Arriving in Texas and Living in Limbo

~Saturday, December 1^st~

As I mentioned last week, we crossed into Texas at 5:15 p.m. on December 1^st. We drove straight to our new house to drop off a few things before heading to my Dad’s apartment. We were supposed to move into the new house on Monday the 3^rd. But the moving van with all our things had to go to Louisiana first so it wouldn’t arrive until Thursday the 6^th. We decided it would be better for all of us to camp out in Dad’s 2- bedroom, fully furnished apartment rather than camping out at the house all week.

But we kids hadn’t seen the house yet and we also needed to drop off a few things. Which is why we headed there first.

We arrived right at sunset. The colors were absolutely gorgeous! When Dad stopped to open the gate, several of us kids jumped out and ran up the driveway.

Roma running up the drive and Mom driving the van up from the gate.

We stayed at the house for about an hour unpacking the cleaning supplies and other items we wouldn’t need at the apartment. We also called about a dozen people to let them know that we had arrived safely.

Then we went over to Dad’s apartment and finished unpacking and got the pets all settled.

We went out to Chick-fil-A for dinner. I am so excited that we have one in town! I’ve always loved the restaurant—especially the fact that it’s a Christian-run establishment—but we’ve never had one nearby.

In the car on our way back to the apartment, we skyped with Uncle Paul and Aunt Noelle. It was so good to “see” and talk with them again! J

~Sunday, December 2^nd~

On Sunday morning we attended our first service at our new church. Dad’s been attending this Bible Church since he arrived in Texas, and he really loved it. They had the grand opening of their very first building the Sunday we were there (they have been meeting in a Christian school for the past several years.) After service, we had a brunch. It was nice to meet new people and put faces with the names Dad had told us about.

That afternoon we girls tagged along with Dad to return his rental car to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. The drive to Dallas was beautiful despite the heavy traffic. Dallas is a HUGE city and we didn’t even see downtown!

That evening we went over to the house again. I’m in love with this place already!

We found a few unexpected guests inside the house: 2 scorpions. One was dead in the kitchen (above); the other was sauntering through the front hall. I do NOT want to get stung by one of these guys. I think we’ll have someone come out and spray SOON.

This is the view of our backyard. Isn’t it stunning with the sunset?

Dad and Roma walking down to the pecan grove in the front.

I love country roads!

That evening we kids did something I don’t think we’ve ever done before, but desperate times call for desperate measures. A friend recommended that we watch “Dog with a Blog” on the Disney channel so we did. It was actually pretty funny!

~Monday, December 3^rd~

Monday was spent mostly at the apartment relaxing, doing school work, and catching up on things. I can’t believe I could sit outside and do my devotions in December! The temperatures were in the upper 70’s most of the day.

That evening Mom and Dad went to Life Group while I babysat the kids. We watched some TV, and when Mom and Dad came home, Dad took me out to Starbucks so I could do some blog posts and emails.

~Tuesday, December 4^th~

Tuesday morning we went over to the house because a gentleman was coming to hook up our home phone (and the Orkin man was coming out to investigate the house following the scorpion incident.) While we were there we decided it would be a good time to clean the house thoroughly before all our things arrived Thursday. I took over the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed all the carpeted floors, stairwells, blinds, and window sills. How I love our Dyson!

While we were cleaning someone noticed cows in the pasture across the street from us! It sounds utterly ridiculous, but something about seeing herds of cattle thrills my little heart! J That didn’t happen in Michigan. There’s just something about Texas bovine that just seems more attractive to me! J

Have any of you ever seen a brown recluse spider before? Well, now you’ve seen one! J The Orkin man found this guy in the garage. They will be coming out to spray ASAP! Thankfully, this little guy appears to be the lonely bachelor living here. I’m hoping that the scorpions and the spiders are a result of the house sitting vacant for awhile.

Apparently we have acquired a new pet. Amigo (our name for him), the basset hound from next door, has decided that our house is as good as his. He has been there every single time we’ve come, and hung out on our porch almost the whole morning. In fact, when someone opened the door for the Orkin man, he trotted right in like it was his house! He likes to chase cars, and guard our house in his spare time.

When we left the house for the day, we stopped by the post office in our little town and decided to explore the downtown area (about a mile long strip of road with shops lining either side.) We found a delightful shop that sells neat little gifts, has a bakery, and best of all, an old-fashioned soda fountain! We simply couldn’t pass up a stop at a soda fountain.

We really enjoyed our treats! We tried everything from Strawberry sodas, to Root Beer floats, to chocolate malts, to peaches and cream milkshakes!

We also stopped by the public library on our way out. We noticed a little antique and firearm shop that was closed, but we will SOON be stopping there. J

Despite living in limbo while we wait for our things to arrive from Michigan, we’re making the best of it and have had lots of fun spending time at our new house and exploring our corner of Texas!