the move: during and after

10.16.2011

Sunday morning, the day before our move:
Took carloads of decorations, pictures, mirrors, and other breakables to the new house.

Got a call from Budget truck rentals, said another customer's truck broke down in Arizona and they had to give our big truck away, so we no longer had a truck reserved. And they left it at that.

Brent called them back, put them in their place and told them to find us another big truck.

 Got another call that the baseboards that were to be installed on moving day had been discontinued so the guys wouldn't be coming. Which meant our second choice for baseboards would be installed after we moved in.

That night I had a church activity, so Brent went to the new house with J to meet a very not-punctual Direct TV guy to hook up our house. Because of the tech's tardiness, Brent talked him into hooking up more rooms in our house for no extra charge.

Talk about a day of frustrations. We went to bed hoping moving day would actually happen.

10.17.2011

Monday, moving day.
Took J to co-op (a babysitting group), moved more stuff to the new house and prepared for our move that night.

Brent figured things out with our moving truck and we ended up with a smaller truck but it had a ramp.  Phew.

After lunch and J's nap we grabbed pizza and dropped him off at friend Brandi's house -- she had arranged for a babysitter to watch our kids so she and her husband could help us move. Now that's a true friend.

Moving time. Didn't have time to take pictures, sorry. Imagine several carloads, three truckloads, three pizzas, 20 powerades, and a dozen very-appreciated guys/girls/teens helping us load/unload, we were in our new house in four hours.

Brent and I set up J's room so he had a place to sleep that night, then I picked him up from Brandi's house and brought him home -- at our new home. Brent and I set up our bed and finally got to sleep.

10.18.2011

I woke up to this the next morning:

A beautiful blue sky and gorgeous view of the mountains. You can't see the construction trucks passing behind our wall, but even still I was thrilled to be in my new house.

I took J to co-op again and the baseboard guys came and installed our second choice but still beautiful baseboard on our main floor:

A thick, simple baseboard with just a bullnose edge. We wanted to go with a more contemporary style instead of a traditional moulding. Plus, this will be easy to dust. 

When J woke up from his nap, I put him straight to work :)

 He loves playing with the vacuum. Maybe I should embrace it while I can.

The next several days were spend unpacking. Then Brent and our friends ran the Ragnar Race and I stayed at home with our kids. After Brent and our friends survived and returned from the race, I took the night off and partied with some gal friends. No kids allowed. :)

10.23.11

Sunday. I convinced Brent to help me set up our living room so we at least had one toy-free, box-free room to greet us when we walked in the house (since we're still going in the front door). Plus our Bishop from our church was coming to visit that evening, so that gave us motivation. Here's what we ended up with:

But let me assure you, the rest of my house doesn't look so clean. I'm constantly unpacking boxes and putting things away, but I have a long way to go. In fact, today (11.08.11) I took these pictures just to show you how ugly and lingering moving can be.

Dining room (the space behind the square Ikea bookcase above)

 Guest room

 Spare bedroom

Loft

The work has only just begun.

the move: before

before moving day.

10.14.11

Friday. Grandma left that day to go home. Her help the previous two weeks was crucial for us to accomplish all we had done. I packed up some more and played with J. 

10.15.11

Saturday. A lot on the schedule today. Brent got up bright and early to do the Viva Bike Vegas cycling ride. I got up with J, came downstairs to eat breakfast and play, and discovered that we had company:

 He may not look large or menacing, but that's only because I kept my distance. I'd estimate him at two inches. We had just passed this spot in our hallway five minutes before. Haunting thoughts filled my mind. I had never killed a scorpion since Brent took care of the three others that had trespassed our house previously. Since Brent wasn't available, I quickly called friend Tim, since he's familiar with scorpions, and panicky-asked if I should know anything before attempting to kill my intruder. He said to grab a big shoe and be careful cuz they're quick. Great. I grabbed a shoe and paper towels, suppressing the urge to throw up while trying not to squeal because my apparent uneasiness was troubling Joaquin. I stared at the scorpion. He stared back at me. I feared his rumored quick reflexes would send him under a box or dash past me towards my son or dart right at me for an attack. I tried to compose myself by shaking off my scary thoughts and dry heaves. As I lunged forward to smash him he flinched. But he wasn't quick enough. I gave him a few good swats for good measure. Then it was over. More dry heaving and haunting thoughts. And wishing Brent were here. It honestly took a few hours before I completely calmed down.

Moving on.

We had several appointments at the new house. First, the countertop guys came back to install a piece of quartz on our kitchen windowsill. Then Habitat for Humanity showed up to pick up our carpet, granite, sink and baseboards.

  We were thrilled we could donate the materials we tore out. I didn't want it all to go to waste -- brand new, functional materials. The HH guys were super nice and grateful for our donation. I was grateful they could lift and load all that carpet and granite. Next, the cabinet guy came back to touch up some cabinet sides and install transition pieces around the cabinet bases and floors. Brent finished his bike race (yeah!) and we relaxed the rest of the day.

10.16.11

Sunday. Brent and I took carloads of decorations, pictures, mirrors, and other breakables to the new house. We didn't want these things to go in the moving truck, and since we lived so close it went fairly quickly. We went to church, and while we were there Brent got a call from Budget truck rentals. They said another customer's truck broke down in Arizona and they had to give our big truck away, so we no longer had a truck reserved. And they left it at that. Seriously?! We were moving the next day! Brent called them back, put them in their place and told them to find us another big truck. We also found out the baseboards that were to be installed that day had been discontinued so the guys wouldn't be coming. Which meant the baseboards would be installed after we moved in. Ugh! We settled on our second choice for baseboards and hoped they could come on Tuesday. After church, I had another church activity to be at that night, so Brent went to the new house with J to meet a Direct TV guy to hook up our house. The TV guy arrived super late so Brent talked him into hooking up more rooms in our house for no extra charge. Talk about a day of frustrations. We went to bed hoping moving day would actually happen.