One More Thing

I keep forgetting to mention that I’m not posting pictures because I’m blogging from my phone, and pictures will NOT upload when I’m doing that.

Also, our moving van is delivering tomorrow! Two years ago it took the crew 12 hours to unload our van in Mississippi…surely, SURELY it won’t be as long this time. 

I’ll let you know.

So long, June!

Day #5 (Part 2)

Like I said, we got on the road Friday around 11 a.m. (keep in mind, we were going to lose an hour going from Central Standard Time in Mississippi to Eastern Standard Time in Florida).

Bt, honestly, the drive was a breeze. Sydney rode with Chet in his truck (we had to fold down part of the third row in my van, so there wasn’t room for her), and I drove Lorelei, Ford, Ruthie, and Monster. 

We all stopped together in Pensacola for gas and food, then we each stopped once more, but separately.

We arrived in Jacksonville (technically our house is in Fleming Island) around 8 p.m., and Chet and Sydney picked up Panera Bread for dinner (which is approximately five minutes from our house—quite the improvement from Gulfport where you had to drive either to Slidell, LA or Mobile, AL for Panera Bread!).

It took us a while to get settled, but we managed to completely unload both cars and set up all the beds (a combination of air mattresses, cots, and sleeping bags) before it got TOO too late.

I had been pretty nervous about the drive, mostly because of Monster. But clearly we were covered in prayer, because here we are, safe and sound and ready to tackle the next thing.

All Our Moves

My last post had me thinking of our moves. 

I first moved to Jacksonville, FL after Chet and I got married in 2006 (Chet had already been in Jacksonville a year). That was my first experience filling out a travel claim, which I had no idea was a thing until someone in my ship’s admin office handed me one to fill out. 

In August 2009 Chet and I moved out of our condo (which we actually still own and rent out) and into a house on the Navy base. It was RIGHT on the beach. 

In September 2010, Baby Sydney and I moved out of the beach house and into a newly built house (still on the Navy base) a few of blocks away (Chet was in Africa, and my dad helped us with that move). They tore down all the beach houses and built new ones.

In July 2011 we moved to Gulfport, MS. Chet’s parents helped us with the drive and the moving van delivery. Lorelei was born three months later.

In March 2014, a few weeks after Ford was born, we moved to Alexandria, VA. Chet’s dad helped him drive the two vehicles (and Sydney and Lorelei) to VA, and my dad helped me vacate our MS house with a fussy Baby Ford in tow.

In April/May 2016, a few weeks after Ruthie was born, we moved to Austin, TX. My dad flew to VA, and he and the kids and I flew to TX together. He also helped me and Baby Ruthie with the moving van delivery and the first few days of unpacking. Chet and his dad drove the vehicles down, and my mom and Papa Dave kept and entertained Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford (ages 6, 4, and 2!) at their house in the midst of it all.

12-ish short months later, in May/June 2017, we moved to Lemoore, CA. Chet went out ahead of us in his truck, AND accepted the moving van delivery on his own. He unpacked every box, and then I flew out to CA for a few days to get things organized. (Didi and Papa Dave kept the kids again.) I flew back to TX, then Chet flew back to TX, and then we all got in the car to drive to CA.

In May/June 2019, we moved to Gulfport, MS, just three doors down from where we lived last time. Chet was still in CA finishing up his job, and Sydney and I left Lorelei, Ford, and Ruthie with Didi and Papa Dave in TX so that she and I (and Papa John again!) could accept the moving van delivery and unpack as much as possible before everyone else arriving. Chet picked up the rest of the kids in TX ok his way from CA to MS.

Now we’re in Jacksonville, FL again, and we decided to tackle the move all together—no splitting up. Did you know Jacksonville is the largest city in the United States, area-wise? We are 40 miles from where we lived last time, so it’s kind of like a whole new town to us (not to mention that a lot can change in 10 years!).

Day #5

Friday morning Ford, Ruthie, and I vacated our hotel room early and met Chet, Sydney, and Lorelei at our Gulfport house one last time to get the rest of our things packed and loaded into the cars.

Chet also had to swing by work for his final check out in the midst of this.

Our appointment with the housing office was at 10 a.m., and we were NOT ready. However, we probably ended up emptying the house faster with the housing office lady there waiting on us than we otherwise would have.

I wanted to take a picture of all of us in front of the house…but it just didn’t happen. I’ll have to rely on my memory.

Before getting in the highway we had to stop at a truck stop to weigh our full vehicles. The Navy hires a company to move us, but we are also able to fill out a travel claim for our vehicles and the belongings inside of them to help offset moving costs. But let me tell you (now that we’ve done this seven times), making time to weigh both vehicles twice (empty and full) never feels convenient! (But thank you, Navy, for not making us move out of pocket.)

Next, the drive…

Day #4

Thursday (June 24th) the moving can arrived at our house in Gulfport and loaded up all of the boxes and the rest of our furniture.

There were three men working, and Monster was totally freaked out by them and their music. He hid in the woods all day.

The men started working at 10 a.m. and finished at 6:30 p.m. 

Chet and I sort of tried to finish cleaning and organizing and packing the items that would go in our cars, but we lost steam and decided to go to bed instead. 

Happy Monday!

Days #2 and #3

(We are WAY past this now, but I’d still like to catch you up!)

As predicted, the hard-working packers finished putting all of our things into boxes (and creating the inventory) Tuesday. In fact, they were gone by 4:30 p.m. 

Did I mention this has never happened?

We cobbler together a dinner Tuesday night, and went to bed. (Ford, Ruthie, and I slept in the Navy Lodge—a hotel on base—Monday night through Thursday night.)

Day #3 was Wednesday, June 23rd. We dropped Ruthie off at gymnastics camp at 9 a.m., then Chet, Sydney, Lorelei, Ford, and I went to a bakery called Bagel Bees owned by a former Seabee for breakfast (we had yet to visit, but had heard great things—it was indeed delicious.)

Next we went to the library to return the rest of our books, and happened to get there right before story time, so we stayed for that.

We visited Chet’s and my favorite antique shop after that (these three places are all within a mile of each other), and then went home.

The rest of the day we organized things at home in preparation for the moving truck that was coming the following day.

One of our neighbors who are also our dear friends had us over for dinner that night, so we feasted instead of having to cobble together a meal again.

More tomorrow (especially because as of today we have WiFi in the new house)!

Day #1: Packers

At the risk of confusing everyone, today (Tuesday) is "Day #2: Packers." But since yesterday has already happened and today is still happening, I'll tell you how it went yesterday.

A team of three people arrived at 8:30 a.m. Two women and one man. The two women were the same ones who packed our house in 2014 when we moved from Gulfport, MS to Alexandria, VA, so that was surprising (and slightly startling).

The man started packing in the garage, and the women (who are sisters -- a fact I find adorable) started boxing up everything downstairs. Which was good, because I had things I still needed to gather and organize in the upstairs bedrooms.

The man finished the garage and the women finished the downstairs, and they even packed up Sydney's room, all before 5 p.m. yesterday. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED. The two women (the man is on another job today) will easily finish the rest of the house before the day is over.

I repeat: THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED. The past several moves have required three days to pack our house; any time only two days were allotted were STRESSFUL. This means that tomorrow, Wednesday, we have all day to tidy and pack the things the movers can't pack for us. Hallelujah.

Here is a picture from Saturday, when Chet was in the middle of painting our Navy blue wall back to white and patching the bathroom wall where we had put peel and stick wallpaper:

It was a bit chaotic, the BEST word to describe all moves, everywhere.

I am an organized person. However, I do not consider myself an organized mover. For example, there were some things we needed to set aside to take with us, instead of going into moving boxes. Such as a spatula, the microwave, and cat food -- but I forgot, so those things are taped up in one of the boxes. Oh, well. There are SO many details to remember when moving that is impossible to get everything right. 

Also, I do not wish to become an organized mover, even though we have to do it fairly often. It feels like it requires too much brain power and takes too much effort to become a moving expert -- so I choose not to. Expert or not, moves always start and finish, and then they're over. I'll spend my brainpower and time being ultra organized in other ways.

Artwork

A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of cleaning out her desk in preparation for the move, Lorelei came across some leftover art supplies from a project that she had already completed. 

She was going to throw the supplies away, but decided instead to gather Ford and Ruthie and have them use the supplies to make something.

Ford made a map:

And Ruthie created a scene with a dog (of course):

The BEST part of this was the three of them were quiet for over an hour while doing this. If you've ever visited, you know how loud it can get in this house, so I'll take the quiet when I can get it.

By the way, I do not keep such things -- if I kept every piece of artwork, I'd need a second house JUST for things created by the kids. I took a picture, put the pictures in the proper folders on my iPhone, and threw the pictures away. (Chet and I joke that throwing things away is my love language.)

Chet's Last Day of Work

Today Chet turns over his job as the Executive Officer (XO) to his replacement.

He and his replacement have been together all week -- discussing, asking questions, etc. -- including eating lunch together every single day so as not to lose any time. Chet is not a big talker, so he's feeling the effects of all this talking, ha!

I had to take a picture of him on his last day as the XO:

He's done a fantastic job in this role. 

Our packers arrive Monday, which means this weekend, in the midst of a tropical...depression? storm?...we will be doing all we need to do to make sure Monday starts off as smoothly as possible.

Happy Friday!

1/3 of the Way Through June

June 10th! Can you believe it?!

I don't have the energy to give a comprehensive update right now, so I'll share these three pictures:

I noticed while looking through my camera roll that these three recent pictures were all in the same spot in the house, and for some reason it tickled me.

Ruthie was waiting for her friend Brynn to get home, I'm not entirely sure what Ford was doing, and Lorelei is obviously holding a swaddled Monster.

How is your June going?!