My Adventures in Moving!

Now that I am all moved and mostly unpacked and somewhat settled I thought I would share the adventures of our move. When one moves, we always hope that things will go smooth, that it will be easier then it really is, that there will be no pot holes along the way. That is "hope" dangling in your face. The fact or reality is that usually nothing goes as planned and there ARE pot holes that get in your way, just to create a "moving adventure". Well here is mine....

• Loading Day (Wed)- things actually went pretty smooth. We had some help show up early and we were able to get most of our stuff loaded on the Uhaul within 4 hours. Thank You to my Mom, Gordon and Jacob!! We still had last minute stuff and tricky things to load and we were running out of space fast! Good thing Bill is an expert at loading trucks as that is what he did for a living with FedEx in years previous. We did get everything to fit and nothing shifted and nothing broke. Yeah!!
• Moving Day (Thur) - We woke up early hoping to get finished up so we could leave by noon. We still had a few things to load and we still had to clean the house, as well as load my car onto the car hauler trailer. We got everything done by noon and were ready to put the car on the trailer and leave, but the car's battery was dead. So we had to jump it with the Rendevous. I got in the car to start it and let it run for a bit. I stepped out and shut the door and realized the doors had locked. Not only did I realize the doors had locked and the car was running, but I had packed the box that held all of our extra keys in the car. I totally had a meltdown right there on the spot. I could not believe I could be so stupid! As I look back I can laugh, but it was not funny at the time. There was no way we were going to get in without help. My mom tried to get a hold of some people she knew that could help but they were out of town. I tried a friend of mine who works for the police department and has a slim jim but he was out of town. The only thing was to get a locksmith out there. Luckily from the time I called and he arrived it was 1/2 hour. It took him less than 2 minutes to get into my car and I paid him $41.00. Not bad for a 2 minute job, but it was worth it. We finally get the car loaded, say our goodbye's and leave at 1:30 for what we planned on being around a 9 hour drive because we were each pulling trailers. Bill was driving the uhaul pulling my car and I was driving the rendevous pulling the trailer with the hovercraft. We get 2 hours out of town just before reaching the Utah-Idaho border and the tire blew out on the trailer I was pulling. Luckily it did not cause any driving problems or scary issues... it just went flat. Another delay to fix that. And since we didn't have another spare in case the other tire blew, we decided we better stop in Pocatello to get one. That delayed us again. Luckily the rest of the drive went smooth but it was very long. We finally pulled in to our new home around 1:00 a.m..... 11-1/2 hours later.
• Unload Day (Fri) - It just happens to be the hottest day of the year in Bozeman on this very day! It was very Hot and miserable! However, I was very smart and hired a local company to help us unload. Two guys showed up. One small and skinny and I was worried and the other very large and was already short of breath as he walked into my house, and I was even more worried. However, they ended up doing an excellent job and it was the best money I spent on this whole move. Those two guys alone, lifted and carried my piano into my house when it took 4 of us to take it out of my house and load it into the truck in Salt Lake. They had everything unloaded in less than 3 hours. So that part ended up being great! But after the long drive and the morning full of unloading the truck, Bill and I were completely exhausted and famished. We went to eat at the local Pizza resteraunt Old Chicago where they specialize in the best calzones I have ever eaten, and we totally crashed (not sleeping, but dead physically) there for 1-1/2 hours. We did get back home and found what we needed to make up our bed for the night and we began to unpack a few boxes.
• The rest of the weekend consisted of doing nothing but unload boxes and organize our house. Bill had to start work on Monday night and he woke up Monday morning feeling like he had a sinus infection. Great way to start your new job, driving truck 10 hours at night while you are sick. Tuesday it moved from sinus infection into the bronchial area. Now he is miserably sick and can't talk, but still has to work. I feel so bad for him. I am sure that with the stress of the move, the job, and being exhausted from it all, his immune system has been weakened. Today he is feeling slightly better but he doesn't have much of a voice and his energy and stamina are very low. I sure hope he gets over it soon so he can get back to his usual self.
• We are moving into a much smaller house than we had in Salt Lake and a house that has little or no storage space. We were fortunate to have in Salt Lake a house that had tons of closets and storage areas. This house doesn't even have a linen closet. It does have an unfinished partial basement. But we have had to spend some money on organizers and shelves etc...
• I was worried that our furniture would not all fit and the house would be cramped, but it actually is looking good. Little by little we are getting things unpacked and finding places for everything (so far). We are very happy with how it is taking shape. I will take pictures when it's all in order and looking good.

And now we just want to be DONE!! There are still a few boxes to unpack and decorating to do. For over 4 weeks we have done nothing but "moving activities" and it is getting old. I hate moving and I always tell myself that I will never do it again. Unfortunately, I know that sometime down the road I will be doing this all over again.

I am very thankful for wonderful friends and family who helped us get packed, loaded and the house cleaned. I am even more thankful that while we did hit a few pot holes along the way, we did have a smooth and safe move overall. I am here in beautiful Bozeman, Montana. I have wonderful family and friends and kids who support me in all I do. I also have a terrific husband who loves me unconditionally and who is my best friend. And now I get to embark on many more adventures as I start my new life here in Montana. I am truly blessed.