We made it!

Well, we're here in Tempe!  We've been here since June 5th, but I've hesitated to write until I had some more things to say besides "we made it"!  I don't have THAT much to say, but I figured I'd keep you up to date anyway :)

Our last several days in Boston were bittersweet...

*packing up all of our possessions into a smallish pack-rat crate in only 3 hours thanks to a lot of sacrificial, wonderful friends... sweet
*only fitting one half of our dining room table in said crate... bitter
*great friends the Reeds offering to take the other half when they move out... sweet
*"last meal" at Wild Willy's with great friends... sweet
*saying goodbye to friends who will be overseas next time we're back in Boston... bitter
*getting to spend a few hours with one of my closest friends, Amy, before we left... sweet
*not really spending much time with Amy 3 weeks before we moved because she was in Cambodia... bitter
*lots of friends coming up to Marblehead for a going away party my parents had... sweet
*spending a few days just hanging out with my family before we departed... sweet
*not feeling like we had much time to spend with family before we departed... bitter
*going out to dinner and bowling with a bunch of my nursing coworkers... sweet
*not being able to say goodbye to everyone at work... bitter

You get the idea.  Andy and I were so excited and ready to get going, but we also savored every last minute we had in the place we called home for the past 8 years.  Well, 8 for me and 6 for him.  (I have lived in Boston longer than any other city in my life!  Crazy.)

Here are some pictures (I have been bad about taking pictures, sorry!) from the last lunch we had with friends and some with family:

My aunt Sherrie, Victoria, Nanny, mom, and me on the beach at the Marblehead house.

Very cute picture of Amy and Andy.  Why didn't Amy and I get one together?!

Lisa, Luke, and me.

 

 June, Lily, and me

A few highlights from our roadtrip:
*our air conditioner broke (read: started blowing warm air not cold air) halfway thru New York

Annnd, that's about it.  Ok, just kidding.  But the a/c did break, and the first two legs of our trip, which were both 17 and 16 hours, respectively, were BRUTAL.  We were driving too fast to have the windows down, and although it was blowing warm air, it was better than nothing because it was to stuffy not to have moving air.  Oh man.  Bloomington to Ft. Worth was SO HOT.  I even got a little dizzy... while seated!  The great friends we stayed with in Ft. Worth have a mechanic friend, so we were blessed to have him fix our a/c, add oil, and add anti-freeze at a minimal cost, though.  So our drive into Arizona was much more enjoyable!


Roadtrip itinerary:
June 1st:  Marblehead, MA to Bloomington, IN
June 3rd:  Bloomington, IN to Ft. Worth, TX
June 5th:  Ft. Worth, TX to Tempe, AZ



It was great to spend time with my dad in Bloomington at my parents' cute little house there.  We ate at his favorite restaurant called The Farm, which I loved, and we explored Indiana University campus, which was great.  In Ft. Worth we drove to Lake Mineral Wells to spend some time with our friends Brendon and Sarah Joy, who are pregnant with their first baby.  We stayed at their house while they were on a little babymoon at a friends' ranch.  Thank you, guys!  Then we dove into Tempe Saturday evening, stopping at Sonic one more time for dinner before we pulled into the house :)


Since then we have been looking at a ton of rental homes, praying, eating, swimming, jogging (me), playing basketball (Andy), and hanging out.  We haven't found the right one yet but know it's out there and are hoping to nail something down in the next couple of days.  I also had my interview with Phoenix Children's Hospital and expect to hear back soon, too.  The interview went great, and I am hopeful.  I'll post again when we find our house!