We Are Homeowners!!!

We are officially no longer homeless and we are officially homeowners of a gorgeous home!!!

We kept the news quiet with only very, very few people knowing we were buying.  We didn't want to jinx anything because there are sooooooo many things that can go wrong when buying a house.  We didn't want to share exciting news that we were purchasing a home, for something to go wrong (inspection, government shutdown affecting loans, issues with the seller, etc) and then turn around and tell everyone it didn't work out.

But it is official!  We closed on the house Thursday, and got the last of our stuff moved into our home yesterday!! Now the tedious task of unpacking and setting things up!!

I'm writing this from my phone which is rather annoying, but I will be sure to give you all more details about everything soon!

The Shitfest That Was Our Move

We have safely arrived in Jacksonville.  And holy crap was it a shitfest!!! Let's have a recap, shall we??  (It's a long one!)

Let me just say that the past week has been downright awful!  I do not like deviating from "the plan".  Yes, I know I'm a Navy Wife and deviations are just a part of every day life.  But that doesn't mean I like them.  {And you telling me that just wants to make me punch you in the gut.}  Especially when it can be avoided.  I will never, ever, be accustomed to straying away from the plan.  It's the OCD planner in me.

What was the plan, you ask?  The plan was to have the entire house packed by Friday.  Pick up the truck Saturday and have it loaded that day.  Sunday was a day spent for cleaning and saying goodbye to friends.  Monday was to check out and detach from NAS Whiting Field (for Nick) and head to Jax.

However, NONE of that happened.

Friday came and went and we were FAR from having the house packed.  Let me just tell you that made me a ball of fun.  Nicholas takes far too many breaks from packing.  'Oh look, I packed a Wii controller.  Time for me to play with my dog for 25 minutes.'  Then 'oh hey, I'm hungry, let's go get some lunch.'  This caused us to stay up until 1am loading the truck.

Saturday comes and we pick up the truck at 11am.  At least that stayed on task.  But after that?  Not so much.  Saturday we continued to pack and load the truck.  Until about 2am.  Ob-nox-ious.  And we were nowhere near done.

Nick drove his bike up the ramp and secured it with rope.  I sure hope this holds for the move!

See ALL of that in the back corner?  Allll of Nick and his mother's random crap.

Sunday was spent loading the truck some more.  The new tenants also complicated things.  We told them we were moving out on the 16th.  We never gave them a time.  We simply said the 16th was our last day there (and we paid our utilities and rent until the close of that day.)  The guy texts Nick and he tells him we aren't anywhere close to leaving.  The new tenant then tells us that he has a couch he needs to drop off by 1pm.  Um, okay?  (Let me also add they stopped by the day before and dropped off a lot of stuff).  Cool dude.  It's not like we're trying to load a truck or clean the house.  Come on by.  Drop your shit and clutter our space.  So he shows up with the couch in a U-Haul trailer...and then has NICK help him carry it in!  Seriously, dude?!?!  Can you not see we're a little busy here????  I wanted to stay until 11:55pm just to spite him.  Annoying.
Anyway, Nick continued to load the truck Sunday and I cleaned the house (and replaced our screen door since the dogs and their friends decided to create their own doggie door by running straight through it.)  Then we ran into some issues.  It appeared not everything was fitting on the truck.  Yes, the 26 foot U-Haul truck (the largest they have) was not big enough.  So we had to run up and get a trailer to pull behind the truck!!!!!  I'm telling you, Nick has too much shit!!!!
We finally got the truck and trailer packed and we were on our way around 7pm.

Sure, we still managed to leave on Monday, which WAS the plan. But this was NOT at all how we expected it to happen.  I have never been more stressed in my entire life.  Also, this late departure and all day packing meant we didn't get to do the things we wanted.  We had plans to say goodbye to friends but that just wasn't possible.  We had wanted to have sex one last time in our house (not apologizing, I'm a TMI person and it's not crazy to think we'd want to do that one last time in our first home).  But with the late nights, sore bodies, and now rush to leave, there was no way that was happening.  We took one last stroll through the house, hand in hand, remembering all the great times we had here.  Then we packed up the pups in my car, Nick climbed in the truck, and we hit the road.

But not for long.  We hit some insane rain and Nick realized the truck was really hard to drive.  It was scary for me just following him.  I could see the truck swaying from left to right.  Nick said it was exhausting driving it so after just three hours, we decided to stop for the night.  We pulled off at a security monitored rest area so Nick could get some sleep and be fully rested to drive the next day.  Unfortunately, I cannot sleep in a car.  I cannot sleep sitting up.  I can only sleep laying down.  So I didn't sleep that night.  Which was rough considering I only got about 4 hours the previous night.

For some odd reason, Nick climbed in the crowded back of the Accord with BOTH dogs and slept back there.

At about 4:30am, we hit the road again and arrived at the Robida's house (our friends, Jenny and Matt, our best friends from Pensacola whom you've probably read about who are kindly letting us stay with them) in the early morning.  We slept for about 2 hours and then it was back up to go unload our stuff into storage.

This was just a bad day.  We began unloading the truck, putting the odd shaped things out on the concrete (patio chairs, vacuum, office chair, bed frames, laundry baskets, Shop Vac, lacrosse sticks, tool boxes, garment bags, etc.  (The furniture, boxes, and storage tubs were in the back of the U-Haul.)  Then the dumb ass clouds opened up (we were in such a mode that we didn't notice the black clouds that set in over us) and it started raining on us.  We just started throwing everything back in the truck and into the storage unit.  Absolutely no organization at all.  By the time we got it all out of the rain, we were soaked.  We decided to take a break so we went back to the Robida's house and showered.  It wasn't looking like the rain would clear up, so we headed back to the storage unit.  We unloaded that damn truck until 6am.  It was painful.  We had to stop for the downpours which really slowed us down.  It was the most difficult all-nighter I've ever pulled.

I am so incredibly mad that we have to do this again in a month when we move into our house!!!!  Hopefully that won't be such a fiasco!!!


The only positive thing to come from this is that Nick has FINALLY agreed this is stupid and the few thousands of dollars we've made off this move are NOT worth it anymore.  The next move, Nick has agreed we'll do a partial DITY (do-it-yourself) move (where we move some of our belongings, such as his electronics and my clothes and shoes) and the Navy will move everything else for us.  Alleluia!  Praise the Lord!!!!

Unfortunately, we were only able to get another 2ish hours of sleep before we had to take the U-Haul back.  (They made a big deal about it being back by a certain time for the new renters.  When we got there, no one was there!!!!  We waited for a good 30 minutes before someone returned.  And yesterday (one day after returning the truck), we called to see if the new renters found our car key.  She tells us the truck is still there if we want to come look.  So WHY did I not get any sleep to get this truck back to you for someone else?!?!  Annoyed and crabby didn't even begin to describe us.)
Thankfully when we got home, we FINALLY got a few solids hours of sleep.

I'm happy this moving thing is over with, for now.  We have about a month to relax.  I guess I should say *I* have a month to relax.  Nick will soon head off for SERE and when he returns, he checks into the squadron and begins training on the MH-60R.

Finally relaxing.

Random tidbit worth noting since we received this comment a few times:  We heard from multiple people that this move would really test our marriage.  And that we'll get in fights and seeing how we overcome them or deal with them will tell us a lot about our relationship.  We were shocked by this because it didn't test us.  Not once.  Honestly, there wasn't ever a time we were legitimately mad at one another.  No harsh words.  No raised voices.  Nothing like that.  We were most definitely annoyed and frustrated with the entire situation, but not at all with each other.  It just reinforced how strong our marriage is.  Nick and I really don't have those fights.  Never.  Sure, we got annoyed but that's the same annoyance I feel on a daily basis with random things.  Annoyances aren't things I consider a "test" in your marriage.  We're both very understanding and patient with one another (not with other things for myself, but with each other.)  Throughout this entire process, even under insane amounts of stress (and tears on my end) we were able to laugh and joke around with each other, toss random items at one another's head, etc.  And that's what I love about us.  In the midst of something shitty, we're able to still laugh and hug and kiss one another (even when soaking wet, with half our belongings dripping in rain water.)  When I tell people this, that this move didn't "test" our marriage, they roll their eyes and accuse me of lying.  Okay, biznatches, hate on!  It's the truth!

Life Update: Packing and Moving

Life has been CRAZY!!!!  So crazy that I have yet to blog anything about Nick's Winging week festivities!  It was truly one of the most exciting times in our lives together and I have never been more proud.  But those posts will have to wait.  I promise to blog about them after we leave Pensacola and life slows down just a little.

This moving thing has taken up all of our time.
Nick winged, family left, we packed for 5 days (and by we, I mean me since Nick was still working 12 hour days), headed to Jax to house hunt for a week, came back and have been packing the past 3 days.  Only two more days left to pack, one day to load the truck, one day to clean, then we leave to start our new chapter!

Here is just a a quick update for you all:

• We are beyond excited for this move.  At first, Nick was pretty bummed to not be flying the MH-53 but it didn't last long (as we all knew would be the case because Nick is truly incapable of being in a bad mood or being a glass half empty kind of guy).  Virginia was most absolutely NOT our first location choice (or second...or third...or fourth) so we're happy to be in Jax, our first location choice.  I know some think we're insane for wanting Jax and being excited about it, but I cannot express how excited we are.  All of Nick's sadness has left and he's stoked about this next adventure.  Every time we talk about our new home and life, we find more and more reasons to be excited.
  We're happy to be in city larger than Pensacola with a lot more going on.  We're happy to be in a location that still does not get winters (well, not cold winters).  We're happy to still be a day's drive from St. Louis.  I'm happy to start volunteering at the Mayo Clinic.  I'm happy to still be near beaches.  And we are beyond thrilled to be near so many friends!!!  Nick's best friend from enlistment, stationed at Kings Bay, lives in Jax, not far from our (hopeful) new home.  Our best friends from Pensacola are there (in the same neighborhood!).  My other Navy bestie is there and has offered us so much advice (as well as letting us crash with her the past week while house hunting).  Not to mention we are so close to Charleston and we have LOTS of really good friends there and plans to go visit them all are already in the works.  We also plan to take mini-vacays to Savannah and of course next spring we'll head to Jupiter for Cardinals spring training!!!

• I'm still having a very difficult time with Grandpa's passing.  Luckily I've been kept very busy and this has helped keep my tears at bay.  But when I do finally get some down time, I can't help but cry over how badly I miss him.
• I'm really annoyed that I've yet to update my resume from my previous job.  (I'm so bummed we're leaving so soon because I truly loved my job, the kids, and my co-workers and I was looking forward to working with them all again for a little bit longer.)  But moving, house hunting, and all that comes with that has taken up every free second so the resume and job searching will have to wait until we're there.
• We're eating the oddest combinations of meals as we're trying to clear out as much from our fridge and freezer as possible.  We've eaten an insane amount of fries lately.  I'm sure we won't succeed and I'll be calling friends to see if they'd like to take any of it before we toss it in the trash.  As for the pantry, that's a lost cause trying to consume it all.  We (Nick) keep far too many things in there!  He has so many bags of chips, boxes of Rice-a-Roni, cans of Steak n Shake chili, tons of cereal, Pop-Tarts, etc.  The kid loves his (pre-packaged, pre-bagged, processed) food.  We will have many, many boxes of food.  And I'd say maybe one box is my stuff (and it's primarily baking ingredients).
• I'm doing my part to minimize the bottles we need to bubble wrap and box by drinking wine each night (and during the day...no shame).  I'm just looking out for what's best for us...saving money on packing supplies and saving space on the truck ;)  Nick has no complaints as the wine helps my anxiety and therefore he's not as tempted to use the packing tape on my anxious, whiny, bitchy mouth.  I will not deny I'm an unpleasant packer.  I'm constantly complaining "I hate this" (or "I hate you" since Nick is the one strongly against letting the military move us and he hoards and owns more than half the shit we're packing) or I'm worrying "We're never going to get this done!" and "All of this is not going to fit on the truck!"  And then the bitching "Get off your phone and pack!  What are you doing?  You're wasting time!"  Surprisingly, Nick stays calm and keeps his eye rolling at a minimum (which is really in his best interest.  Sometimes he even makes us a drink (the best move for both of us.)
• Sadly, this move has not prompted Nick to purge any of this stuff as I had hoped.  Nick is a certified hoarder.  He has so much shit he doesn't need (ie.  pogs...a massive amount of pogs and slammers.  And, a UNICYCLE!  Really?!  C'mon!  We aren't circus performers).  But would he part with any of it?  NOPE!  Now, there are times during this packing process where he's said "Let's sell this."  Yeah, good call jackass.  Let me go ahead and list it on Craigslist considering we have two days left here.  Or he'll say "Let's go through this box of papers." (Yes, he has boxes upon boxes of nothing but papers.)  Um, we don't have time for that!!!!  And the same with clothes.  He has an insane amount of clothes he could easily donate if he had the time to go through them (not kidding you, four 44 gallon tubs of Banana Republic slacks, hundreds of Express button down shirts, etc.  It's sickening.)  But because we have limited time, all this shit has to go with us.  The good news is Nick is crazy motivated to have a nice and organized garage in our new home which means he's willing to finally go through and purge this stuff.  Unfortunately, it can't happen before the move.  Why couldn't he have decided this in the past two years we were here?!  

• Our dogs are so confused as to what is going on.  Dogs thrive off a routine and normalcy, and life has been anything but.  I was gone for 2.5 weeks.  They drove 12 hours to STL and stayed for a long weekend.  They drove 12 hours back to Florida and I was gone from them for another week.  I returned but that same day so did a lot of family and friends (for Nick's winging).  They left and the house began being tore down.  Friends and their dogs came for a weekend.  They left, and we followed, to Jacksonville where they stayed in a new home, with new dogs.  We returned and the house became even more of a disaster as everything they know is being packed up.
  Sadly, this chaos won't be stopping anytime soon.  We pack them up and move them to Jax where they'll live in another new house (a friend's house) for a week.  Then we go stay with my sister for two weeks.  Then we return to Jax to stay in that new house again for another 2-ish weeks.  Then we finally (hopefully) move into their new home and their belongings, the things they're familiar with, return.  I cannot wait for this.  The girls anxiety is driving me nuts.  The constant (more than usual) need for attention and their utter confusion makes packing so much more difficult!  I just wish I could explain to them what is going on!!!

So that's our life update.  Nothing exciting and almost all of it revolves around this packing and moving ordeal.  Hopefully next week I can work on Nick's winging post (once I get all the photos together)