moving to the midwest

Last week, some of our close friends from Waco came for a visit. The reunion with our friends, selling our house and Jeremy finishing up his first greek class reminded me that I have not shared with you our journey to the Midwest.

The Friday night before we left, some friends hosted a small intimate going away party with some of our closest friends, minus one family that was out of town.

The food was a-maz-ing. So were the drinks. I really miss all of our friends and I really miss this amazing backyard.

Our plan was to leave Waco on Saturday night, after the girls' two separate dance recitals during the afternoon and evening.

We fixed the girls hair, applied makeup (a highlight for the girls) and then they each performed. After it was all over, we said our final goodbyes to our friends and family. We went back to our house for last minute items and a tearful departure from our home.

Things started to feel a little stressful when we were still in Waco at 10 p.m. that Saturday night, two days before Jeremy's class was to begin. And even more so when we were not quite to Tulsa, our destination for Saturday night, and it was 4 am on Sunday morning, the day before class was to begin.

We left Tulsa, on Sunday, around 2:00 p.m.

We were packed tight with all of our stuff and the recital flowers; we couldn't leave behind the recital flowers.

He really did do well most of the trip.

We stopped at the Missouri visitor center.

Then, we stopped for dinner in Springfield. I tweeted Rachel for some Springfield restaurant recommendations while we were driving through. She suggested Nonna's, an italian eatery located downtown. The food was delicious, our waiter was so kind and the girls were impressed with their own personal view of the kitchen down below. Jeremy and I were grateful for the instant entertainment that the professional kitchen offered our kids while we waited for our dinner to arrive.

After dinner, we needed coffee so we stopped by by a coffee shop across from Nonna's. During our short time in Springfield we noticed lots of skateboarders and scooters out and about. We were digging the urban feel that city had to offer. Then we wondered if there was an RUF at MSU, then we thought if not, maybe the Lord might call our family, along with Jeremy's orange Stella scooter, to start one. Somehow, while we were doing all of our day dreaming, we failed to notice that three hours had passed and it was 10:00!?!?!

Then, we had a little freak out session. We should have gauged our time better.

We had at least three hours to go and Jeremy had class at 8:30 the next morning.

We finally pulled in to our summer housing at 1 a.m., a mere 7 1/2 hours before Jeremy's class began.

After the kids and I recovered from the drive, and Jeremy recovered from his first class, we celebrated our arrival with confetti poppers in the parking lot of our new place (thanks Donaldson's for the poppers!)

Later in the week we went to a picnic hosted by the seminary on campus and we showed the girls where Lincoln had his first swing.

March 2010

June 2010

We are here. And I think we are getting settled in. And I think I could get used to this place. And I know that I miss our house and our friends and the city we left. And I am looking ahead to when we love this city.