We Made It!

I can't believe we packed up our things and left Nebraska almost a month ago already. The movers came a day later than expected due to snow, and we were lucky to leave when we did because Nebraska continued to get snow off and on up until a few days ago. Chris and I drove 1,299 miles to Virginia over the course of three days. We had good weather and prayers on our side, as we made it with very few mishaps, two somewhat relaxed dogs, and some quality time together.

I was very lucky to have Chris throughout all of this. He planned our route, made all the reservations, and even let me stop to pee as much as I wanted to with very little complaining. Luckily, I could also use the dogs as an excuse... "Oh, Chris, I think Nalli might have to go again..."

The night we arrived in Virginia, we took a couple of minutes to unload into the hotel room, settle the dogs, and freshen up before heading right back out the door. We went to meet a potential renter about a house that looked great online. Turns out he was a corpsman and she is the head of an organization that helps military families. It was meant to be. The house was even cuter in person and the owners of the house could not have been nicer people. We had signed a lease within two hours of arriving in Virginia.

We left some cleaning supplies that were in my car there overnight so we did not have to lug them across town again. We went out for burgers and beer at Buffalo Moe's to celebrate. After three days of driving, it's hard to be awake enough to celebrate.

The next morning we went to base and accidentally stumbled upon the office we were looking for to register our vehicles. We then drove around a bit figuring out where Chris would take classes, and then headed back to the hotel so that we could get everything packed up and out of the room and into OUR NEW HOUSE.

Since we did not have much with us, the first few days were just spent cleaning and getting the house ready for the movers. It did not take more than a couple of days for the two of us to get kind of stir crazy. We made the time pass by seeing Jurassic Park in 3-D, going to Prince William Forest Park, going to the Marine Corps Museum, and just generally getting to know the neighborhood.

By Wednesday, I had already decided it was time to plant the garden. In just a few hours I weeded the front and back of the house, went to the nursery down the street, and bought tools from Lowe's to plant everything. The front of the house just has a mixture of wildflowers and zinnias and things of that nature.

Our backyard has a raised flower bed, where I planted cucumbers, sweet corn, jalapenos, sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, sunflowers, and cabbage. So far the sweet corn, potatoes, onions, and cucumbers have popped up. The tomatoes, jalapenos, sweet peppers, and cabbage started as little plants and they have at least doubled in size. It has been so fun watching things pop up--it really makes me feel as though I have a green thumb I did not know about!

This past week we had a luncheon for the wives and husbands of Charlie Company. I met SO many nice people. It is unbelievable how similar we can be even though we come from completely different backgrounds and places. I guess that's how it goes when you get thrown into an unknown situation like this.

More on that later. As broke as we are, we are trying to figure out where to order Chinese from in Stafford.