New Beginnings

Howdy! (as you can tell, we're in Texas now)

Sorry to leave everyone hanging - we obviously made it past Tennessee. The computer in Mississippi didn't work, and once we arrived in Texas, we were going at full throttle trying to get moved in, unpacked, and put things where they're supposed to be. We still have a lot of that left. As I type now, there's "miscellaneous stuff" in every room, hallway, nook and cranny. And now that I woke up early and surveyed the house while it's still quiet, I'm pretty convinced that this "stuff" is having babies at night. There's WAY more of that stuff now than when I went to bed. Ugh.

My parents were absolutely AMAZING through the entire move. You wouldn't have believed the physical gymnastics they performed to help us get packed, moved out, loaded into the trucks (yes, truckS - we had to rent two to get down here), unloaded, moved in, unpacked, pictures hung on the walls, curtains hung, boxes flattened, clothes washed, shelf liner laid, etc. And in the middle of all this, they managed to also keep the "fun quotient" up for both girls by readily administering kisses, hugs, baths, fun snacks, reading stories, swimming in the pool, etc. They were incredible and I have no doubt that they'll spend the next few months sleeping to catch up.

We had a great drive across the country. Dad and Gary each drove a truck, and Mom and I drove the cars. We had a great little caravan going. Thanks to my dad, we also each had radios so we could all talk to each other. Anna Claire was particularly fascinated with this part of the trip. I'm happy to say that the drive was completely uneventful and went just as planned. Well, except the fact that I packed 10 DVDs (for our fabulous new DVD player in the minivan) for the girls to watch, which subsequently got packed in another box in the moving truck. Bummer (more for Momma than for the kids). I will say that since I had the girls with me most of the time, I'm really tired of the Hairspray soundtrack - it was the only thing that Leah would listen to without screaming and pointing at the radio. We made it to Meridian, Mississippi before I waved the white flag and just could not go another mile listening to Hairspray, so I ducked into a Sam's Club quickly and bought 2 DVDs...and the rest of the trip was heavenly.

Leah is definitely showing more of her personality lately - and feels free to share her thoughts/desires/demands with anyone at any time. Terrific Twos, here we come! She is a very opinionated little girl, and is either very happy or very mad/sad/frustrated/hysterical (insert any negative emotion here). No grey area for her! But she adores her Papa (my dad) and Nana and is so proud of herself that she can now say their names.

Anna Claire was much more easygoing and we had a great time chatting, playing Travel Bingo, singing, etc. She loved riding in the "big trucks" with Papa and Daddy.

We have been so blessed with friendly neighbors here - 3 have already come over to introduce themselves - and they all have little girls! People are so amazingly (and genuinely) friendly here. We also have some dear friends who brought dinner over for us last week - what a godsend, and it was delicious. We're very excited to finally live near them and have more opportunities to see them. It's also been fun to see Gary's family and know that we're living nearby now.

We visited a great church on Sunday and felt very comfortable there. We'll definitely be going back again for a few weeks to see if we'd like to make it our church home. There's a great Bible study offered for women there - "After the Boxes Are Unpacked: Moving On" - I plan on attending when it starts in the fall.

I'm starting to adjust to my new life here...the lonely moments do come and I desperately miss my girlfriends in Virginia. It is bizarre to be back to work already but not have any reason to get dressed and go somewhere. Not coming into the office and seeing all my amazing work friends is really tough. I had an incredible network of people I loved there and it's a huge hole in my life not to have them with me "in person" anymore. I also was really sad on Sunday morning not to see the members of our Small Group at church - the lonliness hit hard then. I know I'll meet new people - and I'll even become very close to some of them. It's just not the same.

I have to admit, though, that I do love Texas. The people are friendly and helpful, my home is beautiful (I will post some pics as soon as I can eradicate all of that "misc. stuff"), I get to work part-time, the food is great, the area we live in has lots of trees and is pretty, and the shopping is fabulous. I can't wait to discover more of this new land that we now call "home."