Movin' on Up

I am so excited for the move!! I can't wait to do so many things!! A lot of those things include the Balls since they will be in my beautiful homeland and I am so anxious to show them everything I love about it. And I'm so excited to see old friends again. I can't wait to go down to San Diego and see Amanda and Gabe (her Gabe - yes, we both have Gabes) and do all the things we have always talked about doing (and since she always says how wonderful SD is, that will most definitely include the beach which I have never been to in SoCal - so I'm excited for new things too, I guess! lol). And I can't wait to sing with Nicole and Ashawnae until 3 in the morning again. Or go shopping in a REAL mall with my mom. Or surf with my dad. There are just about a million things I am just itching to do!

And I am learning a lot about the moving process. As you know, I have driven across the country (with my awesome brother Kaleb - whom I especially can't wait to hang out with) twice. However, we never actually moved much. Just a TV and some clothes, really. And all we really had to worry about was trying to see through the rear window with stacks of luggage and a smelly beast obstructing the view (I mean Sam, not Kaleb in case you are familiar with K's "after football" aroma which he generally seems very comfortable with). This time we are moving EVERYTHING we own! Levi found out that Penske (for inquiring minds) has the best prices so we are going to use them. I learned about diesel and how 8 mpg is actually a lot (go figure) for a 22' truck. I am learning about the Army's policies on moves and... well, it's going to be an awesome adventure!

I budgeted everything this morning and guess what: I can have my Starbucks! For those of you without the addiction to - er, I mean.... appreciation for the necessary and lovely drink from above which we call "coffee," let me tell you that if I am expected to spend 8 days in the cab of a moving truck with a smelly beast (Sam, not Gabe) and no reclining seat, I WILL have my coffee. Or I will bite my husband's head off and then where will I be? Probably in Georgia because I would only make it that far. So I budgeted for Starbucks. It will save my sanity and Gabe's life. And then he can go on thinking I am the angel that I appear to be when I am happily filled with caffeine.

I also budgeted for hotels though I'm not sure if we are going to use them - I stupidly agreed that I would try sleeping in the car to save money.... Why did I do that? Anyway, we'll see how that goes. I think we are going to try it out before we leave to see how it works and whether or not I can handle it. Gabe could handle it - he could sleep under water if he really had to. I on the other hand cannot even sleep on our double carpeted living room floor without waking up 20 times in the night with back pain. But if it does work it will save us a little money and while we are jobless that is very important.

No official date yet, but we are trusting God and preparing for rain. CA or Bust!

My projected home for a week..... woo-boy.