Moving

Wow, can't believe how empty it is...








You generate a lot of garbage when you're moving out!












The big rig that is taking our life away :)

Moving Day 2 started out as bad

Here we started day 2 after not enough sleep. Dogs woke us at 7 per normal. We started the day by finishing some light packing inside with what few boxes and totes we had left.
Driver and his crew of 3 guys arrived promptly at 8:30am as expected. Garage had not even been touched the previous day by our packers as they didn't have any more boxes and had stayed super late yesterday. We thought that they would have told dispatch that packing was needed this morning...apparently not.
Driver was not happy that there was packing and informed us that "this driver doesn't do packing...I don't even have packing supplies on my truck"
So back on the phone with Safeway Moving in Lexington...they are a local agent for Mayflower.
They told us they would try to find some more packers but they wouldn't send them until we signed a new updated higher price contract. Joy of joys.
Went to the bank, waited for a fax from moving company in Lexington, signed it and faxed it back.
Also talked with the man who had done our original estimate and expressed our displeasure over the miscommunications that had led to all this insanity.

All in all though, once the other packer arrived at noon, the move went very smoothly from then on. They were done and packed with less weight than had been estimated...so yay for that. Then Nate and I rested for a bit, shifted things that were left around ie: furniture to be donated and other items for donations. Then of course went looking for trash bags around the house and our trash guys in the morning are not going to be happy...there is a huge pile of bags, boxes etc...
You generate a huge amount of trash in a move. :)

Now we clean, clean, clean & pack the car for our massive camping trip :)
Goodnight world!

Ensure that your mover and yourself are on the same page...

Today was the day the movers came to pack us up...at least that is what we thought...
How we expected today to go:
Movers arrive between 8:30 & 9:30 3-4 packers at least
Movers pack the stuff we needed them too ie: the stuff we hadn't gotten to in the last 5 days
We supervise and coordinate
We go buy lunch and share with movers
Movers leave with everything ready to load
How today actually went:
Movers arrived 9:15 (only 2 men!)
Area is on Tornado Watch and lots of rain expected
Movers walk through house, express concern as they don't have enough boxes
Movers explain they were expecting to just pack art work and china and some kitchen stuff...
We call the coordinator who gave us the estimate...express concern about it all getting done he doesn't seem worried
Dispatch calls to check, realizes they underestimated the job
Dispatch talks to us and states price will go up
I go out to get lunch...end up terrified because area goes into Tornado Warning while I'm on the road; drive right into storm; can't see front of car; park under bridge on shoulder with lots of other cars crying
Storm finally lets up, I get home, serve lunch
Realize we now need more boxes and it's going to be cheaper and faster for me to go get from Home Depot
Heart Palpitations at thought of getting into car again after earlier storm experience
Go to Home Depot, buy more boxes
Talk to dispatch again, get new price estimation (tentative)
Movers leave 6pm, again out of boxes...still some things around house to pack
Garage not even touched.
Go to Home Depot get more boxes, go get some dinner at the Pub
Nice break, fabulous food including fluffy cheese pillow goodness called Cheese Bollucks
Pack a few more boxes, blog, and now dear friends and family time for bed...
Hopefully tomorrow is smoother than today.

We have our tentative route home...

We have finally figured out the most likely route home from KY.

We are departing from KY on 10-30-2010...after that there are no set days or times that we will be hitting any particular place. We are going to base on how we are feeling, what the area we stop in is like, and weather. This is an easy going trip.

1-Lake of the Ozarks State Park, MO
2-Butler, MO for lunch with Aunt Thelma
3-Fayetteville, AR to see my sister and her family and stay in a National Park to be decided
4-Mansfield, TX to visit Aunt Darcy and family
5-Bottomless Lakes State Park near Roswell, NM
6-Phoenix, AZ to visit with Nate's Uncle Bill & Aunt Deb
7-Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon most likely Mather campground
8-Sequoia National Park in CA most likely Lodgepole campground
9-Fresno, CA for some lunch with Nate's grandmother Vi
10-Redwood National Park, campground to be decided
11-Eugene, OR to visit with Nate's grandparents Bud & Marge and also some friends like Amanda
12-Bellevue, WA to move in with Nate's parents Mike & Patti for a little while.

We are quite excited about the route and seeing some of this beautiful country. We will keep updates on this site and if there are any changes to the route we will let you know.

Some Photos

Just wanted to drop a few photos from our recent trip to Disney World on the web before I have to take my computer apart for the move. I took the opportunity to rent a Fish-eye lens for the trip and shoot in a different style. The extra wide field of view changes how you compose the shots and makes for some fun new things to try.

Update

Moving is coming along. After multiple irritating phone calls, many estimates, and talking back and forth...Nate & I agreed on a moving company. We are going with Mayflower. We are feeling really good. They are coming to pack us next Tuesday and load us next Wednesday. Then we will have the realtor come back out and take photos and list the house on Thursday along with having the carpets cleaned. Take Friday to ensure everything is in order and hit the road for our cross country camping trip on Saturday! So excited!!!!!!! We have already started packing what we can to minimize packing time and cost. Just yesterday we packed 27 boxes of books and 4/7 boxes of DVD's, the Wii and it's accessories and all the Atari stuff. It's really happening.

In other news...I found out the results of my NCLEX. I am officially a Nurse, a Registered Nurse! Feels good. 3 years of my life, half my marriage, and took the test 75 questions in an hour and 10 minutes. Amazing. I am so glad that chapter is done and now I can focus on getting a job!

Loving Life!

House Preparations

Nate needed to paint away the bold colors...




Now it's kinda boring...

A New Adventure Begins...

So as most know...Nate & I are moving back to Washington. Everything is going crazy fast and we are loving it. We may be a little overwhelmed by it all, but it's where we want to go so it's worth it.

I graduated from Nursing School on September 17th with family and friends there. We loved every minute. We had a wonderful weekend sightseeing with my Mom, Mike, Patti, AJ, & Chris.

Shortly after, Nate was no longer employed with Amazon and we decided to keep the graduation trip plans we had made as it was already paid for. We spent 9 wonderful days at DisneyWorld and enjoyed the start of the Food & Wine Festival. I think that was one of Nate's favorite things; that and him getting to do Dive Quest in the Disney Aquarium. :) Our trip home was a little eventful: we arrived at the airport and boarded our plane which was first on the runway to take off when an abnormal light appeared. Back to the gate we went to have them fix the plane. An hour later, we were back on the runway heading to Atlanta where we had already missed our connecting flight. They put us up in a hotel and flew us home the next morning.

Now we're back and have met with our realtor Kim and our stager Rita. Had the moving company come by today. So much to do in a few weeks.

We are packing the house this coming week, hoping the house gets listed on the 16th when we're done packing and can take photos of the staged house. I have my NCLEX (licensing exam) on the 20th and then we are going to hit the road for WA via a Southern route a few days later. We are excited about the adventure...and excited to see friends & family along the way.

We'll keep you posted. Until then back to painting, laundry, and some light packing of things the movers are not taking...