Welcome to Vermont!

It's been a busy week! Amazing how I've really just begun this blog and already I'm so attached to it & sharing with you all that I was going through blog withdrawls before we got internet installed! lol But it's in now & we're settling in, so now I can back up a bit & fill you all in with our adventures.

We left Kansas for the final trip on Wednesday afternoon. It took a lot longer than we expected to load up the trailer of tools & building materials & last bit of things we needed to bring, so that meant a later time to leave, a lot more stress for me in particular, & missing out on saying official goodbyes to some really good friends. Not at all the way we wanted to leave. But it's amazing how once we set out & got a good distance away, we really didn't look back. Not just Mathew & myself, but I really feel like all five of us can feel the stress fall off of our shoulders with the more distance between ourselves & that chapter of our life. Yes, we still have things to deal with there & it's not truly gone away, but it's no longer the center of our daily existence. Our family is. Can't complain about that! :)

So anyway, our trip up was looooooong but went just fine. We stopped for a couple hours in St. Louis to see a few family members for a quick hug, but other than that we drove straight through. For thirty three hours. Oh yes. Thirty three hours! It took that long because a) this trailer was smaller, but heavier, so it didn't really like going up mountains b) add three kids & a dog to the mix & you add a lot more stops! and c) the middle of Vermont is pretty much completely impassable right now thanks to our friend Irene, so we had to take a roundabout way. BUT, we got here all in one piece and the kids didn't kill each other on the drive up, so I'd consider that a success! lol ;) (With the exception of Mark puking all over the place at one point. Thank you motion sickness. But we'll just choose to forget about that part...)

Anyway, next came the ridiculous task of fitting a 3500 sq foot house's furniture into a 1000 sq foot rental house. Didn't really work. So some things will stay in storage until our house is done & that's ok. But still we need to figure out where to put all of our stuff! We have a lot of clothes! And sheets! And towels! And toys! And stuff!! And practically zero closet space. Looks like we're going to have to find a Bed Bath & Beyond or something somewhere in VT to get organized. But in the mean time I think we're doing pretty well getting settled in & unpacked.

I can't tell you how excited we are to have the little things back in our life that we used to take for granted. First, we were so happy just to have our own beds back. We haven't slept in our own beds since December. And with Matt's back injuries that was such a blessing to have back. And the kids were certainly happy to have their own space again instead of sharing a hotel bed that's for sure! ;) I was super excited to have a washer & dryer again. When you're used to having that in your own house for forever, it's so hard to rely on going to friends houses or laundromats to wash your clothes. It's so nice to have that back! And a kitchen... oh my god it has just killed me for the last several months to not be able to cook anything for my family. And being on a restricted diet myself made it super difficult to eat out for every friggin' meal. (Not to mention how expensive that gets!). So to have a kitchen & my cooking utensils & food to prepare makes me SO very happy! (Now all we need is a kitchen table that fits in this house to eat at... ahh. Details. ;) lol). And now, as of today, we have TV complete with DVR and an internet connection! Things we haven't had since moving out of our house! We're super excited about that!! So if you haven't gathered, we are so happy to just have our life & some normalcy back. We can tackle anything life throws at us now that we have that.

Other than unpacking, we've been staying busy with taking advantage of the perfect weather God has given us since we got here. It's been a perfect 70 something degrees each day while cooling off to the 40's or 50's at night. And the leaves are starting to change too so being outside has been amazing. We've gone to the farmer's market on Friday & got a bunch of organic Vermont grown veggies, and we also got to go to a fun Fall Festival. The kids really enjoyed that: they got to play in a bouncy house & get face paint, & pet bunnies, & all kinds of fun stuff. We've gone for walks nearly every day & are just enjoying our time together as a family. Believe me, we're not naive to the fact that the beautiful weather will be short lived & the cold is going to hit. Soon. So we're taking advantage for now! lol (And hey, the cold & snow can be pretty too!)

Finally, to complete my update, I started my new job at Dartmouth- Hitchcock Memorial Hospital this Monday. I really think I'm going to love this place! :) I will be working in the Hematology/Oncology Special Care Unit (HSCU for short), and though I'm really nervous about caring for adults for the first time in my nearly 10 years of nursing, I am really looking forward to all I get to experience & learn! The campus is *beautiful* and absolutely everyone I've met so far has been super nice. This week & part of next week, along with the typical auditorium lectures about hospital policies & benefits & such, they have what they call an Experienced Nurse Orientation where they take us to a complete high tech simulation lab to practice scenarios & get familiar with equipment & hospital procedures on some of the most sophisticated mannequins I've ever seen! Super cool! Plus, New Hampshire is just as green & "crunchy" as Vermont, so it's right up my alley ;) lol. I'm really excited to start this new chapter!

Sorry that I had so much to share. Now that I am able, I'll try to update a little more often & not have so much to talk about! lol Hopefully I'll have more to show you on the progress of our house! (Matt's been working hard already cleaning up! :)) Talk to you all soon!