Realization

In the midst of stress and worry about our state as jobless, homeless people, I've forgotten to rejoice. You see, had I not been worried about being jobless and homeless, I would have been counting down. Let me do so now. After I go to sleep tonight, there will only be four days before I set foot on Italian soil. That's right, we are leaving for ITALY on Thursday, and will arrive on Friday. I CAN NOT WAIT!!! It really is going to be the trip of a lifetime. Here are the top ten things I am most excited for:

1. A gondola ride with my hubby.
2. GELATO!!!
3. Pasta
4. Michelangelo's Pieta, which I have wanted to see since my freshman year's Humanities 101 class
5. The Sistine Chapel
6. Outdoor markets and the treasures I will buy there
7. A stamp in my passport (I am very distraught that I've had to start over after my name change)
8. Paintings . . . I can't narrow down to just one
9. Taking photos of the coolest things imaginable
10. Ummmm.... BEING in ITALY!!!!

I really am SO unbelievably excited! I am going to try really hard to be completely worry free while there so that I can enjoy the experience. I promise I will post plenty of pictures when we get back.

I Highly Recommend It

So, the "Someone Stole My Money" blog will have to wait. I've been tagged by one of my most favorite people, Scully, and I think this is a cool blog idea. So, here are the instructions I've been given:

1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!
6. Tag 5 people.

I've just finished reading Anne Tyler's Digging to America. If you haven't read it, do! I borrowed it from my mom before leaving Utah, and just barely got around to it. I adored it. She's an amazing writer, and the book is fabulous. Anyway, enough babbling, here is the passage found on page 123, sentences five through eight:

"A book on needlepoint dollhouse rugs due back at the Roland Park Library on May 16, 1989. A manual for an electric typewriter they no longer owned. A box of unused thank-you cards. Twenty years of tax returns, some of the years missing."

I tag:
1. Noelle
2. Wendi
3. Jennifer
4. Tiffany
5. Meredith

Or, if anyone else is game, feel free!

UHauls Should Die

So. Last Thursday we pulled into my in laws driveway in quite a glamorous fashion. We were driving something like this:

(I am still kicking myself for not taking a photo with Chad in front of our own for future posterity's sake.) The difference between the Uhaul in this photo and the Uhaul we actually drove was the additional footage added behind the truck. We pulled our 4-Runner on a trailer behind us.

As most of you know, I am not really much of a driver to begin with. I am content to sit in the passenger seat for moral support, but I don't really care to take the wheel myself on a long trip. So, if I'm not crazy about driving a car across country, you can imagine how I felt about driving the beast pictured above. If you can't imagine it, let me give you a visual: I cried. I was petrified of the thing. I had more than one nightmare of me driving, Chad being fast asleep, and the UHaul being balanced on one wheel, whilst I screamed that we were about to meet impending death.

That is why, when I took the wheel in the desolate wasteland that is known as Western Wyoming, I wasn't exactly jumping for joy. The 60mph winds only added to my feelings of terror as my sweaty palms gripped the wheel for the couple of hours that Chad got some rest. And if you think I am exaggerating, I am NOT. Seriously, the winds were trying to sweep us straight off the road. You know how that picture posted above boasts "gentle ride van?" Well, here are three words in regards to that: LOAD OF CRAP!

And while we're on the subject of states that weren't my favorite, let's talk about Nebraska, shall we? Lincoln, Nebraska? Not topping my list of places I'd like to end up. Ever. Right before we reached the city, we were greeted with lightning and thunder. We'd been planning on sleeping in our 4-Runner, but with the approaching storm, and after being in the cab of a UHaul all day, Chad's comment of, "Kate, I really hate to say this, but I don't like the look of that storm, and I think we're going to have to get a hotel," was not sounding like bad news to me. I started craving a hot shower. A bed. The mini-muffins at the continental breakfast buffet the next morning. Well, when we reached Lincoln, EVERY HOTEL ROOM WAS TAKEN IN THE WHOLE, BLOODY CITY! Apparently, the classic car convention decided to meet on a TUESDAY and take every available room. OK. Here's the deal. If the people at the hotels had been nice and helpful, I could forgive the citizens of Lincoln for this ordeal. What I can't forgive is how incredibly RUDE they were to us in each place we stopped. Let me tell you, it doesn't feel good when there's "no room in the inn." We ended up sleeping in the back of our 4-Runner, while hail pelted the roof and the wind blew so hard I wondered if we were about to reenact a scene from the Wizard of Oz.

The next morning we were off again. When I drove through my first mountainous region, things started to get a bit more intense when signs like this began to appear:

But, my favorite signs, were the ones that I would frequently see while I was squeezed between a bridge railing and a semi truck. Feast your eyes on this:

Are you remembering the dream I mentioned earlier? Because I WAS! Not to mention the fact that every time I glanced down at the speedometer (which was frequently, since there was NO CRUISE CONTROL) I saw, printed in bold, white letters the following phrase: SPEED KILLS, SLOW DOWN AND LIVE. Thanks, Mr. Uhaul Speedometer, because I was a bit further from an anxiety attack before reading THAT! Chad would seriously have to coach me through moments like that. It's a good thing I have the sweetest, most patient husband alive, or I would be in big trouble.

Well, the second day of driving we did luck out and get a hotel room. You know you've been roughin' it when the towels at a Quality Inn feel like Egyptian cotton, and the beds feel like the most comfortable things you've ever slept on. The whole fiasco left me feeling this way about Uhauls:

Having complained enough, let me say that I do feel so blessed we were able to travel in safety. We missed a tornado in Iowa by a mere four or five hours, and we both arrived in North Carolina in one piece.

Stay tuned. I meant to write about today's episode, but alas, this blog is too long. I'll give you a hint. It will be entitled "Someone Stole My Money."

Cutest Puppy Alive!

As most of you know, I am not a cat person. I am not a bird person, nor am I a dog person. Animals are not really my number one love in life. I never thought I would own a dog until I met Bailey, Chad's family's sweet Golden Retriever. She was such a good dog that I started to think we could have a family pet someday, provided it was just like Bailey. The only problem is, when you buy a puppy I'm pretty sure it doesn't come with a warranty that says, "You only have to keep this if it acts just like Bailey . . ."

I know Chad really, really wants a dog, so I've been trying to keep an open mind. Lately we've been researching different breeds just for fun. So, despite my life-long pledge of never having a dog in my house, this puppy, has won my heart and convinced me otherwise. It's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and I have fallen so in love with these that Chad and I spent last night Googling puppy names and deciding what we are going to name our little baby when we buy her. You can't tell me that after watching this you are not also dreaming of owning one!

I know what you're thinking. "Cute puppy. . . but it's a puppy . . . all puppies are cute . . . and all puppies grow up." Well, I'm one step ahead of you, kids. They're cute when they GROW UP, TOO!

Here's a Welsh Corgi a little bit older, and one all grown up:

Sick of Moving

After spending the weekend helping my parents move, we have now begun to pack up the massive amount of stuff that belongs to us. My house is in utter disarray which doesn't go so well with my slightly OCD personality. The sight of stacks of cardboard boxes gracing my living room makes me want to vomit. So far I have almost all of the office packed, all of the winter clothes, all of the books, all of the DVDs, and some other stuff. That's really not much, which is depressing, because it's taken all day.

We've sold a few things on Craig's List today which is exciting. We don't have to move the entertainment center now, and we're holding our computer for someone to come get tomorrow morning.

We're planning to pack the U-Haul on Monday evening and take off bright and early on Tuesday morning. I am having a hard time being excited about driving a seventeen-foot truck pulling a trailer (which I have already had night terrors about).