So Good To Be Home

Next week marks 8 whole months since we packed up the family and moved up here to Michigan.  We have had ups and downs, tears and laughter, sadness over what we left behind, joy on what lies ahead.  Mostly we are enjoying ourselves immensely. 

Friday I flew with Reuben back to Arizona for what was supposed to be a quick turn around trip of a couple of days.  He needed to get his truck and needed someone to help him drive it home.  We were supposed to leave Saturday and be home by Monday.  As always, things did not go according to plan.

We arrived Friday and my brother in law picked us up in Mesa.  No one had told my big sis we were coming so she was completely surprised.  It was really good to see her again.  We spent the night with her and my other big sis just happened to be coming to stay the weekend so we surprised her too.

Saturday we headed to Tucson, then to Willcox to get the truck.  Saturday night I surprised a good friend of mine at her work and she ditched out early so we could spend a little time together.  Turns out the next day she was headed to the Circuit Assembly where all the people I planned on surprising Sunday just happened to be.  So off to the assembly I went.

It was so nice to see everyone again.  Lots of smiles and hugs and tears.

Then I had to say goodbye to everyone again.  I hate that!  It is absolutely the worst part.  Especially saying goodbye to the family.  I still have to not think about it too much or I cry again.  I love you my sissy's and can't wait to see you again.

The drive home went quickly and we watched the scenery change from dusty brown to brilliant green.  Yesterday I had to get back in the car again and head to Grand Rapids with Cameron but today I have been enjoying wandering around the house seeing everything that has changed in the few short days I was gone.

The weather is so nice.  60 warm degrees.  Sun is shining brightly and the cool breeze comes and dances on your skin every few minutes.  New flowers have bloomed.  The garden is doing awesome with new sprouts up everywhere.  And the dragonflies are back.  Last year when we arrived they flooded the yard for a few days and then were gone.  A couple even landed on my arm and said hello.  AWESOME!

I miss everyone in Tucson and wish I could bring them all home with me.  I miss them, but it is so good to be home!

Moving Days

Okay, so you keep asking, and I keep promising.  So here is a start.

Moving days.  Yes days, not day.  I have moved plenty of times in my life.  My family moved from Michigan to Arizona when I was 7 years old.  BIG move.  But I was only 7 so really the only responsibility I had was to stay out of the way and enjoy the ride.

Once I flew the coop I moved 6 times.  Single apartment, married apartment, duplex, rental houses, first purchased house, you get the idea. All of those moves were stressful, but relatively smooth.  And we had time, take a little stuff today, take a little tomorrow, let's wait to move that till next week.  Moving across the country, that is something all together different.

So we sorted, packed, threw away, gave away, sold.  It was all a little sad, a little enlightening, a little freeing to have to get rid of some things.  Condensing was a word that we kept using.  Because it wasn't just us moving, we were combining two household into one.  That meant condensing a LOT of things.  It was well worth it thought.  And even though we did all of those things we still ended up with a lot of stuff to move.



Our truck and trailer

My Dad's truck and trailer and Our "Moving Van"

Moving took a long time.  A very long time.  We have made the trek from Tucson to our hometown many, many times since we moved away.  We always drive straight through no matter how many people tell us we are crazy for doing so.  We always make it within 34-36 hours.  We left Tucson about 11am on a Thursday morning.  We arrived about 12am on Sunday morning.  A very long 61 hours later.  But we had mishaps, and we were all so very tired we stopped to sleep a couple of times.  The big red moving van did NOT like hills and we had a tire blow out.  But we made it!

The new place is awesome.  Definitely needed some sprucing up and someone to love it again.  We are working on all of that.  Rooms have been built.  Rooms have been painted.  Things have been repaired.  She kept us warm during the winter so she definitely earned a spot in our hearts.  Spring and summer are going to be busy.



With a tree like this you can't help but love her.

Stay tuned for the next episode - this beautiful tree creates lots of work!

Home not House

We all have a dwelling in which we live. As I started on my own journey, leaving my parents home and finding my own way, I lived in many different places. Apartments, duplexes, rental houses. Then right before my third child was born we bought a house.

It wasn't a big fancy house in the foothills. It wasn't grand by any means, but it was OURS! It wasn't as big as we wanted, didn't have all the features we wanted but over the years we made it ours. Added personal touches, moved walls, tore out old and replaced with new. Changed colors countless times. This was more than a house, it was our home.

I loved my home. I can tell you what was in every inch of that place. Tell you how many colors were on each wall. Tell you how many tears were shed and how much laughter was contained in each room. Where I rocked my little baby, where I soothed the bumps and bruises of the not so little babies. Where I cooked my very first turkey for a group of over 20 and stressed all day that it was going to be a big flop. It wasn't, just like everything else that day, it was perfect.

Then, like almost everyone else, economy hit us. It hit us hard. Hubby lost his job, bank didn't really care, didn't want to cooperate with us. So that house, our home, was taken away. All our hard work, all those memories, now some stranger is going to walk in and make it theirs. I hope that someone loves it as much as we did. I hope they make their own and create as many memories there as we had.

It is not all bad, let me reassure you. In exchange for losing our home in Tucson. Tucson where it is hot 80% of the time, dry almost 90% of the time, and brown and dusty 100% of the time. In exchange for that I get to create new memories in the place where my first memories are from. We now live in Michigan. Michigan where the weather is different every day, where we actually have seasons, where it is beautiful 100% of the time.

It is going to be so different. But we all love it. We will be sharing living quarters with my parents and my sister. It will be tough while we all adjust. But new memories will be made here, more laughter, more tears, and eventually, this house we live in will become our home.