This Old Church House: Moving In

Dustin and I lived in a little one bedroom apartment in Orange County when we first got married. It was only for about a year. Since then, we have moved 6 times. I'm not sure anyone enjoys moving. I for one hate it and this move was probably the hardest. Leaving my dream home was tough, for lots of reasons, but one being because it was a place where I was very organized and had a place to store everything (built-in bookcases, closets, cabinets, drawers, etc.). Here, because it's technically not a house with regular closets, bathroom shelves, etc., I didn't even know where to start putting stuff. The weekend we moved in, I was numb. I felt paralyzed. We didn't even know where to start. I imagine now it was a good thing I felt numb...it kept me from totally freaking out.

The first official night we slept here was a memorable one. We knew it was cold inside when we first looked at the house and a number of times visiting the place before we actually moved in. But, I guess it wasn't THAT bad....not enough to make it a real priority....until we had to spend the night! That first night we moved in kept getting colder and colder the later it got. Dustin got bundled up and went down to the basement to figure out how to turn the pilot switch thing on but couldn't get it working. We finally gave up, put on our thermals and jumped in bed. I could feel a steady cold breeze coming in so I got up to find the draft source. Oh, and I found them! Dustin vowed that the next day he would get some weather stripping for the door and exclaimed through chattering teeth, "If we can just make it through the night." He was being serious but it struck me so funny I couldn't stop laughing...when you think about the hardships of the pioneers, homeless people, etc....I said, "I think we're going to make it!!!" So, now the joke is to say as dramatically as possible, "If we can just....make it...through the night!!!!"

Getting ready for church that first Sunday was also memorable. I was barely able to find a hung up dress. There was no mirror anywhere close to an electric outlet so I blow dried my hair by memory. Where there WAS a mirror, there was no light so I had to put on my make-up by memory too. It's a wonder I even I looked half-way presentable for church....at 8:30 a.m.!!

Ethan & Ellie were very excited about sleeping in the castle fort. We told them they could sleep there for the whole first week. Here they are huddled together with a little space heater watching a movie before bed. They thought this was better than a camp out. Ethan got top bunk......

Well, at least Dustin got HIS clothes in the closet. Other than that, I was barely finding a path to walk all weekend not knowing where to even start. Yes, that's our Christmas tree in our bedroom....

So, not only was it hard to find a place to put all our kitchen stuff, we had to find a place for a range/oven unit. Luckily Papa and Grandma Mimi came to help us move in/rescue us. Papa drilled holes through the cabinets, cut out drywall, and brought in an outlet for the stove in the best place we could think of. He hooked us up and then had to patch up the wall after. What would we have done without him? And, what would we have done without friends bringing us the most amazing meals in the middle of this chaos? I will forever remember this kindness as it is permanently etched on my heart!!......

Papa and Dustin (yes, Dustin actually helped....he didn't just supervise while drinking his diet Coke as Papa did all the work) took out a huge bump in the wall plaster (it's the old lathe and plaster they used in the "olden days") and put in a new piece of drywall. Being the experienced drywall mudder too, Papa textured the walls smoothing out the bumps and uneven, rough texturing.....