Ready or not...

.... Here. We. Go.  

Tomorrow is the day!  The first leg of our journey west.  Since we started planning this move, time has FLOWN by!  

Here's what we have planned: 

Tomorrow: Wendell to Monroe, Georgia

Thursday: Monroe to Houma, Louisiana

Friday: Houma to San Antonio, Texas 

Saturday: San Antonio to Tucson, Arizona

Sunday: Tucson to the Grand Canyon and then on to Henderson, Nevada (just outside of Vegas)

Monday: Henderson to Stateline, Nevada... our new HOME SWEET HOME!  

We are travelling the Southern route for a few reasons.  #1 - We have friends and family to stay with from Wendell to Tucson.  We are only planning to get a hotel in Henderson, Nevada.  #2 - Going this route allows us to avoid NC/TN mountains and Colorado mountains.  

We are so excited that the day has finally come.  We've had a wonderful time with our friends and family during Christmas, but we are eager to get in our new home for the start of 2013... what we hope will be a WONDERFUL year! 

Making Memories...

It's official.  We have packed up all of our stuff, and we are completely moved out of our home.  It was so strange to lock the door for the last time, and know that someone else would be living in our house for the next year (at least).  We have loved our little townhome.  It was our first place together... it was the place we came home to after our wedding... and it's a place that we upgraded to make it "our own."  It has been a wonderful home, and although I'm sad to leave, I'm so excited about the next steps in our lives that any/all sadness is completely overshadowed.  

So, now we are living out of our suitcases for the next 10 days.  All of our belongings are packed away in a 6x12 trailer, waiting in my parents yard for our upcoming trek across the country.  It's a strange paradox: knowing EXACTLY where ALL of our stuff is... but simultaneously not knowing where ANYTHING is.  

We spent the past week spending time with friends and family every night.  Monday, we had Christmas at Mike's mom's house.  'Tis the season to eat (overindulge), drink, and be merry... and we certainly did all three.  My mother-in-law and her husband will be out of town for Christmas, so it was the last time we will see her until they come to visit us in Tahoe (or we come home... whichever comes first).  Needless to say, it was hard saying our first real "good-bye" to family.  But thank goodness for modern technology... we can SKYPE!  Not the same as being in person, but better than not seeing each other at all!  And certainly better than having to snail mail letters across the country like they did in the "old" days (ya know... pre-email).   

We got a kerosene heater!  And all the extras that come with it!   

Mike's mom... and the chef/hostess

and snow it WILL... 

We will be staying at my parents home through Christmas; making a few more memories before we move so far away.   It has been nice to spend time with my brother and his family.  We all spent the night at "Pa and JuJu's" last night, and opened Christmas presents this morning.  After all the stress of packing and planning, it's been really nice just sitting and relaxing while watching the kids (and dogs) run around.  And, of course it wouldn't be the holidays without totally overindulging at every meal.  

 

My sweet niece and nephew... 

My mom always makes Christmas an adventure.  In other words, you have to work for your Christmas present.  This year we had a list of clues and we had to snoop around the house to find the gifts.  Mike found one of our presents in the refrigerator... one in the pantry... one in a tree... you get the idea. 

During the hunt for our presents

And we got a custom made ski rack... thanks Dad! 

And to "kill" a little time in the afternoon... we did a little shooting.  

Naturally, the fun and festivities were followed by naps under the Christmas tree.  

Everything has been wonderful so far, and it's not even Christmas eve yet.  We will spend Christmas eve and Christmas day enjoying our time with our closest friends and family... soaking up some memories in case we aren't home for the next few Christmases.  

Dear Mike,

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!  I love you even more now than I did on our wedding day.  I absolutely love my life with you and I am so excited for our future together.  You have worked so hard, for such a long time and I can't begin to explain how I appreciate your support in everything.  I can't imagine moving across the country with anyone else.  Home is wherever I'm with you!  

Why Lake Tahoe???

Reason #1: 

Borrowed from skiheavenly.com... but just until we get pictures of ourselves skiing down these beautiful slopes. 

Reason #2: 

This picture is ALSO borrowed... from tahoe.activitytickets.com... AGAIN: just until we can get our own pictures paddleboarding on this ridiculously BLUE water!  

So... those are our reasons for choosing Lake Tahoe!  11 more days until we start our 3,500 mile journey!    

13 DAYS!!!

LESS THAN 2 WEEKS UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR TAHOE!!!

I almost peed my pants just typing that!!! 

Have you seen those videos where parents surprise their kids by telling them they're going to Disney World???  Mike has felt that kind of excitement for MONTHS!  But now that it is getting so close... I can hardly contain MY excitement!  

In a previous post I mentioned how well things have "fallen into place."  Well, we can add one more piece to the puzzle: Mike has a J.O.B. 

He will actually be working for Flow (the company he currently works for here in Greensboro), as an online buyer.  So... he will go to online car auctions and will buy cars for the store in NC.  

His daily commute to work will include climbing 1 flight of steps to get from our 2nd floor to the 3rd floor where we plan to put his office.  And technically he could work in his PJ's if wants.  I just hate that he has such a TOUGH commute everyday!  [obviously sarcasm]

On a serious note... this is something my husband TOTALLY deserves.  He has worked such long hours in the car business for so many years now and although he didn't seem to mind the work, the volume of work hours definitely took a toll on his happiness.  

It's entirely possible probable that we won't be bringing in quite as much income each month as we do with our current jobs but we WILL have more time to spend together.  And even though it's been almost 13 (long) years together, we still like spending time with each other.  We can't wait to spend some of our time on crazy/new adventures! 

Guess What Came in the Mail Today???

The keys to our rental house in Tahoe!!!

It is getting more and more real by the minute.  

When we visited last November, we drove around for days just sightseeing.  One of our first drives was to the top of Kingsbury Grade, which is the major road that takes you from South Lake Tahoe, over the mountains, and down into flatter, more desert-like, Nevada.   There are tons of homes and lots of GORGEOUS lake views at the top of Kingsbury and Heavenly Ski Resort is just down the road.  When we decided to move, we knew that was the area we wanted to be in. We searched rental websites and Craigslist for months!  All of the places we found were either too expensive or old and run down.  

So, Mike got an idea to post information about us on Craigslist.  He said who we are, and what kind of place we were looking for.  Within a few days, we had an email response.  The rental agency was very excited because we wanted to be "long term tenants," meaning a lease of a year or more.  Most people who want to rent in that area are looking for "ski leases," from November until April-ish.  The rent amount was in our budget but we were skeptical because we hadn't seen any pictures of the place.  

A few days later, the pictures arrived and we were pleasantly surprised!  It is a 3 BR/2BA duplex near the top of the mountain and it had recently been updated!  New floors, counter tops, appliances, etc.  There was only one problem: it was available for rent immediately, and it was only September!  We wouldn't even be in the area until January!  

We talked back and forth via email for several weeks, trying to figure out a solution because Mike and I KNEW we wanted this place.  We were even willing to start paying rent a few months early, just to secure the place!  Then came the AWESOME news.  The rental agency called us to say that they had found another renter who needed the place from September through December.  Their rent would end on Dec. 31st, and ours would begin January 1st!  How perfect, right?  We felt like that was a pretty good sign that things were going to work out, so we agreed and just a few weeks ago we signed the lease.

And today our keys arrived!!!  Yay! 

Here are some of the pictures they sent us of the house: 

The house is situated on the side of the mountain.  We park our cars on a parking pad that is level with the 3rd floor of the house, then walk down the flight of steps, and enter the house on the 2nd floor.  

When you walk through the door, you are in the living/dining room.  Notice the counter tops from the kitchen off to the left of the picture.  

The deck is on the front(?)  There is a door in the living/dining room that leads out to the deck.  The grate allows the snow to fall through so you can actually step out your door after a big snowfall.  It also provides a see-through platform that allows you to look down... WAY down... to the rocky ground that would catch you if you fell (2 stories).  

 See?  I told ya.  TWO full stories to the ground below!  Yikes!  The rental agency mentioned that the outside pictures of the home are "old" and that several things have been "re-done."  Notice the hot tub on our deck?  Yeah, that's not there anymore.  I know... seriously sad news.  I also know the railings around the deck are new compared to this picture.  What I am NOT sure about, are the structural supports for the deck.  Does that look like a stable base for that deck?  I'm not sure.  For anyone who comes to visit, the deck will be: "Enter At Your OWN Risk."  

The bathrooms.  Pretty self-explanatory.  

The third floor is a loft/extra bedroom.  

We shall see what it REALLY looks like when we get there.  Our fingers are crossed that it looks something like these pictures. 

And speaking of houses... instead of decorating our home with our beautiful Christmas decorations... we are putting everything we own into boxes.  It is sad and exciting at the same time.  Our house looks like this: 

And our poor dog... bless his heart... has no idea what is going on.  Maybe he thinks that if he stays near our stuff, we will be sure to pack him too!  But of course, we would NEVER leave our dog behind (no matter how much my mother BEGS to keep him).  He'll be riding shotgun the WHOLE way to Tahoe! 

By the way...

This past October, Mike's mom and her husband took us out to dinner for Mike's birthday.  He chose "Red Bowl" and after we indulged on delicious sushi, we cracked open our fortune cookies to find the following fortunes:

The top fortune was in Mike's cookie, and it couldn't have been more true.  We had been spending lots of money on new ski gear, etc. Since we are moving to a snowy, mountainous region, any/all purchases suddenly became "practical and necessary."  

The bottom fortune was mine but I think it applies to both of us!  

20 DAYS!!!!!!!!

This life changing event that we have been planning for approximately a year is about to take place... in JUST 20 DAYS!  Time. is. flying.  

For a while now, we've kept our move a secret.  Not because we didn't want people to know, but mainly because we didn't want to "count our chickens before they hatched."  

And now that we are telling EVERYONE we see that we are moving, I keep hearing the same misconceptions.  Allow me to clear them up... 

First of all.  Contrary to what MANY people believe, Lake Tahoe is actually NOT in Utah (by far, the most common guess).  Or Colorado.  Or Wyoming.  Or Montana.  

It IS in California AND Nevada.  

Thank you TahoeActivities.com

[We will be living near Stateline, Nevada 

but I will be working in South Lake Tahoe, California]

Secondly, it is NOT near Vegas.  Sadly, we are at least an 8 hour drive from Vegas.  

Third, the lake itself does NOT freeze.  It DOES get very, VERY cold.  But, never freezes.  It is too big to freeze.  It is 22 miles long, 12 miles wide, and approximately 1,600 ft. deep at its deepest point.  That's a lot of water.  The smaller lakes surrounding it are a different story. 

Another common misconception is that we are moving "for work."  In other words, people assume that either Mike or myself has a job that is sending us across the country to work in their "Lake Tahoe office."  Although I sometimes wish this were true, it's not.  We are not moving FOR work.  We are moving FOR FUN!  (And hoping to work enough to pay for food, shelter, etc.)  The truth is, we will both need full time jobs and currently, neither of us has a full time job lined up.  I'm fully aware of how CRAZY that sounds.  

We are moving on BLIND FAITH!  We are risking our comfortable salaries, and taking off into the unknown, and basically praying that God has his hand on us the whole time.  

I have accepted a job at a hospital in South Lake Tahoe, and I am VERY excited about it.  But, right now I'm considered a "per diem" employee, meaning they will call me when they need me.  I have been told that there is a possibility of at least part time hours, and there may even be full time work available but we will have to wait and see what the caseload is like when I start in February.  It's very risky and as I sit here typing this I keep thinking, "what are we doing?"  

Everything about this move has seemed to "fall into place."  We found a house to rent in the location we desired (and also signed a year long lease without actually laying eyes on the place... again I say: BLIND FAITH).  And I was offered a job at the hospital I want to work at.  Whenever I start to really worry about something, we seem to get a solution.

So, we are feeling really good about this move despite the fact that we are leaving in 20 days and there is a lot to figure out.  But, with great risk comes great reward, right???  

[Or... we try it for a few months... and if it doesn't work out... we dip into our savings and move back to NC]

And for those who don't know... I keep a quote book.  I write down quotations (famous or not) in a book, and when I get stressed out or I am feeling overwhelmed, etc.  I randomly open to a page in this notebook and read a quote or two.  It's really neat because SOMETIMES the quote is EXACTLY what I need to hear/read at that moment (and of course, sometimes the whole page of quotes doesn't relate at all to how I'm feeling).  So, tonight I opened it up and the first quote I read was: 

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."   - Joseph Campbell

Now, I don't even know who Joseph Campbell is or where I saw this quote but, I'm sure glad he said it and I'm glad I wrote it down, because it's exactly what I needed to hear.

"Hell On The Highway"

Just recently, we started watching a new TV show on National Geographic.  The show is called "Hell On The Highway," and guess where it takes place???  

That's right.  Lake Tahoe.  Of course they would start airing a TV show about the TREACHEROUS roads, just weeks before we move out there.   

This is the type of show that Mike loves watching.  Anything on National Geographic... or Discovery... or the Weather Channel... and it's pretty much a sure bet that he'll enjoy it.  Me?  I don't really mind watching those shows (and in fact, I sometimes find myself watching them even if Mike is still at work or out of town or something), but typically I'd rather watch something "girlier" like sitcoms or lately: CHRISTMAS MOVIES!  

The other night when "Hell On The Highway" was on, I got TOTALLY freaked out.  I was legitimately scared.  It's pretty intense.  However, (mom, if you are reading this - don't freak out just yet) the show takes place in Truckee, California.  If you read my last post, you know that Truckee is north of where we will be living.  Donner Pass is the major mountain pass in that area, and they get a LOT of snow each year.  It's pretty infamous (for those of you that don't know the story of the Donner party... Google it... or maybe I'll write about it another day).  

Mike and I have discussed this.  He knows that I'm nervous about driving in the elements out there, but we are preparing as much as we possibly can.  I'll have my Subaru which is all-wheel drive and we are planning to change my current tires for studded snow tires to give me as much traction as possible (and it's worth mentioning that the tire swap will take place BEFORE we even drive up the mountain for the first time).  

Long story short:  I am feeling a little better about driving in the snow but, I will ALWAYS respect the weather and the roads out there.  And, in keeping with the theme of my last post... PLEASE keep praying that we won't need to call the tow-truck companies that are featured in "Hell On The Highway."  

Y'all Pray For Me

It's December... the month of the big move!  It got here SO fast!  Mike recently gave his notice at work.  So, it's official.  No turning back now... we are going.  

I'll post more about where we will be living, etc. on a later date.  In the mean time, I thought I'd share some pictures of last year's snow storm at Tahoe, just to give you all an idea of what we are potentially going to be dealing with... 

  

Enough snow to bury the power lines.  

...all of these pictures are borrowed from TahoeWeatherDiscussion.com  and most of the pictures were taken near Truckee, CA which is just North of Lake Tahoe.  We will be living at the South end of the lake, but don't be fooled into thinking it will warmer.

I'm not joking when I ask for your prayers.  

And these next 2 pictures were taken by Mike.  The first was taken during our trip last November... 

And this second picture was taken during his "boys only" ski trip in January a few years before.  Same cabin... more snow.  

He posted the above picture to facebook a few years ago, with a caption that said: "Blair, if we can move here, I promise to shovel."  Well, get ready to do some shoveling Mike!

We Are MOVING!

We're moving from North Carolina to the Nevada/California state line!  Approximately 3,000 miles away from the only state I have EVER called home.  I hope this blog will keep you all informed during this exciting journey.  

It was one year ago, that Mike and I decided to take an "early" anniversary trip to South Lake Tahoe.  Mike had been there several times before, and it is a place I had dreamed of visiting ever since I saw an HGTV special featuring Squaw Valley Ski Resort.  It just looked so beautiful.  When we arrived last November, it was everything I expected AND MORE!  Here are a few pics from our trip last year: 

Beautiful Emerald Bay 

Carribean blue water of Lake Tahoe

It's hard to explain but we both just felt at "home" in Lake Tahoe.  When we got back to North Carolina, we found ourselves talking about what our lives would be like if we lived there.  One day we just decided, "Let's do it."  So, we started making plans.  And now we are just a few weeks away from carrying out those plans.  We are extremely excited but the move is bittersweet.  We are going to miss our friends and family a lot.  We hope to keep in touch regularly and we welcome any/all visitors!  Until then, I hope to update this blog regularly... with pictures and stories... to keep everyone "posted."  

"I have since become a drifter... and I just can't wait to pack... cause I know the road I leave on... it can always bring me back."  - Brad Paisley