Moving across country has meant trying to downsize as much as possible. We set a lofty goal of thinning out two houses worth of stuff into what would fit in a small U-haul truck. The answer to our downsizing problem, Craigslist. Ben was able to sell 2 bikes, 7 power tools, 2 cars, a sailboat and an entire garage full of stuff in a couple weeks. In another life, Ben would have definitely excelled as used car salesman. I guess technically he is a used car salesman in this life as well.
After many hard goodbyes with co-workers and friends, we headed east to St. Louis and Sparta for a few days. Ben was able to spend 3 days in St. Louis working on the house and visiting with friends and family while Kelly tried to spend as much time with her new niece and nephew as possible.
Our departure weekend worked out well scheduling wise. Kelly was able to attend the SIU women’s golf fundraiser, her Dad’s softball tournament in Steelville and celebrate her bday on Sunday. Because our birthdays are just a couple weeks apart, Ben and I had our family b-day parties together. Ben had a friend paint portraits of Dexter and Mosley for Kelly’s present. They turned out fabulous and will forever be treasured.
We hung out with the family for another day and packed up the truck.
It was an emotional day for everybody. While Kelly has been gone from Sparta for eight years, this was going to be the hardest it has ever been to leave. Obviously we are moving much farther away from Sparta, but in reality we will probably get back to the area almost as much as we have in the past. It is just the fact that we can’t get to the family nor can they get to us in a moments notice, or at least a few hours notice. It is hard to leave the family behind, but moving to Washington, D.C. is something we have always wanted to do and experience. Regret is a scary word for the both of us and we know if we passed on the opportunity to move to D.C. we would definitely regret it down the road. As we pulled away from the house, we knew our lives were going to change, but we promised to make the extra effort to stay in contact with them and be a presence in each of their lives as best we could. Hopefully, this blog will help everyone who reads it feel like they are getting a glimpse into our daily lives. Also, it should help us remember whatever we end up doing.
It was an emotional day for everybody. While Kelly has been gone from Sparta for eight years, this was going to be the hardest it has ever been to leave. Obviously we are moving much farther away from Sparta, but in reality we will probably get back to the area almost as much as we have in the past. It is just the fact that we can’t get to the family nor can they get to us in a moments notice, or at least a few hours notice. It is hard to leave the family behind, but moving to Washington, D.C. is something we have always wanted to do and experience. Regret is a scary word for the both of us and we know if we passed on the opportunity to move to D.C. we would definitely regret it down the road. As we pulled away from the house, we knew our lives were going to change, but we promised to make the extra effort to stay in contact with them and be a presence in each of their lives as best we could. Hopefully, this blog will help everyone who reads it feel like they are getting a glimpse into our daily lives. Also, it should help us remember whatever we end up doing.
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