More Moving Updates

We're 9 days away from the big move. Things are busy but manageable. Because I had so much time to prepare it hasn't been too stressful getting things packed up. Painting, on the other hand, is the bane of my existence (and I haven't even done much yet!) Now I remember why I put off re-painting anything in this house!

David has been in our new house for a little over a week and so far he's replaced a ceiling fan, installed an undersink water filter, replaced curtains, replaced some outlets (can you believe most are still the OLD two prong ones??! Didn't notice that until we moved in!! lol), removed carpet from 4 rooms, and refinished the wood floors in all of those rooms. Next on his list is removing part of the wall in the front entry- good thing he didn't have much else to do with his 3 day weekend, right? After having to remove the front door just to get the fridge in, David thought it would be best to get the wall cut down before we try to move in the furniture... and we'll worry about finishing it after we're settled in a bit. I'm kinda missing being there for the demolition work and wish I could help, but I'm so busy with this house that I've learned to let David just go with it and enjoy the fact that I'll have a nicer home when I move in than I did when we bought it.

This week is another hectic one but we have a lot to look forward to. David will be coming home Wednesday evening, both of our moms will fly in on Thursday afternoon, David's sister and her kids will be here Friday afternoon, and his grandparents will be here Saturday morning. Thursday evening I'll be going to book group with my mom and maybe David's mom, too. I know my mom is looking forward to it- she had the book read way before I did!
The big event of the week will be Aimee's graduation on Saturday morning. We attended the Honors Award Night at school this past Wednesday evening and Aimee is graduating cum laude and also got awards for Art and for four years of Honor Roll. To say I'm proud would be an understatement! Saturday we'll spend with family and go out for a nice dinner to celebrate. Sunday will be church- and I'll get to be in Relief Society with both moms and probably Aimee, too. How cool is that?!

Next week we'll be finishing packing up on Monday and loading the moving truck that evening. David's mom will fly out Monday around noon, but my mom is staying for another week. Tuesday morning we'll be on our way to Steubenville. I'm so thankful my mom is able to be here for this move. Not only will she be a help with the last of the packing and preparation, but her sense of adventure and enthusiasm for seeing new places has already helped me to be more optimistic about the move. I'm sure we'll find some interesting things to do out on the other side of the state!

I hate to admit it, but I know I've been pulling away from my friends here in Cincinnati. It seems easier to stay super busy and to start the separation process now than it would be to have everyone around me and be reminded about what I'm leaving behind.

I can't even start to post about my feelings about all of this yet. Distraction and denial are good coping tools during the process but I know I'm going to pay for it by being hit by all the emotions at the end of this. I'm going to miss Cincinnati and all of the wonderful, amazing women I've gotten to know and love. This has truly been home in every sense of the word, and although I'm excited now about the prospect of a new adventure, it still doesn't quite compensate for leaving the people I've come to see as family, and not just friends.

I'll do a separate post about our first visit to the Steubenville Ward last Sunday...