The good, the bad, and the ugly

It is Saturday afternoon, early afternoon, as it is just shortly after the noon hour, and Brandon and I are completely and totally spent.  The packers came to our house yesterday at 8 am and did not leave until after 4 pm.  At the end of it all, our household good filled 4 complete moving crates and still had 3 overflow boxes.  All things considered, that isn't very much, but it sure felt like a lot of stuff.  As I watched them seal the last crate my heart broke just a little bit.

We had to say good-bye to a house that we have built so many memories in for the last 5 years.  For the majority of mine and Brandon's marriage we have lived in that house.  We brought Jared home to that house.  It was the first real place that we called our own. 

I wish I could say that move went smoothly and we are on the other side sore with happiness that everything went as expected.  It didn't.  No matter how much planning I put into the move (and I have a 2 inch binder FULL of stuff pertaining to this move), it wasn't perfect.  I could not plan all the things that happened to us, I just had to find ways to make it all okay.

Here is a list of the good parts, the bad parts, and the UGLY parts of this move:

The Good (it is always a good idea to look at the good parts first): 

• We did not have to pack out our house by ourselves.  In fact, we didn't have to do much packing at all.  Three guys came into our house and packed all of our stuff, and I mean ALL of our stuff.  We only had to be there to supervise.
• We have an amazing friend who lives in Hawaii, but is currently visiting California for a couple of months, and she is letting us use her house as a place to stay and live for the next 40 days until we leave Hawaii.  
• This same amazing friend is allowing us the use of her car once we ship our car.  It is amazing how much money we get to save by not having to rent a car or stay in hotel.
• Brandon was able to take 4 days off to help facilitate the move and make sure that everything ran smoothly.
• We don't have to pay for the downstairs carpet to be replaced.
• Good friends that stepped up and helped out in the ways that we needed most.  

The Bad (these are the things that aren't awful, but still just add a touch of stress to our lives):

• Brandon does not have a job yet.  Right now we are currently starting the next chapter of our lives and we have no idea where it leads us.  It is a BLIND FAITH jump that we are taking.  We trust God and that His timing is perfect, but we'd be lying if we didn't admit to being a little bit stressed about it all. 
• I contacted a woman about coming into clean our empty house, and she agreed (3 weeks ago) to come and clean it for us on Saturday.  Three days ago I tried to get into contact with her again and she never got back to me.  Here it is, Saturday, and my house is not clean.  I did find someone else to come tomorrow, and I am hoping that he actually keeps his word and does what he says he will.
• Jared is CONFUSED.  He is doing well for the most part, but it is hard to see him looking so out of place and unsure about what is going on. 

The UGLY (the stuff that just out and out sucked about the last couple of weeks/days):

• Three weeks ago Jared came down with Pneumonia.  It was awful.  He did not look like he felt well, and it was hard on us as a family to try and keep him quiet so that he could heal.  This was also in the midst of all of our move out appointments and stuff that HAD to take place at a certain time.
• Exactly one week before our move was to take place, Jared got the stomach flu.  It lasted until Tuesday of this week.
• The same day that Jared got the stomach bug, I got bit by a spider and had two large, red welts on my left leg that made it incredibly painful for me to walk, let alone get any of the 50 things on our "to do" list accomplished.  They are still there, a little less painful, but still there.  I am on antibiotics to help with the infection
• The night before the movers are supposed to come and pack us out, so Thursday, Brandon complains of not feeling well.  He, too, struggled with the stomach flu.  
• Here it is Saturday and we still have so much to accomplish at the old house and we are both so physically spent that it is taking hours to get what should only take 30 minutes, accomplished.

One day we'll laugh about all of this.  But for now, we are trying to remember that God is in control and He knows where He wants us and what He expects from us.

Moving Chronicles Pt. 3

With our impending move just about a week away, I find myself wondering if I got rid of enough stuff.  I have tried to repeat the mantra of "purge, purge, purge".  I did not want to ship a bunch of nonsense across the pacific ocean to only make it to our new home and wonder what I was thinking.  We decided to get rid of most of our larger furniture, mainly because most of it was 5-6 years old and had already survived one move.  We have been able to make a little money on some of the furniture.  Yet, I still sit here and wonder if I could have gotten rid of a few more (insert object here).

We have really tried to make the transition easy for Jared.  He's almost 3 and lately it has seemed that a lot of changes have taken place in his world.  It isn't easy explaining to him why some of his favorite people aren't around and why he can't see some of his best friends whenever he wants to because they are visiting grandparents.  No matter how hard we try, the moving transition is going to set him off.  There is no way that watching all of our furniture leave the house piece by piece, or watching his toys slowly dwindle when he wakes up from his naps is going to make my little man happy. 

One thing I forgot, though was boxes.  No, I don't mean that I forget to purchase/acquire boxes, I mean that I forgot the joy that boxes can bring to a little person.  Jared has been finding many many ways to use the left over boxes/rubbermaid bins that have been left empty while I go in search of things to fill them with.

Top Ten Things I LOVED About Today

I feel like so many of my posts over the last couple of weeks have been me complaining about SOMETHING.  I wanted to write a post tonight about wonderful things.  Today has been an awesome day.  It has literally been filled with people I love and family time I crave.  Here are the top ten things that helped me feel happy and full today!  These are in no particular order.

• Getting to talk to Dustin.  He's my brother.  No, not biologically, but he's still my brother.  He knows most of my secrets and loves me anyway.  We don't talk nearly as much as we should, and every time we do, I walk away remembering why I love him so much.  He is a good man.  If I could move him wherever I were to move for the rest of my life, I would.  Creepy, I know, but that is the kind of person he is, I just want to be near him during my life.

• Talking to my mom.  I DO talk to her everyday, but for some reason, today it felt different.  I love talking to my mom.  We even talked on Skype today.  It's nice to see her face every once in awhile.  She is coming to visit in July, and I cannot wait.  

• Going to the Waikele outlets specifically to let Jared ride the quarter operated machines.  The smile on his face was worth the $5 in quarters we spent on the stupid rides.

• Cleaning out closets and getting closer and closer to the day that we are going to move out of here.  While cleaning I found a letter that Dustin wrote to me our senior year in high school.  I read it and, once again, remembered why I love him so much.  I also saw a picture of a former best friend and I playing the tuba.  It brought back memories.  I don't want to go back, but it's nice to reminisce from time to time.

• Falling in love with my husband again.  I do this every single day, and today was no different.  He's a good man.  He makes my life complete.  He reminds me to be a better mother and a better person.  I am so lucky to call him my husband, and I will for the rest of my life.

• Talking to my Amy.  She's my sister.  Yes, biologically.  When she lived in England, I talked to her ALL the time, and yet, now that she lives in Vegas, we hardly ever talk anymore.  So, it was nice to hear her voice, talk about life, and remember why I love having a sister like her.  We are so much alike in some ways that it is scary, yet, different enough to know that we are completely different people.  I love her.

• Feeling the relief of being able to cross a TON of stuff off of our "To Do List" for this upcoming move.  Still so much to do, but it is much less than it was.

• Jared is still steadily getting better.  The pneumonia sucks, but I am thankful the his pediatrician knows what he is going and continues to give Jared the care that he needs.  

• Talking to Gramma Lei/Mom Payne.  She left Hawaii a couple of weeks ago now to a shower of tears.  My life here in Hawaii hasn't quite been the same since.  Although, she has kept her word and called me once a week.  I love hearing her voice.  She reminds me to hang on just a little tighter to things that I may want to let go of.  She also demands that I stop stressing about things and just let God sort it all out.  Tomorrow is her birthday.

• Personally having a growth day.  A day where I could feel myself fitting into the life that I want to fit into.  I love the people in my life, and I don't let them know enough.  Today, I got to tell several of them, and that makes me personally happy.

Moving Chronicles Pt. 2

I guess for awhile most of my posts are going to involve the adventure of our move.  It is the first time in probably a decade since I have had to truly move ALL my stuff.  So, it has been eventful.

This weekend, we had high hopes of getting a lot accomplished and purging away at all of the junk, crap stuff that we have accumulated throughout our five years in this house.  Although, as always, plans got changed.  This time for a good reason, albeit, not a reason I would have liked, but not one I can argue with.

On Thursday Jared was diagnosed with pnemonia.  Yep, you read that right, my little 2 year old has pnemonia.  It started out as a simple runny nose and turned into ugly pnemonia.  We are under strict orders to restrict the amount of activity that my little man is allowed to do this weekend.  He can have no more than about 30 minutes of play time.  It is HARD to tell my two year old that.  He lives to be outside running around, climbing, and jumping.  We have gotten creative.

Today we took Jared to an outlet mall called Waikele today.  At this particular outlet mall they have about 10 ride on toys.  You know what I'm talking about right?  The ones where you put in 2 quarters and then the machine starts to go back and forth and the kids can steer the steering wheel.  That's what we did for about 45 minutes this morning.  I took my mom's advice and brought Lysol wipes to wipe everything down before and after he rode, and then brought wipes to wipe his hands after each ride.  This way we weren't contaminating anyone else, and he wasn't going to get another bug to exacerbate the current situation.  He loved being there, and since we got there 30 minutes before any of the stores opened, we didn't have to see too many people either.  It was perfect.  Jared is now quietly snoring away for his afternoon nap.  If it's anything like yesterday's nap it will be about 3 hours.

Brandon and I spent the afternoon removing carpet that we had laid on top of the ugly, blue stuff that they put in these military houses.  Now we are going upstairs to purge some more and see what else we can sell in garage sale or pawn off on some of our friends.

Moving Chronicles Pt. 1

Several months ago I posted a blog about the reality of our move inching up closer and closer.  It has been a crazy couple of months, and the move is HERE.  I don't mean that we are moving tomorrow, but we are moving in the next two months.  And, if we want to get really technical, we are moving out of this house in less than 25 days. 

I am an organized person by nature.  I like to have lots of lists and lots of organization when it comes to big things.  For the move I have already created a binder that has no less than 7 lists of things that need to get accomplished in order for our move to go as smoothly as I want.  It has a calendar for every month from May-September so that I can keep myself organized day by day.  Now, when I started the binder I used pen to denote the things that I was pretty sure weren't going to change and pencil for the things I knew probably would.  Well.... you know what people say?  If you want to hear God laugh, make a plan.  That's what happened.  My plan was quickly changed and I had lots and lots of pen marks through things I was convinced would not change.  As for the lists, they are slowly getting items checked off, of course, they are also have new items added almost weekly.  There is hardly any time for anything to be added, but I seem to always find a way.

This first week of June very little was planned.  It was the first week in a REALLY long time that I didn't find myself running my hands down my face wondering how I was going to get EVERYTHING accomplished that week.  So, instead of making things to fill my week, God made me slow down.  I am currently sick.  I have been running a low grade fever and I feel like my head is going to float away.  I have tried taking medicine, but to no success.  I tried running errands yesterday, anyway, but found that I was not that effective.  Thus, I am staying inside until this sickness leaves me alone.  I just hope it goes away before next week, because I am BUSY next week and don't have time to sit down and do nothing. 

On that note, I do have the pre-move out inspection of our house today.  Shouldn't take too long and hopefully won't be much for me to have to accomplish.  I am thankful.

Where are the tissues??