The craziness of the middle

Well, I'm not very good at telling everything perfectly in order, especially since it was all such a whirlwind but I'm attempting and just getting it all down is the point. :)

Well another way we found to supplement the cost of the move and make it a little easier was having a garage sale. We had a couple friends include their stuff as well to make the overall sale bigger and more appealing to stop and look at. I think it helped a ton and our friends were able to make a few bucks as well. 

My oldest sister Jennifer came up to see us the night before the sale. Kimi and Rob came over and we all hung out and then went out to eat. It was awesome. Then she helped in the morning with the sale. It was so nice to have her there!!! Especially since we didn't end up stopping on our way out of town. I was so glad I got to see her!

We were able to sell our couches, entertainment center, end tables, coffee table, tv, dvd player, two chairs,  a lamp, desk, clothes, a ton of my left over Mary Kay products, and lots of odds and ends. It was amazing. We got rid of so much and made it so we could fit all our essentials and things we actually wanted to keep inside that box Bryce made. I'm still amazed at how much two people can acquire in a few short years. 

{Miracle} The amazing part was how much we made from the sale. And keep in mind most of the furniture we sold was not new or in amazing shape. We made just short of $800. It paid for the cost of building the box and half of our estimated fuel cost. HUGE sigh of relief that day. It was so much work but so so worth it!

Another hurtle we had in that last week was that Bryce had been trying to fix a car for a family friend for months and months and still had a lot to do on it before we left. He spend so many hours on it that week but got it running and ready to be picked up. Yay!

Also, in order to be completely out of our house for the cleaning check, and for reasons yet to be explained, my sister let us stay at her house and shower there and everything two days before we left. It was so nice!

{Blessing} I don't think I mentioned in the last post---- in regards to the cleaning of the house and all the help I got in packing and cleaning--- We past our cleaning check 100% and got our entire deposit back (except the expected carpet cleaning cost). This was another miracle to us after receiving the two page list of very very detailed cleaning instructions. We were able to use that to pay off remaining monthly bills and cost of food etc.

Speaking of $$$....

Let me tell you about some ridiculousness we had with the truck before leaving. 

We LOVE this truck. Bryce has had it since high school It's amazing and has over 320,000 miles on it. When it rolled over 300,000 miles I even baked a crazy delicious chocolate cake and put those number candles on it to say "300" and we blew out the candles out at the truck and took pics...unfortunately I can't find the pics. LOL We're nerds but you gotta have fun with the little things!

 (This pic is actually from a trip 3 months prior to moving)

 SO,  you have to understand that three months prior to moving we went on a big road trip in the truck. When we arrived in Las Vegas, Bryce just *happened* to notice something wrong with the outside driver's side back wheel.

It was missing an entire bolt/lugnut set. Completely gone. Now, this was a little worrisome to me but then Bryce explained why this was a big deal. Pretty much, by missing one, the entire wheel starts to get shaky....and driving long miles at 60-80 mph it can rattle so much you could easily lose the entire wheel....losing a wheel while driving in a truck that big on the kind of roads we had been driving. Honestly, we likely wouldn't have survived something like that.

 (Here's my hubbers taking care of the missing lug-nut and bolt in the parking lot of the Pawn shop from the History Channel's show, Pawn Stars. :) 

I feel very blessed to have a husband who knows car stuff and who's so prepared to be able to fix anything on the side of the road by himself. 

So, speaking of fixing cars....

The last couple days before we were supposed to be out of the house were very tightly scheduled for what had to happen and when because of the cleaning check and everything. As a result of that wheel issue, he had to change out the studs and nuts on that wheel with new ones and do an oil change and other basics to be ready for the long haul...

The day before needing to be out, the water pump on the truck went out.  That means, $$ and Time. Plus it's all time that I can't help with; only Bryce can fix that stuff. (I know, I know, you all thought I was Mrs fix-it. Sorry to burst your bubble...)

{Blessings} Mr Bryce is actually Mr Warranty. If he can get one, he does. If one comes with a warranty and the other one doesn't (Cheaper), he'll still get the one with the warranty. He saves receipts on big or expensive items and the box it came in so that if something happens, he can take advantage of the warranty.  (He even did this on the really nice hair dryer and straightener he bought me for Christmas 2 yrs ago....we used the warranty on the hair dryer a year later) 

He does the same thing with the truck. Any part he buys to replace, he makes sure to warranty it and save the info. 

The $250.00 water pump was free. 

The time it took to fix it made things very stressful but he did it and his awesome friend Rob helped him do it. 

Then after hooking up the trailer to the truck we found out that the front passenger side tire was dead...or something. $$ So while he fixed the water pump, we put the old tire in Kimi and Rob's car (other BLESSING: my sister and her hubby let us use their car that last day since we only had the trucks and they were all hooked up. We LOOOVE them!!! We were so grateful for all their help!!) 

So while we was doing the water pump, I took the old tire to the tire shop and got a new one and brought the old water pump back and got all that money back for it. :) and then brought the tire back for Bryce to put on. I tried to run as many errands as I could since I couldn't help with the actual fixing of the truck.  Then Kimi came with me and we bought food and snacks for the road trip. 

Because of the water pump and tire, we left a day and a half late. But since Kimi and Rob let us stay there, it made everything work out ok. 

Saying goodbye to Kimi was hard. We'd lived close to eachother for so long, I did not like leaving her. And she was pregnant too! :( I had expected to be there when she had her babes....

The Davies, ready for their first big move as a married couple.....

if only we knew how long the trip would turn out to be...

We'd still do it again, exactly the same way.