Moving Days

It felt like it only took a few hours to load up the Uhaul. I know in reality it took a couple of days, but it all went by so much more quickly than I thought it would. Joel, Asa, Bradley, and I put everything in from the storage unit on Thursday morning and then we spent the rest of the day at my mom's house loading up everything there.
They didn't have the 19 foot van that we had reserved, so they upgraded us to a 26 foot van for free! It turned out to be a great thing because we filled that puppy up. It was so heart-wrenching trying to decide what to bring and what to leave. She loves riding in her wagon in the backyard, so do I bring it with us so she can enjoy it there or leave it in Nacogdoches so she can continue to enjoy it there? It was a hard day. I don't remember how many times I cried, but we all put on a happy face for our going away party that night.
The next morning, Asa and I put the last minute things in the cars while Marley enjoyed several egg hunts with Papa and my Mimi. She played, rolled on the floor, laughed with them, and odered them around. She was happy as could be while I was crying in the other room hoping she wouldn't notice.
Don't get me wrong, I wanted to go. I want to be a family of three again and enjoy our time that we have together. But it was still hard to leave my mom's house. I am worried Marley will be lonely in Missouri and miss our families here, and I am worried because we don't know when we will be coming back to see everyone. And I am worried about everyone missing us.
But we managed to get on the road on time, and I was the only one with tears. My mom drove Asa's truck with the Corolla on the back and Asa drove the Uhaul. We made a lot of progress that afternoon and stopped for dinner just south of Tulsa. We had dinner at SmashBurger and then found a brand new Hampton Inn nearby! It was a great hotel and will be a great place to stop if we need a hotel to stay in on our way back and forth. We had a big dance party together when we got to the hotel room and then we all passed out in the king size bed.
The next morning we hit the road for our new home. It seemed to take forever for us to get there though. We made so many stops! They were necessary stops because we were all sick of being in the car, but it did make the trip seem super long!
We stopped in Springfield at the Panera they have there (possibly my new favorite restaurant) and had lunch out on the patio. We had to park a few buildings away in a lot that was big enough for our vehicles! This is where Maarley's obsession with tea began. She was hooked after trying a sip of my mom's tea, and is still asking for it to this day!
After lunch we only had an hour and fifteen minute drive to our new home. We actually stopped in the Lowe's parking lot so that we could take the Corolla off of the trailer to make the drop-off less complicated. Then, we went straight to drop the trailer off at the Uhaul place. That was pretty dramatic, but once we were done we finally got to bring all of our stuff to the house!

Asa's friends were supposed to come help us but they were in the middle of eating at a steakhouse, so Asa and I unpacked the boxes that I could help with. We made my mom a list and she and Marley went to Walmart and Lowe's to tackle it. Luckily, Asa's friends showed up right when the heavy stuff was needing to come out. I am glad he had friends already because I was not meant to move furniture with Asa. It never ends with us in a good mood.

We got everything unloaded that night and returned the Uhaul to the store. We ended up going out to dinner together and my mom made another trip to Walmart that night. We had big plans to stay up late together and put things away, but we were all way too exhausted. So, we crashed early. We had not been in out own bed in six months. It felt amazing after all that time!

The next morning we got some work done before we had to take my mom to Branson. She was meeting her co-workers there for a conference. We put the shelf paper in, unpacked a few boxes, and she and Marley worked on her room. She even got all of her stuffed animals organized! It was so great to have my mom there and feel like she was sending us off in a way. I am so glad she got to see our house and make sure we were going to be okay there.

We all went out to lunch and then headed to Branson. It was a two hour drive, most of which Asa and Marley slept through. Once we got to Branson we had planned to drop my mom off and then head back home since Asa had to work the next morning. But we saw a Target, then a Bass Pro Shop, then a Marble Slab, and pretty soon we had been there for hours! Marley and my mom rode a trolley that Marley loved! She just sat there prefectly still while the trolley man gave them the tour of the boardwalk. That started her obsession with trains. Now every time she sees a train she says "Mimi Mimi!!!"

We had to leave, but I arranged to come back that Tuesday to spend the afteroon with my mom again. So, there weren't any tears like I thought there would be. We had picnic in the car on the way home and then crashed once we got there. That was Marley's first night in her bed, which was a little sad for me. She didn't sleep through the night or anything, but it was still sad that she's to that point. I still want her to be my little baby, but she isn't. It was great to have the three of us all safe in our house and ready to tackle our new lives together. Being grown-ups is hard. You have to make difficult decisions and live with worries of if you did the right thing or not. And we will probably be wondering that for a long time. But as everyone keeps telling me, the most important thing is that we are together and happy. I can't ask for anything more than my husband and my daughter under the same roof with me again.