Moving To Minnesota

The highly anticipated moving day came all too quickly with the mounds of fun we'd been having in June! Eric got home from North Carolina on Saturday night and worked so hard to get all of the last minute things done at our house before the packers arrived bright and early Monday morning. By Tuesday everything had been loaded into the moving truck and I got home to help Eric clean our townhouse before our landlord checked everything out that night, then we were on the road to drive out to our new home in Minnesota on Tuesday morning Whew!

Brody had been such a trooper with all of the traveling and transition that had been going on, but we knew the 20 hour drive that was ahead would be hard for him. In came my mom to save the day, yet again. She offered to keep him while Eric and I drove out to Minnesota then fly him out to us and help us unpack and settle in for a few days. Seriously?! She is undoubtedly my hero and I truly do not know what I would have done without her during this whole process.

It felt really weird packing up the car and getting ready to go on Tuesday morning without Brody in tow, but we knew we were leaving him in good hands and that he would be so much happier playing and having his normal routine than driving for three days straight. Saying goodbye to my family was hard. Really, really hard. We hugged and tried to smile then I got in my car quickly before the tears started rolling down my cheeks. Driving down my parent's street where I had grown up and hooking onto I-80 up Parley's for the last time as a Utah resident (for now, at least...) seemed surreal. That is when the tears really started to flow. I cried all the way until we crossed the border into Wyoming. Eric sat next to me in silence, knowing that I needed to get it all out and being so sweet and kind to me.

That's when the real journey began. Eric got me laughing somehow, as he is always so good at doing, and I could feel the switch turn from mourning for what I was leaving to the excitement for the new journey we were beginning together. We had such a fun time driving together, talking about our future and all that was ahead of us, the whole time so grateful in our hearts for my mom and her sweet offer to watch Brody.

I LOVED Mount Rushmore! Definitely going back some day.

We made it to Minnesota by Friday morning and met the property management company for the new townhouse we'd be renting at our new place. When we walked into what would be our new home it was even better than I had remembered it being. After getting our new keys, the first item on the agenda was to buy a new mattress! Our moving truck wouldn't be arriving until the next Wednesday and we would be needing another bed for all of our (hopefully) many guests who will be coming to visit us to stay in (PLEASE COME!), so we found a great deal then decided to go out to dinner to celebrate!

I lost it at dinner when the table next to us was a huge family: brothers and sisters, parents, kids, nieces and nephews... and it hit me that I wouldn't be able to go out to dinner with my family whenever I wanted to anymore. I cried right then and there at the table in the middle of this busy restaurant and poor Eric just looked at me not knowing what to do. Luckily I married the right guy who always knows just the way to cheer me up and he had me feeling better in no time.

Eric left the next morning to visit Aurora in Atlanta, so I had the morning to myself to get some things done. The best part about Minneapolis is that it's the world headquarters for my absolute favorite store: Target!  There are Targets absolutely everywhere here. I spent most of my day there then rushed off to get my mom and Brody at the airport. I couldn't wait to see them both and can't describe how happy I was when they walked out of those airport doors.

My mom was amazing and helped me get some more things together in the few days before our moving truck arrived. We had no furniture and no internet, but we had the essentials: two camping chairs, a mattress and Brody's pack-n-play. We spent the next few days getting a few more things we'd be needing, sightseeing, building Ikea furniture and laughing together.

The truck arrived with all of our things and I really don't know what I would have done without my mom and all of her help. The boxes kept on coming and coming and my mom had to give me a pep talk to get me inside and see the sky-high piles that we would be unloading. She was supposed to fly out that afternoon, but as the time to leave for the airport got nearer and nearer she decided (thank heavens) to change her flight to two days later so she could help get everything unpacked. If anyone needs a professional unpacker/organizer, she is your woman! We worked side by side at unpacking box after box after box and in only two days it already started to feel like home. I will never be able to thank her enough for all that she did for us during that time.

Much too soon, it was time for her to leave, and I cried and cried and cried after dropping her off. I am so grateful for her. The only thing that made her leaving slightly easier was knowing that she'll be coming back in two months when our sweet baby girl is born!

Best. Grandma. Ever.