Thursday, March 15, 2018

It Takes a Village to Move

   It is hard to believe that we have been in our new home a little over a week. Our journey began over a year and a half ago. I haven’t shared too much behind the scenes of selling our home and buying a new one in a different city/state. Now that the dust is settling, I want to thank all the people who helped us get here. Believe me, it takes a village!
Sale pending sign in front of house

 There were many ups and downs as we had our home on the market. My knee blew out last spring and we took it off the market for several months. During that time, our son and his adorable family relocated to Texas. That made it a much closer move for us! We put the house back on the market in July but at the end of August, a powerful storm dropped a huge limb on our roof. UGH! We were not able to have any showings for another month but did get a new roof so that was a positive. Throughout this ordeal our realtor, Lauren West was kind, patient and supportive. I will always be thankful to her. If you want to buy or sell in Shreveport/Bossier, she is the one to contact. Thanks, Lauren!
Basset Hound in yard full of tools
   We literally went through everything we own and shredded papers, threw away items that we have no idea why we saved and made sure our adult children didn’t want their 7th-grade science notebooks! (They didn’t) It is astounding what you can collect in a 25-year span of life. Our conclusion was if we didn’t use it and the kids didn’t want it, we got rid of it. We had a rummage sale and gave tons of things to charity.
   Finally, at the first of January, we had a buyer. That meant we had to find a home. Luckily, we had been looking at every new house in the area where we were moving to online for months. We selected 9 houses and headed to Texas. Our realtor here, Justin Hart, was amazing! He showed us the houses we selected but we quickly fell in love with the one we are now calling home. He walked us through each step of the process and answered a gazillion questions. If you are looking for a home in the Houston, Texas area do yourself a favor and give him a call. Thanks Justin!
   Let me tell you that moving is not for the faint of heart. It is HARD and NERVE WRACKING! After several delays and postponements, the day came to sell our house. We signed the papers and went to pick up our U-Haul®. The people working there could not have been nicer. Thanks, U-Haul!
View of FULL U-Haul van
   Our son Dustin has helped us more than I can ever tell you. His love and encouragement helped us do what few retired couples would consider undertaking. We are so proud and thankful for the man he has become. He and a handful of his awesome friends came over and began loading all of our belongings into a 26’ U-Haul. Did I mention that we got rid of a TON of stuff? Well, as the night wore on and the truck began to fill up, we wondered if we still had too much stuff. (We did) Those young men worked their tails off in exchange for some pizza and a thank you. Say what you’d like about millennials, but this group of guys was the BEST! There simply aren’t words to express our sincere gratitude for all their help. Thanks again!
   We tried to get to sleep around 3:00a.m. on our bedroom floor. Bentley and Pierre had been gated in the laundry room all evening as we loaded the moving van, so we let them in our room where they could be with us. It was about 3:15 when a thunderstorm started. If you are a regular reader of Barking from the Bayou, then you know that Bentley HATES thunder. There would be no rest for the very weary. Our alarm was set for 4:00 so we splashed our faces with cold water, grabbed a Diet Mt. Dew and loaded up in our mini caravan. I drove our SUV with the boys in their kennel, Skipper followed me in our son’s truck and Dustin led the way in the U-Haul. It was still raining so we drove very slowly. The last thing you want to do is have an accident with every single thing you own in tow.
Rainy photo of a U-haul
   If you are wondering why we had to leave so early, we had to sign on our new home that morning in Texas! Due to the inclement weather, we arrived at our son’s home in time to change clothes and head to our closing. We made with five minutes to spare. Can you say stressed?
   We weren't going to really start unloading everything into our new home until Saturday morning although we did set up the bed to sleep here Friday night. Prior to leaving Shreveport I contacted my niece, Jaime, that lives close to us in Texas and asked if her husband and teenage son might be able to help us unload the U-Haul. Unfortunately, her hubby was sick but said that she had contacted some people from her church that were willing to lend a hand. I am not sure that I can adequately explain what happened that Saturday morning. It was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. Her church members and some of their missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints showed up to help.  The kindness and pure joy these wonderful young people brought as they unloaded our jammed-packed truck in less than an hour took our breath away! I am so thankful for all their hard work. We seriously could not have done it without them. They are the most selfless group of folks that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. A special shout-out to my precious daughter-in-law Jackie for providing muffins and fresh fruit along with plates and utensils. I could not have found a napkin at that point of the move. LOL!

   Let me say that none of these people expected any payment or recognition for their help. It truly showed us what a difference the kindness of strangers can make. It touched our hearts in a way that I can never express. I am choked up now as I write this and think about how much we needed all these people to make our dreams come true. All we can say is thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We will never forget what y’all did to help us.
We are joining Brian’s Home for his Thankful Thursday blog hop! Be sure to visit these other pawsome blogs to see why they are thankful today.
Thankful Thursday Blog Hop


39 comments :

  1. it's great to have helping hands... we hate moving it is like packing a whole life in boxes...

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    1. It IS packing your whole life in boxes and we have apparently lived a LOT! BOL!

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  2. Friends are the greatest gifts♥

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  3. So thankful you guys had some help! Moving is stressful for sure! So glad you guys are settled in safely!

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    1. Thanks, Jenny. We are definitely feeling more at home now.

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  4. What a lovely story of kind peeps. So glad you've settled in to your new home
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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    1. Thank you. It was amazing how everyone showed up to lend a helping hand. We certainly are blessed.

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  5. It's amazing how many people will step up when you move. Despite all the bad things going on in the world today, there is still so much good and so many wonderful people.

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    1. It really touched our hearts to see so many people come to help us. It would have been impossible to pull it off without them.

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  6. That was quite the move and having all that help, and love, is really something to be thankful for indeed. Y'all must be Lone Star Barking now, welcome home. Thanks for joining the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

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    1. Thanks, Brian! We were relieved to discover that Houston is the Bayou City so we can continue Barking from the Bayou! We are just north of the big city.

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  7. That's why my humans have lived in this same house for 37 years! Good luck with settling in your new house.

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    1. I hear ya! We had been in our home for 25 years but since we retired and our kids had both moved away, it was time to shake things up and boy, did we ever accomplish that! BOL!

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  8. That is for sure a LOT to be thankful for. So many blessings came into your path at just the right times. When Mom and I moved from a one bedroom apartment to a different one bedroom apartment, things were much easier and simpler. Mom is not a saver, so whatever was in the house was what we needed. We packed it up, hired a mover, and moved it over here! Even with that, it was stressful. I still haven't gotten over the fire extinguisher in the hallway. I'm pretty sure it's trying to kill me....

    Love and licks,
    Cupcake

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    1. We kept saying that we were receiving mini miracles at the perfect time! Fire extinguishers are awfully sneaky but we need to buy a new one for this house.

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    2. I am having a difficult time finding your blog. Please leave me the link.

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  9. Oh my not only was the actual move a daunting task but the limb falling, your knee happening (praying you are ok), the thunderstorm, etc!!!!! You were faced with some huge challenges! I am not surprised that so many people were helping you.....YOU are a DESERVING person and good things SHOULD (and thank you for showing that they DO) happen to those who are deserving! You are a brave lady (and a strong one!) I am so happy you have that pioneering spirit, I am sure you are going to be insanely happy in Texas and deservedly so!!! DakotasDen

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    1. You are so sweet. My knee is much better thanks to gel injections. We are extremely happy to be here with our family and precious granddaughter. If you ever feel the urge to come down south, we'd love to have y'all!

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  10. OH MY STARS ABOVE...this was an eventful year for you Bayou Boyz and your humans. Jumpin' catfish a less determined bunch might've done some crying during some of this but you all kept the faith and moved forward. My Loula (mom's Mama, sis called her Loula) used to say delays are for a reason so we are saying all these obstacles and delays made it possible for EVERYTHING to fall in to place at the right time and all the wonderful helping hands to be available.
    WooHoo
    Hugs madi and mom

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    1. I am not saying that we didn't cry on more than one occasion! We quickly learned that things happen on God's timeline and not ours. Everything worked out exactly as it was supposed to because there is no doubt that this is where we are supposed to be and we are very thankful for everything and everyone (Including Guardian Angels) that got us here.

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  11. You are blessed to have so many helpful people in your life. I have never had to move other than to a college dorm and then to the house my hubby already had. I can't even imagine how overwhelming it is.

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    1. We are so blessed to have such amazing folks in our lives. WE have moved two other times during our 35 years of marriage but this was the biggest and hopefully the last one!

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  12. I'm glad you had help available when it was needed. There's still more good people in the world than bad.

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    1. Thank you! The wonderful people that helped us were amazing!

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  13. Wow, what a wonderful blessing!!!! So many wonderful people came together to help you relocate!

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    1. It was simply overwhelming. I get weepy each time I think about them.

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  14. We can't even imagine what a task this was! We just bet you're all glad the hard part is over now...and you can start settling in.

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    1. There were several times where it would have been easier to quit and stay put but I'm sure glad that we didn't give in. We love our new home and unpacking is a lot more fun than boxing it up the first time.

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  15. What a wonderful story!! You brought back so many memories of our experience - almost 2 years ago now! We slept on our dining room floor and were up early because there were no curtains to block the light (thank goodness no thunder storms for us). And I remember my sister laying out this wonderful spread of food after we finally got everything into the new house (we sat in the middle of boxes and furniture as we ate!). We also experienced the amazing selflessness of people - though they were people we knew. I learned that people can really come through for you when you need them (I remember a tearful phone call to a friend, and how she dropped everything to help us pack at the last minute). I'm so glad you got so much help and experienced the same thing. And you are settling into your new home - that's the best!! ♥
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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    1. Your story of the trials and tribulations of buying and selling was my inspiration. I remember how stressed out you were and it worked out lovely for y'all. Sharing our story will hopefully help someone else like yours did for me.

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  16. It is wonderful to know there are a lot of good people in this world willing to help others! Glad all things worked out to get you to your new home
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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    1. Thank you! It was truly amazing to see so many selfless people turn up to lend a hand when we needed it the most!

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  17. What an adventure ! It's wonderful that you got so many helping hands ! We're glad everything went well ! Purrs

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  18. What a wonderful and amazing act of kindness! Congratulations on your new home! Maybe there will be a BlogPaws in Texas soon? :)

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  19. Wow, it has all been quite an adventure, every step of the way. The good of humanity is quite something, really, and restores a lot of faith (I dont mean religion) in folks to see such kindness.
    Glad you all got to where you need to be, and look forwards to hearing more about life as it unfolds.
    Toodle pips
    ERin

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  20. What an adventure. Mommy says she hopes we never have to move, she still remembers what a nightmare it was and it's been over 25 years ago. She says she has way more junk now.

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