This is admittedly an entirely too-long account of our 10-day move from Texas to Salt Lake. This post started out as just being a photo dump, but something in me wanted to document it. You'd be forgiven if you only looked at the pictures --this one is probably not for many ;).
Packing up
After cleaning up from my going away party (definitely one of the best nights of my life) and then saying goodbye to my parents as they flew back to Iowa, Nate and I set to cleaning and packing for a full four days. Our days were full of friends dropping by to say hello and goodbye, disassembling, patching, painting, and all the last minute errands to enable the rest.
Our move date was flexible, and we leaned into that. We didn't exactly take our time, but we also didn't let ourselves get stressed. I had significantly miscalculated how long it would take to move out of a 250 square foot apartment. I figured that a place so small could be packed up easily in a few days, including the many repairs I owed the walls (worth it, y'all).
We intended to take off on a Saturday, but pretty early on that day, realized the chances of us making it out were slim. I still hadn't even taken down the bed or painted over the mural. We were lucky and grateful for Nate's parents to offer for us to stay with them. My neighbor Patricia was the MVP of the move, helping Nate move all the heavy boxes as I packed.
Hitting the Road, kinda sorta
The night we finished packing, after spending a few heavy minutes in the apartment, and getting one last hug from Patricia and Kryn, we hit the road for Cypress, TX. Yes, a whole 15 miles made up the first leg of the trip. Before I set course, I stopped next door to give a last goodbye to my sweet neighbors John and Katy. I've liked them since I moved in next door to them three years ago, and in the past year, I've gotten to know them better and grew to care deeply about them.
Cypress was a sweet stop. We were greeted characteristically by Nate's parents with a heaping plate of delicious food that totally hit the spot. We showered off and got a full night of sleep, and a slow morning with his parents and sister before actually setting of on our journey around 1pm.
That first day, we made it all the way to Amarillo, Texas. We stopped at one of those roadside visitor centers and crawled into the back of Nate's car on top of crash pads, and both ptfo hard. Bird was relocated from my car to Nate's front passenger seat, where I could give her scratches until we both fell asleep.
Denver + Emotional Breakdowns + Friends
The next day, our goal was to make it to Denver by dinnertime, where we were staying with our friends Chad and Katy. We had plenty of time, so on the way
out of Amarillo, we grabbed an irresponsibly oversized breakfast at the most delightfully small-town Texas diner we had ever seen. I'm not sure what we were thinking on that decision--we set out on the second day of our journey in a food coma, but stoked.
By the time we got to Denver 7 hours later, I felt completely loopy. The past week had been such a blur. My body was sore from all the moving then sitting and driving, and my mind was pulled in so many directions. Suddenly we were house-guests, high maintenance ones at that, with my bird and my plants (which I had to relocate into their garage as the temperatures hit freezing one night). I felt mentally and physically disheveled, and unable to make small talk and fake smiles. I was just beginning to process our departure from Houston, and I could barely articulate our next moves. I had only a single picture of the house we were moving into in Salt Lake just days later. My heart was aching and I was feeling raw, and far from settled.
Luckily, Chad and Katy are as kind as they are welcoming. The morning after we arrived, they took us climbing at their home gym. Something on the drive there triggered me and it became impossible to hide my emotions. While the others climbed, I walked outside and let emotions flow through me and cried. Nate found me as I came back to the gym, having unfairly been the target of my emotions that I didn't fully comprehend and had misdirected, and held me as we talked. After drying my tears, and Nate reassuring me I didn't look as I had been crying, I reentered the gym. Sitting on the gym mats, Chad grabbed my hand, Katy smiling next to him, and they let me know they understood. It felt good to realize that I hadn't left all my people in Houston. That I had people there next to me, and in so many places.
The rest of our time in Denver was fun. Chad and Katy foster kittens, so we spent time in the basement with the cats, watched World Cups, took naps and played games. We also swung the Tension shop I met Nate's friend Will Anglin, who runs the company, and I got to see Kerry Scott, who's the raddest and baddest and sweetest. The visit was very cool and we got to see the products and projects they have brewing. As has been the case with all things entrepreneurial lately, I felt very inspired hearing about how Will's running his business.
Mountain House
At last, we had overstayed our welcome with Chad and Katy, and we departed for Summit County, Colorado. I'm lucky that my parents have a house out there, and they suggested we stop there on the course of our move. I actually had some furniture stored in their garage that I wanted to pick up at some point, and hadn't even considered stopping there on the way. It ended up being the saving grace of the journey. What privilege and luxury to just take a pause in the course of moving.
Our Pod wasn't scheduled to be delivered to SLC for another several days, so we unpacked our cars and took over the house. Our stay was cozy, and quiet, and warm. We had long days filled with walks outdoors, phone calls with family and friends, book reading. Nate worked (as a remote coach, he still carried a workload each day). I started planning documents on Syd's Fab Shop. We both did our taxes, we stretched and played Bananagrams, and we ate far too much frozen pizza and lasagna. One night, imbued with the confidence of two glasses of red wine, cut a good 12 inches from Nate's beautiful mane. We were both equally surprised that the result wasn't disastrous.
The day before we were supposed to depart, we heard from Melissa, the homeowner of the house we're renting in Salt Lake (I can't bring myself to say landlord). She was panicked that the renovations on the house weren't complete. So boo hoo! We stayed a few more days, and thoroughly enjoyed our time. Again, we felt so much gratitude for our situation.
Finally, SLC
Finally, we made it to Salt Lake on April 20th. We saw the house for the first time, and I saw my soon-to-be workshops for the first time. I could barely contain how excited I was. The house was way bigger than I imagined, and certainly way larger than the 250 square foot shoebox in which we started this epic.
We were greeted by Rory and Mike, who were complete angels and helped us move more than half of the contents of our Pod. Both of them each also brought over generous heaps of groceries, that contained the perfect mix of junk food and veggies. My ex-boss Chris stopped by with a homemade loaf of sour dough. How the hell he made time, with his insanely busy job, a brand new baby, and home renovations, to make me a loaf of bread, I don't know, but it made it all the more special. And I devoured that bread.
We finished out the night on the porch eating burritos from a place down the road. Mike and Rory treated, and we felt like royalty. An entire house, workshop, storage space and friends and family that showed up on day 1--my heart felt as full and lucky on our arrival as it had on our departure.
The whole journey was like that, really. Just feeling incredibly lucky, and rich with moments of deep appreciation, and love. Love between Nate and myself, from our families that have been so supportive throughout our move, from our Houston friends, to our Colorado friends, to our Utah friends. It feels surreal, and I feel so full of life.
What an incredible position in which to find myself starting my most exciting chapter yet. Yeeeeeeah. :')