Houshold Goods Gone

It is over....or at least the moving out of the house part of it is over. 

 

Next is the cleaning and prepping this house to hand over the keys part.

 

The sorting through the piles of "trailer stuff" to see what will really fit part.

 

The painting trim inside the trailer part.

 

The finding a bike solution part.

 

But for now....

 

We're just happy the moving household goods part is done. 

 

Our movers  are usually very appreciative of us - Michael used to drive for a moving company. I heard a couple of discussions and was told face to face how nice it was that the house was "so organized" and "so clean." They appreciated our signs and got a kick out of how prepared we were for them. One told me how kind my signs were, "Most don't say 'please' when talking to us." It always makes the work worthwhile. There was only piece of furniture that I didn't know what they would find when they  moved it....more on that later.

 

The ice water is greatly appreciated in this heat - and lunch goes a long way to making friends. LOL  Fetching ice, water, snacks and lunch also keeps me busy so I don't freak out about odd noises. Today, I took another load to Airmen's Attic.

 

As they become comfortable with us we hear the most amazing stories...like the man that told them, "If you get thirsty there is a hose on the side of the house," or the ones who refused to let them use the bathroom. We also heard of four families that decided to sign up for ONE military move....thinking no one would know there were actually four families moving. The military family was allowed 15,000 lbs and the move came in at 42,000 lbs. They were furious when they realized they had to pay $100 per pound over 15K. I'd say someone missed a briefing or two.

 

We haven't experienced many of the horror stories we hear about. These guys were equal to the famed Japanese movers...

 

Five dish packs out of the China Hutch. They were doing well until they realized they had to LOAD the China Hutch on to the truck. There was no way it was going to fit. Our rescue truck arrived and saved the day.  I was a bit alarmed at the clanging going on as they packed the china. Michael told them it was "high value," and it got instantly better.  We found evidence of past family fun behind the hutch....

Joel - I never got a photo of Dre

 

While they packed, we filled nail holes and removed wall decals.

 

The kids were happy to occupy themselves upstairs in the AC cooled rooms. 

 

 

We booked our first week's worth of campgrounds. I am ready to PLAY come 31 Aug, but Michael wisely shares our priority is to get settled in the trailer. This means we need to take things to the girls and storage to my parents. We'll put off playing another bit of time.  He's right - it will be a colossal pain to haul around so much stuff we plan to deliver at some point to OR. LOL

 

 

It's always sort of sad when movers leave. 



Kenny was an interesting character to talk with and kept the team moving well

 

We are settling into the minimalist lifestyle - few things but lots of space. LOL This is how we began our time at Beale. We were in the house a good two weeks before household goods arrived.

 

Michael fashioned a pan from the box so we could reheat pizza.

Life is good if you have Monopoly...

 

Look what they forgot to pack! We'll be the life of the campground. I envision inviting many camp hosts over for hot chocolate. ::snort::

We're done with the pack out a full day earlier than predicted.

Gherkins on the Move

Note to my OCD friends - while this isn't written in order of age, it is written in order of their moves. ::snort::

This is the summer of Gherkins on the Move....I thought I'd update a bit on the Gherkin movers.....seems appropriate as our house is currently filled with boxes and movers.

 Jamin (Gherkin 4)  established himself at Texas A&M at the Bush School of Government and Public Service. He's the vice president of a graduate student organization. He secured a job at Outback and then secured a couple of jobs which are geared more to his interests. He's tutoring history and political science majors - seems to be mostly athletes. He's also been offered the chance to oversee the energy sustainability program at A&M. I don't have numbers, but he saved quite a bit of pocket change for ASU with the program he instituted there. The difference is A&M is willing to give him a living salary for his efforts.  He's also finished a complete rewrite of a novel.  AND yes, he began classes yesterday and loves the classes to this point. I believe he is pursuing his second Masters in "International Affairs." He is looking to work in Foreign diplomacy and/or National Security.


Josiah (Gherkin 3) moved to the Seattle area. He's loving the change of weather and scenery which the state of Washington affords.

He does miss friends and brothers in Texas.

He's busy building a team of LEADERS (vs fast food servers), fielding questions and making a difference in the operation of a store with last month's 3rd largest sales in Chick Fil A. He's already seeing some low scores turn around. He's also had other operators call to chat with him about his leadership development system. We're proud of the steps he's taking.  We hope Chick Fil A will soon give him his own store - but nonetheless - he's learning good things and able to stretch in areas of leadership which excite him.

Arielle (Gherkin 6) moved to Oregon next. She's landed a job and a work study. She found a Japanese church she loves and she's conquering mountains.  Today is her first day of college classes at New Hope Christian College. She plans to major in Cross Cultural Ministry. The obstacles finally cleared and in God's perfect timing she and Krista (Gherkin 2) were able to move into a HOUSE to make a home. They've been busy settling in since the retirement - while we've been busy pulling up roots. ::Snort::

Arielle and Krista

Krista (Gherkin 2) deserves a post of her own, which I will write shortly. However, she's been accepted into a masters program at George Fox and will begin working towards a Masters in Education in January. She continues to work as a one on one aide in the Springfield school district and as a Children's Pastor at Lively Stone Fellowship.

Lindsay, Krista and Arielle

Meanwhile, Jared (Gherkin 5) has landed in D.C.  He's conquering the phone lines in Congressman Conaway's office and learning the ropes of his new position. ASU has given him permission to finish his last classes online and independently with a professor. This means he will not have to move back to TX for a final semester of college. He hopes to be able to find a job in DC and stay. We plan to be back in San Angelo for his graduation in May.  He's making the most out of his college years.

Jared in D.C. - lucky dog

 He has already been able to meet up with Arielle's best friends. This photo makes me miss all the families involved.

Miss these gals moms dearly!

As this is a post on moving Gherkins, I'll add our "first day of school" photo again - Nolan (Gherkin 7), Alex (Gherkin 8) and Stacia (Gherkin 9) are gearing up for a season of full timing in the Caboose - lots of transition and moving in their future too.

Nolan, Alex, Stacia

And Gherkin #1 - BreAnne? She and Izaak are settled into their darling apartment and are busy conquering new ministry and jobs. They haven't physically moved this summer - they're our anchor "Gherkins." Izaak works at New Hope Christian College and Bre serves as the Children's Pastor at Calvary Open Bible Church. They are expecting their first baby in April 2016.

Izaak and Bre

Eight of the nine Gherkins are moving around this season. It's a great season full of fodder for prayers.