...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'!

The Countdown is On...

Hello friends and family!


We are so excited to have you follow us as we begin our big adventure. I'm hoping this will be a way for us to keep you updated on all the things that happen along the way so you can feel as though you are a part of it too! I hope when you read this you laugh, smile, and feel like you came along on the journey with us.


Our countdown is on! We are just under one month from leaving and there is so much to do still. We have a big to-do list on our fridge with about 30 things on it and are crossing off everything along the way. Our big focus right now is securing a place to live. We have done some serious searching on cragislist and have narrowed it down to a few apartments that look promising. I will be having a friend check them out for us and we'll be praying that one of them ends up being a right fit for us. We're also hoping to map out our trip this week, secure a moving truck, and put new brake pads on my car.


Luckily we had a very relaxing weekend in Chelan with our good friends Jeff & Crislee. We went river rafting, wine tasted, laid in the sun, and just enjoyed 4 days of time off together. I know that rejuvenated us so we will be able to face the busy month that lies ahead. Here is the view from Jeff's family's condo that we stayed at in Chelan.


Stay in touch!



Love, Haley