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.