Our last stretch was from Albuquerque, NM to the Phoenix area. It wasn't too terribly long, but it seemed like it. Driving that piece of the US, I half expected wild horses to run across the road or for cowboys to appear out of nowhere. I truly felt like I was, well, in a Western. Go figure.

In case you missed it, here are the links for the first, second, and third part of our journey.


We took obligatory pictures when we reached Arizona. This is our first BIG move after all. All others have been local or within the state of North Carolina. That is to say, all the moves we've made as a family. This does not include all the moves we made before marriage, since we both come from military families.




According to Google Maps, not including pit stops or anything like that, we traveled for 44 hours and 2,915 miles. We took six days to drive, really, and it wasn't split up evenly at all. But we survived... and WE MADE IT!

Want to see some pictures? Of course you do! If you follow my Instagram, please excuse... because most of them are from my phone.






My favorite things are the hot air balloons and, well, our house. While I am enjoying the weather, I confess I do miss having the seasonal cold. Let's not even talk about what the summer is going to be like.

But the hot air balloons, and our space? Yeah. I'm in love.

We left Iowa the day after Christmas. Sadly, we didn't have a lot of time to spare. We had to get to Arizona by Saturday at the latest because we knew Clark had to go back to work the first or second, and we needed plenty of time to unpack and attempt to settle in.

This was probably the longest stretch. We were "hung over" from Christmas and family time and I wanted nothing more than to just curl up and go to sleep, but we kept goin'. I'm actually rather proud of myself for this. If you remember from the first post, we were both driving. While Clark's job entails lots of driving and he's pretty accustomed to it, I am not. I used to love road trips, but six hours was usually my max of driving. Having a ten hour day with our two year old in the car... it was definitely a challenge. Here was our route.


I think the days of driving before weren't that bad because we were going to family. Knowing we were driving into the unknown afterwards was a little intimidating. It's not that I wasn't excited... I was just all nerves. The funny thing was Michael woke up the morning of the 26th and said, "Ready to go. Dada drive the big truck, Mama drive the car." It's like he knew that we were going somewhere important. He was ready... or he was just used to our routine of two days to stay, and then hitting the road again.

But before we made any hotel stops, we made our way to Lawrence, KS to visit my grandparents. I'm lucky if I get to see them once a year, so it was so wonderful that it worked out for us to see them. Although Michael was a bit of a grumpy gils, he managed to enjoy spending time with them after settling in a little bit.

(Please excuse the quality of the pictures, they were taken with my phone.)




Afterwards, he was pretty much done for the day...


until we had to stop for dinner and McDonald's was the only food option. Let me tell you, traveling is rough. I know you can make healthier options, but it seemed almost impossible with the route we took. Needless to say I'm making up for it now!


He didn't eat anything except the fries. Our child has yet to venture into trying chicken nuggets... or, really, any meat other than tuna.We made it to Ponca City, OK. It wasn't quite our goal. We had hoped to make it to Oklahoma City... but I was just too tired. I needed to stop, and so we did.

But I made up for it. The next day we drove all the way to Albuquerque, NM. Which, by the way, isn't exactly a party. It seemed like we hit so many stretches of nothing. It was beautiful, but definitely different than what I'm used to. Michael, bless him, did a little better the next day. We kept telling him, "We're going to the big house!"


It really seemed to be catching. Just wait until you see where we finally landed!

We were in Fayetteville, NC for two days or so before we hit the road early Dec. 22nd. Our goal was to make it to Iowa the evening of the 23rd (which we did), but it meant two long days of driving. Here's the route we took.


My parents were rather worried about us going through WV. After all, there's usually ALWAYS weather. The funny thing was, it was actually VA that gave us trouble. It was pouring down rain through the entire state... er... the entire part we drove through. West Virginia, on the other hand, was sunny and positively beautiful. When we stopped, I snapped a few shots of Michael and our UHAUL.




Annnnnnnnyway...

We made it to Iowa right on time. I was so excited to get to spend Christmas with my parents, sisters, and niece. It wasn't the same without my brother-in-law, but it was still pretty magical.







We had so much fun. Poor Michael was a little overwhelmed. After being in two hotels, Mimi and Pop's House, Marmee and Papa's House... the morning after Christmas he told us he was ready to go home. We kept playing up our move as, "We're going to the big house!"

He's still a little unsure... but we're making progress!

We have landed in Arizona, which now means I can share bits and pieces of our journey with you! The New Year is approaching and I appreciate your patience as we get things together in our new home and I then proceed to get the blog back in my routine and running!


Our move began a bit complicated. We had a friend watching Michael one day to load our trailer, only to discover it wasn't enough room at all. The next day we had to switch out the trailer with a truck, and our moving plans altered completely. A very long drive that was supposed to take a certain amount of time with switching drivers switched gears and extended (only by a day!) when we both had to drive the entire journey. But, as you know, we survived.

Our first stop was Fayetteville, NC to see the in-laws. Not only were we celebrating Clark's birthday and an early Christmas, but we had stuff stored there. Another reason the switch to a big UHAUL truck was definitely needed.

It was a lot of fun. We are so excited that we are now only five hours away from Clark's brother and (almost) sister-in-law. We'll be taking another trip in barely any time to get to their wedding in CA!

Here's what you're here for... pictures!








The last picture is my absolute favorite. Trying to get a picture of four men-- that's it. Clark's maternal grandfather, PaPa, is looking at Michael/the cake, Clark is looking at his Mama's camera, Pop (Tim-- Clark's dad) is also watching Michael, and Michael is trying to blow out the candles. Classic.

Almost Clark's entire family is settled in NC. His brother is in CA because he's in the USMC, almost a sort of "family thing". But it's a pretty big deal for us to be moving. The only reason there weren't crazy, tearful good-byes is because we're seeing them again soon. I don't know what it's going to be like then!

Here is our big announcement, folks.

We're MOVING!
Clark is moving up the food-chain with his current company to a promotion that will have him home more consistently and give him room to continue growing. But, of course, things like that don't come easy. The company has opened a new office out West in.... drum roll, please...


PHOENIX, AZ.
OK... I don't remember if Fievel actually ended up in AZ... but this movie is what I've been thinking of through this WHOLE process!

It is a place neither of us are really familiar with, and boy has it been a time trying to figure out just how we're going to go about this move! Has anyone moved across the country, with little assistance, with a dog and a two-year-old over Christmas? Anyone?

I wish you could see the face I've been making.

This has definitely been keeping on my heart that all we can do is trust God. I feel so not-prepared with this thing. I mean, Clark has been home at Thanksgiving and then the next time he's home is the time we have to spend packing up the house, loading up a trailer, and hitting the road!

I'm pulling my hair out, folks.

But, in the end, I AM excited. We have a couple connections in Phoenix thanks to friends, not to mention the wonderful Jacquie from Jacquie Here who sent me my first Cara box is in the Phoenix area! We actually get to meet, something we thought would never happen. Coincidence? I think not! And hubby is going to be home more. That's the big kicker. This promotion is going to give him a schedule that isn't super crazy. I mean, enduring seven weeks of him gone and one week of him home? No, thanks. This will fix that!

Don't get me wrong. I know there are worse situations out there than a seven-week stretch. Deployments, single parenting, and more. This job has definitely taught me some perspective... and my limits. More than anything, we want our family to be together more to grow and, well, prosper.

So, my friends, we are getting ready to head West. We're trying to build it up as a fun adventure for Michael, and I can promise you there will be a short little series of our adventurous Westward travels on the site.


Have any moving advice, or places on the way to see? Leave me a comment, please!

In Kitty Disaster #1 you learned that we had to give our notice about moving off of campus. Before school started up again, we were determined to find another apartment. Not exactly an easy task in the middle of a semester, especially when you want to find a pet-friendly place.

For whatever reason, our town didn't seem to be pet-friendly... at least not to renters. While we found a few apartments that seemed reasonable and were close to campus, none of them wanted a pet-- not even a tiny feline.

Finally we found a place.

It wasn't small. And it definitely was over our price range. When I hashed out the budget as we started looking, I wrote down the most we could afford for a place-- at most. This place was $100 over that... but it was so perfect. And it was the only place that we could find.

Wouldn't you know, we rushed into it.

Another woman was showing up as we were finishing our "tour". I was nodding my head yes, Clark was giving me "the look", and I was ignoring him. There have been very few times I have received "the look". You know, the one your spouse gives you when he/she knows something's a bad idea, or you can't afford what you're about to buy, or you're doing something that's annoying them... that look. It tends to always be one in the same. Rarely have I ever received that look.

But I did that day. Clark can have the "I told you so" moment there.

Now, here's the catch.

The landlord didn't exactly want pets. What had happened was the guys that had lived there previously (a two bedroom house that had been a home to three or four male college students) had all graduated. Something had happened with their previous sublet and it had all gotten messed up. So, the landlord was allowing them to advertise the place as pet friendly because he felt bad for them because they were all paying rent on two properties at that point.

The landlord was fine with Coconut. Small, indoor cat. That wasn't a problem.

We gathered who we could to help us move, and started the process almost immediately. While the place was up a gravel road that had an odd turn, it wasn't nearly as bad as Homespun Hills (Our First Apartment). Not to mention, this place truly was a house. While it had a basement apartment, you couldn't get to it through our part of the house. Our downstairs neighbor basically kept to himself. I think we only saw him a few times, one of which was to figure out how to share cable/internet (yeah... bad us).

We had two bedrooms, a real kitchen (finally), a huge wrap-around porch, a living room, a laundry closet... it was perfect.

(We also got to paint the living room, which positively THRILLED me.)





We thought everything was going back to normal. We had a new place to live. Our kitty was settled in with us (we didn't have to get rid of him). I was starting class again. I still had my campus job. We had some money in savings to help us out. All that was needed was a job for Clark.

This is another time that it was completely clear God was in control. We were afraid we wouldn't find a house: done. We were afraid we weren't going to be able to afford food: done. We were afraid Clark wouldn't find a job: done. Things were lining up. But, just because God is providing doesn't mean there isn't a lesson in there somewhere. That's the part we always seemed to ignore.

Today we got up, got ready as quickly as we could, and explored town attempting to find some yard sales.

Sadly we didn't find anything we were actually looking for. The only find we found (ha) was a Seward trunk. Not sure what we're going to use it for yet, but it's in great condition and was a whopping seven dollars. Too good to pass up.

As we drove around we just happened to be looking at all the "For Sale" signs in the decent neighborhoods of starter-homes. All of a sudden the small town we're currently living in went from being a "temporary thing" to "this could be home" in my mind.

I grew up in a family that always moved. I'm not sure I could truly be called a "small town girl" when I was young, but then again we really didn't live in any big cities. We always seemed to live near something. A good piece away that we could drive and have a day out, but it was close enough that we didn't all go insane with cabin fever.

I loved the way I grew up. Every two to three years I'd get that "itch" to move. That's how it was. We started off moving with my dad's ministry, and ended up following that call into the military life. The military seemed like such a fit, since the people who were a part of it understood that we didn't have the traditional home with four walls and a roof. Home truly was where the heart was.

When we first moved to North Carolina I was bitter. The bitterness was still hung over from when we moved from New Jersey to Indiana. I mean, I felt like we were going from something wonderful near NYC to hick-ville, and that feeling worsened when we actually moved to the South.

I was constantly preaching about how I couldn't wait to get out of here. I couldn't wait to go to college somewhere up North or out West. I couldn't wait to escape this ridiculous place full of people who hadn't ventured far from home. I was ready to pack up, leave, and never return.

Then I met Clark. Then I fell in love with Clark. Then Clark and I got married.

All of a sudden, the South didn't seem so bad.

When we lived in Boone my dad kept telling me we'd miss it. We'd miss our college town. We'd miss knowing our way around. We'd miss the mountain air. We'd miss it.

I laughed at him.

I told my dad I wouldn't miss Boone. Boone didn't have much, after all. Boone was full of college kids just looking for a "good time". I wasn't a typical college kid, after all. We had gotten married young. We were moving forward. We were about to have a baby. There's no way I'd miss it.

Now I laugh at myself.

As many of you read in Cindy's guest post, "home" doesn't have the traditional meaning to us. It's not necessarily a "house", but a feeling. As moving as Cindy's words were, and even though they brought me to tears... I can't help but wonder if that's how I really feel.

When we were driving around our small town today, I wondered if my feelings were those of "settling". The idea that I could live here. I could get used to knowing everyone. Get used to many people checking in on me, Michael, and future kids if Clark has another accident. Get used to driving through the same downtown to to go somewhere. Get used to having to plan a trip to Target or a decent mall. Get used to all the festivals, the summer activities, the tourists, the wilderness... get used to it all.

Is wanting to stay in this small town I've scoffed at so much "settling", or are those feelings my true desires coming to the forefront?

I'm not entirely sure of the answer.

As we get closer to Clark's college graduation, I try to talk more and more about our plans. It's always the same.

"Where ever I [Clark] can get the most decent job, the closest thing to what I want to do, that's where we'll go."

I always want more. Always push for the unknown. I mean, really, we don't know. We could end up anywhere between California and here. There are infinite possibilities of where Clark could be hired to go. It's all about finding where he wants to go.

It's all about following where God is leading us.

My mind has constantly changed when it comes to where we (aka I) want to live. When Clark first thought he wanted to be in the military, I thought it fitting. We loved to move for the most part, and we had both grown up in that environment. It would work.

Then when he changed his mind, mine wandered. When I was young I used to want to live on a farm with lots of land and very few people around. Having to drive my children to a school far away or even homeschooling didn't phase me at that time.

Now?

Now we've had to endure winters where we couldn't get anywhere and I realize that may not be what I want. I'm prone to cabin fever, after all.

Then my dreams moved to wanting to be in a city. Wanting to live somewhere that I'd have to walk or ride a bike to get wherever it was I was going. To live somewhere that cars were almost fickle.

I was a small town girl with big city dreams.
(March 2010, on the ferry to NYC from Stanton Island)

Now?

Now I think I'm just a small town girl.


(June 2012, White Squirrel Festival)

Maybe it's settling. Maybe it is fear of not having a place to call home. Maybe it is the idea that I didn't grow up with the same four walls and roof, so maybe I want my children to have what seems like a luxury to me.

I will follow where we are lead. If we are lead to Colorado, we'll go to Colorado. If we're called to Maine, we'll go to Maine. Anywhere we are needed, that's where we'll go. But I think at this point I have learned that I will always have a special place in my heart for the High Country of North Carolina.