May 14, 2011

Here we go. Time to say our goodbyes.  It never felt like this time in our lives would ever come.  When Wes and I found out he’d be stationed in Ft Lewis over a year ago, we thought, “That’s forever away!”  And boy, has time flown by.  In the last year and a half we’ve gotten engaged AND married, moved 3 times, and spent 4 months apart from each other.  If we can handle that, then we can handle anything together! 

All of a sudden we’re packing all of our things, watching our lives put into boxes and into a storage unit.  If you’ve never done that, it’s rough.  But we made it through it because we’re together! (As corny as that sounds!)

After Wes got done with his training we came home to Delaware to visit with my parents for a few days and get our things together for the big 40 hour drive across our country.  It was a crazy couple of days, filled with car washes, unloading luggage, Reloading suitcases, laundry and long “to do” lists.  We were so glad to have two days to leave all of that behind and visit Wes’s wonderful parents in Toledo.  We spent two full days with them, reminiscing, laughing, and most importantly, EATING!  Friday night, the 13^th, Joanie had a wonderful “Goodbye Open House” that was more than we ever expected.   We had tons of people there, reliving moments from our wedding (which was 8 months ago already!).  It was such a wonderful evening with a wonderful family.  We had our wedding video playing in the living room, tons of food in the kitchen, and lots of memories passed around. 

After all of the festivities died down, Wes and I took to a bonfire in the backyard, made by my lovely brother in law.  Matt and Kari Purdy joined us, and so did Sara.  We played a game of Charades, (we made our own categories).  Some of the items that were acted out were “Space Ship”, “Koolaid”, and “Mrs. Doubtfire”.  We were out until 3AM, playing and laughing, enjoying our last night in Perrysburg with our best friends and our fantastic siblings.

Today, the 14^th, was a really rainy day.  We were cooped up in the house most of the day, but there was never a dull moment.  John smoked amazing venison burgers on his NEW grill and we had a wonderful outdoor lunch, including Zack.  We sat around the house, playing Scrabble, looking at pictures from Wes’s training, and talking about all of the cool stuff we’re going to do in Washington (especially when the Moosmans come visit)!  We even had time to visit the “Neighborhood Garage Sale” going on across the street from the house.  Wes and I scored a really great vanity table for our new place, Sara got a new mountain bike, and Dan got a new bike rack!  We all won with one good deal or another.

It was so incredibly hard to say goodbye.  After the car was loaded and the stuff was all packed, we spent the next few minutes saying our goodbyes.  Lots of tears and smiles, even some laughter, made for a memorable farewell (including a kiss for me from Peanut)!!!

Looks like rain on the way back to Delaware too.  It’s around 10pm and we’re on the road.   Wish we could’ve stayed forever in Perrysburg, but we can’t afford to go AWOL now.  J 

I’m going to keep this journal going throughout our trip.  It’s easy to type while Wes drives.  J