The weekend before we moved was General Conference for our church. Since we didn't have regular church meetings that day, we made a special breakfast of french toast with bananas, strawberries, syrup, and powdered sugar. Coop was so excited. It was the last "special" event in our rental home.
The next weekend, 4/12/14, we got to move in to our first "real" home; you know, the kind where WE pay the mortgage. Cooper was a big help the night before helping load all the small boxes into the moving truck.
He was excited on moving day to sit in the big truck. It wasn't a long drive, since we moved about a mile from where we had previously lived.
We happened to move just across the ward boundary, so changed wards back to the one we attended when we lived in Charlotte a few years ago. So with having two church wards to help, we ended up with THIRTEEN men/boys to help us load/unload the truck. The night before Nate and I had been so nervous about whether we were going to get even one or two guys to help for a couple of hours; you just never know what you're gonna get with volunteer help. Imagine our surprise when the guys just kept spilling in the morning of our move. We had everything packed and in the garage except for the big furniture, so all they had to do was load/unload. It only took them two hours to load, drive, and unload everything--AMAZING! Then to top it off, I had friends help in so many ways. The night before the move my friend, Natalie Gleaves, who happened to also be one of my visiting teachers, brought us dinner, complete with plates, utensils, cups, you name it. It was SUCH A BLESSING to me when I was in the middle of packing my kitchen, and completely exhausted, to have a delicious, hot meal brought to our home--no wrestling tired kids at a restaurant, spending money we didn't want/need to spend, or eating fast food. This was one of the biggest blessings to me, and I will certainly try to pay it forward in the future when I know people are moving.
I also had friends who babysat the boys, two all day long, both on moving day and afterward so I could help move, and then so I could clean the rental house. Then my amazing and wonderful friend, Stephanie Davis, helped me earlier in the week by taking 5 hours one day to drive as many loads in our cars as we could while the kids were at preschool. This saved us a lot of packing, being able to move clothes on hangers from closet to closet, move fragile items I didn't want to pack in boxes, etc. Then, as if that wasn't enough, she helped me the Monday following our move for 7 hours of non-stop cleaning at our old rental house, including filling in nail holes, etc. I mean, I could NOT have done it all without her.
We felt SO BLESSED by the outpouring of love and service from our friends and fellow church members, some of whom we didn't even know yet in our new (old) ward. I mean, wow. I would have loved to have taken pictures of each of these people, but asking for a photo of them providing service seemed over-the-top annoying, besides the fact that we were all so busy.
Moving day was a perfect 75 degree day with low humidity--a first in our moving history. We usually have really hot weather when we move, so we were also thankful for that.
Here is our new home in Indian Trail, NC.
We live on a nice street with lots of nice neighbors. Everyone came over within the first few days to say hello, and the morning after we moved in, Cooper was already surrounded by new friends, playing in our backyard. I love having a big yard for my kids to play in. But see the hill back between those two trees? Picture a future terraced vegetable garden...I CAN'T WAIT for that!!! Little by little we'll be able to do the things we want to do to the yard/house.
Unpacking amidst two crazy children was no easy task. So two days after we moved it, being tired of living in boxes, I decided to tackle the kitchen. First it needed cleaning. The house had been rented for a year after the owners moved, and then sat vacant for 6 months after the renters left, so it was QUITE DIRTY. I mean, everything. Before I could unpack each room, I needed to clean. The kitchen took me 5 hours of straight cleaning/unpacking, but I did it!
Ta-da!
That night before Hudson went to bed, he decided to be my little destroyer helper.
Several weeks later I finally purchased some storage units for the playroom, which right now is in the formal dining room so that the boys can be close to me when I'm cooking and such. Cooper and I put the shelves together ourselves, and once we were done, and got everything put away, Cooper said, "Wow, Mom. I think I can play in here now." That made me smile.
Many of you have been begging for pictures of the house. Here it is already June 9th, and I still have a few decorative items to put up, but other than that we're finally "done" moving in/decorating for awhile. So you can expect some pictures sometime in the not too distant future, as I catch up on this blog.
I am so happy to finally have a home we can call our own, and to be in a place where we know we'll be for at least 5-7 years, maybe even permanently. That is a long time to me since we've been married 9-1/2 years, and have moved 7 times during our marriage--never in one place very long, and always having to start over with friendships and such. This time we stayed close to our previous location, so other than missing our great friends, the Blantons, who were our neighbors, and changing wards (we miss you, Monroe Ward!!!), life hasn't changed much. We already know a few people in our neighborhood from Cooper playing sports, and from the community. It's so nice to finally feel settled.
We are both a little sad that our current residence isn't near family either in Utah, in New England, or on the coast of NC, but after praying about it, we felt this is where we need to be for awhile even though we have no family near (since Denise is soon to abandon us join our family in Boston), so here we will stay. I have grown to really love the weather in Charlotte. I have a hard time imagining moving to a place with long, cold winters. The weather here gives me a lot to love.
I couldn't be happier in our new home. I feels good to be home.
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