Preparations.

Hi guys!!

It's been FOREVER since I've posed a blog. I'm really sorry about that. It's just been so hectic around here!

Good things that have happened:
* I got a job!!
* We booked a hotel for the first night of our travels!
* We started packing!
* We've thrown away a ton of stuff!
* We're donating a ton of stuff!
* I cut Lucy's nails today!
* I checked everything off my To Do list today!

Things that we are still struggling with:
* Finding a place to live (see # below).
* Finding people to help us move (both to and from).
* Renting the truck.
* Not spending money on stuff we don't need to spend money on (like eating out except for Valentine's Day and the other two places we agreed to go to one last time before we move).
* Finding enough boxes for everything!

We're doing what we can to stay positive and upbeat, but this whole thing has been incredibly stressful and just awful for my blood sugar.

(Found here.)

# The "find a place to live" thing is really challenging right now. I did go ahead and accept a position with Verizon Wireless in Mankato (which I feel excited about but I'm so tired I think I'll be much more excited once we physically move), and at the same time I got a call for an interview with an apartment complex in downtown Minneapolis. He said he'd be conducting interviews next week, so we are sort of in limbo at the moment on that. It looks like we'll be staying with my in-laws for at least a couple of weeks until we can find a good place to live. At the moment, we have some leads, but I don't want to sign a lease into an apartment and then find out that I'm offered the job with (potentially) substantially more included in the compensation package. I'm not counting on it (it DID take them several weeks to get back to me, after all) but I want to keep my options open nonetheless. I feel awful about having to impose ourselves and our stuff on my in-laws (especially when their reaction to us telling them we're moving home was, "You don't want to move back in here, do you?" Let's just say that I didn't kick my own ass just to move in with them!

(My mother-in-law is a wonderful person. Not like Marie.)

Let me be clear: my in-laws are the most giving, supportive, encouraging, and generous people I know. Which is why I'm doing everything I can to NOT inconvenience them by having to move in, especially if they for sure DON'T want us there. It's hard to explain, but I'm going to feel AWFUL if we have to stay with them.

At the moment, this is encompassing our lives. We don't really have much else going on, which is definitely for the best! T and I are doing everything we can to NOT snap at each other even though we're stressed, but it's hard. Considering that we are leaving Ohio in 12 days, it doesn't really give us a lot of time to get everything done! I just keep hoping and praying that everything falls together the right way and we have a great trip home after all this.

(Found here.)

Oh, and if I have a few extra minutes, I'm going to plan a couple fun things for us to do on our way home. Stay tuned for those extra tid-bits!!

Thanks for your prayers and support, my friends! We're not out of the woods yet, but knowing we have a bunch of people behind us really helps to move us forward.

~Steph (and T, and Lucy).