Homesick

It happened unexpectedly and caught me by surprise. I was on Facebook tonight, looking at a friend's pictures of a recent gathering of some of my old Bible study buddies, and I just started to cry. They seemed so close in the picture, and yet I couldn't quite reach them. These are the girls I was pregnant with - the ones I met for lunch and talked about nursing and reflux and first steps and losing the baby weight. I wanted to meet them for lunch again – but I don’t live there anymore.

Then there are some of my other good friends. My heart aches for several of them right now who are facing some of life’s toughest moments – and although I know that God is ultimately the One who is carrying them, I would give anything to jump on a plane and go give them a hug…in person, not just a virtual hug.

I feel like I’ve done well with the move. I love my life here and I love the extra time I now get to spend with my family because I’m not working full-time anymore. I’m meeting great people, some of whom have become good friends. But I feel stuck – and very lonely at times. I left the most amazing people in VA…and I feel like I left part of my soul there. I feel ready to embrace my new life here but very unwilling to leave the old life behind…and therein lies the rub.

The loneliness hits at strange times. As busy as I am, I sometimes find myself wandering around my house aimlessly, not sure what to do next. Is this part of the natural grieving process? It may be, but I hate how my heart feels right now…

Has Anyone Seen My Stuff?

We've been here almost 2 weeks, and I have yet to find the following items:

1) Leah's crib tent (which keeps her from crawling out of the crib)

2) My Zyrtec (did I mention I take this for a heat allergy, which causes me to break out in hives? And have you noticed where we're now living? Sure - it's TEXAS - in the SUMMER!). Sorry to be cranky - I'm just very itchy.

3) My pink flats (Debbie, you may have to send me yours since I know you have the same pair)

4) The bedskirt for Leah's crib - obviously not as important, but her room does have an unfinished look without it.

5) The furniture attachment to my vacuum

6) My Bible

7) My Norah Jones "Come Away With Me" CD

8) My digital camera

9) The Johnson & Johnson Head-to-toe Baby Wash I bought before we left VA. I have two very smelly chillins who need a bath…


If you know where I might find some of these things, I'd appreciate it. I really miss them.

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."

Greetings from Tennessee!

We made it to Bristol, TN! The trip today was pretty easy - though we are definitely tired. There were a couple of funny things that happened today...

As I was exiting Fairfax County Parkway and getting onto 66 W, Anna Claire said, "Momma, where are we going?"

I said, "Remember? We're going to Texas?"

She replied, "Oh. Will we be shopping along the way?"

Also, we stopped for lunch in Harrisonburg. We went to Chick Fil-A - a favorite of ours. I completely forgot it was Cow Appreciation Day - apparently if you dress like a cow, you get a free chicken sandwich. Wish I'd brought our cow costumes! You wouldn't have believed how many people were dressed like cows. It was so funny! My mother had never been to Chick Fil-A before, so for this to be her first impression of it was especially amusing.

We also got some great news today as we were leaving VA - Gary received a phone call informing him that he's been hired at the school of his choice - he got a job!!! We are so thankful to God for providing once again...a fitting last day for us in Virginia.

Please pray for us tomorrow - it's our longest day of driving and I feel like I'm coming down with Hand, Foot & Mouth again (I had a VERY bad case of it about 4 weeks ago and was really sick with large blisters in my throat). I'm taking lots of Vitamin C tonight...

I'll blog again tomorrow night from Mississippi! :)

So Long, Virginia

Well, our journey here in VA has come to an end. We spend Wednesday packing, then loaded the truck yesterday. We had so much stuff we ended up having to get ANOTHER truck, so we now have two moving trucks, a small SUV, and a minivan. Good thing we have 4 drivers - otherwise we were going to have to quickly get Anna Claire licensed to drive!

Spent last night in a hotel near the house - where Leah proceeded to figure out in about 5 minutes how to get out of the hotel room, unlock the sliding glass door, turn on the TV and take off her clothes so she could have a bath. Then she repeated most of it at 3:45 this morning when she woke up and walked around the hotel room for about 45 minutes. To say that we are tired doesn't even cover it. But we're together, we're healthy, and we got the old house packed up and emptied - which is basically a miracle!

We're off to Tennessee today - I'll blog live from our hotel tonight!

Thanks for all your prayers - we need them!

I'm Still Alive

I’m still alive and kickin’! I know that all three of my readers thinks I dropped off the planet, but with family visiting for the past 5 weeks, Leah being sick for 4 weeks, working full-time and making a trip to Houston to buy a house, and trying to keep our current house clean because it’s on the market, I’ve barely been sleeping at night.

So, here’s the update…

We bought a house! Gary and I spend Memorial Day weekend in Houston looking for a house and we found a great one – we are SO excited. It has everything we wanted and needed. We can hardly wait. It’s close to Gary’s new job, close to the church we’d like to attend and close to shopping, the pool, etc. It’s perfect.

My parents have been visiting, helping take care of the girls, running things to Goodwill for us, helping us pack, run errands, and anything else we need. It has been so wonderful to have them here not only to help us, but even more just to spend that much time with them. We’ve had a fabulous time! They left today and we miss them already. It’s a good thing they’re coming back in 3 weeks to help us move (and just as I typed that, I started to break out in hives because ohmygoodnessthistrainisgoingfasterandfasterandIcanhardlycatchmybreath). 3 WEEKS! I’ve got a lot to do!

We’ve also had the opportunity this past weekend to see some great friends from Chicago who we hadn’t seen in a long time. It was so nice to just hang out with them and enjoy a meal together. They have 2 lovely young daughters and T. has been a friend of mine since high school. It was treasured time.

G. is wrapping up his school year and is anxious to have some free time to do all the “honey do’s” on the list I gave him. Just kidding, honey. :) Well, not really, but we’ll talk about that later.

Gotta run get some utilities hooked up at the new house.

Catching Up

So I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Since I last posted, we’ve bought two cars, sold two cars, applied for a mortgage, had company come into town, I’ve done approximately 20 loads of laundry and I’ve somehow also maintained a full-time job. So forgive me for not posting in so long – I’ve been busy!

I realized yesterday I am living the dream…I am a wife, mother of two and I now own a minivan. It's gorgeous. A 2008 Honda Odyssey in "Slate Green Metallic." I HAVE ARRIVED. I know for some of you, this scenario makes you want to break out in hives (Debbie), but if I’m being honest, it’s the life I’ve always wanted. I knew early on I was born to be a wife and mother. I love my life and I realized the other day that I’m proud of all those things. When I was in high school and college, I was always the girl that no one really wanted to date but the one someone wanted to marry someday. Well, I snagged myself an amazing husband and I am LIVING THE DREAM.

Anyway, I am just very content right now. I’m extremely busy as we’re preparing for our big move to Texas – we spend a lot of time looking at houses online, getting quotes for various projects, and wrapping up school for AC and Gary, but I’m in a happy place. My brother and sweet sister-in-law are visiting right now, and we’re heading out for a weekend of fun in Pennsylvania. I’m going to a concert with a treasured friend tonight. Next week is Mom’s birthday and Anna Claire’s birthday. The following week, my parents arrive. The fun is just beginning!!!

So, just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still living and breathing. I’ll post more frequently, I promise. We’ll post some great pics soon of our weekend in PA with Craig and Sho.