We are here!

We Finally Made It!

We left Salt Lake November 11th mid morning in a huge Penske truck with a trailer carrying my car. Tom didn't think the good old Xterra would make the trip alone, he was probably right. Champ and Holly rode in my car along with Napolean (the goldfish). Foxy came down the week before to help us pack and load the truck. He was a huge help and kept me motivated, if he wouldn't have been there we would not have been on schedule. Foxy lives in Boise, so we drove the truck up to Boise and had dinner with Dana & Lynaya, dropped Foxy off and got back on the road. It was getting pretty late, the trucks speed maxed out at about 65...unless it's a hill and then its oh about 45 mph. It took almost 7 hours to get to Boise which is 5 hours away by car. Anyway, we made it to LaGrande, OR Tuesday night and found a hotel that was ok with pets and were able to catch a few zzz's before heading out Wednesday morning. We had to make it to Bellingham before 5 to get the keys to our house or the office would have been closed. You would have been amazed at my bladder holding abilities! I usually have to stop a lot, but I made sure not to drink very much so we wouldn't have to stop because we were pushing it to make it on time. I had to close my eyes through traffic in Seattle, Tom had the truck going about 65 (keep in mind the maximum speed for the trailer is 55.) We were in the HOV lane with 44 feet of truck and trailer passing cars trying to get to our destination...very scary. We made it to Bellingham right at 5...to the office at 5:11 (ish) to find the door was locked. We literally ran around the building to get there faster. There were two ladies standing outside and one of them asked if she could help us and Tom told her we were trying to make it here before 5, but it looks like we are too late. The lady said, "You must be Tom, I have been dragging my feet because I knew you would be here soon." She told us as long as we would wait for her to finish her cigarette, she would get our keys for us. By this time we were so exhausted all we wanted to do was get some of our necessities unpacked enough to rest for the night.

We got our keys and went to see the house for the first time. We found it online and did everything via email/phone with the property management place. We had seen a couple pictures online, but that was it. We did the first walk through in the house and we both loved it! I think we got pretty lucky. The one thing that wasn't so good was the homeowner had a cat and they hadn't cleaned very well before moving out. Tom is super allergic to cats, he breaks out in hives, swells up and is constantly sneezing. So before we could move anything in, we had to run to Home Depot (I know, I know, I said I would never go to Home Depot again, but unfortunately its about 1 mile away from our house) and rent a carpet cleaner. We got the master bedroom finished that night and I worked on the rest of the house the next day. I also cleaned walls, base board, doors, and the garage. I felt like I had been cleaning for weeks! But we got it all taken care of and after buying a lot of candles and air fresheners, you would never know there was a cat here. Champ was freaking out with all the smells, he was running circles around the house sniffing anything and everything he could get his nose on. Holly couldn't have cared less, I think she was just happy to be out of the car.

We had a few of Toms buddies help us out that Saturday, they unloaded the rest of the truck and even took labeled boxes into their coordinating rooms. That has made it a lot easier on me for unpacking. We have been going and going and going lately though, so the house is still a disaster. I finally got the room 90% finished, but we still have to do the small things like hang the mirror and pictures. The kitchen is quite a bit bigger than our last place, so we have a few empty cabinets which I'm sure will be filled up in no time. Our pantry is bigger and has better shelves which is really nice. There is a nice little walk that I've been taking the dogs on every day. The weather has been a little chilly, but not too bad. It's only rained a couple of times and the sun has been shinging the rest of the time. I had an interview with a company last week, but I didn't like the job position they were looking for. Tom wants me to go for it still because it's a good company, but I was very uncomfortable with the guy who interviewed me (he talked about himself more than he asked questions. He even offered up personal information that I didn't care to hear about). I might try to go back with an idea for the position that I want, but I'm pretty sure that's not what they are looking for. They want a salesman who will go out and find business and that's not me. He actually told me I should drop the work designer from my resume because people are looking for salesmen right now, not designers. Too bad my strong point is design and my weak point is sales, right? If I can't find something now, I will just get a "filler" job until a position comes available that I'm interested in. The dogs have been so good lately. Champ is sick right now which is so sad. This is a time I wish he could talk because then I would know when I need to take him outside or if he's hungry or thirsty. He's had liquid stool for the past two days and he keeps doing it in his crate. I took him outside about every hour yesterday and he went potty every time. He keeps whining and I think it's because his little tummy is upset. He cuddled with me a lot yesterday, he would just lay next to me while I rubbed his tummy and ears. Everytime I moved my hand away he would back up into my chest until I started rubbing him again. Poor little guy. Holly is very happy because Champ doesn't have enough energy to steal her bone or rope, so she was prancing around all day yesterday with toys that he wouldn't touch. Hopefully he starts feeling better soon. That's about all that has happened over the last couple of weeks. Oh yeah, Tom loves his new job! He has been spending time in the mill getting to know the people, how things work, and all the processes that go into this side of the business. He spends the rest of the time in the office trying to figure out his job. He had to learn a whole new computer system, but he is quick with that type of stuff, so he should have it figured out in no time. He said it's a lot quieter in the office, the phone doesn't ring as much as it did in Salt Lake. He is having fun with the challenges that are handed to him now. He trys to tell me about them, but most of them involve math and as most of you know that's definitely not my strong point. Tom comes home every day and says, "I love my job!" which is great for us! I think he likes seeing what his abilities are, and he feeds off of fixing problems or finding new ways to do things.

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(Dana...Alex...Tom)

On another note, we went to Apple Cup last weekend in Pullman, WA. Apple Cup is the rivalry game between University of Washington and Washington State University. Tom went to UofW, so we drove down Friday night to support the team. Unfortunately the team is horrible, they haven't won a game all year. But WSU is even worse. They won one game this year, but it was against a high school team. (Not literally, I'm just repeating Tom) :)

UofW was actually favored to win, but it didn't happen. The game went into overtime which it shouldn't have. We were up throughout the entire game and then there were a couple of times where the clock wasn't running when it should have been which left about 1 1/2 minutes for WSU to score a field goal which tied the game. We ended up missing a few field goals and they got one, so the score was 13 to 16 and WSU won. It was a sad ending, but we still had a good time.

(Me...Lynaya)

(Tyson...Brad...Seth...Shawn)