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Well, we're here! (This post will be my own mini journal of our journey to Texas.)

Last Friday I spent the day at our storage unit unearthing J and I’s earthly treasures. (It was like Christmas!) My mom, dad, and three brothers came and selflessly spent their day unpacking the 35’ storage unit and then reloading everything into our Penske truck. I bet Jonathan an extra $50 he couldn’t make everything fit. I lost. He fit it all! He also left with a $3500 brand new Ethan Allen mattress I had inherited before quitting and mom and dad got an EA queen mahogany sleigh bed. Not bad for a day’s work. At 2 Jon left in the Penske with our Hyundai behind him and drove the 9 hours to Texas. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) Saying goodbye to my family was very tough. We’ve lived one hour from them for almost four years and nine hours away will be an adjustment. It made it easier knowing they supported this move and were excited for us. (Plus, J promised we've visit every other month) :-) What a blessing I’ve been given.



Later J flew in from Milwaukee and I we drove from Memphis to Texarkana. Saturday we arrived in Krum to find Ryan, J’s brother, in the house replacing all of the ceiling fans! He wanted to surprise us but we got there early. I was thrilled to see the terrifying fans gone (we’re talking live wires exposed…). Brooke, Ryan’s wife and my dear friend, had my favorite hair products and a giant card with a made up poem set up in the master bath. :-) She is amazing! I am so lucky to have such a fantastic family waiting for us in Texas. My brother Jon stayed until we had unloaded the entire moving truck. He drove the moving truck nine hours the night before and chose to help us. There is so much stress going on for him in his work life and he has acted with such dignity and I am very proud of him. I could not believe he used his entire weekend to help us. (Thank you, Jonathan!) J considers Jon one of his best friends. (Again, I am so lucky!) Saturday was spent unloading/unpacking/installing ceiling fans, with the occasional yelling by Ryan. J and I ended up spending the night at Brooke and Ryan’s because Brooke and I were making 12 dozen cookies for her mom’s cookie exchange party. Everyone thought I was crazy for moving and making cookies in the same day but my parents taught me to move with little stress. I absolutely loved baking with Brooke.


Sunday we went to church, then Mama and Papa’s (J’s grandparents) for lunch. This is a weekly ritual for everyone, much like when we lived in Florida and spent every Sunday at my Gramma Klein’s house. Brooke and I spent the afternoon at her mom’s house for the cookie exchange. I loved meeting alot of great women and some of Brooke's friends. That night J and I were so exhausted we barely unpacked anything or even moved from the couch. I think the stress of it all hit us and we both felt blah. Monday J took off work and we made Lowe’s runs, unpacked, installed window treatments, etc. Good day! That night we went with Brooke and Ryan to La Hacienda in Lewisville for Tiffany Browder’s surprise party. We sat with our good friends Chris and April Jackson and their beautiful little girl, Avery Kate. She is a doll! Chris and April are such amazing people and I know we will love being so close to them.


Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in Oklahoma City. J’s territory covers Oklahoma, as well as Kansas, so we’ll be traveling once a month. It was nice to stay in a hotel and away from all the boxes for one night. :-) We’ve now been in hotels so much we are now Platinum members… no joke. They upgrade our room and we get free snacks/candy. Our room had a giant spa tub in it. I tried not to spend every minute in it. I failed.


Yesterday was our first full day at home and we loved it! J requested homemade manicotti, a first for me! On my way to the grocery store I looked around at the flat countryside, the ranches, the animals, the occasional Sonic, and it hit me just how drastically my life has changed in just 6 months. This summer I "celebrated" 3 years as the Operations Controller for Ethan Allen, and rarely had time to enjoy cooking and baking. I was consumed with my own little stressed out world and was losing focus on the most important thing in my life: my husband. Now, I am living in his childhood home of Krum, Texas, in a house half the size of our Cordova home. You know what? I already feel more at home in this house than I ever did in the Calderdale house. Shocking, huh? Those much wiser than me will find this easy to believe. My day yesterday consisted of unpacking, watering my new plants, hanging curtains my fantastic mom made, signing us up at a gym, and making homemade manicotti for J, myself, and my inlaws. This summer I hated a lot of the changes that were happening (J losing his job, leaving my job, possibly moving to Scotland, selling our house, Milwaukee for 14 weeks??) but now, at the end of those 'stresses', I see God's plan. I am a housewife to my husband and he has never been happier. We're talking so much, playing games, working on projects, just enjoying eachother. We've been blessed with such a strong, incredible marriage but now, almost 4 years later (Dec 30th), I see our relationship changing into something we never even dreamed of. So tonight, instead of bringing work home for Quarterly Audits, or feeling sorry for myself, I choose to make my husband homemade manicotti, clean the dishes immediately, and decorate our mailbox with garlands and Christmas bows. What a blessing we have found in this move to Krum. :-)