The 'Big Move'

Ah, the joys of moving across the country. In town moves are infinitely easier. Since I know you are dying to hear all about how the move went, here it is:

We started packing quite a while ago, but didn't start loading the truck up until graduation week:


We had the challenge of fitting all of our stuff into 12 linear feet of truck, and Brett & our friends accomplished it.


We are very grateful for all of the friends and family that came out in full force to help us get the truck loaded and the house cleaned.




Moose was not a very big fan of the whole situation, but he was a trooper and hung out in his carrier during the packing and the drive across the country.


We waved goodbye to the Iowa-80, the World's Largest Truck Stop, and a landmark that I drove by everyday on my way to work.


We stopped to rehydrate at what is probably the cutest little gas station ever.

This is the evil Subway that gave me a horrendous bout of food poisoning on our drive to San Diego in Summer of '07. Don't worry, we did not eat there, we just got gas there.

(Side Note: Does anyone else find it funny that all of these cars are silver?)

We waved goodbye to Mr. Terrible and his casino as we left the state. He was the first thing that greeted us when we arrived there nearly four years ago.


We hit Kansas City just in time for rush hour.

This is the most traffic that we had seen in some time.

Here is Brett's very serious traffic face:


And this is my not-so-serious traffic face:

On road trip day 2 this cow really wanted to say hello:


And most of Oklahoma and Texas was flat and boring like this:

On day 3 we woke up to snow in Albuquerque. Things started off okay, but then visibility got worse...


and worse...


It did make for some pretty scenery though....





The good news is that the snow cleared up relatively quickly, which is a good thing because nearly 400 miles at approximately 40 miles per hour is not the way we like to do a road trip.

Just for old times sake we had to go stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona.

Moose was pretty well pooped at this point.


Flagstaff was chilly but picturesque, with only mild flurries.




It was our last stop before arriving safely in the Phoenix area. I busied myself for the last leg of our journey by harassing Brett with my camera:


Look! It's both of us!


Uh-oh I know what this look means. This look says 'this crazy woman better stop taking pictures of me soon...'


Yeah, game over.

At This Point...

...Moose is pretty much fed up with the whole moving process. I think his look pretty much says "screw you guys, I'm going to hide out in my cat hut..."

The Art of Moving

Boxes...


Boxes...


...and more boxes!

Packing Boxes

Packing has begun at the Vowles house. Four years of accumulated nick-knacks, furniture, portable adjusting tables, etc. is all being loaded up for our cross-country move.


With packing comes the predictable disorganized mayhem, but I'm pretty sure this is unavoidable. Please note that this is not the usual standard of cleanliness for my home. Please don't judge me. ;)

We are pretty much out of boxes at this point. We tried so hard to save boxes for this occasion, but many of them were damaged in the great basement flood of '08 when most of Iowa was underwater. We are going to try to score more packing boxes from the school tomorrow so that packing can continue. Now, if only we actually knew where all of these boxes are eventually going to end up... More updates to follow on that front. :)

Our New House ♥

As promised (I told you I'd get to it eventually) here are the much anticipated pictures of our new place.

The Front of the House:


The Backyard:


Our Kitchen:





Our Living Room:







Our Beachy Bathroom:


Brett's Office:



Our Bedroom:


The Sunroom (Still kind of a work in progress):