I’ve been off of this blog for a very long time. There’s been a LOT of changes my way. For one, my husband got a new job… and the new job is in TEXAS. We packed up our family, a few belongings and our two dogs into our Saturn Vue and drove 2500 or so miles. That was not an easy task to say the least. Let me tell you, cross country travel with children and dogs is not for the faint of heart.
Getting rid of pretty much everything we own was… freeing. It is liberating to not be dependent on a bunch of material possessions. When we packed up the car and I saw that everything I owned fit inside or on top of our small SUV (and the whole back section was taken up by our furry family members!) it felt like something of a material baptism. I was washed clean for my new start. We set out on the road with the bare basics- food, clothes, toys, family and love. It really put things into perspective for me.
We made the drive over four days which is no easy feat with two kids under three. We didn’t get to make a lot of the fun detours along the way, and a large portion of the trip happened after dark when the kids were sleeping. So I missed a lot. But I have to say, I was awestruck at the beauty of this nation. The mountains of Oregon brought me peace on the stressful journey. The canyons of Arizona left me breathless. The never ending sky over Texas made me realize just how big this world is and made me feel tiny, but not insignificant. As much as it was a long, hard trip I am glad it is one that I made.
And unpacking when you don’t have anything is great! No boxes for kids to get into, no mes. I totally recommend it.
I have faced a few problems here. People in my area don’t seem “into” thrifting and the thrift shops have very few options and are actually priced similarly to new items. If you’ve read a lot of my writings you know I am really big on buying used for a variety of reasons, but I’ll leave it as “moral reasons” for now. It’s really hard to replace all the things we gave away/ sold/ donated in WA that we really need (like a vacuum for one) when we can’t find it. I am going to try a few more leads and then decide how to proceed.
I miss my home state greatly and I can not even describe how much I miss the people there. But it’s really exciting to think of a chance to start over after everything we’ve been through. I don’t know that Texas will be our home forever, or even for a long time, but it is for now and I am trying my hardest to embrace that. We’ve all been sick since we got here, but as soon as we’re well the kids and I will be checking out some playgroups in the area and we’ll all be checking out a new church on Sunday. I tried yesterday, but I got lost. So hopefully we’ll meet people there as well. I am ready to get out there and try to get to know the area.
Hopefully now that we are more settled, I will be blogging again. Hope everyone is well!
three letters: GPS. A complete life saver for me moving to a totally new area. And maybe check out the Just Between Friends website… its a children’s consignment sale… pretty sure they’d have one in the DFW greater area. Usually happens twice a year in most areas. Good luck finding a church you like & such. Just breathe, enjoy your kiddos, and if you need to, let yourself cry over the people you miss… it helps.
Try Freecycle.org maybe people there are using that more.
We have GPS enabled phones and that helps. Everything looks the same here, so it is almost necessary. My problem finding church was a silly one, I just wrote down directions wrong in a rush out the door and didn’t have the address just my bad directions.
I will look into Just Between Friends, thanks 🙂
Freecycle here isn’t much compared to Tacoma. I think it’s just that it’s a more consumer driven area than the NW. People must hold on to their stuff or maybe (I hope not) throw it out.
Oh and I’ve cried my fair share, Rosie. Trying not to in front of the kids. Keagan hates to see me cry.