Story Time...

We are here.. woo hoo! Today marks 2 weeks since we moved from IL..

So, we had our move planned with Atlas Moving Co. to show up on Friday, Dec. 21st to finish packing (we packed everything except for the kitchen, frames, mirrors, art etc.) and then load and move us out. However, there was a glitch in that plan...

The guys showed up at 9am to begin packing which was great.. Bob, the manager of the local branch came by too to insure everything was going as planned. All was great until the guys finished at noon and there was no driver or truck to load our stuff onto. Oops...
Turns out the guy was late because he had been given some misinformation from his boss in N.C. and then when he got here he did not have cash to pay Bob's guys who were gonna load the truck.

It was kinda crazy.. who comes that unprepared.. anyway.. he was asking me for the nearest Pilot where he could get some cash (what is wrong with an ATM at the gas station up the street is what I was thinking) so I called Kenny at work to help me since our computer was packed up and I threw out the phone book. We found out that the nearest Pilot was 45 min. away (one way) and while I was getting more information for him he just left... yes.. he just got in the truck and left. This happened mind you while I was inside talking to Kenny trying to help this guy out..

At this point it is 2:30pm and I am standing around with the 2 packer/loader guys whom at this point I have become kinda chummy with. I decide to call Bob and see what is up and he tells me that he is on it and to hang tight... so then Bob calls back like 40 min. later and tells me that the driver was in the wrong to just leave (duh) and that the problem had gone all the way up to the VP level at Atlas. He said that they would buy our dinner for the night and pay for us to stay in a hotel since all of our stuff was packed but there was no truck to load it on. The driver came back at around 4pm and had money for the guys who were still waiting at our house.. turns out they were due some cash even though they did not do any work for the driver yet. One guy even helped himself to a beer in our fridge (I guess "chummy" has now been elevated).
At this point it was too late to begin loading the truck and the driver felt pretty bad about everything so we all agreed to start fresh the next morning at 8am.

Soooo... Kenny and I left to go visit Checkered Moon so that I could say goodbye to Sharon & Kerry and exchange Christmas presents. It was sad to say goodbye and of course I cried.. they are so awesome and I loved working there. After that we decided to get dinner... now where to go... last dinner in Champaign.. we chose Radio Maria and it was super yummy.. as always. We even tried a couple of new wines and afterwards we went to Jim Gould to have a glass of Moscato and dessert. It turned out to be a great date night and nice way to end our last night in Champaign. Afterwards we went home to load up the dogs, grab some clothes and drove to La Quinta (too tired to drive to the Hilton). We sneaked the dogs in and it ended up being bad karma because Dolby barked most of the night which combined with the horrible bed turned out to be an awful nights rest.

The next morning we stop by Panera for breakfast to go and then arrive home to find the driver and truck there.. woo hoo! However, 8am passes and then 9am and then 10am.. Bob comes over because the packer/loaders didn't show up as promised and now we have opposite problem from day before... we have a driver and truck but no one to help load it. So Bob starts calling people again and we have 2 guys by 12:30pm.... needless to say quite a bit later start than what we were planning for. They finished around 5pm (dark outside) and we hand out tips and some stuff that was left in our fridge/freezer and prepare for heading out. We had been working hard all day cleaning the empty rooms by vacuuming and steam cleaning carpets and deep cleaning bathrooms etc. We also had the Xterra packed up so we really just had to do a final walk through in the house and load up the dogs.

Now we are off... exhausted but decided to make it to Indiana for the night. We arrive and find a hotel that will take dogs and then go eat at Texas Roadhouse.. it was our reward for the stressful day. We start early the next day and drive through Ohio, West Virginia and then stop in Virginia to stay at Kenny's parent's house until the driver is ready to deliver our stuff in Raleigh.
Kenny's parents were in Mississippi for Christmas but opened their house for us to stay in. Greta, Kenny's grandmother was there so we got to spend some quality time with her which was really nice. We also went to the mall with the crazy last minute shoppers (just for fun) and found a sushi restaurant that was yummy. We also had a pre-built fire from Ken waiting for us which was so great to light on Christmas morning.

Kenny called the driver on Christmas (he was suppose to call us) to see when he was gonna deliver our stuff and he said he would meet us at our new place the next day at noon. So.. on the road again.. we left Virginia early so we would be in Raleigh by 11am to insure we had plenty of time to review and sign our lease and acquire our new keys. That took about 20 min. so we just stood around and waited for the driver.. who, wait for it... was late.. 2 hours late.. When he showed up he had a couple of guys with him who started unloading the truck. 5 hours later they finished and we were so relieved to have our stuff and be done with that part of the experience. (even though there are alot of damages that I will have to claim w/Atlas).

The next 5 days we just unpacked, broke down boxes, bought stuff, decorated and started to "nest".

I gotta say though... even though it has been crazy... we both agree that we LOVE it here! It is really pretty.. lots of green trees, hills, and there is a ton of shopping and things to do. We also dig our new place and it seems the doggies like it too.

Photos of our adventure:
Ohio- Columbus I think
I had a thing for taking photos of bridges.. unfortunately most of them came out blurry.
Gold top building.. not sure where this was.
West VA
Forgot to mention I had a run in with a hammer while removing nails from our walls in IL- bruised nose and cut under my eye- ouchie.
I also forgot to mention that our stuff filled up this one truck.. we have 10,000 lbs. of stuff.
floor to ceiling of this stuff...
We could not find our flatware so we ate with this big utensil for a day- took turns.
Dolby was not sure what to think.
Disco seemed pretty happy.