On the Move!

This truck arrived at our home on Tuesday morning.  When it arrived, my heart kind of sunk for a moment because I knew it was real.  The reality of the situation sunk in and I knew that the moment had come that this deal was really going through.  Bittersweet for sure.

Two men arrived with the semi truck and it wasn't long before cabinets and drawers were cleared -- boxes full of our belongings were all through the house.  We appreciate the moving service very much, however it was very weird having someone else go through your drawers and cabinets.  It kind of put the moving process in a fast-forward motion.

For those who have never experienced a move like this (as I was before earlier this week), I will tell you it is an intense, long experience.  Full of emotion, fast-paced, overwhelming.

A new flooring trend is to make a path of cardboard -- I expect to see this appear in home magazines this fall!  ;)  Yes, I am extremely thankful they protected our floors!

After two long and full days, the trailer was loaded and our belongings were packed up.  (Before you jump to conclusions, let me inform you that we did NOT have the entire load but rather a section.  They do this type of thing for multiple people, with each family having a section.  There were other things in this trailer that did not belong to us!)   Our items should be in storage for around a month before we have them delivered to our home-to-be.

Once the load was completed and closed up, we cleaned our empty home and did our final walk-through.  My goodness, what an emotional moment for us!  We walked through each room and discussed sweet memories that we had made under that roof and in those walls.  The walk-through ended in our bedroom (which was my favorite feature of the house) where we prayed together for the journey ahead.  So excited for what is to come, yet sad for saying goodbye to what is familar.  We had made many memories in our "first home" and had planned to be there for several years.  Never did we dream we would be leaving in such a short time.  The past 2.5 years (almost that long, not quite) had flown by, yet was full of many moments.  We took major pride in our home (I loved it and Josh worked on it!) so leaving this beautiful home that was arranged just how we liked it.....that just seems crazy.  And it really is.  Yet, the will of God often seems crazy to us.  We don't understand His ways.  It just doesn't make sense to us.  In the midst of the craziness, we've still known His will.  And that was for us to move to Charleston. 

Who knows if it's forever or for just a short time.  Neither of us even venture to guess.  We just know we've been given an amazing adventure.  An adventure with many opportunities and one that is full of excitement.  And also many sacrifices.  But with much promise.

We believe that Romans 8:28 best affirms this decision, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." 

We love our new city and all that it offers.  As silly as it may sound, we already feel so welcome and for the most part we feel "home."  However, there's still the attachment to "our home" and "our family" and all that's familiar.  For instance, I swear I knew nearly every road and shortcut when I was at home; now I have to use a GPS to get anywhere.  That is just a small example.  We know time will help. 

We really are so thankful to be here!  We are happy and joyful and literally we are having the time of our lives!  We do miss our home, we miss our family, we miss the familiarity.  But at the same time, we are making "home" here.  Perhaps we were too "comfortable" with the lives we had.  Now our world has been rocked and we have relied more on the strength of the Lord and our marriage more than ever before -- and that is a great thing! 

Our drive began Wednesday night after our house had been cleaned and we said some goodbyes to family.  We hit the road, each driving in our own vehicles, and headed to Charleston.  We got a late start, but made it past Knoxville before stopping over for the night. 

I was following Josh - this is soon after we began the drive.

One last look into the rearview mirror (not that I could see much due to all the stuff piled back there).....from then it was only looking ahead at what was to come!

This full moon was beautiful on the drive!  It served as a reminder to me that God will light the path if we trust Him to do so.

While driving, I finally played out (after all, this morning person doesn't do nights well) and informed Josh that we were going to need to pull over soon.  He had gathered info of Hampton Inns along our route, so he pulled over at the next one (we made it past Knoxville and it was already well after midnight).  This picture does not do it justice at all, but this was the nicest/newest Hampton Inn we had ever stayed in!  The room, the bathroom, and the breakfast area were all great!  The decor was chocolate brown, lime green, and aqua blue -- seriously, I am going to have to remember the way it all looked (particularly the breakfast area)!

After only a few hours of sleep (vital hours, I must say), it was time to hit the road again! 

This is a straight stretch before we really got into the mountain area (obviously, I wouldn't have been taking pictures on the really curvy parts).  Please let it be known that this is not a fun drive.  Particularly the mountin areas!  I definitely see flights as being a great mode of transportation when going back home!

We have almost reached our destination at this point!  SC is a beautiful state! :)

To be continued......