Always Remember, Patience is a Virtue

I have always considered myself to be a woman of faith. In everything that I do, I put my hope into a higher power that I am living as I should and walking the path that has been laid out before me. I also believe that everything happens for a reason. So on the day that we were due to fly out Atlanta and we almost didn't make it, I must admit that my faith was shaken.

Ever since I found out that we were going to be moving to Georgia, I never questioned if this was the right place for us. I knew that if God had brought us to it, he would bring us through it. So we had planned and prepared to the tenth degree to make sure the entire moving process went as smoothly as possible. We were scheduled to fly out on December 28 on the 6:30 a.m. flight from Peoria to Atlanta where we would pick up our rental car and drive down to Hampton to meet our realtor at our new house. On the evening of December 27, we had all of our things packed back up into our bags from celebrating Christmas at home with our families in Georgia. Since our cars had been packed up in Peoria and were in the process of being shipped, my parents drove us from Decatur to our hotel in Peoria. We stopped by Clint's mom's house and said our goodbyes and picked up Sarabi and then we were off.

On the way to the airport, Clint asked the one question that we had slightly overlooked. Was there a special kennel that we needed to have for Sarabi? We had already visited our vet and gotten her some sleepy medicine and had him fill out all of the paperwork that we would need to show at the airport so that she could fly. I quickly called Delta, and told them about the kind of kennel that we currently had and asked if that would meet their requirements. To our relief, the nice lady on the phone said that since it was just a short regional flight (about an hour and twenty minutes) we wouldn't need to worry about the kennel requirements. What a relief we thought, but we had no idea how wrong we were.

We woke up at about 4:15 a.m on the 28th so that we could get ourselves and Sarabi ready for the trip. Our taxi driver met us downstairs in the lobby at 5:00 a.m. and we were off to the airport. Everything was going so smoothly until we walked up to the counter, and were greeted by the most unfriendly rep I have ever had to deal with. She quickly informed us that Sarabi's kennel did not meet the requirements to fly and we would not be allowed on the plane. We spent a good fifteen minutes arguing with her about the call that we had just made the night before, but she told us there was nothing she could do. We were stranded. No car. No flight. Totally stuck. So I did the first thing I could think. I hailed another taxi and asked him to drive me to the closest WalMart to see if we could find another kennel for Sarabi so that we could get on the plane.

To my luck, I had the best taxi driver in the Peoria area. I told him what was happening and soon it was like we were on a high-speed car chase. He drove as fast as he could to the WalMart in East Peoria and waited for me outside as I sprinted through the store like a crazy person to find a kennel that would actually work. When I got to the kennels there was one left. An extra large. Awesome. It was much bigger than what we needed, but at this point I honestly didn't care. I grabbed the kennel and ran back to the taxi. We flew through the dark streets of Peoria and arrived back at the airport at exactly 6:27 a.m. where we were told by the super nice and helpful Delta representative that we would not be able to board the place because everything was already closed up. We asked her when the next flight out of Peoria was only to be told that they were all full and she couldn't help us. The best she could do was to get on a flight out of Midway at 1:30 p.m. So with all our bags, a drugged up dog and a very angry husband, we rented a car and started the drive to Midway.

When we arrived, it was another nightmare. It had started to snow on our way up there and the car return center was a madhouse. But even through the midst of all our trouble, we did have some bright spots. A wonderful man who worked for national loaded Clint, Sarabi and I up into a minivan and drove us up to the terminal instead of making us lug our bags onto the bus. When we got to the check-in counter, another very nice man helped us get all of the paperwork done for Sarabi, get all our luggage checked-in and made sure that we were set to go. We ate some lunch and finally were able to board the plane. It was the longest hour of lives because we were so worried about how Sarabi was doing down below. But when we arrived in Atlanta, she was in one piece and as happy as a clam. We grabbed our rental car and took off for Hampton. We finally thought the day was turning in our favor, until we got to the house. Our realtor met us and started to do the final walk-through with us and broke the news to us that our heat was not working, nor was the stove and we had no hot water. "Did you turn the gas on?", she said.............no. No, we hadn't. No big deal though, we would just stay in a hotel for the night and call the gas company in the morning. At least we had all made it down safe and we finally had the keys to our new house. If we only knew then what we know now, we probably wouldn't have slept as peacefully that first night. Until next time!

xoxo,

Clint & Kate

Moving + Blizzard = Disaster

Our move finally happened on December 20. So far during the month of December, the weather had been very pleasant. Not super warm, not super cold and most importantly, no snow! But of course, just as our luck would have it, the day that we were scheduled to move out of our apartment, was also the day that was forecasted for the first big snow of the season. The day started out fairly nice. The movers showed up at our place at about 8:30 a.m. and began to pack the boxes. I thought that this process was going to make me nervous; watching complete strangers pack up all of our belongings and worry if they were going to break, get lost, etc. However, I was surprisingly calm. Our movers were great. So nice and very thorough. They made sure to wrap everything very carefully which you will be able to see and enjoy the results of later. In addition to the movers, we had a whole crew of our own in the apartment. Everyone was very helpful as you can see.

My helpful moving crew

Even though we have known about this move for about four months, and have been doing TONS of prep work for it, it really hadn't hit me yet that we were really leaving. During the moving process that day, I had a moment of heartache as I watched all our of belongings from our first place together, a place that I had loved living in, being boxed up and taken away. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was off to bigger and better things for the Schlosser family.

We were watching the sky throughout the day and it quickly went from grey and cloudy to a total whiteout in a matter of about 30 minutes. Up until this point, our moving crew had been making great progress, but the snow and wind really started to slow them down. The stairs up to our third floor apartment turned into a wind tunnel and they were getting tossed around the corners as they tried to carry down our big items. When the man came to pick up Clint's truck, he couldn't even write down the condition that it was in because it was so covered in snow that he couldn't see it! They finally finished up and left Clint and I alone with an empty apartment around 4:30 p.m. Here are some glimpses of our big moving day.



Guest room all packed up and ready to go!



And the blizzard begins!

Once everything was finished up, Clint and I had to make the quick decision about where we wanted to spend the night. We had three options. 1.) we could sleep on the floor of our empty apartment with no clothes, no food and no pillows/blankets 2.) we could check into a hotel in Peoria 3.) we could try to make the trip home in the blizzard. Being the idiots dare devils we are, we decided our best option to try to drive home. To put our trip in perspective, the drive from Peoria to Decatur typically takes about an hour and a half. That night, it took us over four hours to get home! Clint did a great job getting us there safely, with his little car loaded down with our suitcases and some other belongings that we didn't send with the movers. Once we got home, we crashed from our long day and began to enjoy our time at home with our families for the holiday.

Until next time!

Xoxo,

Clint & Kate

And So It Begins

 The mess move that is. When we were first told about the moving process with my company, it sounded like a dream come true. The movers show up, they box up all of your belongings, they pack it all up into the truck and then take it away to your new home. Simple, right? Only if you are my husband. What he slightly overlooked was the fact that drawers need to be cleaned out, closets need to be organized and all of our "junk" needed to be placed into categories for transportation. Now, under normal circumstances this may not seem like such a daunting task. However, we are currently living in a situation far, far, far from normal. With two bridal showers, a wedding and Christmas all upon us, we seem to have run out of room in our cozy little apartment. Our guest room has quickly transformed itself into a storage room. And when I say a storage room, I mean thethingthatgivesmenightmares room. Please see below for evidence that this is no exaggeration:

At one point this was a bedroom. And yes, that is a chair on the bed...like I said NIGHTMARES

I swear we are not hoarders. We have just finally gotten too much stuff in too small of space. So today I began tackling the beast. I had some goals that I wanted to accomplish. 1. Clean out the closets 2. Organize everything in our drawers 3. Start putting all of our stuff into piles 4. Try to figure out how to clear a path so you could at least semi-walk through the guestroom. The day really started off on a high note. I made a lot of progress with the closets and managed to get everything in both of our bathrooms cleaned up and organized into boxes, bins and baggies. But, the guestroom got the best of me. I found that all I was doing was moving items from the guestroom and setting them down in more public areas in the living room which was only giving me more anxiety then I originally had (not to mention the freak-out it was giving Sarabi). 

Our living room semi-normally

Living room after about two hours of "organizing"

Living room post guestroom destruction

Needless to say I ended the day feeling downtrodden and defeated. Instead of making our house easier for the movers to navigate, I think the only thing that I succeeded in doing today was making a maze for them to help them with a work out. I sunk onto the couch with my favorite little girl for some snuggles to feel better and I could instantly feel that she was exhausted as well. It had been a long day for the both of us. But then, just when I needed it the most, a text from the Hubs that said, "Babe, you are doing a wonderful job." Ahhhhh...all was right in the world again. He makes my heart smile. One more day of cleaning and packing, we are almost to the home stretch! I can't wait to share our big moving day with you all!

Two little words with a BIG meaning...

"I do." I never knew how much emotion, anxiety, preparation and most importantly, love could go into two little words. Such a small  conclusion to a year long marathon planning session and five years of courtship. However, these two little words have signaled the beginning of a truly wonderful journey. Clint and I wanted to start this blog so that we could share this new journey with all of our friends and family no matter where they are located.

After being married for two months, we have spent time together on our honeymoon in Riviera Maya, Mexico, some time at our apartment in Peoria and a lot of time bouncing back to see our family in Decatur. It has been an interesting beginning to our marriage with Clint commuting back and forth to Decatur every day for work and bringing Sarabi into our home. But, even with all the craziness, we haven't forgotten for one minute how blessed we are. Blessed to have each other, blessed to have secure jobs and blessed to have great family and friends who support us in all that we do.

As we start out on our journey to Georgia, we are excited to share all our new adventures with you. From lots of moving, packing and un-packing, to new explorations and adventures in our new home, we can't wait to see what Georgia holds in store for the Schlossers. So stay tuned as we share with you hope & happiness from Hampton, Georgia.