Moving

I don't have a lot of picture of our move. I wish I did but let's be honest, who has time to bust out their camera and document the chaos? Let me tell you, the whole thing was chaos. I thought I was emotional when I came home to three children..that was just the tip of the iceberg...

 It all started off as well as it could. Keith was home to help me pack. Brynn stole my girls so I could actually be of use. Emmett was a champ and spent more time in his little rocker than he probably should have. 

You would not believe how many guys showed up to help us move. Rough estimate, I would say 18. Way more than we needed and I was overwhelmed with the support and love they showed us. I was also very embarrassed by my filthy carpet and dirty house.

 My sweet friend Emily was thoughtful enough to bring us dinner that night as well. The waterworks were threatening me. 

Next, I had to say my goodbyes to my best friends Brittany and Sarah. We had conversations just like we had so many times before full of little gossip and well wishes. These girls kept me sane. They have always loved and supported me in spite of all of my faults. Still, we kept it tear free.

Keith's parents got in on time and we kept them up late packing and cleaning the last bits of it all.

 I couldn't even watch these girls in their last moments together, it would have sent me over the edge.

 Keith's parents had the great idea to get a hotel room for our last night in Kentucky. I failed to mention Clara was running a fever that whole last day of packing so she was extra clingy. I took the girls to the hotel while Keith and his parents finished cleaning (thank you!) so they could get some rest.

 Not only did Emmett play the part of perfect son that last day, he decided to sleep through the night. Perfect I tell you!

The drive to Atlanta went well. I drove the Impala with Joan, and Keith drove the Penske truck with his dad. We made a few stops to nurse and walk around and ended up making it to Atlanta a little later than we had planned.

So after looking at housing options in Atlanta, we decided to rent for a year. We didn't want to get stuck in a house and I don't think we would have been able to buy anyways. We ignored everyone's warnings and went ahead and rented a place we found on-line. I was blinded by how big the house was and the nice neighborhood. The landlord was nothing but friendly and cordial on the phone. Plus, I had two kids and a new baby, I was so not up to a road trip and house hunting.

 

 Joan and I arrived at the rental house first and I immediately had a knot in my stomach when we pulled up. It looked like the pictures, just a little more wear and tear. IAs soon as I stepped into the house, I knew I had made a huge mistake. I can't explain why but I had a terrible sick feeling from that moment on, every time I stepped foot in that house. 

The first thing that overwhelmed me was the smell. Then I noticed the blinds. ALL of the blinds were yellow and bent, most coated with grime. There was also a large water stain on the living room ceiling. Next came the kitchen and I wanted to cry. Everything seemed to be dirty and broken. I couldn't pay attention to details at the moment, the dam of tears was threatening to escape.

When Keith showed up, he didn't like the looks of things either. Randy immediately started unpacking things into the garage and Joan scoped out the house while Keith and I debated our options. Not once did it come to my mind to call his boss and ask to spend the night at his house. I like to believe there must be a reason for that. Anyways, the Landlord's wife was the one we were with and we told her we wouldn't sign anything longer than 6 months. We had already put a hefty deposit down on the house but we hadn't signed any contracts. She called her husband who was put out but agreed to a 6 month contract. We didn't sign anything that night and the landlord and his wife were both pretty ticked. 

The men in our ward showed up to help us move while she was still there and I was a hot mess of tears. I didn't want to move into this house that made me feel so disgusting but I didn't know what else to do. We went ahead and moved our stuff in without unpacking. That night we said a prayer to know what we should do. I could hardly sleep I was so sick to my stomach but I had the impression that we needed to find somewhere else to live.

 The next morning, we really explored the house and found it to be worse than expected. There was dry blood in the fridge and on the floor and walls. Hair and mold coated the ice maker. The fans were all coated with an inch of dirt/dust. The main living carpet had a huge bleach stain and a burned spot. All of the boards between the linoleum floors and carpet were moldy and broken. The towel bars were all broken and hanging. The knobs on the stove were missing. The dishwasher was filthy. There were little black hairs in the carpet. The showers were moldy and leaky. The paint jobs were horrendously sloppy. Half the nails on the deck were sticking up. There were holes and cracks in the floors and also the walls. 

Keith and I took a walk. I cried some more and then we decided to check out apartments nearby. There were two just down the road and one of them had a 3 bedroom available immediately. We deliberated for a bit. I hated going back to the house and knew I couldn't live there. We called the Landlord who was awful. He called me high maintenance and was not cooperative towards fixing/cleaning.

The next day was Thursday and we took everything we needed to the apartment complex without signing a contract and then spent the day relaxing at the aquarium and Coca-Cola world.

When we arrived back at the house, Keith too knew we could never call the place home. We secured a moving truck and Saturday we spent the whole day moving into our apartment. Our move around the block put us in a new ward as well as a new stake. We were a little bummed because we had really liked the people we met in Snellville ward but I had to believe it was for the best. 

One good experience I had with all of this was with my friend Brynn. I called her to tell her everything that was going on. Honestly, through most of this I kept thinking, "what would Brynn do?" So I told her about how I felt and that I knew we needed to get out of the house. I felt the Spirit strongly as I was telling her all of this and after I was done she said, "I know this sounds really weird but I felt the Spirit as you were telling me this. I really think you're doing the right thing." I don't think I've ever had a shared experience quite like that but it made me so grateful for a good friend and for the Gospel in my life to help me make decisions.

 The other lesson we learned was to sleep on our decisions. We should have made the sacrifice to take a trip to Atlanta. We should have prayed about the decision more. But we also knew we needed to move forward and accept our mistakes.

 Throughout all of this drama, Emmett remained happy. Kenzie truly seemed bothered with the house as well. She didn't call it home and didn't want to be there. As soon as we walked into the apartment though her eyes lit up and she yelled, "I love it!"

So the move ended up being awful and stressful but in the end it's working out ok. We're back in apartments and on the second floor (blech) but the apartments are clean and we're saving money in the long run. We signed a nine month lease so I know it's also not permanent even if we end up extending our stay here a bit. And i the end  I know it doesn't matter where I live as long as it's with my family.