Jordan is particular about moving day. And I should know - we met on my moving day back in 2004. The first time we spoke to each other was on the phone in regards to my move - from a single bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom apartment within the same complex. He had been called by a church leader to see if he could help me move. Jordan called me to offer his help. And I specifically remember him asking, "What kind of move is this?" I told him it was kind of simple because my two homes were so close. And then he asked something along the lines of "Is everything packed?" It wasn't at the time, but I knew it'd be fine. The next day, my moving day, I went in to work feeling sick. My principal told me to go home. I slept until 10am, and I spent the rest of the day packing. (Thank goodness I went home sick and then felt better! - If I hadn't packed for those 5 hours or so before Jordan got there, things might not have worked out so well between us! ;) ) Thankfully, Jordan was immediately smitten with my good looks and didn't mind helping - a lot - with my move. He even stuck around after the other guys left and helped with the things that some of my girlfriends were helping with. And since that first day of my move, the rest of the moves in my life have been our moves. Aaaaahh, sweet love story. But I digress!
Before all of our other moves we've had together (5 if you count moving in together when we got married but don't count moving to College Station), we've worked together to get things ready. And by that I mean that we've both been available to pack boxes. But this move was different. And that's because anesthesia school is different. It's hard to understand unless you've experienced it, but being in anesthesia school and studying for the boards did not allow Jordan to pack boxes this time. I knew it would be that way, so I started packing months ago. But during those last 2 weeks, I felt like all I did was pack. Pack, pack, and pack some more. Really. Enough already! :-) But with the help of some friends, (just about) all of the boxes were finally packed. Jordan took (and passed!) his boards on Saturday afternoon. We celebrated with a nice dinner out that evening. Sunday we met Jordan's mom and sister halfway between Houston and Baton Rouge to deliver Claire and one of our cars to them. Sunday afternoon we packed up our computer and a few other random things. And Jordan was impressed with how little there was left to do. Monday morning we picked up the truck. The nearly torrential rains that had been pouring for nearly 2 weeks straight eased up to a light mist for the 3 hours it took for two professionals and Jordan to load our truck. (Seriously - while we were signing the papers to pay once they were finished, the rain started pouring again. Prayers are answered!) Monday afternoon we cleaned our empty house. And all the while, Jordan continued to be impressed with how smoothly everything was going. Everything was done. Everything was finished. He had done his job; he graduated and then passed the boards. And I had done my job; the house was packed, moving plans were in place, and we were right on schedule to move! (But let me say that preparing for a move like this by yourself is not for the faint of heart!) Monday night we ate dinner at Sammy's. I had the red beans & rice. I love their red beans and rice! And Jordan had some crawfish. How nice that the crawfish season started just in time for Jordan to get some before we left!
Monday night we checked into a hotel and slept. Tuesday morning we got up early enough to enjoy some beignets from Coffee Call one more time. These are so good! (And I love that my Grandmom Griffin stopped at this same beignet place with her family when they would travel between Houston and Birmingham! That's so cool!)
And it was pouring again. Pouring. Then we went back to our house to unplug the deep freeze and put it - with all of its deer-meat goodness inside - on the truck. Just as we arrived, we noticed it was only sprinkling. Again, prayers were answered. Jordan used some kind of muscles to get that massively heavy freezer up the big ramp and shimmy it into the corner spot that was open. I won't lie. I was a little scared. He was pulling it up the ramp, and I was doing what I could to steady it as I followed it up the ramp. At one point, when Jordan was taking a breather, he said, "If I say get out of the way, then you jump off and get out of the way." I said okay, but I was thinking of my legs getting crushed by that full-to-the-brim freezer! Thankfully, Jordan managed somehow, and he closed the door and locked the truck.
We snapped a quick photo before we left town, and I think we both felt excited and sad. We're so excited to start this new chapter of our life. And we're sad to say goodbye to the great friends we made here.
.JPG)
I believe we were on the road at 8:02am. At the LA-TX border, Jordan put the truck flashers on and I honked my horn. Love it! Thankfully, we made it safely to College Station around 2:30pm. We began unloading some things. Just when we were getting to the big stuff we couldn't manage very easily with just the two of us, (it was 10 'til 5pm at this point), the missionaries in our new ward showed up to help and went straight to work. - We had to tell them they could take off their backpacks first! They were a great help. A little bit later, two other guys showed up to help. One of the guys was dropped off by his wife. Before she drove away, she offered to bring us dinner the following night. By 6pm, everything was inside. And someone else showed up to help. He probably came just from work, but everything was already unloaded. Talk about awesome.
That night we ate dinner at Rosa's, and we went to HEB to grab some milk and some bread. What a great beginning!
And to sum it all up, here's my facebook post from that morning:
Louisiana - you've been good to us! Thanks for the friends, the memories, & Jordan's diploma. Texas - here we come! Here's to new experiences, new friends, & Jordan's new job!! Let the good times roll!
.JPG)
