It is Saturday, two weeks ago today we loaded a truck with everything we own and got ready for a trip that will hold lots of changes for us. Several of the men from SMBT were nice enough to give of their Saturday morning to help us load the truck. What would have probably taken us ALL day took these guys about half an hour.

That afternoon we went to Leavenworth. Wesley's headstone was set a few weeks ago and we wanted to see it before we left. It is beautiful! What a relief to FINALLY have it in place.

When we got home we finished packing our bags and getting the last few things loaded into the truck. James (and Luci) loaded the car onto the truck and that was it. I took a picture of James and Luci by the truck. It is a cute picture but it was odd. I looked at the picture and realized, my WHOLE life is in this picture. It was kind of weird at first but then a peace settled in and I realized how blessed I am. God has given me an amazing husband that loves us, works hard to provide for us, and wants God's will for our lives. God has blessed us with a healthy, happy and beautiful baby girl who is growing and brings us SO much joy. God has given me the security of a home in Heaven and 2 precious babies and other loved ones waiting on me there. Yes, I am so very blessed!!!! I think I need to frame that picture as a reminder.

The plan was to go to church Sunday morning and then leave after. Saying goodbye to family and friends at church was so heartbreaking. Family and a few friend went to eat with us and then it was time to go. It was so hard to let go of those last few hugs. We loaded into the truck and off we went. We were meeting my mom just on the other side of St. Louis that night and staying there. Monday morning we headed out yet again. We got into Lexington around 1 in the afternoon. Because it took a little longer than we thought to get there, the guys from the college weren't able to help us unload the truck. However, there was a family that we met that had 3 boys that offered to come and help us unload what they could. WHAT A BLESSING!!!

The house is really cute. It is a two bedroom townhouse. The kitchen is TINY but all of the appliances are new, which is nice. There is a 1/2 bath, dinning room with a small laundry closet, and living room downstairs. There are 2 large bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. It is small but with the way it is laid out you kind of forget that. =) My mom was able to stay the first week and was absolutely WONDERFUL! When she left all but 3 boxes were unpacked and put away. Everything had a 'home' and all the pictures were on the wall. Our plain little apartment was now a cute little home. I am so very glad that Mom was there to help with all of that. I'm not so sure I would have wanted to do all that without her. THANKS, MOM!!

While mom was here, things were good. When she left, it was official. We were here and on our own. We have been blessed to be able to live close to James' family our whole marriage and my mom wasn't too far away. Now, it's just us. We don't know anyone and you know what? It's not that bad. Oh, we miss everyone AL OT and are pretty homesick. We wish that we knew how to get where we need to go without doing at least 2 U-turns and that the people were friendlier. But I can definitely say that we have already gotten closer as a family. Luci is adjusting well. She loves all of the 'dog-dogs' around here. Which are really horses, the poor kid is confused. =)

Well, hopefully I haven't bored you to death. Love and miss you all!

Kentucky and getting a job

(I wrote this a few weeks ago but just now have the time to post. More to come later)

For the last several months we have been working on getting a Job and apartment in KY. Our hope was that we wouldn't have to make a special trip just for those reasons. As time went by it was becoming pretty clear that no one wants to hire someone without interviewing them in person. And that no one will give you an apartment without proof of employment. So, James made plans to go to Lexington. His last day of work was Friday, July 24th. He had made appointments to interview at 2 different places and had a list of several others that offered walk-in interviews. He left Sunday afternoon and made the trip in 9 hours. His first interview was Monday at 11:00 am. It was for a forklift operator position and was really the only one that seemed to have any promise. The interview went well but they told him that the whole process to get hired would take at least 2 or 3 weeks and that they would call him to get things started. We were planning on moving that weekend so we just figured that we would have to wait another week or two to move. So, we pretty much started making plans that way.

In and effort to "come home with a job", James went to another interview on Monday afternoon. It was for a staffing agency and they said they would call if anything came up that fit his qualifications. Nice, but not "move our family 600 miles away" worthy. He had one other interview lined up for 2 pm on Tuesday but since the forklift operator job seemed so promising that we started to talk about him coming home. We eventually decided against it and he went to the interview.

The interview was scheduled for 2 and he got there about 20 minutes early. There were about 5 people in line and 25 others sitting filling out applications. He waited in line and got his application, filled it out and went to stand in line. They told him that he had missed something, so he went back, filled out what he had missed, and waited in line again. When he got to the front of the line this time, they gave him a stack of 25 - 30 papers and told him to go fill them out and bring them back. So he did and then went back and got in line. They found a few pages that needed more info and back he went. He finished the papers, got back in line and they said, "Thank you. Have a seat and someone will call you in a little while." It was after 3 o'clock by that time. Thinking it was a HUGE waste of time, he took a seat. While he waited, he got a text from Reed that said, "I have a feeling you are going to get a job today." James laughed and sent a text back that said, "I think you are going to go to jail today." =)

Well, they finally called James back into a smaller room. The lady sat down and asked him if he wanted days or nights. He said nights because he would be going to school in the mornings. She asked if he wanted 'picking' or 'packing'. After she explained the difference, he said picking. She said, "OK, your orientation is at 10:30 Thursday morning and you start 6:30 pm next Tuesday." He said, "Does that mean I have a job?!?" After reassuring him that he did, he told her that we have an apartment that has us approved, we just need proof of employment. She said that she had just printed it. He took it and went to the apartment and signed the papers. He called me and yelled, "AAA!!!! I HAVE A JOB!!!!" We were SO very excited. James will be working in the largest AMAZON.com warehouse. So when you order from AMAZON, James will be one of the ones that runs and gets whatever treasure you have bought and takes it to the packers to be sent to you. (Hmmmm.....wonder if we get a discount.) So after almost not even going to the interview, he came home with a job. KENTUCKY, HERE WE COME!!!!