I'm ready now

How I felt yesterday at this time and how I feel at this time today are two totally different things. Yesterday I was still super stressed about the apartment and the cleaning involved and getting the last of everything out. Today I am excited to get going on our grand adventure. So excited to the point where I did a lot of goodbyes today and only cried once.

I started the day with having coffee with Alexis, who is just as excited to be starting her own adventure on Thursday. She is also leaving Spokane and heading to Cali to move back with her family and stretch her career chops in the Valley. But Alexis will be joining us at some point in Europe for a quick tour of Spain and wherever else we decide to go, so we got to talk about that and get all excited for that.

Then I went and did the apartment walk-through and let me tell you, if I had known the walk-through was going to be that easy, I wouldn't have worked so hard cleaning the place. She literally glanced around and said everything was good. And I think the golden moment was when I mentioned I had swapped out the burner trays on the stove. Also I canceled Avista and closed my account and got a "utility letter of credit" for my next utility company. I had no idea that was thing, but apparently it is and "it's important!"

After that it was time for my last Slickrock burrito. Slickrock has become an integral part of my South Hill living and I have no idea what I'm going to do with not only awesome burritos but the company of "Slickrock Jeff" (I know too many Jeffs) while we each work away at our own tasks. I have been going to Slickrock on a weekly basis for many years now and since I started working and schooling from home, bumped it up to twice a week and I'm usually there all afternoon just working away while Jeff works away at burrito tasks, and gossiping about life and the universe. I knew this was going to be a big "Goodbye Spokane" moment and it was. I cried. A lot.

I spent the evening hanging out with Thomas and Morah drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers, chatting about everything under the sun since I don't see Thomas and Morah that often but they are definitely close friends and I couldn't leave town without seeing them one last time.

So now I'm ready. So ready to the point that all the last minute crap in the back of my car from cleaning the apartment in the back seat of the car still could all be chucked in the trash and I wouldn't care because it would mean there was room for the suitcases. So ready that I want to fast forward time.

Sidenote: in true "that's how the world works" fashion, Jeff has a major deadline for work this week and I'm starting a new project the day before we get on the plane...so nice non-stressful times on that front :]

Bowling farewell

Saturday night we did our last bowling tournament with all of our bowling buddies. It was one of the milestones that I knew I was going to cry and be sad about. And after a round of tequila shots dedicated to me and Jeff having an amazing time, I did just that. I also lost very badly at darts.

But Richelle said an amazing thing to me as we were all leaving. I had started to really cry (Larry hugs will do that to a person) and Richelle said "Heather, you're going to have so much fun and when you come back and you'll have all these great stories and memories and we'll all still be here." Now her saying these specific words is nothing new because a ton of people have said them to me, but in that moment when I was so sad to be leaving our friends that we'd seen every week for two years now she was making me remember the awesomeness that will happen. It was great way to end the evening and I am completely grateful that she said it.

Apartment = clean

So I spent six hours cleaning the apartment today for our walk-through. And here are few things I learned:

• the top 40 radio station really does play the same 20 songs every hour
• there is a special level of hell for the man who created bumpy linoleum
• a man had to have created said bumpy linoleum because no woman would be that impractical
• buying a tube of clorox wipes makes things go a whole lot faster
• I prefer getting down on my hands and knees to wash a floor Cinderella style rather than using a mop

I'm not going to lie. It was an exhausting task, both physically and emotionally and I'm glad it's over.

I'm an Emotional Wreck

I've hit the point where everything makes me cry. I'm an emotional wreck. At any moment this is what I'm feeling:

• Stress - getting everything done while still working and doing the last week of the school term (I literally took my final today in the middle of our crazy apartment. This is the biggest one at the moment.
• Sadness - things are changing. People who I see on a regular basis are no longer going to be in my life on that level. It will be a lot harder to just pick up the phone/drive across town to see family.
• Loved - everyone wants to spend time with us before we go and there just isn't enough time to properly say goodbye.
• Freak out - we are headed into a serious unknown, with no support system other than each other. This is especially scary for me because my family has always been a 20 minute drive away.
• Excitement - we are going to see and do so much stuff that we would never otherwise see or do. At this moment in time, this the smallest emotion being felt right now, but I know in 3 weeks it'll be the biggest one

Jeff is at the point where he's not even that phased anymore when I walk in a room and burst into tears. He's being awesome and holding my hand until it passes, but I have a feeling he's going to be doing it a lot in the coming weeks.

The Story of Packing While Not Packing at the Same Time

So our road of packing has been interesting. Most people when they move pack up everything, room to room. It takes awhile, but it's methodical. We, on the other hand, like to live a little bit more dangerously. This is the list of piles our stuff was being divided into:

• stuff to take with us (mostly consisting of clothes, jackets, shoes, and electronic devices)
• stuff to store (our bedroom furniture, sentimental stuff, the little bookshelf (only little relative to the big bookshelf and in fact quite a large piece of furniture in its own right), all of my books!)
• stuff my mom is "storing" for us while we're gone (cookbooks, leftover booze)
• stuff Jeff's dad is "storing" for us while we're gone (the tv, the PS3, the piano keyboard, Jeff's hot sauce collection)
• stuff Kenny and Andrea are using (basically our entire kitchen except a few choice items, the couch, the desk, the big bookshelf, all of our food)
• stuff going to Sue's house (the bed)

This division of things led to pure chaos. Packing up the books and sentimental stuff was easy, but after that it became a pure shit show. Our apartment looked like a bomb went off in it for a solid three weeks. The main thing that was slowing us down was that Kenny and Andrea weren't moving into their new place until the Monday after we got back from Oregon, so the big stuff couldn't be moved until then. 

But to get the show on the road, and because we knew that trying to do everything after we got back from Oregon was insane, the weekend before Oregon we rented a UHaul and did most of our moving then. Good wrench in the plan: that was the weekend of the first of three windstorms that went through Spokane in the past few weeks, so on the second day we couldn't get into the storage unit due to a large chunk of the Wandermere area and north of it being without power, and had to put a bunch of stuff in Ken and Julie's garage for a few days). This left us with an apartment that had just a bed, tv, desk (still doing school stuff), kitchen stuff, random, and clothes. 

Then on Monday, I spent the day helping Kenny and Andrea move into their new place, and took a car loaded down with stuff for them. So now our apartment only had a bed, tv, desk, random, and clothes. 

So yesterday morning I woke up with a plan. There was still all this stuff laying around and I needed a system. So I moved everything into the middle of the living room and put post-its on the wall 3 feet apart, each labeled differently: trash, Goodwill, Mom, Ken, Store, Kenny/Andrea. And slowly but surely I made piles and was able to go through the rest of the stuff methodically and quickly. So now there are piles to distributed.

Today Jeff and I "move out" of our apartment and "move in" with Nani and Poppy for a week. I'm borrowing Ken's truck on Friday and coming back here and by the end of the day there will be nothing left in the apartment (that's my goal anyway). The piles will be dispersed. That'll give me two days to clean for our walk through on Monday.

Seven days.

Oregon Coast

Prepare yourself and get a cookie: this post should be about four different post but since we leave in 8 days, it's one big jumble.

So in true "we're moving far far away and instead of packing, we'll go on a vaca" fashion that my family is known for (we went to Disneyland the day before the movers came to pick up our stuff from CA to WA - and we weren't ready at all), Jeff and I spent last week in Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast with Jeff's family.

In preparation for the trip, Andrea and I went out on a girls day on Saturday and went and got all the food at Costco and Fred Meyer and then packed it all in our car, since it was the one without any kids in it. I had a very stressful two days trying to keep everything cold because instead of picking out the brand new 5-day cooler from the pile of coolers in Ken's garage, we picked up the old ratty one which we didn't even bring back but threw away in Lincoln City.

Jeff and I headed down to Portland on Sunday and stayed the night just across the river in Vancouver. Funny story about Portland: we have accidentally started a tradition that Jeff gets a new pair of flip flops every time we go. Last time we went to Portland for our honeymoon, Jeff left them at the wedding venue so we didnt have them; and this time Jeff blew out one as we were loading the car. So accidental tradition started :]

When we got to Vancouver, I was pulling out my computer to do the one computer related thing I needed to do the entire week, only to discover I left my computer cord at home. This sent me into total panic. “What am I going to do with myself?!?!” panic.

In the midst of this panic, my brain kept saying to me “Dude, you have no obligations this week. You took the week off from work, you prepared and are far enough ahead in school work that you don’t absolutely need your computer until you get back, and one of your goals of this week was to be as unplugged as possible. Relax!” But even with this logic ringing in my ears I couldn’t stop the feeling of dread coming over me. Disregarding the fact that Jeff still had his computer and I still had my phone, the fact that I didn’t have my computer ready and available 24/7 was like someone had chopped off my foot. 

This made me feel totally pathetic. I in no way need it. I literally only brought for a “just in case,” yet it’s apparently become so integrated into who I am that being without it even for a week of vaca time is making me freak out. So I spent the week in total unplugged mode (helped along by the lack of wifi at the beach house), which ended being an awesome experience and I'm now looking forward to being as unplugged as possible when we go on our adventure. 

On Monday Jeff and I putzed around Portland for a few hours, getting delicious Pearl District sushi and going into what I've decided is my most favorite store ever, West Elm. I bought a "train blanket," which is the perfect size and not too bulky to keep in my carryon for when I inevitably get cold (and no, they didnt have Orange in the store so I didn't even know that was a thing and got Slate instead, which I actually think will hold up better for its purpose). Then we got in the car and drove the two more hours to Lincoln City. 

My shrimp tempura sushi and our favorite Salmon and Scallop roll from this place (theres a full scallop in each piece!)

You can't really tell in this picture, but this sushi is ON FIRE. Also, Jeff couldn't decide if he liked warm sushi or not after. I thought it was amazing.

The beach house that I rented was perfect. When I was looking I specifically wanted one with four bedrooms because Jeff and I are on the bottom of the adult-bed-totem-pole and I really didnt want to sleep in a pullout in the living room. So I found this place and it was a great place for all of us to hang out and still have our own space. But the best part of the place hands down was the table. We all could sit down and eat together which is something we've never done before because Ken and Julie's house can't accommodate that many people in one room. Jeff and I took the room on the main floor with the handicap bathroom and it reinforced my love for huge walk-in showers. Ken and Julie had the loft all to themselves; and Craig and Jess and Kenny and Andrea and the six kids took over the basement.

The beach was only a block away and we took many walks along edge of the water, playing the classic "can you run faster than the water?" game with the kids. It was Oregon, so it was foggy and and only about 64 degrees the entire time we were there, but we did manage to get in one epic sand castle, complete with stomping on it at the end like we were giants.

One day we all piled in the car and drove down to Newport to the aquarium (famous for being the home of Free Willy for a long time).  It's not a very big aquarium so we were able to explore at our own pace while still staying in a group.

Jeff and Ken checking out some jelly fish (and even though you can't see Jeff's face in this picture, he's making the same exact face as Ken. I guarantee it.

Me and Noah touching some things while Kenny makes sure Noah doesn't face plant into the pool (because if anyone would do that, it would be Noah)

Then Jeff and I had to pretend to be crabs (btw, that is a life-size painting of a Japanese spider crab, which there was a tank of "juvenile" ones just to the right of the painting)

Jeff's technique: focus on the pinchers

My technique: focus on the wingspan (the sign said 12 feet!)

Us surrounded by sharks!

The rest of the week was spent relaxing, reading, playing games, and spending time with each other. It was an excellent way for all of us to get together before Jeff and I head off on our grand adventure.

Oh and of course on the way home, we had to stop at Tillamook.

Let there be Storage!

As we were driving home from Seattle on Monday, it all started to hit us. We still don't have everything packed. We don't have any luggage. We don't have a storage unit. We don't have a place to land when we get to London. Our social calendar is quickly filling up and we're now feeling like we don't have time to do any of this stuff. Let freak out commence.

Being efficient people that we are, we did the only thing we could do from the car. We called about a storage unit. We knew which storage place we wanted to use and had already talked to them a couple of weeks ago. At that time they didn't have any 10x10 units available, so we left without doing anything. So while driving we decided to just call and get our name on their list. But when I called they said they had a 10x10 unit available but since it was the last one, they couldn't reserve it for us. At the time he told me this we were in Moses Lake and the storage place closed in 3 hours. So I told him we would be there as soon as possible and told Jeff to drive faster.

This was not what Jeff wanted to hear. He wanted to be home on the couch and not driving all the way up to the northside of town after we got home. But we did it anyway.

So we get to the storage place and take a look at the 10x10 and both look at each other and say "wow, a 10x10 is much smaller than we thought." So we looked at a 10x15, which was a better size, and we took that one. We also asked them if they had an pallets because Kenny and Andrea, who managed Auntie Denise's storage place for six years, told us the best way to protect our stuff was to put everything on pallets. They said they actually had a couple that someone had left behind and if we wanted them, they were ours. So the guy went and got them out of another unit and one of them was completely busted and no good, but the other one is super nice. So nice that instead of going and acquiring (either legally or illegally) more pallets, I decided I could just build them. Because I've got the skillz.

So the good news: we have a place to store our crap.
Bad news: I now have to find time to build pallets, which will most likely happen next week because the boxes in our apartments that are full of stuff are in the walkways and Jeff might throw one out the window because it's in the way.