Our Move

NOTE: This is an 'outdated update'! I created this post about 2 months ago. While I was doing it, the site froze and I *thought* I lost everything and gave up. I decided today that I should maybe update on some of the bigger changes (baby details to come!!), and found that improvements must have been made on the site and the post I had been created popped right back up! So, though the info is old, the move and photos are still relevant, and now and can update more current things in the next post instead of backtracking to March! Maybe now I'll be more motivated to keep up on this blog?!   Sweet!! :)

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We made it!
Actually it's going on 2 months already since we got here...crazy!
The moving process went well, overall.  I will say that moving is NEVER easy, but this move had been slightly complicated, for several reasons. I'll share the story with you, if you're interested.

Here's a few pictures of the actual 'move'.

My family, just before we left the house with the Uhaul

Leaving our home of nearly 3 years

One the road!

Some great friends of ours who helped us drive across the country!
Thanks so much Jay and Christina!

The drive to MN went quite smoothly.  We stopped in TriCities to visit Fro's brother and his family one last time, and stopped again the next 'night'/morning (from about 3am to 10am).  The kids (and ladies!) were having a hard time sleeping and we needed some rest! 
Arrived in MN and began looking for a place to live.  No, we still didn't know where we were going to end up at this point!! Trust me, it gave me plenty of rough nights and stressful days off and on throughout the whole process!
We drove around all the country roads looking for something that would be rentable and livable.  No luck.  So we contacted a realtor who had a home for rent in a small town (not the area we really were hoping to be...and we weren't really wanting to live 'in' town either) and checked the place out.  It was about our only option, quite a bit smaller than our last place, but a decent house.  A couple downfalls, there was someone living in it who wouldn't be out for a few weeks...it was next to railroad tracks (!), and the location (basically in town/farther away from work).  We signed the lease (we're here for at least 6 months) and moved from Fro's parents' house, into a VERY generous couple's home that was empty for the time we needed a place to stay. Thanks so much, Wilho and Diana!!
It worked out great to stay there, although the days got quite long.  When a place isn't your own home, and the majority of your things are packed away, you find that there really isn't a lot to do to fill the days!  While we lived there, Skyler (my baby boy?!!) turned 3! 

He had SUCH a blast this year!  He looked forward to it for so long, sang 'Happy Birthday to me' all day before his party, and talked about nothing else for many days! It's so fun when they appreciate all the little things.  I did my best to make a few decorations and a simple cake with the supplies I had at the time. 

My big boys on Easter Sunday.  Both weren't feeling the greatest and were fighting colds that came nearly right when we got to MN.  And I'm SILL wiping noses!  Guess it must take awhile to adjust to a different area...?!

So a few weeks after moving into that place, we packed up our stuff (again...the little bit that we had unpacked), and started moving into our own place.  Here's a quick pic of the outside of it.

We are basically all settled in now.  It feels SO good to have our 'own' place!!  I haven't done any decorating or unpacking much that isn't a necessity, but all the main things like the kitchen, bedrooms, and furniture are in.  I'm getting anxious to start some projects...be it decorating, sewing baby things (5 more weeks!), or doing things outside...so hopefully I make more progress soon.  Another big challenge during this move has been being nearly 8 months pregnant!  Can't be hauling much for boxes, so when you realize half your things are in the garage and you can't do much about it, you're a little stuck!  Fro started his new job soon after we got here, and hasn't been home a lot during the daylight hours, so progress has been slow.  I feel like it might take the rest of the 5 weeks until baby comes before I'll feel like I can say, yes, I got ALL moved in!  It's nice not to feel rushed to have to do everything at once, though.

Here's a few more pictures of life around here...