Today is Moving Day!

We've loaded our Uhaul truck with everything we own and now we are heading back East for the second leg of our Graduate School Adventure!

We are so grateful for our families who helped us SO MUCH this summer. We bounced from a California home, to a Lake Powell boat, and then to an Arizona home. We had so much help and support from family (and friends!) as we inched our way closer and closer to this point in our lives.
We are incredibly grateful for our families.

We will be taking this route, with the markers indicating where we will be staying for the night along with plenty other stops along the way for breaks and sight-seeing.
We are doing this!

We ate great burgers at GIANT Hamburgers- a favorite hole-in-the-wall spot of the Smith's. I'm glad that we had almost everything that we own already packed up and stored nicely in our storage unit because it was one less thing to worry about as we grew closer to August 1st. That meant we were able to spend more time with family and friends!

Our nephew Caleb helped me put Taryn to bed last night (their last time seeing each other for awhile). We sang songs together, they gave each other tons of hugs and kisses, and Caleb said, "I love her" which melted my heart. Earlier on Tyson said to Caleb, "I will miss you!" and Caleb replied with the sweetest, "I will miss you too!" It has been the best to have family- and cute cousins for Taryn to play with- right around the corner. 

 

 Their responses to "do funny faces"

 

"Kisses" before bedtime

 

We've been looking forward to this for a long time. As this date grew closer and closer, we have become more and more nervous. Starting something so new, so fresh, can be a scary process. Even though both Tyson and I have visited the Virgina/Washington D.C. area before, we know very little about what it is like to live there. Talking with many friends and family members who have experienced or still live in the area has been very comforting. We knew that this program was the right choice for our family, but that doesn't mean that we haven't had our fair share of trials getting to this point!

 

I want to take a few things away from this experience and store them in my brain. 

 

1. Keep calm during stressful times. Tyson and I have said a lot of "I'm sorry's" as we've been caught in tense situations. I'm happy that we don't let things go by for very long at all without saying, "I'm sorry" to each other. We are both aware that stress levels quadruple during big life changes....like a move across the country!

2. I need to be constantly reminded that things are good and to trust my heart. I can easily lose focus when the waves of life get bigger and I can't see the shoreline I am trying to reach. Good things in life follow hard trials and challenges.

3. I am very grateful for Tyson and Taryn. Tyson- who is so loving, helpful and smart and Taryn who has been a complete trooper as we have taken her to different countries, strange places, and as we constantly move our "home base." She is adapting faster and faster with each transition and I am very impressed with her ability to love and find happiness wherever she is.

We know that this will be a great experience for our family. We are excited to try something new again, to continue to grow, and to add the East Coast onto the list of places we have lived!

 

4 1/2 days on the road! Here we go!!!