Monday, August 6, 2012

North Dakota - we have arrived!

I know I've been MIA but with good reason - WE'VE MOVED!!!  Our wish to move to North Dakota has happened and two weeks ago we completed the move with me joining Matt in our new home.  I'm so excited to start this new chapter in our life. 

It has been like an avalanche that swept us away from the initial phone call asking Matt if he'd be interested in applying for a position to our trek across 6 states.  It took about 5 weeks before Matt was able to come back and help me move all our belongings but we did it and I'm in the final stretch of unpacking. 

Matt way overestimated how much room was in the moving van (26 footer) and didn't take my suggestion of using the bookcases to store things like the canning jars inside of.  Ultimately it ended up forcing me to leave things behind that I really wanted to take but couldn't fit in.  Matt also wasn't able to bring things from the garage that he wanted.  Unfortunately 2 of the big items that had to be left were the snow blower and the BBQ grill.  I had problems finishing with the packing due to the unbearable heat - it was just to hot in the house to do anything physical the last 2 weeks.  We only had a working air conditioner in the bedroom.

The trip took us 27 hours.  We tried to get off at 3 exits to find a hotel but there were no vacancies so we were forced to take power naps at rest areas along the way.  I had the pet mobile with both cats in the dog crate in the back of my Jeep, the border collies on the back seat and Oreo was in the front with me.  All the furkids made the trip without problems, even the cats.  They've all settled into their new home and love it.  The cats are loving the bigger place and love running from one end to the other chasing each other.  They also love the fact there are windows we can open that they can lay in.  The dogs are loving being able to take walks again.  The all seem so much more relaxed and I know there's a variety of reasons for that but it's so nice to see them happy again. 

Unfortunately I have not found work yet but I'm actively looking.  In some ways I think it's been the best thing for the furkids for me to be home for a while before I start working to help them ease into the new place and see familiar things get set back up.  It's probably good for me to have time off before the next phase but I'm ready to get back to working not to mention we need my income.

Due to the lack of space I was forced to leave my all the food I still had in the cupboards.  I'd planned on that helping get us through and now don't have it so the cupboards are almost empty here and we're on an extremely tight budget.  Fortunately I was able to get all the spices packed so I don't have to replace all those as well. 

Sunday:  (Actual)
Breakfast: English Muffin Bread (homemade)
Lunch - Dairy Queen had double cheeseburger combos on special so we paid less then $9 for lunch.
Supper - Spaghetti - we only used a 1/2 pound of burger in the sauce to stretch the burger.  I used the other half a couple days ago when I made Beefaroni.

Monday:
Breakfast: English Muffin Bread
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches, Frito's
Dinner: Chicken fried rice - using chicken from a chicken leg quarter leftover from yesterday.

One of the great things with our our new home is all the counter space.  I'm finally able to use my bread mixer and leave it on the counter for frequent use.  I made pizza dough in it earlier last week and then made 2 loafs of English Muffin bread last night.  I'll be making some bread for sandwiches in the next day or two.

No comments:

Post a Comment