From There to Here

Here are some pictures of our apartment. Ours is the one you see in the top left corner of the building. In front is the pool.

Here's our front door! These pictures were taken by Mom and Dad when they came out to the area for a youth convention (before we moved there). They kindly checked out the apartment and took some pictures for us.

This is our front porch and shed, although it looks different now. Last week we went to Home Depot and got some green outdoor carpet to cover the cement. That way December can play on softer carpet. I think it looks great now! I'll have to take an updated picture for you.

This is the path we take to the carport (you can see Dad walking around in the carport area). Our apartment is the one on the top right.

Here's the view from our balcony.

Now for indoor pics! This picture was taken standing in December's room (you can see her closet on the left), looking through the whole apartment toward the front door/balcony.

This is Brad and I's room. There's the walk-in closet and the built-in vanity on the right.

Here's the living room and dining room, which is what you walk into when you enter the apartment.

This is the kitchen. Pretty retro, eh?! :) We got a new fridge, though, and a new stove is on order (it will NOT be this lovely avocado color, thank goodness).

We made it!

It was a looong drive over, and yet it all happened so fast! We left on Wednesday, August 22 at 4:20am, with Brad driving the U-Haul, towing our little car behind us on a 2-wheel trailer. Brad drove pretty much the entire way (I drove for a piddly 3 hours -- I think both of us were much more comfortable with Brad driving!) The first day we drove and did not stop until 1:00am Thursday morning, when we tried to catch a few hours' sleep at a rest stop. December was asleep until we stopped driving, whereupon she woke up and screamed to be let out of her car seat (understandably so). We took her out, but she didn't want to sleep on us, so she just started playing jungle gym in the cab of the U-Haul at 1:15am. Brad and I did NOT appreciate that (understandably so); all we wanted to do was rest for a little while! So after a sleepless hour or so at the rest stop, we decided to keep driving to make December fall asleep again. It worked like a charm! We pulled off at a truck stop down the highway more, and Brad quietly escaped the U-Haul to sleep in the back of our car. Thankfully, December mostly stayed asleep for the next three hours, and then we hit the road again.

On Thursday, I was convinced I had become narcoleptic. We'd drive along, and if there was a span of 3 or more minutes where Brad didn't talk to me, I would fall asleep, no matter what I was in the middle of doing. I'd get little naps of 30-90 seconds before December would chatter or Brad would say something, and I'd jolt awake. But if the U-Haul was quiet for another couple of minutes, I'd be snoozing away again. It was the strangest feeling!

We also had a run-in with a tornado. It was stormy all Wednesday, and no matter how far we drove, we just went into more storms. In Nebraska, we saw the sky turn dark once more and prepared ourselves for more heavy rain...but then we noticed the sky turning green. Brad and I both knew that was a sure sign of a tornado, so we flicked on the radio. The National Weather Service was sending out all kinds of tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings for our area, and we were driving straight for the worst area. We decided to take an exit torwards the north and try to go around the storms, but as we drove north, another announcement was made that where we were now heading was under a severe thunderstorm warning. At this point, it was soo windy and soo rainy that we knew we couldn't stay where we were. Brad pulled off the road and saw a house. He got out of the U-Haul and ran up to the house to see if we could go in and wait the storm out inside. He came back, soaked through all of his clothes. He told me to cover December with blankets and sprint for the house. The house was only maybe 100 yds away, but by the time we got in, we looked like we had just stood under a waterfall with all of our clothes on.

The people inside were very kind...and they had six indoor dogs, ranging in size from a black lab to a miniature chiauaua, which, of course, thrilled December. The lady of the house threw December's blankets in her dryer and gave us something to drink, while we watched the storm rage around the house. We stayed there for probably an hour before the storm had quieted enough for us to leave. By the time Brad got back the the U-Haul, the right side front and back tire were in about 6 inches of water. We were safe, though! We started driving down the highway again before I realized I left my wallet at these people's house. Ooops. Absent-minded Kristin strikes again. So we had to turn around and drive back to their house.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly, though. Las Vegas was entertaining to ride through, but it was very difficult for me to restrain Brad from his desire to drop by a casino and try out his new skills at Texas Hold'em (thanks to Matthew). We arrived at our apartment around 3 or 4 pm (Pacific time). We were very grateful to have a bed again, and we were very grateful that the Lord kept all three of us safe across so many miles.

Boy, this post is the longest one I've ever done, I think -- sorry, everyone; if you're still reading this, your eyes are probably about to fall out of your head. I still have more stories I want to tell you, but I guess I'll wait and tell you in other posts. Once we finish getting everything unpacked and set up, I'll take new pictures of the apartment so you can see what it looks like all finished!