It was very stressful trying to find a new place to live in East Texas. We liked our apartment but, having lived in a house with a yard and garden previously, we hated sharing walls and walking up to the third floor and having to watch our dogs while they poop. Skip hated the stairs from the start. Layla raced us to the top every time but Skip was huffing and puffing after just a few steps like someone on one of those weight loss shows. We really wanted to rent a house but there weren't many available so we thought we'd have to settle for another apartment just like the last one until Craigslist yielded us a perfect little house that we ended up going with. Since it was so far away and we were afraid someone would snatch it up before we could even see it, I told Josh to just go see it and give the guy a deposit if he liked it. That's trust right there. Letting your husband decide where you're going to live next. And not only that, but he ended up signing a 2 year lease to lock in the good price. So that meant the first time I'd see the place I'd be living for the next 2 years would be the day I haul in boxes. Fun. The best surprise about the place though, was that it needed a fridge!
My mommy and sister drove from Atlanta partly to help us move but mostly to bring our fridge. This fridge...deep breath. We bought it last August RIGHT before we got married. The one our house came with just decided to die one day with no warning. At the time, Josh hadn't gotten his job yet and we thought we'd be in that house indefinitely so we bought a nice fridge that we loved. French door, bottom freezer, huge, I was in love as soon as I saw it. It also saved my ass when I made my wedding cake because our previous side-by-side would not have held all the layers that ended up being huge.
This, except there was another even bigger layer on that bottom shelf too. Thank you, fridge.
When Josh got his job and we moved away in February, we had to leave the fridge at the house because we would be living in an apartment. It wasn't even fully paid off yet. The house was being taken over by some close family so it wasn't lost and we knew we'd see it again...someday...hopefully.
So we rented a truck for my mom in Atlanta and she took it to my old house and got the fridge out (with great difficulty and with rain threatening the entire time) with the help of my father-in-law, his partner, his brother, my dad...it really did take a village to make it work. So my mom drove all the way from Atlanta to Bossier City and helped us get ready to leave in the morning.
This is how stressed Josh was...since he just had to go to work in the morning.
So when Josh got up bright and early at 5.30 to go to work, we all got up too. All except my sister, who slept til about 8.30, right before the movers got there. That's my TV wrapped in a blanket by her head. I wrapped it moments before this picture was taken. Do you know how loud those packing tape dispensers are? Bitch can sleep through that. Must be nice.
That's what she gets for sleeping in and knowing full well I just got a new camera.
My sad living room full of boxes. I hate boxes.
We had hired 3 guys for 3 hours to load our truck. We hired 3 guys for 2 hours to unload when we moved in so we figured one more hour would be PLENTY since we had only acquired a couch, a chair, and a small table in 3 months. I had scheduled everything that day to the minute and everything should have been fine. The unloaders would arrive at a certain time in Texas and the cable/internet guy was coming to hook up our new services. Everything should have been fine...but it certainly was not. It started when I went to get the get Uhaul from the other side of the complex to park it by our place only to discover that the battery was dead. The key had locked in the POS ignition and I thought it was because the lights were on or something. I started turning dials and knobs until the key came out. I had unknowingly turned the lights on and left them on all night. Ever tried to jumpstart a 26' truck with a Honda Civic? It works, it just takes about 20 minutes. Just as I got the truck started, the loaders arrived. Bullet dodged, everything would still be fine. Wrong again. The head mover spent most of his time organizing the truck, which was fine, except that his helpers were next to useless. One hour to go and they still hadn't loaded any furniture and I was starting to get frantic. I told them to get that stuff in since I couldn't lift it after they left. Half an hour to go and they hadn't even loaded our 3-piece sectional (3 small pieces). I know that it was very hot that day but it was snowing when the same company (2 different guys) moved us in so I wasn't having much sympathy. The whole point of being reimbursed for moving help was so that my mom and I didn't have to do it all ourselves like we did in Atlanta. Nope, I had to give the head guy a personal check for another hour of work that I won't get paid back for just so that they could finish. It ended up taking them 2 extra hours and that's with my 52-yr old mother, my 17-yr old sister, and me helping. I was worried for my mom because she gets unhealthily flushed when she works outside. She's fine but it shouldn't have been an issue. At one point when my sister was helping me with something, one of them asked if she was my daughter. I know I looked like crap that day but at least I was wearing a bra and I certainly don't look old enough to have a 17-yr old child no matter what! I also caught one of the guys sneaking back into an empty bedroom to check his phone. If that guy had asked to be paid for both extra hours, I might have hit him. About halfway into the loading, I called the unloaders in Texas and told them we'd be at least an hour late. They said that's fine, they'll just wait. We ended up being 2 hours late and missed the cable guy by about 20 minutes. He didn't end up coming back until Monday and it was only that early because I threw a fit to no fewer than 6 customer service people. I was done with it.
My navigator was so pooped.
Getting to the house was such a relief. Their head mover took the Uhaul keys and told me to go sit down, they'll take care of the rest. And they certainly did.
They unloaded that truck so fast.
But then this is what I was left with. I still hate boxes.
That night, I made Miso Soup. My mom and sister and I went to the store to get some things while the fridge was getting cold and while Josh was putting together our new dining chairs. I built that dining table in college and it has never had a proper set of chairs. We finally got some since we now have a place big enough to accommodate it all. You're looking at the first proper meal eaten at that table since it was built in 2008. Shameful, I know.
We used a 26' Uhaul to get from LA to Texas. Yes, little 5'3", 23-year old me had to drive what felt like an 18-wheeler to our apartment and then to our new house in Texas. The maneuvering was actually very easy, it was the driving that was awful. Every time I tried to accelerate, I felt like I was asking a 2 year old to do something and all they could say was "NO!" The brakes made this awful hissing noise whenever I pressed them which I can only assume was some sort of air-ride but it freaked me out while having all my earthly possessions moving right behind me. My mom kept saying how proud she was that I could drive it. Then she helped me pry my white fingers off the steering wheel.
Me, giddy that I'm getting rid of that awful truck.
So here we are in a little neighborhood just outside Tyler, TX with a fenced backyard and ranches all around. It's pretty cool to wake up with horses grazing just beyond your yard. It also has a garage! I haven't had a garage since my parent's house. It's so awesome to get in my car when it's 100+ degrees outside and not burn myself on the seatbelt because the car has been inside all day. I love the house, by the way. Josh did a good job. We're still getting settled but most of the boxes were unpacked by Monday. I'm not typically a neat freak but again, I hate boxes. I like to feel at home. I can feel at home with a little clutter but not moving boxes. This feels like home even before we're all unpacked. The dogs like it too.
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