Time of Remembrance

Today marks the day my mom would've been turning 71...I can't believe it. In her memory I've always had her favorite treat...a Snicker's bar. In her last days she couldn't eat or enjoy any food so she encouraged us to eat something "for her." I celebrate every birthday in her memory and remember her loving and infectious laugh. She was such a strong woman and I hope that even a tiny bit of her strength has passed on to me. I've memorialized her as much as I could and I tell my kids about a memory of something she taught me every moment I can...but I still miss her extremely. It doesn't ever feel like she's really gone, although my brain knows this my heart won't accept it. I always said it was more like her being on an exotic vacation where there are no phones and we can't communicate verbally. I feel her spirit everyday and hope she's looking down on me...proud of who I am and what I aspire to be.

Home

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while. It seems that we were a little caught up in the move to Chicago and settling in. I finally have a minute to sit down and give a little update. For those of you who Facebook, it may be old news to you. I need to be more consistent (in all areas of my life) and make the time...period.

We decided to pack out ourself and do it all on our own because of how "particular" we both are about our things and how efficiently it gets packed. We spent a lot longer than planned packing and cleaning which put us on the road about 8 hours later than we anticipated...but on the road nonetheless. We passed thru Florida to Georgia then onto Tennessee. We had planned to stop in Nashville, TN for the night but as the night turned into early morning we settled for Chattanooga, TN instead.

The following day we awoke to the chilliest weather yet and had to let the trucks warm up while we ate breakfast...it was that cold. On the road we saw some very cool waterfall like formations that had frozen over and I multi-tasked and took a picture while driving. Come to find out Halana had the same idea in the Uhaul truck too.

On day two we started out in Tennessee, passed through Kentucky and then onto Indiana before we made it to our destination Illinois. We had printed out a mapquest of how to get to the house, but it failed us. Our second attempt was the GPS, it failed us. After being extremely frustrated and lost for 20 minutes we called our landlord to get us back on track. 25 minutes later we arrived at 9 p.m. at night and we were exhausted. We didn't even have the strength to get pillows and blankets out, we roughed in on the floor next to a heater vent.

So, yes...we moved from the Jacksonville, FL area to the Chicago, IL area in the dead of winter. The day we pulled in they cancelled school for -40 degree weather...what a welcome. It only took us a few days to get here driving our belongings, cars, selves and dogs. It was a long journey and we did not enjoy stopping for gas. As we got closer to the midwest the temperature got increasingly colder. Not just a gradual cold either, it was a biting cold when we stopped for gas the first time. It took my breath away and froze my nose hairs! It was a very long and tiring journey, but a journey anyhow.