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 :-/