apartment for 6 months doesn't mean you should live on an air mattress or a mattress on the floor. Go ahead and put the furniture together, put on the pretty sheets, hang curtains, buy a new shower curtain...whatever. Don't live like you are in college just because you aren't going to be there for 20 years. An extra day or two of work will make a world of difference in your temporary home.

Wall stickers and clings can be your best friend. Go ahead and give the kids their princess room or their Transformers room. Clings are inexpensive and can be moved around as much as you want. They leave no trace and can really make a kid feel comfortable.

If you are in a rental long-term, make it yours. All you can do is ask. Ask if you can paint. Hate the bathroom fixtures? Change them out. Hate the brass chandelier, get a new one. Lighting and fixtures are so simple to change. You can keep the old in a box and replace them when you move or offer to leave them. Don't be afraid to leave a place better than when you got there. When we thought we were going to be here for several years, we looked into new kitchen flooring. Yes, we would have taken a total loss on the project. I'll tell you a secret, we made a bunch of upgrades to the home we owned for 3 1/2 years. We still took a total loss on the projects we did. If it is worth it to you, ask.

Settle in. The neighbors may be reluctant to talk to you if you are renting. You are probably just one in a long-line of temporary people living next to them. I'll guarantee that not all the renters have respected the home or the neighborhood. Just face the fact that you are going to have to try harder than you think you should to make friends. If they see you planting flowers, hanging baskets, and keeping the yard nice, they'll warm up a lot quicker.

Those are good places to start and are good reminders to myself. For now, I'm off to enjoy a little of the summer sunshine with my boy. I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day. Ours was spectacular and filled with friends and family.

That will make any place feel like home.

Cryptic and annoying...

Isn't it funny when there are so many things going on, I have nothing to say about them? We're making some big plans around here, looking at some big changes. Weighing pros and cons. Debating. Worrying. Laughing. The moods range from excited to terrified.

And yet, I've nothing to say about any of it. So, I'll just leave it at this. We'll be leaving Indiana soon. There will be mountains involved. They won't be in West Virginia. There are two distinct and very different possibilities knocking at our door. Blessings both.

It's going to take several weeks to sort everything out and make a decision one way or the other.

As for now, I seem to have brought the plague home from my visit to West Virginia. I'm putting up the good fight but I gave in today. I have done nothing but drink hot tea all day. And now, I'm going to go wait for my husband to get home so I can nap.

Rested, Refreshed and Ready...

I enjoyed my week back home in WV. It was nice to let go of responsibility for a while and to just hang out with family doing nothing special. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to go home for a week.

I didn't get much done. I thought I'd spend a lot of time on the Internet and get some things researched and put together for the next school year. I thought I'd have spent my time planning out the summer. I guess I did to some extent but mostly I just goofed off.

I read 4 books, 5 magazines (cover to cover), took afternoon naps and ate out way too much. I went to Target about a hundred times and Wal-Mart every day or so. My son came home with a truckload of new things. And by truckload I mean...truckload.

And now it is back to life as usual. I feel better. I'm happy to be home. I am thrilled to be reunited with my hubby. I missed him. A LOT. I was able to come home with a better attitude and renewed energy. And now, we are facing some exciting changes in our life. We're scared and excited. But there is hope for a better future and the promise of a big adventure.

I'm not menu planning today. The hubs may be flying across the country this week so I'm keeping things loose. After a week of Chef Boyardee, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Hamburger Helper, he's more than ready for some home cooking. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes on the menu today.