We're moved... sort of.

That's right. We made the big trip yesterday... as in Saturday, the day that was in the teens with bitter winds and a wind chill in the single digits!!! It was not exactly the ideal weather for being outdoors for hours on end, but we braced the elements and got everything done in around ten hours.

A huge thanks to my uncle Chris, aunt Vicki, and my in laws for their help. We had until the end of January to move out of our apartment (which would put us on a Saturday) but we had to be out by noon. There is just no way on the planet that we wanted to deal with the stress of trying to move out on that kind of time line... especially with how much cargo we had to move (when we first got married, it seemed everyone we knew wanted to offer hand me down furniture and odd goods and I was overly zealous and accepted, which has resulted in positively too much stuff!). We reserved a 26 foot U-Haul (the largest they offer) and even that wasn't enough for the job. We crammed Nick's parents Explorer, my aunt & auncle's car, along with both of ours to the brim.

I'm sure everyone may be assuming we moved into a house, however, we are still awaiting an answer on our offer. Short sales are a huge test of patience and I do not have much more. Thankfully, in the in-between stages Nick's parents have been awesome in opening their home up to us. While that meant we had a temporary home, we needed to find another temporary one for all our household goods. With all our musical instruments- and it being the dead of winter- getting a climate controlled storage unit was a must. Thankfully, they're fairly common and we were able to get one close to where Nick's parents live.

While we're in a temporary living situation it actually feels like we have more permanency than we have for the past month. Since Nick started his job at the beginning of January, we have been living out of suitcases in KC, while commuting to St. Joe on the weekends to frantically pack. At least in this season, we do not have to deal with the logistics of residing in two locations. Plus, while we don't yet have a house we are already starting on the process of settling into the community. Nick & I visited a church this morning and had a really pleasant experience. We're praying that God directs us to the church he wants us at and makes it clear where that is. There are a lot of churches close by, which can be a blessing and a curse; while it's nice to have options, I (we) don't want to deal with church hunting for months on end. We were both really encouraged going to the church we went to this morning; everyone was really friendly and we could picture ourselves being really involved there. Always promising... We'll continue to pray about it and may look at a few other churches.

Aside from our move and settling in, we also celebrated Nick's 25th birthday Sunday with a supper at Olive Garden. It's hard to believe my sweetie's already 25. When we first met, he was only 19.... gosh, where does the time go? I'm so blessed to have him in my life and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him! Happy birthday, Sweetheart!!!