Boise, Idaho

That is the current location of our "household goods"- aka, all our personal belongings.  The driver left a message that the weather is horrible and he won't attempt to make the trip until it clears up a bit.  Here is what weather.com has to say about the weather in Boise.

Tonight
Nov 30

Snow

N/A
28°

80%

High not valid after 2pm

Wed
Dec 1

Rain / Snow Showers

38°
33°

70%

38°F

Thu
Dec 2

Rain / Snow Showers

40°
34°

30%

40°F

Fri
Dec 3

Rain / Snow Showers

42°
30°

30%

42°F

Based on that, I would guess that we aren't going to be getting our belongings anytime this week and we'll be enjoying a few more frozen pizzas.  The kitchen items are really the only things I am missing..... but Elijah would really like his toys.

No word on the cars yet.   I'm assuming they are also somewhere between CO and here.  So, for now we will continue to enjoy our sporty Mazda 6 rental with California plates.

Christmas Cards & Decorating!

Tis the season!  I am the type of person who LOVES to decorate the house, put up the tree, etc, etc all on the day after Thanksgiving.  That would be great.... except all of our Christmas decorations are on a moving truck somewhere in between Colorado and here.  We're going to get a live tree this year, but that too will have to wait until the truck arrives (I don't think we'd be able to transport a tree very easily in the Mazda 6 rental car.)

So, what I can do is start getting Christmas gifts together.  We use Shutterfly to make a lot of our holiday gifts.  Each year my sisters (and my sister-in-law) and I each upload our photos to the same account and then we combine them to make one calendar of all the grandkids (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars).  It is pretty handy and then we can each pick which photos we like the best of our own kids!  AND we can include everyone's birthdays and anniversaries on the calendars - also pretty handy.  It is also pretty fun for the kids to get to go visit the grandparents and see a calendar with their picture on it.

Then there are the Christmas cards.  Since Marty and I got married we have always done a photo card.... they're also just fun!  I really like the designs that Shutterfly has (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery ) and the prices are pretty great too.  We got some family photos taken by my good friend Jen (http://www.JubileeImages.com/) before we left CO, so we have a lot of good ones to choose from.  And I like that I don't have to choose one - I can pick lots and put them on one card like this:



But you'll have to wait to see ours!  Now to get on with the Christmas gift ideas before the moving truck arrives later this week.


Happy Holidays!

Plane, Trains and Automobiles!

We are here safe and sound.  AND it is beautiful here. Everyone told me that already, but really, it is.

Highlights of the trip for our 4 year old - definitely the varying modes of transportation to get to our destination.

Mommy & Gavin on the bus from the rental car place to the "Hairport".  (Elijah insists it starts with an "h")

Daddy & Elijah on the bus.

Moving sidewalks = HUGE hit.  We had a little bit of time to kill, so we spent some of it cruising around on these.

Flight is delayed for 38 minutes, so we got a great window seat a New Belgium restaurant (at the VERY end of terminal B - did you know that when you get the end of the terminal, you can actually keep going to get to gate B95).

Gavin enjoyed the menu tremendously.

About to FINALLY get on the plane.  After many, many times of hearing "when are we going to get on the hairplane?"

Bright eyed!  Elijah stayed awake the whole flight and finally crashed on the drive to our house (about 10p Mountain time)

This little guy also did not want to miss out on the action.  He finally fell asleep on the plane,, but it took some convincing. 

Professional Movers

We are lucky enough that Marty's company has gotten professional movers for us. I think if we were moving everything in our house, that would be really handy. BUT we aren't moving everything in our house. We are moving "essential personal items" which I believe is defined as everything we cannot live without for a year. When you have two small kids, there is a lot you cannot live without (or at least would prefer to not live without - a highchair and a crib are both very handy at this phase.... as well as many of my essential kitchen items.... :-)

So, to prepare for the "packers" who are coming today, every room, closet and item in the house is labeled with a post it note saying what is going and what is staying. That was not a quick process.



Kitchen:
Rather than labeling every cupboard, the moving coordinator asked that I just take out everything that we want and put it on the table. This should get us through the year.



Again, not a quick process. Marty is still working full time. I have an AMAZING friend who has been helping out with the boys or this would not have all gotten done. And the packers should be here within an hour. I guess we are really going to move, huh?

What in the pants?

Stealing the title from my wonderful friend, Merrielle. :-) It is a great phrase that can be used in many situations and is just fun.

On the suggestion of numerous people.... or maybe just a couple girlfriends who had a couple martini's.... I'm going to attempt to document our Oregon adventure on this blog. So, I'll start with how it all came about.

Monday, 10/11: M gets a call on his way home from work that ultimately says his company is going to ask him to move to OR.
Tuesday, 10/12: M gets more details (very vague) about the "position" in OR and is told he must make a decision by FRIDAY.
Wednesday & Thursday: Trying to debate this decision while working, hosting guests from out of town, and just general life.
Friday, 10/15: We decide we're IN. We're moving to OR. No idea when. No idea how long. No idea what the position is. Sounds like a good adventure, right?

10/17-11/10: M spends more than half of his time in OR. We have G's adoption finalization (yah!), everyone gets sick, G gets an ear infection.... you know just the standard stuff. The whole time we are waiting to learn the details about what exactly is going to happen - when are we going? Where are we living? How is our "stuff" getting moved, etc. Somewhere in early November we get official word that the plan is for our family to be in OR until December 2011. Roughly 13 months.

Monday, 11/8: I meet with moving company while M is still in OR.
Thursday, 11/11: MOVE DATE IS SET! (Exactly one month after this whole thing came up). Packers will be here in ONE WEEK, Thursday 11/18 and we will fly to OR on Monday, 11/22. Nothing like planning ahead!
Thankfully my parents came out to help for a couple days. So, I sorted out what to take, what not to take, etc, etc and my wonderful, amazing mom cleaned up the house and helped rid it of dog hair from our wonderful dog (who does not get to go on the adventure with us). :-(

M has been home since 11/10 and will be here until we move, but he is working and trying to spend time with friends before we leave (as am I).... which leaves us with roughly 15 minutes per day to talk about this whole move thing. The conversation goes something like this:

ME: We need to do x,y, & z. When will that happen?
M: I don't know. You figure it out and tell me.
ME: Ok. Should we move x,y, & z or what do you think?
M: You are going to just have to make those decisions and it will be okay. If we don't have something we need, we can buy it. If we have to much stuff, we can donate it or ship it back.
ME: AUGH! This is overwhelming.

And then 5 minutes later I'm okay again. Only FIVE days until the movers get here! Best go do some more organizing/sorting/donating!

Here is a photo of our house for the next 13 months. M has seen it, but I have not (aside from all the pics M took). Actually, I've never even been in the state of OR. :-) Definitely an adventure.