Weekend Recap: A whole lot of boxes

This year I celebrated Black Friday by dressing in black and mourning the fact that we would spend the foreseeable future unpacking. 

Don't get my wrong, I LOVE our new house and am so happy to be reunited with our belongings after their voyage from Alaska; I'm just not thrilled at the prospect of unpacking from now until forever. I've seen beautiful mountains and they are not made at cardboard. 

After lots of work this weekend, we are finally making a dent in the boxes. Not to be confused with the dents the movers made in the boxes and every piece of furniture we own. No really. Our stuff has never looked worse. I'm really perplexed as to how everything could be so damaged when they used 5 pieces of paper to each item. We're in for a long process of paperwork, but fingers crossed we should compensated for the damage. What's a huge gouge on a headboard run these days? 

I'll also be getting to go on a shopping trip since the only box that didn't make it was my shoes. Oh well. Some of my heels probably needed replacing anyways. 

Besides unpacking, we spent our weekend watching football. Our cable provider can't make it out until next week (which is mostly disheartening because of all the good holiday movies I'm missing) so we watched games at wing places near where we live.  I'm ok with not having anything buffalo flavored for a while. Friday night's game was terrible 1) because my team lost and 2) because Buffalo Wild Wings soft drink machine was down. We take Diet Coke very seriously in the Wells house. 

I'm hoping to be done unpacking tonight and then be able to focus on fun stuff like decorating over the next few days. We'll also make it a priority to repaint as the previous owners had a love for bold colors (looking at you lime green and brown dining room).

What Where They Thinking: Movers Edition

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm still trying to come to terms with the weather in Texas and 90% humidity and 80 degree temperatures aren't helping.

It was great to get to spend the holiday with family. And even better to get to eat my mom's cooking again. Hooray for family and good food.

I represented Alaska during my time in the kitchen with this cute apron my mom bought on a trip years ago. 

My favorite part of the day was probably when my grandma decided to go lay in my nephew's hammock. She's usually not one for adventure. It became even more funny when my nephew got in it with her. 

Nathanial and I headed back to our house (the one we bought in Texas, closed on earlier this week and I still haven't blogged about) to start going through the sea of boxes that the movers brought yesterday. This move is proving to be much worse than any other so I'm sure this will be the first of many posts  on the subject. 

There were several moments in the midst of unpacking where I wondered what the movers had been thinking. 

Here are a few:

- Moving policy said no liquids but they packed a scrubber brush FULL of dish soap. I'm glad there were 5 pounds of paper to absorb the blue Dawn that leaked everywhere. 

- They put a painted canvas (a one of a kind masterpiece might I add) paint side closest to the cardboard. With sharp objects in the box. 

- They packed the racks to our kitchen sink. The one that's still in our Anchorage house. 

- They packed paper napkins and a plate holder together. 

- They packed a beverage dispenser and Pyrex dish inside a laundry basket. This is especially impressive considering each of those items had been in a different room. 

This is only a few boxes in. There's no telling what else I'll find.

Tomorrow you can find me Black Friday shopping in boxes. Remembering the stuff I already had and figuring out where it goes. 

Embracing the Silence

This weekend I ran my fourth half marathon. Life right now feels like a continual state of running a marathon so I thought I might as well get a medal out of it. 

We started the weekend by attending the wedding of one of Nathanial's good friends. It was at a beautiful ranch so we got to spend a few days hanging out with guys from Nathanial's childhood and enjoying the outdoors. There was a lot of laughter and not much sleep. 

Once the bride and groom made their exit, we started our trek to Oklahoma. We drove through the night which involved lots of singing and Diet Coke. 

We got in a few hours of sleep and then headed off to the race. It was a brisk morning for the Oklahomans but I was in heaven with the cooler weather. 

I noticed before the race started that my music didn't seem to be playing correctly. I didn't give it much thought since the event was pumping in loud music at the start line.  But when the gun went off and I could only hear the background track, I knew I was in trouble. I found a position that the headphones seemed to work normally in but that was only if I didn't move which proved problematic while running. At one point I tried to forcefully keep the headphones in position but that resulted in the jack breaking off inside my phone and the rest of the headphones being in separate pieces.

Nathanial offered me a new set of headphones when he found me on the course around mile 2.5. He was even sweet when I said I needed his phone instead. I had just turned on the Pandora Spinning station when his phone jumped from 30 to 1% battery. I gave up and decided to embrace the silence. The route was beautiful and there were enough spectators to keep it interesting. The early miles flew by but around mile 9 it got brutal. That could have something to do with the fact that my legs decided they were done around that point too. I ran through my ever growing to do lists and did lots of praying and soul searching and finally the finish line appeared in view. 

I didn't have any goals for this race outside of finishing. I took some (a lot) of time off of running at the advice of the physical therapist I visited for leg and foot pain. I only started running again after moving back to Texas and most mornings didn't go much further than a mile.  Three weeks of one-milers and three hours of sleep and I still made it to the finish line. That's a big success to me even if it meant my worst time ever. 

The course had quite a few hills but it's absolutely a race I would do again. I had so much fun - silence and all.

Oh and the start line had confetti canons. It was everything I thought it would be. I need more confetti in my everyday life.

 

 

Changes

I started to write several times since my last post but got overwhelmed thinking about where to start. So much has happened in the last few weeks. We left Alaska and moved back to Texas where we've been staying with my incredible brother and sister-in-law who have graciously allowed us to live with them for a few weeks.

It still doesn't feel real. Probably because I only have 10 shirts to choose from (thanks hubby for giving me a hard time about packing) and because it's hard to find a routine when you're sharing a car and working remotely.

I'm still amazed at everything we have been able to accomplish in such a short timespan. It's been a whirlwind but I wouldn't trade it. I'll be the first to admit I wasn't thrilled about moving to Alaska. I had no idea what life there would look like. I also had no idea how much I could love a place until we found out we were moving and would have to leave Alaska. I am forever changed because of my time there. It was a more incredible experience than I could ever have imagined. In some ways I'm disappointed to be back from what seemed like the grand adventure of a lifetime (I'm looking at you humidity and traffic) but mostly I'm excited. Excited to see what this next chapter holds. I'm also excited about the Mexican food and family time. 

Fun and Not Fun

Fun.

Going to the season opener hockey game and screaming and cowbell-ing your heart out.

With my friend Monica. 

N was there too but he's doing this new thing where he won't smile for selfies. 

Fun.

Coming up with ways to avoid your million mile long to-do list.  Things like going to the movies, scheduling a last minute photo shoot, and binge watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix.

Not Fun.

Realizing that the movers come in two days.  And you'll be leaving the state in 5 days.

Fun. 

Trying new restaurants that never got crossed off the list.

 

Pretty decent chicken for a place that couldn't be further from the South.

Not Fun. 

Having to eat out constantly because showings at your house mean you can't go home.  Now if one of those people would just buy it!

Fun.  

Getting moose themed gifts from your sweet friends because they know how much you love moose.

Not Fun. 

Telling those same sweet friends goodbye.  Note to self: telling yourself you won't cry doesn't work very well.

Both Fun and Not Fun.  

A farewell lunch from your church family. The same one you've spent the last few holidays with. This time it was even complete with moose chili.

Rain aside, we couldn't have asked for a better last weekend in Anchorage. We are so blessed.

Big News

Cricket cricket.

I've struggled with writing a new blog post because so much has been going on. Where to even begin.

First, thanks for the prayers based on my last post. God worked in a big way. A tumor was found in my best friend's infant son but the most recent scans show they were able to get it all. Such a relief.

Nathanial and I found out last week we will be moving back to Texas SOON. As in, by this time next week my house will be completely empty, soon.

There's not much that's great about this expedited time frame, but on the plus side, it doesn't give me much time to linger in my feelings about it.  People keep asking how I'm doing, how I'm handling having so much going on, and the truth is I don't have a choice. The move is happening regardless so I can either be steamrolled by it or roll with the punches and try to whittle down our ever growing to do list.

We got very little sleep over the weekend - shout out to my friends with newborns, I'm more than happy to bring you coffee from now on - getting our house ready to list. It's been on the market since Monday and since Monday I've felt like I was living in a museum.  We've had several showings so fingers crossed, one of them wants to buy it. Until then, we'll continue having the most spotless house on the block and spend every night playing what's different here.  After Monday's showings, my couch and bed pillows were messed up.  Way to get into the house buying experience, mystery buyers.  Other showings left the shower curtain and doormats askew. One set of buyers didn't even manage to close the screen door. I said I didn't want anyone buying our house that couldn't figure out how to close a door, but N said he didn't care as long as they could pay.  True that.

We're also in the process of selling N's truck which means we'll get to buy a new house and a new car when we get to Houston.  Apparently our marriage motto is big changes in short time frames. We still like being around each so I guess it's working. :)

There are lots of other logistics either in the works or still to be determined. For now, I'm just really thankful for N, a God who I know has everything under control, awesome family and friends willing to help in whatever way possible and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

And because I need to take advantage of Alaskan things for this blog while I can, enjoy this scenery.

What Really Matters

I try to keep it light on here. It's more fun that way and I get less worried phone calls from my family. 

Yesterday I was planning on writing about clinging onto fall and the things I'm loving this season. Then my best friend called with hard news. The kind where you just want to curl up in a ball and cry. The kind of news that makes everything else seem so trivial. In those moments as I struggled to find the right words, I realized how few things that we place importance on really matter. 

I wanted so badly to be able to say something that would help, but I didn't know what to say. I wanted to be able to do something, anything, to make it hurt less for her. To make the situation better. There was nothing I could do but turn it over to God.

I don't know why hard things happen.

But I do know that whatever the circumstance, God is in control. My faith is a core part of me and how I live life.  Yesterday as I struggled to wrap my head around what was happening to my friend, I couldn't help but think of how even in those dark, and hard moments God is there.  I can't imagine going through life without the promise of that.  I'm thankful for an all sovereign God - one who is in control and has plans greater than I could ever imagine, but is also a God who comforts and provides peace, who knows how tough life can be and is there each step of the way.

And that's what really matters.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail."
 Lamentation 3:22