Houston, the promised land.

Well, we made it. But you guys already knew that!!! This blog post will cover the move and how we got here. It was entertaining to say the least.

One we found out we were moving, I started researching. Moving is NOT cheap, folks. Movers were quoting me anywhere from $2799-3500. Renting a small uhaul truck was about $1500 for the distance we were going. Now, I don't know if y'all remember, but when my sister, Brenna, moved to Washington, she drove her mini van loaded with everything she could fit. Well, we've been married for 4 years and have far more than a mini van full. I did purge a lot and got rid of about half of my closet, but even then, we have a ton of stuff.

Evan came down about three weeks before I did. My dad came down on Wednesday evening and we got the trailer and fifteen passenger van we borrowed from Matt Kracht. I had been packing pretty much since we found out we were moving so we didn't have to do it all that night. Thursday morning we got up early and started loading up. My dad and I are both pretty stubborn, strong willed, independent people that like things done OUR WAY. Needless to say, there was A LOT of frustration. The one thing I remember vividly is me telling him that my side tables needed to go in AFTER they were packed full of stuff. Well, I walk out to the van later and notice that the tables are not in the garage and all the stuff that had been in them was all over the floor. For whatever reason, his crazy man brain thought that he should take ALL the stuff out of the tables (which are like 2'x2') and pack them in the van, completely empty. I nearly lost it with him at this point but bit my tongue as I was happy for the help. Any who, the only other instance I remember is when we got to the very end of the stuff (which was really just the end to what we could still fit) my dad started SHOVING things into the trailer. I ended up with a lot of scratched stuff...but oh well, it's just stuff! :) We ended up taking two Jeepfuls to the thrift store (totally over $2,000 worth of tax deductions! SAWEEEEEET!) I still had so much stuff left...it got to the point that I just had to decide what I needed right away and what I would get later. We decided that once the trailer came back to Illinois, my parents would load it up AGAIN and send it with Evan's parents in November along with the poochies. What a trip that was! :) I'm sure had they known what they were in for, they wouldn't have agreed! 

My mom came down after work on Thursday and helped us try to finish up, the plan was to leave Thursday night and drive half way....but there was SOOOO much work to do still, we stayed up until about midnight and finally went to bed, deciding we would leave around 3:30am. My parents had a bed to sleep in because they were coming back to finish packing up my stuff and clean my house....I slept on a sleeping bag on my floor! What fun. They deserved the bed! We got up at 3:30, tired as ever and got on the road...with one taillight on the trailer! 

Anyway, when my parents and I got here with the first load (17 hours later) we unloaded most stuff into a storage unit. We were staying with some really great friends that were missionaries in Mexico at the orphanage we used to go to. They recently moved back to Houston because of the drug wars in Mexico. We had a small bedroom and our own bathroom and couldn't have been happier! We were with friends, in a new city on a new adventure! I had kind of sorted my clothes and was able to hang everything up and get settled. I started my new job that next Monday (I ended up having to go shopping because I under estimated how chilly it can get here and I had kept most of my winter clothes in storage)

My parents headed home that Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which....) but they decided to break the trip up on the way home. Have I mentioned how amazing my parents are?! They drove all the way back home, FINISHED packing up my house, then cleaned it....my mom even cleaned the carpets. As the in-laws said, "you need to give them a gold medal..." I ordered it, mom, you should get it any day now!!! ;)

Moral of the moving story- HIRE THE MOVERS---THEY ARE SOOOOOOOOOO WORTH THE MONEY!!! :)

Ok, I think this post is drawn out enough. Next up, BUYING A HOUSE IN HOUSTON- The most difficult thing you will ever do and The Things They DON'T Tell You About Moving to Texas......Stay tuned.