The Move

Just wanted to give a quick update. I am finally in Tucson!!! It feels a little surreal... and despite living on my own for so long now, I think this move has actually made me feel really grown up. Every place we've lived we've been at least within a few hours of family, and now we're alone in the desert completely on our own! Scary, but exciting. Daniel will finally be home for good on Monday, and I'm glad our long distance relationship is coming to close.
The moving process itself was a nightmare, but when is it not, I suppose? I certainly haven't experienced a smooth move yet. As I mentioned (or maybe I didn't) I decided to go with a moving company called Broadway Express. The deal is, you pack everything and are in charge of loading and unloading the truck. They only handle transport. It was a little more expensive than a u-haul, but less expensive than a full moving company. We really don't have that much stuff to begin with, but the thought of driving a u-haul by myself with my car being towed was absolutely out of the question. Bringing someone along was going to be too complicated, and well I'm a sucker for convenience. I'll fork out the extra cash that I don't have if it will bring a little more peace of mind. Well, I can't say I received the peace of mind I had hoped for. This is partially my fault. While receiving my quotes from Broadway Express they gave me an estimated delivery date time span. I requested that my stuff be picked up on Monday Feb. 9 and the automatic online quote predicted Monday the 16th as the earliest possible delivery date. Perrrrfect. I wanted to take my time and visit friends along the way, and a week was just barely enough time to do that. After my stuff was loaded up in the truck, the driver said he expected to arrive the 13th. Being frazzled and getting ready to head out myself, I hurriedly nodded and got the heck outta there. First stop Southaven Mississippi. I stayed in the scariest hotel ever. It was a Motel 6. If you are ever in Mississippi, steer clear of the Motel 6's. I know they aren't known for their nice rooms, but I was a little disturbed by the blue stained carpet, and the sheets had holes in them and weren't even the fitted kind. It was just the flat sheet you usually sleep UNDER, but they used that as the bed sheet and tucked it in. I realized this as I was pulling back the covers and accidentally pulled off all the bedding. As I did this, I saw a small creepy crawl thing skitter across my bed. Shiver. Really? I have a phobia of insects folks, so this wasn't a pretty scene. Luckily I had requested a double and so I just decided to sleep in the other bed. Just shivered again. I decided it was best to avoid looking or inspecting the bed and to just go to sleep. It was a restless night and I kept thinking insects were crawling up and down my legs. Needless to say, I survived unscathed and unbitten.
Next stop: Beaumont Texas. Beaumont is where my best friend from middle school Holli and her family resides. I stayed two nights and had a great time! We hadn't seen eachother sincer her wedding, which was like...4-5 years ago? We have been through thick and thin together and she is like a sister to me. I got to meet her 3 year old Gabi for the first time, and man she is everything her mother blogs about. :) You can't resist that charm at all! During my stay in Beaumont it occurred to me that the mover had said he would arrive in Tucson on the 13th, which at the time I presumed to be the following Monday...not Friday. I called my driver to confirm this and when he did I told him I wouldn't get their until Friday night and so the earliest I could unload was Saturday morning. He wasn't too pleased with this and neither was I especially since my quote said I had until Monday. After doing a little digging, I found on my FINAL quote that the earliest delivery date did indeed say the 13th. Feeling a little foolish, but still unable to make it to Tucson in time I chaotically sought to make other arrangements so that the delivery could be completed on the 13th and the driver could go and make his other deliveries. Throughout this whole process the driver was very short and rude. I did manage to make the arrangements and informed my driver that somebody from my church would be able to meet him to unload the stuff, and the my apartment complex agreed to unlock the door for them and also sign for the delivery. I told the driver that the guy helping us would be there at 9 am. The driver responded very rudely that he wanted to get there at 8. I told him unfortunately my apartment complex office doesn't open until 9 so there wouldn't even be anywhere to put the stuff if he got there at 8. Aside from that, Broadway Express gives you 3 hours to unload, and it certainly wasn't going to take three hours. 1 hour TOPS. Well he was VERY upset by this information and hung up on me and my husband. WOW. I couldn't believe he was freaking out about starting an hour later when the unloading wasn't going to even take that long and he knew it. I couldn't believe how rude this guy was to us, and any hopes of him getting any kind of tip at all went out the window and I don't feel bad about it. So if you're planning on moving I don't recommend Broadway Express. It wasn't worth the money, and the customer service is terrible.
Anyways, once that was somewhat resolved my next stop was San Antonio, TX! I stayed with relatives that I haven't seen since I was a baby, and while I was nervous to meet them, I'm very glad that I decided to stop and see them. I met my cousin Marie who is a couple of years older than me and I just love her. She is so sweet and smart, and I wish we lived closer so we could hang out! I also got to see some very good friends from BYU- Alex and Monica. Alex introduced Daniel and I, and so we love him! I got to meet Monica face to face and she is so beautiful and funny, and it is now my mission to convince them to move to Tucson so that the four of us can hang out all the time. They took me to downtown San Antonio and showed me a few of the sites. It is an amazing city with so much history and beauty. I wish I could've had more time to appreciate what San Antonio has to offer. I definitely plan on going back with Daniel so that we can enjoy it together.
Final stops: Artesia, NM to pick up Daniel and continued to Tucson, AZ. What an exhausting day for both of us. Bless Daniel's heart, after a long day at work he drove straight to Tucson. I fought to stay awake, but the last couple of hours the battle was lost.
So now here I am. My apartment is complete chaos, but is slowly coming together. I managed to lose my 130 dollar bluetooth and my digital camera during the trip, but I'm trying not to beat myself up about it. We have accumulated quite a bit more debt from moving. Moving does that folks. It sucks. It really does, but it's all worth it. I'm together with my husband, the most wonderful loving patient man on this earth, and I am happy. I am currently looking for a part time job and will hopefully get financial aid to start back at school this summer term at Pima Community College. This was supposed to be a quick update, but has become very long winded. I apologize. I shouldn't let such a big lapse in my blogging happen again :)