Ar-Kansas

We've been here for two weeks, and it feels like we just moved here. It's been absolutely CRAZY (hence going incognito for two weeks...).

The Car Ride

Remind me to never drive a car with 3 large dogs across the country. Never. The drive itself wasn't too bad, but we probably would have made better time if we didn't have to stop all the time. We stopped every couple hours to give the dogs some "stretch" time and to let them relieve themselves. They didn't eat the whole time (about a day), but they drank lots of water. Chewy had the hardest time compared to the other two. Luke and Leia slept most of the way, mainly because I gave Leia calming pills (about 6...). I gave Chewy some, but he's so big, I don't think it took as much as an effect as it did for Leia. Anywho, he refused to stand or sleep in the car. During our drive through the night, I saw that he kept dozing off, but then snapped his head back up. Poor kid. He was so stiff and was more than excited when we stopped.
Michael drove about 80% of it. I feel like such a wimp. I've driven across the states so many times, so I was confident in my abilities to drive during the night, but I could not keep awake to save my life. I drove from 12-2 and the entire time I was dancing and singing really loudly so that I could concentrate. Finally Michael just took over and drove all night. In the morning I tried to take over, but again, I just couldn't keep awake. I would literally slap myself as hard as I could to try and stay awake... I felt so pathetic. Poor Michael...
Walmart luckily was able to ship our car to Arkansas, so we got to rent a new Jeep Cherokee.

I absolutely love that car! If we ever get in a position to buy one, I would do it in a heart beat. It is HUGE on the inside (enough room to fit me lying down and three dogs all lying down), it was super quiet on the highway, and it drove super smooth. Love it. LOOOOVE it.

The First Week
We moved here two Saturdays ago and the first week was spent sleeping on an air mattress (thanks to my wonderful and amazing in-laws) and having no furniture. That week was honestly horrible for me. It's not that I hated sleeping on an air mattress, that was actually really comfortable. I think the bad thing about it was that we didn't have our stuff and we didn't have internet or cable. It was also hard trying to adjust to my new job. Orientation was.. interesting. I was excited to actually start work, but it's frustrating because of how much I don't know. I love getting so comfortable with a job that you're able to answer any question and handle any job. I know that knowledge of my job will come with time, but I'm not very patient. As Michael says about me: when I want something, I don't want it now, I wanted it 2 minutes ago.
Anywho, we finally got our stuff Tuesday (it was suppose to be Monday, but I guess people want to do things to shorten my life) and we unpacked everything that same day. It was EXHAUSTING. If we move in 2 years, it'll be too soon. I don't want to move ever again, but since we're renting, that's not really an option. I want to live in our rental for a while, so hopefully we can save up enough money to find a house that we can live in for the rest of our lives. I know this is a lot to ask for, but a girl can dream. Anywho, after we got everything unpacked, the internet and cable came on Wednesday. I love cable. I love watching basketball on my couch in my sweats with my pups sleeping on the floor in front of me. I've learned to never take the little things for granted. Especially cable.

 We're cheering for them... I love me some Durantula.

The backyard is pretty awesome and the dogs are loving it. We wanted to have them sleep outside at night, but that was scratched off our list the first night. Our backyard is bordering a small forest so the dogs are constantly hearing noises. Leia has assumed the responsibility of barking at every noise she hears, so we try to keep her inside at night as much as possible. We bought them a small plastic pool to splash in when it gets hot, and Chewy decided to give it a go yesterday. The water was a dark brown after about 2 minutes in it. We're going to have to rethink that.

Ugh, there is so much more! I need to never miss out so long on writing on here. We'll take some pictures once we get more furniture and decorations (which we are doing, so help me!). We bought a car today! :), pictures to come.

Peace.

And HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! I love anything that celebrates the armed forces. I love and respect the men and women in the military. Honestly, anyone who gives their lives for someone like me to sit on this computer and write what I want and when I want is my hero. I enjoy all the freedoms I have because of other people.

Moving Day T-3 days

3 more days until we drive out of Utah!

Things I still need to do:
- Finish packing things the movers can't pack
- Clean everything/everywhere (except for 2/3 bedrooms)
- Pack the dog's food and water
- Call the rental place to let them know we're coming early
- Call our current renter to come check our place
- Pick up dog poop
- Clean out garage
- Do a final load of laundry
- Work 8 more hours for my part-time job
- Get our car checked/fixed (the brakes have been making weird noises)
- Find people to take our food that we can't take
- Eat a TON of chicken

.... and it goes on. I keep making little lists, but they keep getting bigger so I throw them away to make news ones. And then I lose them. So I make other lists to keep track of my lists. And then I sit at home and eat because I don't know how else to cope with my migraines. I want to get started on the cleaning because I know that will take the longest. I cleaned 2 bedrooms and I cleaned our 2nd bathroom (Michael said it still looks dirty... what does he know), and it took me 3 1/2 hours! I can't even imagine what the rest of the house (which includes our bedroom, bathroom, closet, hallway, main living room, kitchen, lower living room, storage closet, laundry room, and garage) will take. Whatever... some miracle will happen, I'm sure of it...

Anywho, on Sunday I started shaving Chewy (he has like 3 layers of really thick fur) and our hair buzzer thing broke because of all the hair he has. We only got about half way so for about a day he looked like he had a mohawk. We finally finished shaving him yesterday, and he looks ridiculous. We left his legs furry and his head furry, so he kind of has the lion effect going on. We had to buy some sunscreen also, because the big guy has sensitive skin (which has never been exposed to the sun). On some places I shaved too close... so he has some red marks. He's set for Arkansas though, so maybe he'll be happy with me once he feels how hot it can get there.

I'll post pictures later.

Post Operation

MY MOUTH HURTS!

But not that bad actually. The pain medication does a great job helping me feel better. The problem is, I keep getting sucked into this false security of feeling that my mouth doesn't hurt anymore, but after the drugs wear off, the pain comes back and I remember that I have to keep taking my meds. I thought I would feel almost 100% today, but there isn't much improvement from yesterday. Monday was probably the worst pain, but I kept taking my meds so I just slept most of Monday. Tuesday was nice because I had sleeping/waking intervals. I would sleep for 2 hours then be awake for 2 hours. Why can't every day be like that?

JK, that would be extremely boring. Anywho, the operation went off without any bumps. My back right tooth snapped in half while they were trying to get it out (the sound really freaked me out...), so they had to cut into my gum to take out the roots. Apart from that, I didn't really swell. It's weird feeling the holes in the back of my mouth. I keep tasting blood, so that's getting old... and I'm tired of eating applesauce.

The meds make me a little loopy and really tired, so I'm hoping I can fight through it for work. It would be kind of awkward if I started mumbling weird things to any students that come in...

I was looking at Michael's facebook, and this picture caught my eye:

This is my tender, little Luke. This picture makes me want to punch things. He is so cute. My puhpuh's were great companions the past couple days... so I'm grateful for the time Luke spent to snuggle up with me. He's my little cuddle bug.