On The Road Again...

"On the road again...." This is what I got to hear David sing each morning as we got back on the road to head out! Nothing like starting each day with a little singing! As I write this, we have completed 5 days of driving. So much has happened, and so much hasn't happened. What I mean is- the trip has been filled with things I will remember, and at the same time there have been so many opportunities for things to go wrong and we've been blessed with a very smooth trip.

Day 2 was one of the harder days of our trip. It was the first "long" day of driving and it took nearly the ENTIRE day just to get through the state of Montana. I can appreciate some of the beauty of Montana, and I never imagined I wouldn't like Montana, and I realize there are probably many other parts of Montana than just what we saw from i-90... but after 550 + miles of trees and ranches- I was ready for some new scenery. It was particularly stressful for David because the roads weren't well taken care of, there was LOTS of construction areas (often down to just one lane), and lots of hills and passes which are hard on the truck. By the time we finally got out of Montana we were both pretty exhausted. We made it just inside the border of Wyoming and stopped. We were desperate to stop and there was nothing out there really so we ended up paying $90 for a CRAPPY 1 bed room at a Super 8. It was the second most expensive room of our trip and by far the worst. Amazing what circumstances will allow you to justify paying for something.

Day 3 was much easier just because we were happy that we weren't in Montana anymore. It was probably the easiest day of driving too. Wyoming was very beautiful and South Dakota was super easy driving for David. He said, after reflecting, that if he had let me drive at all, it would've been in South Dakota because it was a lot of straight, flat, easy driving. One of the highlights of day 3 was when we stopped just inside the border of South Dakota at a Safeway to grab lunch and ice. We met this old man, he was probably 80-85 years old, who chatted it up with us for awhile. He never told us his name, but I imagine it would have been Bob or Bill or George or something. He saw our car was from Washington and said, "Looks like you kids are a long way from home." He told us all about his ranch in Wyoming, his wife he lost 20 years ago and misses every day, and the Bible. He gave David advice on "loving your girl every day and not staying mad at her," and told us a story about Joseph from the Bible. He asked David what the writing on his arm was and David told him it was Hebrew because he is half Jewish. The man responded with, " Which half?" Like meaning, literally his right or left half. He was so cute and funny. It was one of those things where it didn't matter what kind of hurry we were in, we both knew it was worth stopping and enjoying this conversation with this man. Definitely a Day 3 highlight for us. We ended up stopping just before the South Dakota border that evening and hit our 3rd Super 8 in a row and even got to enjoy a nice little hot tub at this one to relax after the long day!

Day 4 was pretty uneventful. We got through Minnesota and Wisconsin and stopped part way through Illinois. The best part of THIS DAY was the hotel. David was following signs to the Cracker Barrel because I had been talking about it ever since we got into Cracker Barrel land. For those of you that don't know what Cracker Barrel is, I am so sorry. I grew up going to Cracker Barrel's with my dad's side of the family every time we would come back to Indiana in the summers. My family has MANY great memories there. It's delicious country home cookin'. We're talked chicken fried chicken with gravy, buiscuits, country green beans, country fried apples, and peach ice tea. That's what I had for dinner. Hee hee. And the other half the restaurant is a fun country store. And there are rows of rocking chairs out front that you can rock in if you have to wait to be seated. If you ever find yourself nearby a Cracker Barrel, I recommend going. Anyway, I had been making an ordeal out of every Cracker Barrel sign we saw out there (cuz what else is there to do on a 2800 mile road trip), so David being the sweetheart that he is decided to arrange our stop so that we were nearby the Cracker Barrel so we could go to dinner there. We decided to try asking the hotel that was right next to the Cracker Barrel if they had availability and sure enough they did. They quoted us $100 for the night which was more than we'd been paying, but we decided we had done well with saving money other places and would save money by being able to have breakfast there and not have to go buy it somewhere else like we had been with the Super 8's. So we went ahead and unloaded and stopped there. Then once we started to check in and pay, the girl at the front desk said, "how about $85 instead?" And we were like, "REALLY? That's awesome! This is our 4th day on the road and we are exhausted and you just have no idea how much that makes our day!" David headed out to go grab suitcases and she starts to hand me the keys and says, "I also upgraded you to the King Suite." I looked at her and said, "Are you serious?" She said, "Yep!" It was AWESOME! Beautiful room, big bed, 3rd floor. It was great. AND we had a good breakfast in the morning. Best night we'd had so far.

Day 5 (yesterday) competed with our Day 2 Montana day in stressful-ness. We headed out and within a half hour or so were getting into Chicago mess. Tons of traffic, bad drivers, bad roads, tolls. We felt like we had been on the road for 8 hours by the time it was 11:00. David said he was pretty sure going through that mess took years off his life. Ha ha! Once we got out of Chicago the traffic wasn't bad, but there were many poorly kept roads and tons of tolls. We paid nearly $100 in tolls yesterday going through Illinois, Ohio, and the Pennsylvania border. Crazy! We wanted to get over the Penn border badly so we pushed through our drive until about 8:30 at night or so, and then started looking for cities off the highway like we'd been doing all along. But last night we learned when you're on a turnpike, it's really just a way of travel. There isn't really anything along it as far as lodging and gas. So we decided to head about 15-20 min south to a couple of towns we could see on the map that had hotels. We started calling around about 9:00 and EVERY place was full. All the sudden it clicked for me. We had waited until 9:00 on a Saturday night in the summer to reserve a place to stay. It was probably gonna be a lot harder to find a room that night. I found this one place called "The Inn" nearby that had one room left and was by all the other hotels so we decided to go check it out. David pulled into the parking lot and we were immediately regretting it. It was a tiny parking lot with NOWHERE to turn around. I went inside to ask about where we could park and they didn't reallly have anywhere for us to go. The woman working the desk was really nice and tried offering suggestions (unhooking the trailer from the truck, parking at the other hotel lot next door, backing down and around the corner of the hotel), but none of them were very good options. After a half hour or so of being exhaustede and trying to decide what to do, we decided it was best to just keep driving and move along. This moment was by far the most stressful & challenging time of our entire trip so far. We had nowhere to stay, no idea where to go, it was late, we were tired, there didn't really seem to be any cities around. We had to take a moment to just stop, say a deep breath, and ask for a little help from above. The nice desk person inside the hotel had suggested a place before I left and gave me their phone number. So I called ahead and reserved a room and we headed to the Comfort Inn and Suites just outside of Pittsburgh. It was a miracle! They had enough parking, it was only $110 for the night, and it was somewhere safe to stay. RELIEF! The girl at the front desk even gave us a brochure for her favorite delivery place nearby that was still open and we ordered in pizza. And the room was great. It all ended up working out fine and we had survived our first real adrenaline rush!

We woke up this morning ready to take on Day 6, the last leg of our journey. Luckily we only have about 6-7 hours of driving left today so David FINALLY let us have a slightly lazier morning and I had enough time to finally update this thing. If it hadn't been for David keeping us on track I probably wouldn't arrive in Philly for at least another 5 days! Ha ha! We just ate a good breakfast and are ready to leave our last hotel of the journey. It's hard to believe we will arrive in our new hometown today!

Tonight we are planning to stay at a friend of a friend's house of mine that has offered their guest room to us for as long as we need it. Such a blessing to already have someone to stay with. I still need to call her and make sure we can- but we had previous e-mail confirmation so we're pretty sure we're good to go. Then Monday we get to move in to the new apartment. We are so excited and anxious to see it. We rented the freight elevator from 9-1 on Monday so we're hoping we'll have the truck empty in the afternoon and be able to return it that evening. Then the mess of unpacking will begin. Ha ha! But we will have a place to stay and get to start making our new home for now which will be fun.

So now, for the last time this morning, we sing....

"On the road again...." ;-)

...1.... GO!

We are officially on the road! As I write this I'm eating a delicious and wholesome Super 8 complimentary breakfast in St. Regis, Montana. And when I say delicious and wholesome I mean... well... they had fruit loops, english muffins, donuts, and coffee. Ha ha! Don't worry mamma: I already planned to grab fruit when we stop to get gas before we head out on the road. ;-)

On Monday we grabbed the truck and it was, quite possibly, one of the longest days of my life. I never want to see those stairs leading up to my apartment again. Oh MAN we went up and down those stairs a lot. It's surprising how much stuff you actually have when you start loading it all into a 16 foot truck. We thought we'd have plenty of room, but sure enough- the truck is packed full of boxes. I included just a small peek of the hours of packing we did in the picture. It was a relief to have the truck loaded. But afterwards David and I both agreed we're gonna hate life when we're trying to UNLOAD a few days from now! David's quote was, "I had a really great system going at first as we loaded the truck. But then the boxes just kept coming and coming and before long I was just throwing it all in." Ha ha!

Monday night, after many hours of much appreciated help from mom and dad, we headed back to their house for a little celebratory pizza celebration. Pizza, beer, and a couch never felt so good! Mom and Dad had set up the tent for us outside so we could sleep outside and not upset David's allergies too much before we headed out on our drive the next morning. Plus the idea of camping out on our last night was kind of fun. Dad, being so sweet and thoughtful like he is, went out to my car to use the cigarette lighter to blow up the air mattresses for us before we went to bed. About 10 min later Mom walks back inside and says, "we have a problem." I offered a few suggestions, none of which were the actual problem. Then Mom says, "well... we accidently locked the keys in the car with the keys in the ignition." Oh man... as long as the car and truck were both still in the driveway- any other problem seemed miniscule in comparison. But because the keys were in the ignition with the inside lights on, we needed to get them out that night. So we called out a locksmith car guy (I have no idea what those guys are actually called... maybe you can offer ideas), and he opened up the car at about 11:00pm. All was well and we had conquered our first challenge without skipping a beat. Ha ha!

Tuesday morning we got ready for our departure. Saying goodbye to my mom and dad was tough for me. Ok... tough is probably an understatement. Lots of tears. But I know that it's a blessing that we are close enough that this move tugs our heartstrings this hard. Then it was off to the PENSKE to attach the car carrier to the truck. After a brief hiccup with replacing a fuse to make sure the brake/turn signal lights were working on the car carrier, we were off to say our last goodbye. We met up with David's sister, nephews, and brother in-law's mom for a coffee run and hugs. It was so fun to see the boys. They LOVE Uncle Day Day! It was so much fun to catch up and be able to say we got to see everyone before we left. :-)

Then it was finally time. Driving out i-90 for the last time was weird, knowing that we wouldn't be driving back over for a couple years. Especially after driving the beginning of that stretch every day for the last three years. I waved to Fall City as we went by! Gonna miss that community, those kids, and that school... I will NOT miss that commute though. ;-) The first day of the drive went well. Here are some of the observations and things we learned on our first day of road tripping.

1) The sunshine is literally just on the other side of the mountains, Seattle.

2) There are way too many trucks out there that think they are race cars.

3) There are way too many poorly paved roads (resulting in everything moving all over the place in the back of the truck).

4) Idaho is rustic and beautiful.

5) The first hour of Montana is nothingness... seriously... nothingness.

6) My favorite quote from yesterdays was when a large truck was passing David much too quickly out of nowhere: "Ooooo... just cuz you have a bigger engine and you aren't towing anything... whoopty doo!"

We are planning on making a big push today with driving. I'm looking forward to seeing some different landscapes and some much enjoyed "quality time" in the car. Thank goodness for those CD's some of y'all made for us. I'll write again tomorrow with more!

We're on our way Philly! :-)

.... 2 .....

It is now down to two days. I honestly still cannot wrap my head around it yet. I keep trying to imagine what it's going to feel like when we finally go and I'm trying to help myself realize it's just two short days away. But it still just doesn't feel real yet. We were blessed with a beautiful day yesterday which I think helped give us energy. I said goodbye to my beloved piano yesterday. My dearest "Kimball" as I called her has been one of the most special things I've owned but it was time for us to say goodbye. It was going to be much too difficult to move her across the country and back. Luckily, she went to a student I had at Chief Kanim last year. So she is in a good home now. I had to close my eyes and ears while they moved her out yesterday though. The mom of the student had hired some mover guys off of craigslist that had no idea what they were doing. It was a little scary... well actually... a lot scary. But it did eventually make it down all the stairs and onto their truck after about 2-3 hours of work. Yikes!!

We got a lot of packing done yesterday too. It doesn't exactly feel like we got as much done as we did because we have nowhere to move the boxes to yet. So we just have all this big furniture and boxes sitting around, but once we can finally put it in the truck we will feel much better I'm sure. We couldn't have done it without my parents help though. They packed up nearly the entire kitchen for us and my dad helped with assembling boxes and lifting them around. It was hard work, but our breaks for beer, wings, and mom's yummy pesto chicken wraps helped us keep going.

Yesterday evening we went downtown about 7:30 and did more engagement photos. We got some beautiful sunset photos on the bridge where David proposed (insert "awwwww" here), and did a few just near the bridge right after the sun went down. Bart also wanted to get some night shots and we were up for it so we went across the street to Jillian's and had a few drinks while we waited for it to get dark. Then we went back out to take some night photos. I think some of them could be really cool. I can't wait to see them and add to the amazing collection Bart has put together for us already. We ended up doing photos for another 4 hours, but for me... I love it. I don't think of it as just pictures; I also really enjoy the time we spend with each other and I make out with all kinds of hugs, snuggles and kisses (insert evil laugh here "muah ha ha ha"). ;-)

This morning we are heading to my church, Emmanuel Presbyterian, to say goodbye and have the church say a special prayer for us. If there is one thing I know about this church from the last 15 years, it's that if you've got Emmanuel praying for you- you got a whole lot help with ya. It will be special to have that encouragement, support, and that time to focus on knowing that we are not making this journey alone. Then it's on to one of the more difficult goodbye's. Did you see David with that sweet pea in the picture? We have to say goodbye to that precious girl as well as David's brother and sister in law, nephew, and David's parents. This will not be easy. I will miss very much spending time with this incredible family. I will miss laughing until my sides hurt, eating good BBQ or whatever good food this family decides to make. I will miss Cathy's rice krispie treats, the adorable nieces and nephews that say and do the cutest things- and I will miss the hugs and love we get every time we spend time together. The good thing though? We have all kinds of wonderfulness to look forward to when we return. :-)

Finally, it will be back home to finish packing and cleaning. By the time we go to bed tonight, everything will be packed and set to go in the truck tomorrow. Weird.... and exciting. Such a mix of feelings right now. But there's all kinds of adventure ahead of us and I can't wait to see what life has in store for us.

2 days left......

3....

Well there are just 3 short days left until we head out! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I remember sitting down with David and making a big giant to-do list of things that would HAVE to get done before we moved. I also remember thinking we will NEVER be able to get all of this done before we go. And sure enough... here we are a month and a half later and nearly everything has been checked off the list.

There has been so much going on this last week. After our "going away" party we saw a few more friends and got to say goodbye. My first goodbye to Mike and Rach was a very emotional one for me.... I never have been very good with goodbyes. I should've just passed it off as tears from the amazing pizza at Tutta Bella maybe! ;-) We also said goodbye to our dear friends Jeff and Crislee with a GIANT Claim Jumper happy hour appetizer feast. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs that night. No tears that evening thankfully- just a lot of laughter and love. I felt those heart strings being tugged as we walked away though. I also tried on wedding dresses for the first time with my mamma this week. It was very surreal to walk out in wedding gowns for the first time and see myself. I think that may have been the moment that the wedding mosquito bit me because it made me more excited than ever for the day David and I finally get married. No tears from Mamma or myself... but I will say I liked the first one I tried on the best. And it was a great start and preparation for when I'm actually ready to "say yes to the dress." :-)

We also got a bunch of our engagement pictures back this week. Our friend Bart Durbin is getting his company going and we get to be his models as he begins his photography portfolio. He took more than 700 photos, narrowed it down to about 325, and we narrowed it down to about 60. They all turned out really great and I'm SO EXCITED that we have these special photos to remember this time. You get a special sneak peek of one of the photos above. There will be more posted online soon but I figured anyone following us deserved a sneak peek. We are actually going to do a few more engagement photos tonight out on the pedestrian bridge over Lake Union where David proposed at sunset tonight. MY POINT OF VIEW: I am excited to take more photos because I think it's fun. DAVID'S POINT OF VIEW: He does not want to smile or kiss me in front of the camera anymore. 3 hours of that the last time was plenty for him. WHAT I KNOW: He'll be happy we have those photos when we're done and it will only be an hour or so this time... so.... he'll survive. :-) Haley wins.

Last night we got to spend time with David's parents who are watching David's niece and nephew while his brother and sister in law enjoy a much needed vacation for their anniversary. We brought over pizza and got to play and hang out with the kiddos. Every time we spend time with family, I go home thinking, I can't believe we're leaving this. Then I just have to remind myself that two years will fly by and we'll be back with family before we know it! My grandma always used to say she wanted to put a brick on my head so I'd stop growing so much in between the yearly visits. I think I finally understand what she was feeling.

So today is the packing push. Everything will go into boxes and suitcases today and tomorrow. The deep cleaning will ensue. We are going to try to get everything done that we can in the next two days so that when we pick up the truck on Monday morning we can load quickly. My parents are coming over today to help so hopefully that will help push things along. I just know we're going to have that moment 3 days from now where we look around our empty apartment and think... wow... we did it.

3 days....

Don't Stop Believing

Despite my tendency to lose faith quickly, perserverance has shown us several times over the last few weeks that everything always does work out in the end. When will I finally learn this? Well... maybe actually I've already learned it, but when will I remember to REMEMBER this!?

We have had a few "ups and downs" with the apartment hunt but we are very close to having a positive outcome now. We have found a place in East Falls called Alden Park just outside of the city that is a great 2 bedroom 1.5 bathroom in a safe area and close to the train station so I can get to Temple using public transportation easily. The leasing agent I have been working with at Alden has been very helpful and patient and said it looks very positive that we should get the confirmation on the apartment by tomorrow (Monday). I just know that once we get that paperwork in our hands that says that it is ours, that David and I will both breathe a huge sigh of relief. Having somewhere to live when relocating... kind of important!

I have also had a little bit of stress related to trying to figure out what to do with my piano, and finally found some relief with that situation today. It looks like it will be going to one of my students I had in 5th grade band that started playing the piano and singing last year. She is a great student, a sweet girl, and very talented- so I couldn't be more happy that it will be going to a super kiddo like her. I had a little surprise when I found myself getting quite emotional once I realized I'd be parting with it for sure. It was like once I knew it was really going to happen I finally let myself realize I would be letting go of something that has been such an emotional attachment for me the last three years of my life. That piano has helped me process so many emotions, so letting it go is hard. But I know the tears I had when I found out it would be going to my student were also tears of joy that it will be going to someone else who love it the way I did.

Yesterday we had our "going away party" that was so well attended and ended up being a great success. I have to admit- when we woke up and it was pouring rain and it looked like a dreary spring day out there (not middle of July weather), I was Ms. Negative-pants. I kept trying to be positive- but found myself saying, "Lets just cancel the party!" Good thing I have Mr. Positive pants around! Because he said "No! We are just going to do this. It will be fine!" And sure enough... blue skies, sunshine, WARM weather. It was gorgeous! We had over 30 people show up to visit with us and send us off. I don't know that we could've felt any more loved and any happier that we ended up with such a beautiful day and a beautiful send off!

Moral of the story? Journey said it best: Don't Stop Believin'!