Yikes, it's been a couple months. I'll try to sum up what's been happening.
Pre-move
So, I can't remember much the first couple weeks of August, but I know we were still scrambling to get all the stuff packed before the move date of the 17th. Laura's parents came out to help us a few days before the pack date, which I think was the 15th. Anywho, after the truck came, which was much smaller than I thought it would (it was only a couple of feet longer than the truck I drove out to Portland), it parked in front, we started working on the packing. We got a handtruck and laid out some plywood over the gravel to make it a bit easier for us. First up was the armoire...the dreaded armoire. At least we were getting the worst part done first. And actually, it wasn't all that bad. Not sure why it wasn't this time, maybe because the handtruck helped a little bit. Either way, after that the couch went and some of the other big items. All in all, we were 90% done at the end of the day, probably after 7-8 hours of loading. We finished up the next morning and the truck actually came earlier than expected that afternoon. Good thing we were done.
The move
I knew the worst was still ahead of us...well, at least me. My car was the big issue. No A/C was the killer and it was over 100 through Kansas and Oklahoma. We leave the next day early in the morning, around 7 I think. The first day wasn't bad at all. It was cool throughout the day and opening the windows at times did the trick. We got to somewhere in Idaho, I forget what city. We got there around 8 or 9 I believe.
The next day, we leave early again and head for Laramie. We get there around lunch time, and we ate. Well, I actually stayed at the Walmart parking lot to cool the car down. Just before I got to Laramie, the car started to overheat a little bit. The temperatures outside were getting up there, in the 80s/90s. After we leave Laramie, we were heading to Chris' house. We were also meeting up with my Mom and Ellen too for dinner. About an hour or so before we get to his house, the temps were in the high 90s and I think it even hit 100 or so. My car was hurting. I didn't know whether I should go fast so the radiator is cooled or slower so the engine didn't get too hot. During this time, I was making stops here and there to fill the coolant reservoir up. Finally, we got there and my temp gauge was pretty much at the red "H". Day was done for my car for now.
We grilled dinner and we told my Mom and Ellen about Laura being pregnant. They were happy. Unfortunately, Alicia wasn't there, so we texted her the news and she actually called to congratulate Laura.
Next day rolls around. I already know this day was going to suck, but I underestimated! We leave early and start heading through Denver and Kansas. It was getting warmer but right around the time we cross the border, the heat just shot up and I was uncomfortable. Even the windows open wasn't helping. We stop halfway to Salina to take a break since my car was already overheating. Laura's Mom was nice enough to head to Walmart and get me a water spray bottle with a fan. I didn't use the fan, but after we started off again, the water helped a lot. Probably for an hour or so. But then, I got used to that and it wasn't enough. But, it was weird since now, if i didn't spray myself, it was just too much, even though the spray was warm in itself.
We finally take the road south into Oklahoma. I was miserable. We stopped at a Braum's to cool off. We had like 2-3 hours left I think at this point. Laura continued on, but I had to stop like every hour to fill up on coolant and cool down.
(In hindsight, I think my car would have been fine if I had just replaced my radiator cap. After I got to Oklahoma, I was checking around and saw that my radiator cap was pretty much busted, so it was just leaking/evaporating every time I drove...simple $10 fix...oh well. I'm not sure at what point it busted, but I think it was sometime before I got to Chris' house and before crossing the Kansas border)
At any rate, we all got to our house at like 9 at night. It was dark, but the temps weren't getting any cooler...strange thing. We checked out the house real quick and promptly went to bed. NOW, the worst was over.
Unloading
We had the weekend to relax since the truck was coming Monday morning and if I remember correctly, Laura's Dad was going to come over to help unload on Tuesday. Monday rolls around and the truck comes with the trailer, parks outside and leaves. It was already in the high 90s/100s then, so I only got a few things out. As night fell, I was able to get a few more things out and into the house. Couldn't do much more by myself. I believe Ryan came over that night to help us at least get the mattress and box springs so we could get a good night's sleep. That went easier than we thought since the mattress was on top of everything.
Next day, Laura's Dad arrives and we get started around 8 or 9 or so. Nothing out of the ordinary. I think we were pretty much finished around 3 or 4. Goes a lot quicker when unloading.
Unpacking
Now we had to unpack and organize. Probably the worst part after you move. All in all, it took several weeks to finally be finished with this. There's a bunch of empty boxes in the attic and overall it seems that we have more room to store stuff here than at Portland.
Labor Day Party
A couple of weeks after we moved, Laura's family had a labor day party at their house with friends/family over. It was fun to relax. It was also then we told everyone about the new baby. Now that the fun was over, the fun of job searching began.
The Job Search
Long story short, nothing yet, unfortunately. I've applied to quite a few places now, but they've either filled it or haven't even moved on to the sorting process yet....that or they're ignoring me. I started the week after the Labor Day party, so it's effectively been about 1.5 months after I started. I'm starting to get discouraged, naturally. There aren't many around and the more time that passes, the less time that I will have to work there. If I start November, I'm at around 7 months of work time, factoring in Laura's maternity leave. I still have a couple of promising apps out...we'll see if they even call back.
We've now bought a crib and it's up in the baby room. We need to get a mattress soon. Laura has been filling up the baby registry as well. There's a bunch of stuff to get. I think we signed up for a couple of classes for January or something since it was full already for November. Laura mentioned that it's about halfway through the pregnancy. We still have to decide whether or not to find out the gender!
