what a whirlwind life has been. new town, new house, new store for scott, new ward, new state, new experiences.

wednesday and thursday of last week the movers came and packed us up. boy is that wonderful. i could never move without them now. and i couldn't have stayed sane over the process if it wasn't for some awesome people in good ol' Cookeville. My friend Kara helped me pry our cat out from inside my mattress box spring because he was so freaked out by all the boxes and noises. My wonderful visiting teacher Alyssa watched Jake for almost five hours while Scott and I cleaned like mad (she even changed two poopy diapers which makes her a gold star visiting teacher and instant access into heaven.) My friend and fellow YW leader Mandi brought over treats for the car ride. And the awesome, beautiful and incredible Riches sisters, Lindsay and Rachel, my adorable--and very capable might i add--young women, let us use their family's work truck and hose to haul trash and boxes and paper to the dump. Lindsay even climbed on top of the dumpster to get a work line going more efficiently. They ding dong ditched me a couple of times with treats and notes and I most definitely may have cried.

the service and love shown our family in Cookeville is just...i don't know even know how to express our gratitude. the people there are amazing. hard-working, kind and giving. truly special people. and we are so blessed to have known them. 

friday night, around 8 pm, after an exhausting day of moving and cleaning and goodbye-ing, we left the Riches house and headed for our new home. 6 hours away. we were beyond tired but figured Jake would sleep the whole way if we were lucky. scott was a trooper and drove the whole way there. i offered to switch, honestly! but i think his mind was in the, "i just want to get there," and "you drive too slowly" mode. which is true. i'm a stickler for speeding laws. 

but i was grateful he did drive, because holy hannah, it rained hard most of the time. and if it wasn't raining, there was thick fog. if there wasn't fog, then there was wind. and it was pitch black on a windy, mountain road known as "the dragon's trail" that snakes its way over the Blue Ridge Mountains. i tell you what, it was fun. not.

but scott was great. the babe stayed asleep. and we made it in around 3:30 am. i blew a kiss to emily and "jef with one f" as we passed Charlotte. ;) we went straight to our new little house, brought in some blankets (the movers packed our air mattress! doh!) and slept on the floor. it was not comfortable. but it was only for a couple of hours and then the movers showed up to move our stuff in.

wow it's exhausting just to remember everything that's happened. i've been unpacking all day every day. cleaning and also laying on the couch because i'm tuckered out! jake's sleep schedule has been horrific. but it's getting better. (just in time to screw him up even more when we leave for california next week. oi.) 

and Albemarle? whether its pronounced al-ba-mar-ul or al-buh-mar, it is tiny. smaller than Cookeville. which is crazy. restaurant choices here is pretty much Applebee's or Applebee's. take your pick. in Cookeville, i had TJ Maxx as my saving grace. here in Albemarle, i got...hmmm....zilch. but...looking on the bright side, i'm only 45 minutes away from Concord which boasts everything my heart could desire. so, the glass is half full i guess.

tune into my next post, The Hmong. it's quite a surprise and an interesting tale.

xoxoxo