Angels Among Us: Virginia is for Lovers

To say this was a hard move would be a

GROSS understatement!

We had not planned to move until the end of July, but we had a few complications with Tyler that made it necessary to go sooner. GT could not take any time off work because he has not accumulated time off yet. So we had to work around his days off for our unloading schedule. Which meant I was left to pack with 4 kids. YIKES!!! Luckily. . . . Sam had friends who wanted to come and spend every last moment possible with her, even if that meant packing and lifting heavy objects. =)

I <3 teenagers!!

So the kids and I packed for 3 days straight.. ....taking trips to the grocery store and loading our little Ford Contour full of boxes!

We said goodbye to our dog Rocco (the house we rented in Virginia would not allow pets) and we said hello to GT's mom. (Sonja came to drive the Contour so i could drive the moving truck)

Austin packed . . .

And Sam did her part by keeping us laughing when the stress was too much.

It took myself, 1 mother-in-law, 15 teenagers, 3 Mormon Missionaries and the kids but we finally managed to get everything loaded into a 26 ft Penske at around midnight on Wed. We drove that night to a hotel and spent the night and then got up early on Thursday morning to make the 10hr drive.

Yes, this is me driving a HUGE truck!! Can you say ScArY!

We only made it 7 hrs into the trip because my back and Sonja's back could only take so much after packing, lifting and then driving. So we had to stop for the night again. But on Friday afternoon, we finally made it to Virginia to be with GT. YAY!!

The house has it's good/bad qualities. (and for the record, GT is NEVER allowed to choose a house without me again!) The floor plan is wonderful. I love the flow and space of the home. I also love the enormous backyard for Austin. It is in one of the CUTEST neighborhoods I have ever been in. But....it is an older home and has no overhead lighting except for the kitchen and dining room. It also has no air conditioning. But it has hardwood floors that are beautiful. It was heavily smoked in though, and GT does not have the best sniffer and did not even notice. But they had painted most of the rooms and replaced the carpet in the master bedroom which helped. It also has the teeny tiniest master closet. So GT has been using the hall closet and suitcases and I am using part of Austin's closet upstairs.

But to be honest ~ we are together! And that is what matters more than anything else.

Everything else is just a bonus. =)