The Big Move

The Big Move

 

(Well, we have been at our destination for almost two weeks months and things have settled down enough for me to have a few complete thoughts.)

This post has been in the making for a while now and it is high time I wrap it up and send it on it's way.
My initial intention was to journal every night on our journey west but unfortunately I that did not happen. Regardless, here are my ramblings.....

Day 1 ~ After a grueling day of loading 2+ households, we collapsed into a hotel room in Hendersonville, NC, our former home town. We set out the next morning, not quite as early as planned, with sore muscles and aching backs. It was bitter sweet to leave Western North Carolina, but we were determined to start our new life in the Pacific Northwest.
Winding our way through the Smoky Mountains in WNC and Eastern Tennessee was quite beautiful even though the road construction made it a white knuckle drive for DH in the large UHaul truck (towing Mom's car). Driving through Nashville was pretty cool, seeing the skyscrapers and just knowing the history there. (I saw the Country Music TV building from the highway!)
We had intended to make it to Illinios by that night but with our late start and shear exhaustion from loading the truck, we decided to stop in Paducah, Kentucky.

(Poor DH had the pleasure of riding along with his mother and her little dog. They do not do so well in tight quarters and it was stressful to put it mildly. I think they are too much alike...)

Day 2~ Drove over 9 hours today and made it to the SW corner of Iowa, just outside of the Nebraska state line. All through Missouri and Illinois there were many, many signs for XXX nightclubs and adult "toy stores". (Hubby called it "corn porn". Obviously after the long drive we are a bit loopy!) Perhaps the truckers need a distraction after driving through corn fields hour after hour. Or maybe the locals need something to do, other than cow tipping, on a Friday night. There is corn as far as the eye can see!
Our animals (dog and cat, in crates) are doing surprisingly well. Before this trip started I was very worried about the cat being in a crate for so many hours a day, but he is handling it like a champ and loving the hotel rooms! Always something new to explore!
It is hotter than the hubs of Hell here and I am so thankful that I do not live in the Mid-West. We hope to make it to Cheyenne, Wyoming tomorrow.

Day 3~ Nebraska = Corn, corn and more corn! We did drive under a really cool archway dedicated to Lewis and Clark. It seemed fitting since we are basically following their path to the Pacific.
There has been a giant mosquito lurking around the floor boards of the car, chowing down on my calves since Paducah! Apparently, I taste delicious!
My feet and ankles are swelling beyond recognition from sitting so long each day. Even though I am a big girl, I have never had "cankles" until this trip.
We made it to Cheyenne and the only hotel we could get is not very nice but we are too tired to care. The situation with DH and MIL has gotten to critical mass. Hopefully we can complete our quest without any casualties.

Day 4~ We drove over 600 miles today and we made it to Burley, Idaho. It is hot, hot, hot here but we are finally back in the land of big mountains! It is so nice to see really big mountains again and just that feeling of being back in the West is calming to me......

(I started this journey with the intent of journaling every night. I made it just barely past night three before the stress got the better of me.)

Day 5~  Pendelton, OR

Day 6~ Our final destination - Astoria, OR: the views of the mighty Columbia River all over this little town are amazing!

We stayed in a little motel in Seaside Oregon and due to Labor day weekend tourism we had to share a room with "Mom". Not ideal at this point since I am ready for a complete melt down. We held out for four nights until the weekenders left and then decided to bite the bullet and pay for another room so we could have some solitude.
By now it may sound like we are terrible people or Mom is a monster but we have discovered that there are some people that should NEVER live together. We usually get along fine as long as we have our own spaces.

Thanks for bearing with me through all of this and the long wait for this post about our move.

Life has been moving along since we have been here and now I can get on with posting about our new "home" and our new adventures.

Take care,

Dawn
 

A Rant....(Sorry)

Some do not understand our lives or our choices.

DH and I are simple people that have always had to scrape out our way in life and do not have money or credit at our beck and call. We scrimp, scrape and work for every penny. We have never been and never will be in a financial position to just hop on a plane and travel to our hearts content. We choose not to go into debt to have or do the finer things in life. Some don’t understand that and seem to take offense that we cannot travel, visit or do things at will.

For the past year we have been living in near squalor, and the last 2 months in darn near poverty. Leaving a good job with benefits was a difficult decision but is was necessary to be able to move back to the west coast. This was a conscious choice and one we feel worth enduring to achieve our goal.

It is hard for us to leave the family we have here but we have to live our own lives and be where we want to be. It feels like I have spent my entire life trying to make others happy and at 50+ years old I think it is time for me to be happy. Is that so wrong and selfish? Since adolescence we have both moved from place to place and do not really have a place we can call “home” and now that we are near retirement we want to go back to the west coast where we are happy and where we feel like we belong.

Sorry for the rant but I have had it up to here with people that only think of themselves and cannot be happy for us, that we are finally able to go where we long to be and want to spend the rest of our lives.

The End

　

One step closer to our next adventure!

Well, yesterday was my last day at my job here in NC. It was a hard day as I have a good job and work for/with a wonderful group of people. To some, it may seem a little early to be leaving my job since we are not moving until August however there is much to do. Between the heat we get here in the summer and the brain sucking stress from my daily job, it does not leave me with much energy or ambition to do what needs to be done. Time to go through the house top to bottom and our storage unit and purge/sell what ever we have not used in the past year. (with the obvious exception of family keepsakes)

Our youngest son's wedding is also coming up early next month and there is alot to accomplish for that as well. Top that off with getting our lives in order and ready for the cross country trip, I feel pretty justified in taking 60 days off.

Next month, I will begin my quest in finding a rental house in our new location. It may not work out but it would be so nice to have a home to go to instead of a weekly hotel room with all of our belongings in storage. But, if that's the way it works out, I am intent on staying positive and flexible.

We are so excited and anxious to start our new life in NW Oregon. I have already been scoping out the local hiking trails and fishing holes. Just the temperature variance and the thought of walking on the beach whenever we please is enough to make this girl giddy!

Have a glorious weekend!

Dawn

After a long hiatus, onto a new adventure!

Wow! I cannot believe that I have not blogged in almost a year! I guess I did have a lot going on and it wasn't all just in my head!

After much thought , prayer and deliberation, Hubby and I have made the decision to move back to the Pacific Northwest. It was a difficult decision, but one we feel will be the best for us as we progress in years.
We have lived in Western NC for 7 years now, and while it has been good to us and it has been good living near my sister, it is time for us to go back. That is where our hearts are.

We have set our sights set on the NW Oregon Coast region.
(We both miss living near the water desperately!)

Dear Hubby will be able to spend his days fishing, mushroom hunting and searching for treasure on the beaches. I hope to find work in the retail/grocer field, and will join him on the adventures during my time off. I am sooooo looking forward to not having a stressful, responsibility filled job. While I have been very grateful for the job that I have held for over six years, my little brain needs a rest! It is time to relax and enjoy life.

Our new adventure begins in August but the next few months will be filled with preparations and planning. Yippee!

Take care,
Dawn

P.S. I will try to blog a bit more often and keep you all updated on the adventure! :-)

Breakfast on the go!

Last night I made a dozen mini frittatas for our busy work day mornings. I surfed the web and read various recipes and decided to throw in whatever I had on hand. I had left over breakfast sausage that needed to be cooked, green onions, chopped mushrooms, chopped roma tomato, reduced fat shredded cheese and eight eggs that I whisked with a little water and S&P.

I sprayed my muffin pan with non stick cooking spray, added a TBS of each ingredient, then I ladled the egg mixture over the top. I filled each cup to nearly the top and baked at 350* for 20-25 minutes. Just nuke them for 35 seconds and they are ready to eat on the go! YUM!

(I calculated that each frittata has 3 WW points; which could be less if you use leaner or no meat.)

Back again!

Well, obviously I am not a very good blogger! I cannot seem to post very often. I am finally going to post about the couch pillows I made over a month ago.

We have two large pillows left over from a couch we had a few years ago. The problem is that they are an ugly brown color and the fabric is really rough. (Herculon?) Plus, the down feathers constantly come out and poke you!

I decided to make covers for them, to not only pretty them up a bit but to try to contain the feathers a bit more.

 This rose print fabric is actually repurposed curtains that I had made for the log cabin we had in North Idaho. I loved the print then, and I love it still.

Here they are sitting together nicely. I lined them with muslin to add to their feather resistance abilities! Hubby loves them. Now he can properly curl up on the couch without getting stabbed with down feathers!

Have a great week everyone!

I got presents!!

The darling little elderly lady next door is moving into an assisted living facility today. Yesterday I went over to chat with her and she gave me an awesome gift!!
She had this tucked away in her closet for who knows how many years....

It is an unfinished quilt top - Tumbling Blocks in some very interesting prints. It has a few stains but should be ok after a good soak. I am hesitant to soak it before it is finished and quilted as it might be too fragile....Unfortunately it will sit on my shelves for a while until I finish up a few other projects.

I think it will look great in the guest room, which is done in Americana/red, white & blue colors...

Dear Hubby bought a new iron just for little ole me!
He has a lovely habit of ironing his work uniforms on high heat with starch and our old iron was always a mess. I had to clean it up everytime I needed it for my quilting. Now I have one of my very own for my quilting/sewing projects.

Isn't she a beaut?! Pretty good score, if I do say so myself.

Hope you all are having a great weekend too!