Not to be overlooked

The day we had all been waiting and waiting and waiting for.

The move in!

And guess who showed up to help me get all moved in??? Thats right. My best pal, danni. She left Critter Farm and drove all the way to my house. Im not one to keep track of points, like say, someone else I know....but, I have to say....this was worth some pretty big points.

And youd think with all that waiting and waiting and waiting that Id have more pictures to share...but not so much. I could use the excuse that I was extremely busy...but thats not a *good* excuse. I mean, I WAS busy. But, Im quite certain that my partner in crime was equally as busy, and Im 100% sure that she walked away with a ton of pictures.

There was lots of exploring to be done.

Especially since before we moved in every single room was stuffed to the gills. Like this.

And this.

Securing the perimeter is a full time job for this little pup.

And, of course, trying out all the potential napping spots.

The kitchen was quickly covered in all sorts of cleaning supplies and odds and ends.

An empty house is a wonderful place to play with a great big, red, bouncy ball.

As the morning took off, the job of box and furniture inventory was given to danni. This required a very quick hand and a good set of ears and eyes....looking for color coded numbered tags and listening for them to be called off as man after man walked by with dolly after dolly of boxes.

And for a good part of the morning G played right there in that big window.


But at times, he did contribute. His toys did need to be inventoried after all. This "toy box in a wagon" was a huge hit. Only cool miss danni would think of something like that. G is still talking about how he got to sit in the big, green wagon AND have all his rescue heroes in there.

And since he worked so hard, naturally, he needed a break for lunch.


And then after lunch it makes perfect sense to spend a little time in the tree.

In amidst the chaos of box after box being brought off the truck...we were pleasantly surprised to see what appeared to be a huge groundhog tunnel in our front yard.

It went right up to the house.

And curved around.

And YAY for that because thats our cable line that allows us to access the internet!!! We were initially told that it would possibly take a week to even *try* to get us connected.

The truck arrived at 830am and by 1pm it was pulling out of the driveway.

And even tho I dont have a full picture diary for the day...I can tell you it was a very long day. Filled with lots of work and snacks and laughing and more work and more snacks and paper plates and paper cups and pizza and fried chicken and gummi bears and sparkling cider and wait. I want to make a toast. Heres to the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Getting the amazing opportunity to fulfill my dreams of living on a farm and having some critters.

Mostly tho, it was a fabulous day. Never to be forgotten. And I cant thank my amazingly, wonderful best friend enough for making the trip here to help me through this very hectic time in my life. I honestly dont know what I would have done without her. Thank you, danni. (Your mere presence was delightful. And made me so very happy. The fact that youre very strong and helped me move some great big boxes was a bonus. And even more? The kitchen was a HUGE task....but since you were here it was all done even before the end of day 1.....I could go on and on and on...Thank you so much for all your help.)

Im also really glad that the people who lived here before me decided to take this with them.

The big move

If you remember, it all began when I got the exciting news that my husband got a new job.

Things began happening very, very quickly after that. And the next thing I knew he was off on his own in our new home state of WA.

I was left to manage the home front. Naturally, I took full advantage of my help.

Time went by pretty quickly(for the most part) and before I knew it I was worrying about how to get all this stuff into my orange backpack to take on the plane.

I did manage. Altho, Im not entirely certain how. I even shoved a good portion of all of our closets into those suitcases.

Just in time, too. Because shortly after that the packers made an appearance.And soon, all my rooms were packed neatly into great big boxes.

Except this. I had to be able to use my computer, of course.

And as you can see, the boxes were labeled with great care.

Even Helen, my yellow chicken, was lovingly identified.

After all my belongings were packed, this huge truck showed up at my house.

The floors were all covered very carefully in pretty, blue quilts to protect them from scratches and such.

So, while these guys wrapped my couch up in saran wrap...

I headed out to look inside that big truck. This was the front end of that truck getting filled.

The movers worked and worked and worked...so very hard....so I supplied them with a lunch full of pizza and soda. G made fast friends with the driver, Shawn. So they enjoyed their lunch on the front porch and engaged in a great conversation about moving to WA, sneakers, dinosaurs, and how sometimes its hard to be almost 4.

What began at 8am ended right before 3pm. And only after loading every single one of my possessions, did that big ol truck pull away from the house and head on out to WA.

The kids and I departed shortly after that great, big truck. And in a few short weeks, that truck and I will be joyfully reunited.

The element of surprise

The surprise going away party that I threw for K was a huge success!

Part 2, even tho there wasnt technically a part 1

So, you remember when I was sitting and waiting on that pretty, blue bench? Well, the main point of that trip(other than to see my handsome husband, of course) was to look at a house.

Okay, so, "to look at a house" is a bit vague. I mean, I had *seen* the house. But only in pictures. My husband went to walk through the house since he was there and I was not. And he took a bajillion and seven pictures for me...Now, that sounds like a lot of pictures, right? Well, in all honesty, I could have looked at more pictures....I mean, you cant ever have enough pictures....can you? Especially when you are thinking of buying a house.

Long story short. My husband bought me a house! Without me ever being in it. Is he crazy, you ask? Maybe. Was it a huge risk on his part? Well, really this could have gone one of two ways, right? It could have ended up the house of my dreams or the house of his nightmares. Luckily, he knows me very, very well.

The first time I got to see/walk through the house was after our offer had been accepted and the inspection was being done. I got to walk around and get a feel for everything. Thats very important when you get a new house...the way it makes you feel. That and the way it smells.

Well, I loved it. I mean, I LOVE it. And boy, was my husband ever happy to hear me say that!

But wait. Dont get too excited. Well, okay. You can get excited! What I mean to say is that things arent a sealed deal yet. We still have a couple hurdles to get over. And because of that Ive been holding out on you. Yep. Thats what Im saying. Im a holder outer. You see, when it comes to this kind of stuff...really, big, important stuff...I get a tad superstitious and more than a tad paranoid that something will go wrong if I say things about it out loud. And so, even though writing it isnt the same as saying it out loud....it still has that cloud of superstition and paranoia hanging over it. Have I made any of you run off yet due to the fact that you think I am officially crazy at this point? Well, you may want to come back...for just a minute anyway.

Without further ado, I present to you my soon to be home:

I have always wanted a long, curving drive to my house. Long=more than 25 ft.

My garden space. Soon to be filled with yummy produce.

No, these arent holes that drop into the center of the earth.

They are actually my strawberry beds. I think I counted a total of 18 plants in there. I heart strawberries.

My grape vines.

Some of my fruit trees.

And just everyday trees. Im gonna have trees. Me. I am.

A secret path.

A very charming gate that I love very,very much. Hang on tho. Look at the picture, but pretend that you are standing with your back to that tree you see there. This means that you will be facing that little charming gate in the opposite way that the picture is presented to you.

This is very important because now if you walk through the gate you can see one of my two pastures.

And my barn! (swoon)

Now quick. Knock on wood.

Did you do it? Phew. Thank you.

But hurry. Cross your fingers. Did you do it?

Sigh. Okay. Thank you.

Im nearly hyperventilating over here....