Displaced (Of Our Own Accord)

While the world outside is transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas, Kyle and I are finding ourselves transients, waiting for some stability to come back into our lives. We haven't had a normal day since early November (or maybe even October), and we probably won't have another one until January. I'm writing this post from my mom's house in Winston-Salem, where I'm staying with our one year old son, while Kyle is at a hotel in Charleston, WV with our two cats.

Let me explain.

We first got the idea to move out of North Carolina in February, when we were lamenting not having family close enough by to watch Isaac when we needed to. Over the next six months, we debated moving to Fort Wayne, IN (where Kyle's brother lives), South Bend, IN (where my sister lives), Clarkston, MI (where Kyle's parents live), and Lapeer, MI (where Kyle's stepbrother lives). But one by one, they were all shot down for various reasons. Instead, we found ourselves drawn more and more to another city where, ironically, none of our family lives: Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But the more we thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. The craft breweries!  The hip restaurants! The culture! Activities for children! Top medical facilities! Basically, Durham, but without the high rent, and with better schools and a lot more snow.

So Grand Rapids it is.

However, moving across the country is not, as you would imagine, a walk in the park. Deciding what to keep and what to throw away, which movers (if any) to use, what to do with the cats and the baby (keep them?), and a host of other questions all had to be answered.

Here what has been going on recently:

• July - November: packing
• Monday, November 12: POD delivered to our house to start loading. Four days of solid rain put us a few days behind schedule. 
• Wednesday, November 21: Almost everything loaded (95% by Kyle while I kept the baby out of the way). Also, my last day at work.
• Thursday, November 22: To my mom's house for Thanksgiving
• Friday, November 23: Back to our house for more packing and cleaning
• Saturday, November 24: Packing & cleaning (thank you Jaimie & Chris for the help!)
• Sunday, November 25: Our last night at home, sleeping on a mattress on the floor with our remaining belongings in suitcases
• Monday, November 26: POD taken away to start its journey north. Kyle and Isaac and I go to my dad's house to say goodbye.
• Wednesday, November 28: Back to Durham for more cleaning. I take Isaac to stay at Jaimie's house for the night. Kyle stays in Durham to wrangle the cats. 
• Thursday, November 29: Kyle starts the journey to Michigan with two cats (a journey which demands a separate post).

The plan for the next week, Lord willing, is: 

• Friday, November 30: Kyle arrives in Grand Rapids with two cats, leaving them in the new house to get settled.
• Saturday, December 1: Kyle flies to Raleigh. I pick him up. We go stay with a friend in Apex. 
• Sunday, December 2: Kyle and I, for the last time, go to our house in Durham to meet our landlord for the final walk-through. Then we start the journey north, stopping in Knoxville, TN to stay with a friend. 
• Monday, December 3: Drive from Knoxville, TN to Indianapolis, IN to stay with another friend. 
• Tuesday, December 4: Drive from Indianapolis to our new house in Grand Rapids.
• Saturday, December 8: Kyle's family comes to help unload the POD.
• The rest of December: Get the house together and boxes unpacked. 

Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about all this. I'll keep you posted how things go once we arrive. In the meantime, we're just going to have to continue living out of suitcases and doing the best we can.