We have arrived Part 1

Take two... yes two meaning I have already wrote a ton of blog and it has disappeared!  TRUST ME the first one was much more witty and fun and wrote more elegant (I think)... moving on.   We have arrived after a very long journey to NC!   It took 12 hours and all and all went very well (already the first one sounded so much better LOL ohh well).  Potty breaks were a minimal and the animals did good (well minus Doge's NOT made of steel nerves and upset belly).  He did fine in the car there were just a few times I thought I was going to get sick from the smell.  Brooke spent most of her time with Daddy in the U haul (it's a amazing what that man can teach her in just a few short hours- especially considering I am the one home with her day and day trying to teach her things over and over!).  The trip started at noon 30 and we arrived at our destination at midnight 30.  You know your doing some serious distance when the countdown to home begins and there is still 2 1/2 hours left in your journey!  So we arrive in the dark of dark and the very first surprise is that somehow in all those pictures of the house someone forgot to mention WE LIVE IN THE WOODS!  Well, we were almost too tired to notice the tree surrounding except I had been in a car with a sleeping kid for hours and had been telling myself stories for entertainment and of course, they all included bears, snakes, and other bugs and woodsy animals!  ANYWAYS, the wonderful Mary-Micheal (MM for short) (ohh ya she's the real estate lady who forgot to mention the trees) met us at midnight to sign papers and do our walk through- seriously, people, I was so exhausted the house could of been a cardboard box and I would of signed!  Lucky for me the Lord was my eyes and it's not!  So then off we go (dropping animals with food and water off to our new 2 1/2 stall wonderful garage for the night) we went to the Hampton.  Yes, I know a bit princess-y but Cloverleaf gave it to us for a week for moving so we could get settled and well it had a bed with pillows and no boxes surrounding me so I was weak and off we went (remember it's 2 am at this point and I did smelly van and kids for 12 hours!!!).   Hampton was wonderful and in the morning (or more the next afternoon by the time we got up) they even made me breakfast so we will continue to love and support them forever~!~ So back to the house we go for our first daylight inspection... this town is in the shape of an "X"  right bottom foot is home left bottom foot is Hampton... we now know a "shortcut" (a word we only use when we are off and exploring and Brooklyn really believes it means the longest way possible to our destination) but for a long time we had to venture to the middle of the X before getting back to our new home.  We are getting smarter have no fear!  Driving- feels like country and BAM McDonald (yeppers we have one at end of the road and well Jesus must know the Leahy's limitations LOL never find ourselves living very far from one).  Turn into our no outlet subdivision and wow in the light the houses are wonderful.  Adorable- no two alike (that is odd to find in subdivisions) and just gorgeous. Most were built in the 70's and are the king of the crop then and in my opinion still are.  Our house has had a few different reactions from me.  1. WOW 2. WOW I have to clean that 3. WOW it has white carpets upstairs. 4. WOW i have to clean that (I have sense found an empowering website that I will later link right here that has made ME WANT to clean- the lady deserves and emmy for that feat alone!).  The house sits in pine trees that are 30 foot trunks to the top and has what can only be described as a butterfly garden (hence, 100's of butterflies) below.  Wonderful huge chiming doorbell!  And you walk in on the side of a lovely living room with big huge windows and DRAPES (yeppers real WHITE drapes that pull and open up to a beautiful bench style window that is HUGE - well it's multiple windows).   There is a cute formal dining room off the living room (that I unwisely started calling the adult room- I meant adult living room for when people are over- Rex has since exed calling it that...says it doesn't sound good) so the dining room is off the LR and has a swing door that leads to the kitchen.  PERFECT school room!  Our table fits in the family room and has a spot for it and you can't see the school mess when you walk in the house, and it's close to the kitchen (have you met my daughter- she eats A LOT!~). In the school room three big windows show you the trunks of a ton of trees in the back yard (pics to come!).  The kitchen it wonderful and open to the living room (if you step down 4 steps) LOVE the counter tops that are a marble and you can't tell if there dirty or not!~ seriously, should be a prereq to all houses!  Then leads down to a family room with fireplace and books shelves wall to floor on both sides (WONDERFUL)!!!  1/2 bath and laundry room, and Luke's room down from there... upstairs is bathroom x2 and 3 bedrooms... Ok I have to go make kiddos breakfast so enough for now but stay tuned because you don't know about our first tick incident or about Rex almost having a heart attack over Buckeye clearence section or about the  inch of water from the broken waterline--- I am serious there is still some really good stuff to come but it'll have to wait til another free minute!   PS just so you all know, the boxes have almost all been unpacked, and pictures are hung and in a week the LORD has done some amazing work.   Today is Rex's first day at work so take a second to throw him up a prayers and i'll get back to you all soon with part 2 of we have arrived soon!  Love you all and miss you all and can't wait to tell you about unloading the Uhaul in 2 hours! YEP 2 hours! God was in control!  May he continue to bless you and your and me and mine!

And so it begins.... Chapter 1

Today is the beginning... I'll give you the short version of what it is the beginning of...

1. Hubby is promoted, so after 28 years in Ohio, we will be relocating in 16 days to North Carolina. To a place I have visited one single time for 3 days and it wasn't a grand ole time... it was a quick looksee see thing that didn't end very well for me.  A place where I know no one, a place were I am foreign, and everyone knows it (good ole' accents give that away). PS hence, the reason for this blog-a place to talk about this adventure... experience... expedition... ready set here we go.
2. I am excited about this move-- Ok, excited is an overstatement I am accepting.  Grr ok, I am moving and I am working really hard on feelings.  Currently, mine are numb.  We will get back to this soon.
3. Moving... ahhh moving...boxes...boxes... {{screaming/crying}} Ahhh, we moved from NW Ohio to NE Ohio 6 years ago (it took 4 years for me to "settle" here and build a nice little list of friends I could call when my yearly gyn. appointment came and I needed someone to watch the kiddos or a friend to take to lunch for a special occasion- like my birthday)... this time we have 3 more kids and LOTS more books (thank you homeschooling disease of book collecting) and we are once again starting over.  
4. We are moving from virtual school to traditional homeschool and for this I can definitely say I am feeling scared, excited, happy, and concerned... well I am feeling lots of emotions and that is way better then number 2! 
5. I believe 100% that parenting is a ministry and I am only as good as the guide allows me to be or as long as I listen to his guidance. I am working currently through this free online parenting ministry that I highly HIGHLY recommend.  
6. I do trust God and have complete faith but I am human and with the flesh comes some real battling lately.  

There is a lot more but this is a starting point and I did say this was the short version of what is going on.