Closing Up Shop in Dallas

{Cowboy Red River Date, 2014}

{Brunettes}

This is our last weekend as Dallas residents for a while.  It's very surreal, Adam and I have decided.  We've been on this road for over 20 months--that's more than 2/3 of our marriage.  And now, here we go!  We've been doing a lot of "lasts" lately, and it's kind of exhausting, but fun because I get to see people  and do all the things I love!

Last night, Adam and I went dancing at Cowboy Red River, where we met four years ago.  We relived the moment we met, danced quite a bit, and then laughed because we left at 10:30 p.m.  When we went four years ago, we were just arriving at that time.  My, how things have changed.

We spent most of today packing, but we did get a run in out in the beautiful weather.  Adam's helping me train for a 5k in Disney World this fall.  There's definitely lots of fun benefits to being in a new state.

And speaking of a new state, packing to move 15 hours away is a whole different ballgame than packing to move two miles down the road, like we did five months ago.  I found myself at Home Depot at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night very puzzled, and stuffing large and extra large moving boxes into my little Jetta.  It was hard work.  I realized that I would need a place to pack lamps and other oddly shaped stuff.  (Last time, we had six cars take loads like that over.  Not this time!)

The nice thing about moving so recently is that we only unpacked what we really needed.  I'm not sure what that says about all the things in the boxes we haven't seen in a while, but I guess I'll just have to deal with that later.  Ha.

Today Lyndsy and SMoo came over to help us pack.  They were so helpful, I can't even take it all in, actually.  I have hit the point where I have made so many decisions that I can't make any more.  I told Lyndsy I needed direction and needed to know what to do.  She graciously talked me through packing my clothes and how to do it.  And then she basically did it.  SMoo boxed up all my shoes very meticulously, making a Tetris game of fitting all of them in to one box, and then packed all the hangers for my clothes.  Next they packed up my bathroom and made a great dent in getting the kitchen boxed up.

Lyndsy arrived with a cooler full of  snacks and adult beverages.  SMoo came bearing Sonic drinks and peanut butter pretzels.  The power of showing up is completely amazing, but when you add snacks... man...it takes it to another level!

Adam kept saying how helpful the girls were and how appreciative he was that we wouldn't need to be packing all this ourselves.  As I sit and look around our place, I am surrounded by boxes.  There's nowhere else for them to go, so they're just in the middle of things.  It's a little disconcerting, especially for Rye, but it's only for four days, so we will make do.

We ordered pizza and had quite the feast for dinner with all the snacks & goodies the girls brought.  Bryan and Claire stopped by after dinner, so all the brunettes could be together again.  We enjoyed catching up and hanging out.

For the first time, really, it hit me that we are moving so soon.  I have so many emotions as I process this--excitement for what's to come, sadness for what we leave behind, gratitude for so many people who love us and are willing to celebrate this next step and help us.   (We've got Adam's dad coming down to help us move, meals brought over, people taking us out to eat, packing help, and even unpacking help with my parents and family coming to visit.)

I cried about moving for the first time today, and then again when I said "See you later" to the girls.  That's definitely been the worst part.  Tomorrow is Adam's last day at the fire station.  It will be really a sad day for him.  We snuggled on the bed tonight with Rye dog and talked through some of this, but it's just really difficult to leave this world we know so well.  We're taking it a day at a time and doing the best we can.  I made a playlist of hymns and other praise music on my phone and have been listening to that tonight.  I don't have words to pray or things to say, so I'm grateful for the music tonight, especially.    :-)

Four more days and the moving truck will be loaded up, and then one night spent at my parent's house (they offered us beds since ours will be packed, so you better believe we took them!).  It's getting real!  Here we go...

Cha-cha-cha-changes are hard

Lest you think that our excitement is not without sadness, I present you this:

Last night, we went to a little local restaurant, Mexicali, for dinner.  On our way there, we passed by the park where March for Babies is held, and all the tents were going up.  March for Babies is this weekend, and this is the first one in about 10 years that I haven't been to.  It's the first one in four that I haven't worked.  

I definitely won't miss the 4:30 a.m. arrival, or being on my feet for days on end, but there is something so special about that day.  I will be gone this weekend, so it's just sad to miss, not to mention all the people I won't get to see.  It's just a reminder that I moved on, and it's a little tough.

And not thirty seconds before that, here comes Engine 31 with its lights and siren on behind us.  I yelled "Go get 'em boys!" Like I usually do, complete with a fist pump, much to Adam's embarrassment.

I let out a big sigh, saying how much I would miss March for Babies.  I was trying to explain all.the.feelings.  And Adam goes, "You feel like I just felt when the engine drove by, right?"  Yes.  Exactly.  

This move is temporary, but we are saying goodbye to a big part of our lives--Dallas, and the Fire Department.  I don't want to be terribly sentimental, as it will make me really sad.  

So we count our blessings, and the experiences and people who have made this part of our life so special.  And we look ahead to the unknown in a city near the beach.  I pray for a few good friends there and for us to thrive.  And for lots of visitors.  :-)  (Hint, hint!)

Finding Our Florida House

We spent most of our spare moments last week online looking for houses in Jacksonville.  The plan was to narrow it down and have Austin and Rebecca go look at a few houses for us on Saturday morning.  We inquired about 35 houses or so throughout the week, and I kept a running spreadsheet of our list, with the addresses, how close it was to the school, price and other notable features.  Once I had picked several out, I would send Adam the list, and he would check the neighborhood to make sure it wasn't ghetto.  

We made a pretty good little team, and by Friday afternoon, we had a list of four places for the Flaggs to go look at for us.  Rebecca took over 200 photos and uploaded them to the PhotoCircle app so that I could see them.  This was particularly handy, because we didn't have to text or email all those photos.  

The house we ended up renting was the second home they saw.  From our week of experience, we knew the rental market was hot, and things were going fast.  The realtor on this home texted me and said that if we were interested, it would be best to go ahead and fill out the application and have it held.  After talking to Austin and Rebecca, I did just that, while they went on to two more.  The fourth house was also another great option in another area.

In the end, though, we decided on this one because it has three bedrooms, great closet storage, a huge backyard and a shed.  Adam gasped so loudly when he saw the shed.  (We had one in our last house, but we weren't allowed access to it.  So lame.)  

It got bonus points in my book for the red front door.

They call this room the "Florida Room," which is basically a sun room.  You can see that the house has been freshly painted and is a great blank slate.  My mom found some photos of the house before it had been re-done, and y'all...it was so dated.  This is nice and neutral.

The kitchen has new counter tops and new tile flooring, and the rest is totally fine.  I could do without the florescent light, but that's what I get for working in the lighting industry now...I notice things like that.  Ha.    The bathrooms haven't been updated, but they are just basic tile on the floor and walls.  (I decided not to include a photo with a potty in here, because who really wants to see that?!)

And the boys of the house are incredibly excited about the back yard.  Rye is especially thrilled about all the space he's about to have, and we're excited that we can just let him out and not have to put him on a leash.  And don't even get Adam started on the shed.  In between studying, he has visions of all kinds of hours spent with wood and tools in the shed.

It feels SO GOOD to have a visual of where we will be in just 25 days, or so.  We're really excited, even though packing, saying "see you soon," and a 17 hour drive stand in our way.  We will get there!

Our Next Adventure

Do you know what city this is?

(awesome watercolor map found here)

It's our new place to call home--Jacksonville, Florida!

Yep, we've sent our money, signed a lease on a great house and are making plans to move May 2.  That's just 26 days from now.  {Excuse me while I try not to hyperventilate.}

We are so excited about this.  It's my last week at work, and then next week I start a new gig that I can do remotely.  Hooray!

It has been a long 20 months since we started this whole PA school process, and it feels so good to finally have answers as to where we'll be.  Getting the answers took a lot longer than we anticipated (like four months longer), but we made it.

We have the Flaggs in town to help us navigate (literally and figuratively) this new town, and they were the ones to help us find this house on Saturday.  I'm so excited to be in the same city as Austin and Rebecca.

A million thank yous wouldn't be enough to convey our gratitude for all the prayers you've prayed on our behalf.

Please come and visit...we are just about 30 minutes from the beach!