Well...I did it. Still hard to believe. I just keep pinching myself and wondering, did I really move? Did I really leave Las Vegas? The thing that makes this change so unbelievable is...I don't always follow through with my plans or things I say I'm going to do.
I am an impulsive person, I have GREAT ideas that lose their luster almost as quickly as I have them. I'll give you an example. I will go shopping with an agenda and I will look around the store and find something else that sparks my interest. I will pick up that something else and ponder, "What can I do with this?" I will come up with a grand idea! So then, I think of all the other things that I need to make this new idea work...forgetting about my original agenda completely. So...I walk the store some more. And, to my surprise...I find something new that sparks my interest! I will then repeat this process with the newest find. So...long story short...I walk out of the store empty handed because I can't make up my mind, I have thoroughly confused myself on what it is that I really wanted to accomplish and am now just plain frustrated and mentally exhausted from redesigning my plan multiple times.
That being said...the fact that I said I wanted to move and actually followed through with it, is a miracle.
It wasn't an easy decision though, lots of "what if's" and "are we sure??" questioning going on. This didn't only affect me, it affected my whole family! My kids were the main concern. Since I am an adult, it is easier for me to adjust. I don't have to start a new school and make all new friends. But, I tell you what...our kids were champs about the whole thing. They completely trusted us and jumped on board. It helped that our visit back here was so fresh in their minds, but still, it is leaving all that they've known and become comfortable with. One thing that I learned right away was that, they feed off of our energy and attitude. If I expressed worry and fear, then they would have those same worries and fears. So, I had to choose my words wisely and keep control of my emotions. That was hard. Luckily, I had 'behind closed door' talks with Mike and a few others to lose control a little.
I have to say that this process was quick and relatively easy...other than the emotional part. Everything that we needed to do to make this happen, just fell into place. We have been very blessed in so many ways. I am excited to see what our future brings.
So...here is our journey over the past couple of months. With lots of pictures! ;)
I explained how we came to this decision and how things worked out for us in my last post. This is the process after things were concrete and we were preparing to move.
First off...the tearful good-bye's.
Not only did we move away from my Grandma Peters, Aunt Tracy, Mike's sister and husband and his mom and dad (from St. George), we moved away from some very dear and close friendships that we have made over that past several years. It was so hard to control my emotions and keep my composure. I am not one to cry openly in front of people, so there were lots of tears shed out of sight. I have left some very, very special women (and men) that have impacted my life in so many ways that I can't even begin to explain. And, each of them offer something so unique than the other.
My Family.
We have lived near these two beautiful ladies (and my Grandpa, who passed away 7 years ago) since soon after we moved to Las Vegas. Luckily, they visit the family back in Missouri pretty often, so we'll still be able to see them. I'm hoping that they will be moving back here too. :)
We also have family that moved to Arizona pretty recently but they may move back to KC too! My Aunt BJ was the only family we had in Las Vegas for awhile. It'll be so nice to hopefully be reunited with them again!
Mike's Family
I was so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family! They immediately welcomed me with open arms and treated me like another daughter/sister. I have developed such a close and special relationship with each of them, it's hard for me to be apart from them after having them so close for so long. They have been there for all of the "events" of the kids' and our lives since the beginning...their presence will be greatly missed. What I'll miss most is the long talks at the kitchen table, the spur of the moment game night and the comfort of knowing they're near by.
My friends...my girls.
This group of ladies above are my church posse and all of them hold a very special place in my heart in their own way. Most importantly is, they all understand me and have fun with my crazy and sometimes inappropriate personality and humor. We all just have a good time together, as a group or one on one. Lots of Girl's Night Out dates, lunch dates and play dates, we were always getting together for something. They have all been huge supporters in my "Weight Loss Journey"!! All of them by offering words of encouragement and some by getting out there with me and pushing my limits or getting me off my butt. Not to mention, spiritually I have grown so much stronger having them in my life. And, there are many more ladies from church that have impacted me as well. And, they are certainly not forgotten!! :)
This lady...what a sweet treasure she is. A heart so big and such a zest for life. One of the most caring and loving women I know. Her energy and smile are contagious and is just a pure joy to be around! I have learned and grown a lot from her from our time spent together. Another huge supporter in this journey of mine.
The family and friends in the pictures above...and more that are not pictured...are what made this move very difficult. Sure, we have Facebook and phone calls or texting, but it's not the same. You can't hug or just chill with someone that way. That is what I'll miss the most! :'(
Not only did I receive lots of hugs and expressions of love and sadness over the weeks leading up to our departure. I was surprised with the most thoughtful and priceless gift I could ever receive.
A group of young girls that I have watched grow up and had the pleasure of being their leader for Activity Days, made me this beautiful quilt with all their hand/footprints and names on it...with the help and hard work of some incredible and talented women. It brought me to tears immediately and it will be cherished forever!
Ok...so enough of the tearful good-bye's and the ones I've left behind.
Onto...the moving experience. And...what an experience it has been!! We decided to use a moving company to pack up our stuff and drive it to our new home in Missouri. It was actually a great decision that insured our possessions if anything got damaged during the move. And... it relieved me of the headache of packing, which allowed me to focus on other things. Bonus!
The day of packing was actually very comical. I had NO idea what to expect. They said it would take 2 days to pack, which in my mind meant a relaxed setting of boxes and labor. WRONG!!
The days leading up to this, I had been purging and arranging pick ups for what I was getting rid of. I was also organizing and staging how I wanted things packed to avoid double work when unpacking. Plus putting aside what we were taking in the van to keep us comfortable until the moving truck arrived. In other words...my brain was overloaded with too many decisions and then executing them accurately while going about my usual daily routine.
So...the night before the packers came, I was exhausted and left a few minor things for myself to do first thing before things really got moving. Well...to my surprise, there was no relaxed approach to this whole packing thing. It was like an army of Tasmanian Devils in all areas of the house showed up and immediately started filling boxes, wrapping breakables, building boxes, taping up boxes, labeling, inventorying, moving boxes from room to room. I couldn't help but laugh at the chaos. I quickly remembered those few things I needed to do before they got in full swing...but it was too late! So...I was without a decent assortment of clothing for myself...but, that was my own fault.
It took them about 6 hours to pack our whole house...a 2200 sq. foot house. Crazy!!
Once we started unpacking, I quickly realized why it only took them 6 hours to pack. The boxes were labeled with very vague descriptions and sometimes with the wrong room listed. For example, one box was labeled "popcorn", and it was a big box, mind you...so we curiously opened it up and on the bottom of a variety of items there was a small handful of packages of microwavable popcorn. And, that wasn't the only box labeled like that. Plus, if it wasn't breakable it was practically thrown into the box...it was like Christmas morning opening up each one. They did wrap up pictures and fragile items very carefully and very well. I think about 3 forests were leveled in preparation for all the paper used to pack our house!
Here are some pictures of that experience...
All done! Empty house.
And...we're off! The drive...
Relatively uneventful...although long and crowded. The hardest part was traveling with animals, making sure the were comfortable.
Very crowded!! We tried to make a spot as comfortable as possible for Josie.
But...she always ended up right next to me looking terribly uncomfortable. I made sure to give her lots of attention and love. :)
Beautiful scenery through Colorado!
The hotel stops were much needed for the animals to stretch and move around. Josie was able to run in a big open field at one stop. She loved it!
We have arrived!! Home at last!!
The house we bought is darn near perfect! It is 4100 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 bath and sits on 2.4 acres! Absolutely beautiful!! The only negatives to this house...which are minor...are that the land is a pie shaped lot (the big part in the front coming to a point in the back), so it isn't as ideal as I would like for kids playing and Josie running. The bulk of the acreage is in the front and side yards and I prefer being hidden in the back yard better. Also, the fireplace is not functional, it's for show, but that can be changed. And, the master bath (shower/toilet room) was a last minute thought...super small. I can hardly turn around in the shower. LOL! But...overall this house is FANTASTIC and I love it!!
Front/side yard
Same side yard but the view from the upper deck
The back yard. It's hard to make out because of the trees. We have a retaining wall about 10 feet or so from the lower patio. There is lots a bush and such right now that will get cleaned up in the spring. There's also a little creek.
The lower patio outside the basement underneath the deck off of the kitchen. It spans the width of the house.
A view of the side yard of other side of the house from the back deck
The upper deck view from kitchen
Walking out from the kitchen
Turning the corner. This deck spans the width of the back of the house. It's huge!
The view of the back yard from the living room. There are a ton of big windows all along the back of the house on the main floor exposing the beautiful views of our back yard. So bright and cheery and fun to watch nature.
Living room view from the front door
Dining room off of the living room
Dining room, kitchen and breakfast nook
Kitchen from a different angle showing the other side of the living room
The other side of the living room showing off the front door, stairs, catwalk connecting the kids' room, the door next to the stairs leads down to the basement and the door to the right of that is the master bedroom. The kids' room...Sydney's is one the right side of the catwalk and she had her own full bath. The boys' rooms are on the left. They each have their own room and vanity with a sink joined by the toilet/shower room.
Our first meal at our new house, in an empty house, besides a folding table and chairs and air mattresses for everyone. Mike came a week earlier because he had work in Topeka, KS. So he drove down to the house when he was done, to get the keys, sign papers and stock the house with some necessities that we'd want once we all got there. Plus, he did a lot of odd jobs fixing things up. My cousin was a huge help with the house while Mike was there and after he left.
The moving truck is here!! Finally...we'll have furniture and everything else!
Poor Josie didn't know what to do with herself!
Now...unpacking. :P
I will be so happy when all these boxes are unpacked and gone. Some of them were packed so tightly and super heavy, I felt so bad for the men unloading the truck! Not too mention, it was raining the whole day, there were stairs everywhere...some leading to the front door, in the garage up to the kitchen, 2 flights up to the kids' rooms and 2 different flights down to the basement. Plus...they had to carry certain items (800 pound safe, my awkward heavy desk and a sofa) down a grassy, wet hill to the basement. They were whipped!!
These bags are FULL of packing paper! They are 50 gallon bags and this is only about half of what we've thrown out! But...at least there was nothing broken!
Making progress! Slowly...but surely.
This is the basement. There are 3 sections to the open space.
This is my side...office/craft/game area.
This is the rest of the open area of the basement (my space is to the left). The middle part is the living area that has all the kids' game systems hooked up. The area in the far back will eventually house a pool table.
Here is the view from the "pool table" space. The door on the right leads to the 5th bedroom (Mike's office), the next door to the left is storage, the next door leads upstairs and the next door (opened) is the 4th full bathroom. The folding doors house the water heater and such.
So...that is our house! It's big and roomy and once I am able to get all my pictures hung, areas decorated and everything organized...it will be SO nice!
Adapting to country life and a small town.
It is quite a change that's for sure!! The population here is right around 8000 people, there is one high school, one middle school and an elementary split into 2 grade groups...K-2nd and 3rd-5th and all of them located right next to each other. There is one main street and the speed limit everywhere except for that main street (which is 40 mph) is 25 mph. Let me just tell you how hard it is to drive that! Mike already got pulled over...no ticket though, thankfully. The cop understood that we'd need a little time to adjust and remember. There are no grocery stores nearby, only a Walmart. There are a few fast food places and a Walgreens. Other than that it is very small town.
I'm loving the beauty of the area and all the different critters and such around. I see squirrels, Daddy Long Legs and a variety of other things Vegas does not have. Right now the leaves are changing and falling...it's so pretty. Here are a couple of pictures of what I get to drive on a daily basis.
The kids.
They are adjusting very well! Brett had a rough time at first. He was in tears a few mornings, which broke my heart! But, it was caused mainly by being tired from being sick and not sleeping well. He said that he likes the school and kids. They all say that.
These schools are so different than what they're used to...what I'm used to. The school size is a fraction of their old schools...their middle school is 400 kids and they came from a school of 1800 kids. The class size is rarely over 20 students and a lot of the teachers send weekly emails about what they have planned that week for the class. The boys start an hour earlier than Sydney and get out an hour earlier too...which kinda sucks for driving them to and from school. They could take the bus, but I'd rather just drive them. The school spirit is awesome and it spreads through the whole town!
Their first day of their new school. Man...that was hard for me!!
As with any change, I worry about how it will affect them, but so far it has been great for all of us! We are spending a lot of time with our family and Sydney has been able to play on the farm a little. I'll get her more involved with the horses later after we've settled in more and it gets warmer. It is such a difference from what I've known for the past 30 years, but I welcome the change!!
My next goal is to get back into the swing of things with my weight loss. That will be taking place very soon and I can enjoy life even more than I already do!
Life is good!! I am so blessed! :) :)
