The adventure continues...

 

What an adventure already. So, after everything was loaded up and tied down and ready to go, MyLove went and got the moving truck and trailer weighed and we were WAYYYY overloaded, by 4,000lbs. That afternoon, we proceeded to start unloading the entire moving truck into the garage. Thankfully we have wonderful friends that came over and helped us to unload everything and go through boxes and get rid of so much of our belongings and then reload the truck. They also went and

got food and entertained the kids while this was all going on. My Love was quite upset with all of the tools and items we had to get rid of to get us to a legal weight, but we did it. That night was a late night and we were planning on leaving the next day to start our trip.

 We got up the next morning and re-weighed the truck, finished getting everything loaded, cleaned up the house some, and finally left our home around 2pm.

We were on the road just shy of an hour when I realized that the lights quit working on the trailer that he was pulling. We found a place to pull-over and fix the connection issue we were having. This took

about two hours, putting us close to dinner time. The kids and I were able to relax in the shade of the trailer while My Love did the troubleshooting and fixing.

We drove into the darkness of the mountains on some very rough roads and decided to continue the drive in the morning so we could enjoy the sites of the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina...so,
the first day, we were still in North Carolina.

We woke up in the morning and My Love was checking everything over on the trucks and trailers and realized the hitch on the moving truck was beginning to bend. That's not good. We called a welder and headed his way. We were at Farmer's Welding Service in Leicester, NC for about 6 hours that day waiting on him to get all of the materials necessary and then to fix the hitch. Luckily, his shop was in a beautiful little valley with plenty of space for the kids and dog to run free, so we did!

 

He did a beautiful and high quality job. When leaving the shop, we had to drive on a two lanemountain road that twisted and turned and climbed and dropped down hills

without any shoulders on the road...it was THE MOST STRESSFUL DRIVE. I was never so happy to see the Interstate.

The drive on the Interstate was beautiful mountainous roads (with wide shoulders and not quite such sharp turns or large climbs and drops!). I love driving through the mountains of Tennessee. They
are incredibly gorgeous and breathtaking.


That afternoon and evening everything went very smoothly and we were able to drive all the way to Clarksville, TN that night. After a few glasses of wine, I slept peacefully until my kids (the jerks, haha) were up at 6am.














I love driving through Kentucky. It's a beautiful state. The landscape changes from farm to rocky hills to river valleys and more!

This day, the drive was easy going until we hit St. Louis, Missouri...or forever to now be called Misery. Holy moly...the adventures just seem to keep on coming. The state of Misery welcomed us with a MASSIVE thunderstorm and buckets of rain for over half of the state.

If you look by the road sign, you can see the St. Louis Arch

The wind was howling, the lightning was flashing and the thunder banging...and then came hail.  Goodness this was another miserably stressful and exhausting drive.

I was very happy when the skies opened up and the blue sky shone through.

That evening, we were able to drive to St. Joseph, Misery. It was a long day of driving, but it was uneventful and we got another good night of sleep before heading to my grandma's house the next day.

Driving from St. Joseph to South Sioux City, Nebraska is kind of a boring drive. There isn't much change in the landscape for most of the drive. There are hills to your right and flat to the left for hundreds of miles.

Besides the outskirts of Omaha, there aren't any cities that you drive through. There was a really beautiful rest stop on the way that we let the kids and dog run at for awhile though.

Visiting my grandma is always wonderful. It's such a blessing for my children to get to know their great grandmother and I so enjoy learning from her. She is almost 94 and she is sharp and smart and funny.

Her love language is to feed people, so everything in her home is surrounding food. I love that she cooks with me and we always eat so well while we're there. That woman makes the best gravy!

We only stayed there two nights before heading West to Alliance, NE which is where I grew up and where my parents and siblings still live.







The drive from Iowa to Western Nebraska through the northern part of the state is an interesting one. The landscape changes many times as you drive and yet most of the time you're seeing wide open

spaces of farm and ranch land with scattered small towns throughout.

Most of the drive was smooth and easy, though just outside of South Sioux City was rough and there was a lot of construction.

People have asked me many times how the kids are doing on this trip. They are taking it very well so far, but this portion of the trip we do every year. We actually just did it at Christmas time.








Our girl likes to read and color and listen to music and now play a few games on the Kindle she bought herself

 and our boy is happy as long as he has his cars and a few books. He has been riding in the big yellow truck with daddy, while I've had the dog and the girl.

I am going to get off of here and continue to visit with my family in Alliance. I'll write more later! 

Each passing mile gets us closer to our destination, but further from the people I miss so much already.

It will be home

May 27, 2017

Everything about this move still feels very surreal and like it’s happening to someone else. It doesn’t feel like I’m leaving on Friday, and yet when I think about the date looming ahead of me, it rips opens a deep dark hole inside of me. I know, this sounds dramatic and pathetic, but it’s true. I never expected this area to be my home, but it has become so much so that it’s so hard to think of leaving it. 

We’ve been here longer than anywhere we’ve ever lived before and I’ve built a life I love. My kids have been raised here, this is their home. I have friends I love so much they became my family; my sisters, the aunts and uncles to my children. I’m no fool and I have always known that because of the military, moving was not just a possibility, but a probability. For the longest time, I would have welcomed the change to go somewhere new. 

I will build another life I'll love and I'll make more friends. i will still have all of my other friends, just a bit further away. I will be fine and I will have what is most important in my life, which is my family. With them, it will be home, no matter where we are. 

The kids seem excited about it, albeit somewhat confused on Gryphon’s part. He “knows” we’re moving to Alaska, and keeps asking to go, but he has no idea what is ahead of us. He keeps asking where his dresser is or his toybox or his books. Victoria seems like she is completely ok with the idea, so I guess that is good. Kids are so much more resilient than we give them credit for and I should take lessons in their acceptance of this.

Many of the rooms in our house are empty or close to it now. We have 5 bedrooms. One of the guest rooms and Victoria’s room are completely empty. We’ve moved Victoria into the other guest room

which has her matters and scattered blankets and boxes in it, though not much else. Gryphon’s room has his bed and an empty bookshelf at this point. Our room has our bed, a nightstand, and his dresser. The living room is down to one couch and a few other pieces of furniture and the kitchen is still fairly full. The truck is filling up quickly, but should have more than enough room to fit what is left into it.

Moving ourselves across the continent...

Travel Blog

May 23, 2017

Everyone keeps telling me I should keep a blog of our traveling adventures, so here it is…

As a military wife, I don’t get a choice in our next duty station and my husband has very limited choices. That being said, we’ll soon be moving from the Piedmont of North Carolina to the middle of Alaska. If I said I was excited about this, I’d be lying. It really is one of the only places I didn’t want to go to, but alas, that is where we are headed. I have built a beautiful life here, where we are, with friends that I love and can count on and that can count on me. I am not a fan of cold weather, of any

sort. I grew up in the cold. I don’t like it, but I damn well better get used to it quickly as temperatures average in the negatives during the winter months. I know there will be gorgeous and wonderful things to see there and I am excited to see many of them. I am a bit anxious about the 23 hours of dusk to night time during the winter and, if I’m being honest, the 23 hours of daylight during the summer. At first, the daylight sounds kind of neat, but when I really think about it, I think it will be confusing for the kids and a frustration for me. I have a hard time sleeping once the sun is up, so this will be a learning experience. The long, cold winter scares me and I feel like I’ll live snuggled up in a blanket in front of a fireplace, but I’m sure it won’t be as bad as I picture.

Don't get me wrong, I KNOW there are beautiful, wondrous things to see and do and explore. I know that there are new people to meet and that I will re-build a life there that I'll learn to love. I know that
I'll be able to see things I couldn't imagine and that I'll build new relationships. Right now, I am fully aware that I am in denial and haven't yet accepted that I'm leaving this home...even though the move is right around the corner.

Speaking of the move, we have quite the haul ahead of us as we’re moving ourselves there. Yes, you read that right. The two of us are driving three vehicles, two trailers, a 3 year old, an almost 10 year old, and a 95lb dog 5,000 miles across the continent. Seems an impossible and overwhelming task, but we’ll get it done. We may never do it again, but then again, we might love the trip. We are taking several weeks to take the trip so that we’re able to explore and relax in beautiful places that we’ve never been to.

So, how are we moving this load, you might ask? We purchased a huge moving truck that will be hauling one of our trailers. My husband will be driving that while I’ll be driving his truck, hauling a 5^th wheel trailer with my car inside of it. The 5^th wheel also doubles as a camper, so all we’ll have to do is back my car out and set up bed and we’ll be ready for camping. Yes, the Army could have moved our things for us, but because we have our four wheelers and trailers, we would have had to pay them to move us. The way we’re going about it seems like a much more financially sound (albeit, more difficult and adventurous) way to do so. When we get to our final destination, we’ll sell the truck and one of the trailers and won’t have had to pay the cost to rent a moving truck for the 5,000 miles plus the extra days we want to take for the trip. When all is said and done, we may not MAKE money on this trip, but it shouldn’t cost us the $10,000+ that renting a truck would.

I cannot express how incredibly excited and somewhat sad I am to be able to stop and visit my 94 year old grandmother and the rest of my Nebraska family. I miss my family and I do not see them nearly often enough…and I’m sad because I don’t know how often we’ll actually come back once we live that far away. We are planning on heading North from Western Nebraska to go into Yellowstone National Park for a few days and then cross the border into Canada. From there, we’ll be exploring even more. We have many days planned for camping and sightseeing, including national parks, waterfalls, hot springs, and more.

This all sounds beautiful and like quite the adventure…and yet the reality of traveling with two kids and a dog hits. What do we do with the dog while we’re exploring if she’s not allowed to be with us? How on earth will we keep our children entertained for hours on end while being stuck inside of one of the trucks? Anyone who knows me, knows that my children don’t get iPads or tablets or anything like that, but you had better believe that I will be loading up the iPad and tablet we have with movies and books and games to help keep little ones happy. We have coloring books and pencils set aside and will, of course, bring plenty of books and toys and music to help to entertain them. We are bringing my bike and the kids’ bikes so that we have some form of exercise to do while we are at our designated stopping points. This should help burn off some energy and keep people happier.

Packing has been interesting. It’s really difficult to decide what to keep out for the next two weeks we’ll be home and what we’ll need for the trip itself and then try to get everything else packed without completely disrupting our lives. Then, there are groceries; we need enough to get through the next week and a half, but not so much we have to throw too many things away. We are planning on bringing a cooler with us, but not for frozen foods. I’ve been trying to use up the things we already have here at the house, so I’ve been making some mish-mash of foods at times. Whatever doesn’t get used will be passed to friends or thrown away.

 

Saying goodbye will be the hardest part. I don’t even like to think about it. I will cry many, many tears of sadness and heartbreak over this move and have already done so. I don’t want to leave my home. I don’t want to leave my friends and loved ones. I have so many special people in my life here that mean the world to me. I know, in reality, there are things like text messaging and phones and social media that will help me to stay in touch, but honestly…it’s not the same and you know that just like I do. I am sad that I’ll be losing the ability to go grab a cheeseburger and onion rights with my friend or hang out at each other’s homes or to just be able to hug one another. This…this will be the hardest part.

The Mommy Club

***disclaimer....I may or may not have had like a whole bottle of wine by myself while watching this movie before I decided to write this.***

 

As I’m sitting here, watching The Single Mom’s Club, I can’t help but think about how much it applies to married mothers as well. We all want and need support. Many of us get that from our husbands (when they’re not gone on business trips or deployments or in training), but many don’t.

Even with getting the support when needed, we still need each other. We still need other mom’s and other women in our lives. We need to be able to look at the best in one another and let each other cry on our shoulders. We need to have a chance to vent and scream and laugh and be women, as well as moms. We need to be able to rely on one another to watch our children, to talk about our fears and our dreams, to talk about our past and our future, to exchange recipes and craft ideas, to go shopping together and get coffee or lunch. We need to be able to drink wine or beer freely together and just let loose once in a while. We need to open ourselves up, which is really hard to do as an adult, to go to playdates, so not only our children get some time with others (you know, socializing and all), but so that we can talk to another adult. We need to socialize with each other, regardless of age or color or religion or political affiliation. We need to be able to talk about the latest trends and workouts, the latest foods and drinks, the things that hold us back and the ideas that keep us going. We need to not feel lost in who WE are. We are not JUST moms. While we love our children, we need to be us too. We need to feel sexy to our husbands (or wives or boy or girlfriends or lovers or whatever floats your boat), we need to feel confident that we are good people and funny and creative and shy and outgoing and spunky and witty and intelligent and caring and everything else that goes with being us.

So many of us feel lost. Who are we? Are we doing good enough? For our kids? For our loves? For ourselves? Am I working too much? Should I be working instead of raising kids? Is the house clean enough? Is dinner healthy enough? Are the kids doing good in school? Are they happy? …..the thing is….when was the last time you asked…AM I HAPPY?

So, go to the next playdate. Go get coffee. Go to the park. Go meet other moms. Make a new friend. It’s not easy. No one said it was. Take that step (a few times at least!!!) and maybe you’ll meet that perfect mommy match. You have something in common, talk about the kids. Ask how old they are. Tell the other mom their kids are cute. Talk about what school they go to. Then….then the hard part….invite them, in person, to do something else…not just invite them to be your “friend” on social media. GO. DO. SOMETHING. WITH. THEM. This is how we have to make friends. Use your kids as an excuse…I don’t care. We all need our Mommy Club. Make one. Make a friend. Do this for you.

It can happen to you...it can happen to YOUR child...

I bring this up as a reminder to everyone to always be cautious with kids around dogs. All dogs. I know that so many people are like 
"Oh, MY dog doesn't bite" 
"My dog would never do anything to kids" 
"XYZ breed dogs are great with kids!" 

It can happen...with any breed, any dog. Even yours.

A dog's defense is their mouth. The dog could be hurt or scared or confused or hot or out of his/her element and it only takes one moment. One moment could change your life. One moment could change your child's life.

Is this a bit dramatic, yeah, I suppose it is, but ask this family or this family or this family or these people or our family. (There are many, many stories of pit bull attacks and deaths, I did not, and will not put them here. I do not think that biting is breed specific, though I believe the damage that could be caused is worse in some breeds. Anyhow, that's not why I'm writing this.)

Here's our story (and trust me, our story isn't nearly as tragic as so many others):

About 5 years ago, my heart raced more than I could ever tell you, and as a mommy all I wanted to do was to stop the pain and trauma that I knew my daughter was going through. 

We had gone to a barbecue with some of my husbands’ coworkers. Some people brought kids, some brought their dogs. It was looking to be a fun afternoon with lots of laughter. 

Our daughter was happily playing a few feet away with a big, beautiful dog, so I had just cracked open my first drink. I was interrupted as I was about to take that first, nice cool swig by the sound of my daughter screaming. 

She had been sitting beside someone’s Boxer playing with him. The dog was walking away when I went to my daughter. My husband commented that the dog must have knocked her over as he got up, so I went over to pick her up and comfort her. 

As I turned her over, I saw blood on her face…and a huge gash in her cheek. 

I remember saying that the dog bit her, then I rushed her inside to find some paper towels to soak up the blood and see how bad it really was. Well, it wasn't good. 

Once in there, I remember saying over and over “I just want to leave, let’s go, let’s just go. We need to get her to the hospital. Let's go!” I was shaking, my baby was screaming, her face was torn open. It was horrifying to see my baby like that. My beautiful baby girl…I could do nothing…

This photo is in my vehicle on our way to the hospital. It still gags me to this day to see this. Not because of the gash, but because the gash is on MY baby.

We went to the truck, I climbed in the backseat with her in my lap, trying so hard to comfort her, but freaking out the whole time…adrenaline was going strong. My husband was driving as fast as possible while being safe and he dropped us off at the front door of the children’s emergency room. I rushed in and they immediately ushered us to a room. The staff was AMAZING and I calmed quickly once we were there.

It was very difficult to even keep her calm. This next photo turns my stomach...you can see the hurt and terror in her eyes and the cut is so deep you can see the nerves and the bone. EW.

The Dr. said we were very lucky because there was a nerve exposed, but not broken, that gives her the ability to blink her eye. 

 

 

The doctors and nurses were amazing there and made the whole process much better. A plastic surgeon came in and did the stitches (19 stitches. 5 internal stitches and 14 external).

There were other puncture wounds, one small one under her eye (likely from the other canine tooth) and one inside her mouth from the bottom teeth.

We are sooo incredibly lucky that he bit where he did…had the bite been a little higher, she could have lost her eye…a little lower and it would have been her neck…Thank God for small miracles.

Are we mad at the owners? No. 
Did we sue? No.
Are we mad at the dog? No. 
Did she do something to instigate this? Maybe, but not that ANYONE there saw or heard.

So, I bring this up as a reminder that ANY…and I repeat…ANY breed of dog can and will bite.  Most people are SO shocked when they find out a Boxer did this to her...it's difficult to even find statistics about Boxer's biting people, to be honest, but it DID happen...and it happened to MY daughter.

Today, you can't often see the bite, and most people don't even realize it's there because she wears her hair down so often. But it's there, and will be for her whole life.

She is not scared of dogs. While she had her stitches in, we took her to a friends' house who has a boxer and a pit and had her play with them. To this day, she still LOVES dogs. I was (and still am) way more hesitant than she is about dogs being around her or our son, but she's fearless and amazing. As a matter of fact, she sometimes plays too rough with our current, LARGE, dog and we have to remind her that our dogs defense is her teeth.

It can happen to you, to your child. You are not invisible. They are not invisible. Dogs are not perfect.  Dogs are dogs.

Teach your children to respect dogs. Never let your child approach a strange dog without first asking the owners. Always stay close and watch your children around dogs. Always.  

Educate yourself. Educate your children. Be safe.

http://www.doggonesafe.com/Dog_Safety_for_Kids

https://www.avma.org/public/Pages/Teaching-children-about-dog-bite-prevention.aspx

Did I mention that my beautiful son is here?