Getting Settled

Instead of going out tonight we decided to stay in and relax since the last week (ok the last 2 months) has been a whirlwind. With 20 minuets to go till the New Year I thought it fitting to send out the year with a post. We've been working hard the last 2 days to unpack and organize this giant mess that was our stuff and we managed to put a pretty big dent in it.
Yesterday we hit Ikea to find some furniture and came home with an awesome solid wood table that Michael assembled last night. Thanks to Aunt Kas and the Crater's we have a table that will grow with us for years to come, Thank you! <3







We also ordered a living room set that will be coming in the near future (before Katie and Justin get here in 2 weeks!) For right now we have lots of space and are using our new super comfy reclining camp chairs for movie watching in the living room. The kitchen and bathroom are also pretty well organized and usable now (except our stove still doesn't work). A Christmas card from the Crater's adorns our fridge -officially our first piece of mail addressed to our new place! And the pantry is well stocked thanks to the gift cards we received for Christmas from Momma & Papa Spalton & Courtney and the snacks left over from our drive down carefully packed for us by Mom & Dad Gallerane. .

We ordered our "we Moved- oh and Happy New Year" cards today so are eagerly awaiting their arrival so we can send them out to friends and family.
The kittens are adjusting well and enjoying not riding in the truck, and running amok in the house.
I think that's all for now and will have some before and after pics of the decorating soon too.

Love,
us

4 days to go 1700 Miles!

So as is the norm in New England we were at the mercy of the snow when it came to leaving for our trek to Texas. With predictions calling for 18-20 inches of snow for Sunday into Monday we decided to leave a day early to try to get ahead of the blizzard. At noon on Sunday we said our "see you in July's" to the families and set out on our adventure.
Sunday's drive took us through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York & Pennsylvania, 9 hours of driving in not so great weather- with an impromptu overnight visit to long time Spalton family friends, Maryann & Joe Flynn in Hatfield, PA. With the snow mounting up we needed a warm place to call it a night and thankfully a quick call to MA & Joe solved that dilemma. We owe a HUGE thank you to them for putting us up on such short notice, with 2 Cats (that look exactly like the two they already have).
Monday morning saw us on the road again this time through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and finally Tennessee (11.5 hours driving). The Kittens spent most of the morning drive expressing their discontent with the constant motion of the truck and noise but quieted down after a while contently sleeping in the laps of their momma & daddy.














Shortly after crossing the TN state line we stopped for the night. This time we spent the night at our first originally planned stop at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Kingston, TN. Beautiful hotel with really great service.

Tuesday we headed due West on I-40 from Kingston, TN to Little Rock, AR crossing the Mississippi River. Staying the night at the Holiday Inn in Little Rock, AR (which was also really nice- one of the nicest hotels we'd ever stayed in).

Wednesday was the last legs of our trip! 317 miles from Little Rock to Frisco, TX. Happily there was much, much less crying & protests from the Kittens today as they were used to most of the noise.... that was until it started pouring rain. :-) By the time we made it to Frisco the rain had stopped, and the temperature had climbed to 60. There was such a warm welcome for us here at Stewart Creek. Sharon, our leasing agent was so happy to see us and glad we had made it safe and sound. We signed out lease at 12:30pm in the afternoon and started unpacking. 

It was a long journey but we made it through unscathed. With only one little argument and 6 stops for diesel we made it safe and sound. We definitely miss the family and all of our friends but are starting to find our place in the world here now. 

More updates and pictures of the place to come... <3 

love, 

Laura & Michael 

Just days left...

The Holiday's are a stressful time of year in an of themselves most years. Parties to attend, presents to buy, baking and cleaning and wrapping oh my.

This year we added moving to the list of things to stress out about at the holidays. Adding in dinners and visits to say "see ya in the summer" (because it is most definitely not goodbye), packing the last of the things, making sure we have all the right directions and reservations and PAPERWORK, and the mere thought of not seeing or hugging the family or friends for months is turning me into the Christmas Ice Queen- oh and did I mention I'm sick again.
So I feel as though an apology is in order because if you haven't gotten the icicle eyes from me yet you might and it's (probably) not your fault- please be patient with me as I try not to come completely unwrapped.

Through all of the stress I see the lights (white here and colored on my parents tree) and think I really do love this time of year. I love shopping for the right gifts, the smell of cookies baking, wood burning in the stove, dinners and time spent celebrating with family and the smell and sights of the first snowfall. I even love Christmas music on the radio.

Tomorrow will be bittersweet when the Uhaul people call and confirm that not only its the last day of working for the year :-) but that its almost time to pack it up and be on our way :-/

Temporary Home

Well, the first leg of the move is complete. After something like 25 different trips over the course of 2 months we finally emptied everything out of our place in Northboro. People say it all the time but you never really know how much stuff you've accumulated until you try to pack it for a move. Over the course of the last 2 1/2 years Michael and I melded two lives in that apartment, built our foundation in that apartment, entertained friends and family, and made a home in that apartment so seeing it completely empty was so surreal and a little sad, but with such an adventure ahead and so much left to do we didn't have much time to dwell on that.

So after Sunday afternoon spent taping off the dimensions of the uhaul in mom & dad's garage and strategically packing our "stuff" we found we had just enough room for everything. The next step was to settle in at our temporary home at the Gallerane family compound. A wonderful place bustling with family and four legged feline friends. The kittens weren't so sure of their new surroundings the first few days but have acclimated very nicely and can often be seen watching the comings and goings from the window. :-)

With Thanksgiving 3 days away and Christmas rapidly approaching we are blessed to have such great family and friends to surround ourselves with. Though we only have a short time left here in Massachusetts this place  will always be a place we call home.

WE FOUND A TRUCK!

So it's official. We found a truck, put a deposit on it and got the loan! Hoping to pick it up Saturday after all is said and done.
Now all we have to do is sell the Subaru- pack the rest of our stuff an make the first leg of the big move over to the Gallerane family homestead!
:-)
31 days till we are Milford Residents once again.

Our House Hunting Trip and more...

As many of you know, Michael and I recently flew to TX together to look for an apartment and check out the area we'll be living in. We flew in Thursday night and because we spent so many weeks searching for the right complex's online and narrowing our choices we hit the ground running Friday morning. First to Frisco, TX to look at 2 places and then on to McKinney for the 3rd place. As seems to hold true for a lot of things the first one  is usually the one.. and in this case it is. We decided that our favorite place was Stewart Creek in Frisco, and will start the application process at the end of October.
In the weekend we were there we drove over 300 miles in our rental car checking out a little of what there was to see and do.Here's a little recap.
Dinner at Mattitio's authentic Mexican restaurant on the Frisco Common with our new friend Taryn.

 Food was Delicious and so were the margarita's!

The Saturday morning we ventured south to the Dallas Cowboy's new Stadium home of Michael's favorite team.(He is and always will be a Pats fan too but the 'Boys are his longtime favorite) It was amazing to be able to tour the inside of the facility. We were both amazed but Michael seemed to be in awe like a kid at Christmas. I was glad we added the tour into our weekend. I love sharing experiences like that with him!

Now... its time to pack. Our move to Michael's parents house is in a month and a half. Not a ton of time to pack up the rest of the house.
Oh and the search is still on for a truck!- in fact i have one to call about today!.

That's all for now... thanks for reading!

and the hunt is on~! :-)

We're headed out tonight to find an apartment in Texas. A place to start our new chapter. Have 3 solid places to look at. Two in Frisco, TX where we'd ideally love to be, and one a little further out of the city in McKinney, TX.
The Enclave at Stonebrook Frisco, TX
Stewart Creek   Frisco, TX
The Retreat at Stonebridge Ranch  McKinney, TX

We'll let you know which place we picked and post some pictures form our trip when we get back. :-)

It's Oktoberfest weekend in Dallas so off we go!

in search of big wheels...

Truck hunting is proving to be pretty difficult... and I think that might be an understatement. You'd think in New England to find a Chevy/GMC 2500/3500 crew or Extended cab (non Dually) with a long bed and under 100K miles would be easy... its not.

So far every truck we have gone to look at has been sold the day we head to see it. It's beginning to wear our patience pretty thin.
Cant tow a UHaul with the Subaru and so the search continues...

Excited to Go look at places!

So we have a trip booked to go check out apartments in the Dallas Area for September 16-19th. We have some places already in mind to check out, but found out the Acadia Office is moving a little north soon so can expand our search area a bit.

More exciting though is that one of my awesome new colleagues, Taryn who just moved to TX all by herself  let me know that, the weekend we are coming down is Oktoberfest! Looking forward to not just finding a place to live but also making some new friends!

On ward we go!

And so it begins....

...Our first big event as a married couple, no not buying a house or expecting a baby, but moving and not just down the street or a few towns over.

We're about to start a new Adventure. A 1700 mile journey from here to there... from Massachusetts to Texas. A 28 hour drive (3, 9-10 hour days for those of us who like to stop to pee and sleep) or a 4 hour non-stop flight.

Why? because a new job for me and open opportunity for Michael calls us to check out what life has to offer outside the comfort of our everyday bubble.So when Michael mentioned wanting to get one of those multi-space picture frames and take a picture every year of where we are on our anniversary so we can see where we've been and how far we've come. I decided that documenting the process and the feelings and experiences, might not be a bad idea either. The packing and sorting and selling of things; the renting and driving etc will all be here, as well as updates from the other side of the uhaul once we settle in. Since it is going to be such a change for the both of us to be so far from friends and family this blog should make it easier to keep everyone informed of what's new and happening.

Big Picture:
3 months to pack up our life and move out of our great little apt
Staying back at home with the Gallerane clan for December
Leaving 2 days after Christmas to start our drive
Move in by the 1st of the year 2011!
Find Michael a job
Explore the great big world of Texas.

When Acadia said to me "how about Texas?" I looked at Michael and in the spirit of one of our favorite movies Disney/Pixar's UP- I dug up my best Ellie impression and said "Are you ready for an Adventure Michael?" and like Carl, his reply..." I'm ready Laura"
And so it begins....