Saturday, November 27, 2010

Moving truck is here!

Moving truck is here!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Just bought 8 lemons for $1 from some little girls in our neighborhood who picked them off their backyard tree! Ha! Ha! Can't beat that! They were so excited! :D

Monday, November 22, 2010

Wet Feet

Our first Sunday at VUMC was wonderful! Folks have been tremendously warm and welcoming, and worship was meaningful. There is not a shortage of enthusiasm in Visalia, and we are feeling the presence of God in our lives every passing day. Unfortunately...we can't prove God's presence during the photo shoot below...but He loves us even still! :)


Photos by Tamara Douglass, 2010

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Yay! Internet!

We finally got our internet connected yesterday and can't wait to upload more pictures and stories. This week has been wonderful! Tonight we are going to the Tulare County Symphony concert - "Movies and Magic."

The unfortunate thing about this week...the moving company still has not delivered our stuff from Chicago. So...we are watching tv in lawn chairs...sleeping on an air mattress...and eating dinner on the fireplace...which actually has not been bad at all. It just will be good to have our stuff in place. Regardless...we certainly have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving week. We are blessed to have the coolest friends and family praying for us...we have each other (and the cats)...and that is enough to be thankful for!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

This is the first shot of the day at Vumc! What a beautiful morning!

This is the first shot of the day at Vumc! What a beautiful morning!

Doing laundry in our in

Doing laundry in our in house machines! No more quarters! Woohoo! :)

Off to work!!! :-)

Off to work!!! :-)

Sunday, November 14, 2010

We are ready for our

We are ready for our first night in our new home after a yummy dinner with our new friends Jim and Linda. We LOVE the house! :)

Made it!

We're home! Yay! We'll check in with y'all soon! :)

One hour left on our

One hour left on our journey! We are almost home! :D

CA windfarms

Windfarms on the sides of the mountains! Crazy!

Stopped at this random Mexican restaurant and it was AWESOME! Our waiter Jose u

Stopped at this random Mexican restaurant and it was AWESOME! Our waiter Jose used to live in Chicago! What?! They had the Dallas game on too! 1st meal in CA rocked! :)

Weird.

Really? How do you pronounce this?

Woohoo! Our new home state! We finally made it (and figured out how to take a p

Woohoo! Our new home state! We finally made it (and figured out how to take a pic that isn't backwards!) :)

The rest of th sign...

Back of the famous sign...with a one way sign in the middle of it! ha!

Vegas!

The famous Vegas sign! Now we can go home! :D

Well, we were not too

Well, we were not too impressed with Vegas (but B. J. won $50!) We are going to get a pic of the Vegas sign and then go HOME! :)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Canyon

Look at this! Driving through a canyon in Arizona. God of wonders, right? :)

We're in Arizona! (But only

We're in Arizona! (But only for like two seconds.) Less than 2 hours to Vegas! Woohoo! :)

Tuck kitty

Tuck is having a nap on daddy's lap while he drives. :) 4 hours to Vegas!

Eagle Canyon

We stopped at Eagle Canyon for a look. Pretty cool!

How cool is this?!

Driving thru the mountains in Utah

Mountains!

Some of our view of CO

Moving on!

Leaving Colorado - it was so pretty! :)

Utah!

So here's the real sign. :)

Hatu?

So...the camera phone flips the image when you close it to take a picture! We're in Hatu!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Made It to Grand Junction, CO!

We made it safely to our hotel in Grand Junction. It was a long, curvy drive...but absolutely awesome! The Rocky Mountains are AMAZING! Although it was night time when we drove through...the towns we saw reminded us of the town you rush through in the Big Bad Wolf ride at Busch Gardens (Williamsburg)...minus the whole scary wolf bit...but you get the point...right? Tomorrow we drive through Utah and Nevada to stay the night in VEGAS. Thanks for everyone's comments. This is so much fun!!!! :)

Fire in the mountains!

Just saw a truck on fire on the side of the mountain! SCARY! Also a car crashed into the railing. Yikes! Crazy mountain driving!

In the Rockies

We are driving thru the Rockies right now and we wish it wasn't dark! It looks like it's beautiful but we can hardly see it! :P

Barlow Road...Colorado?!

Look what we found in Colorado! Apparently we aren't the first Barlows to go west! :)

Made it to Colorado! :)

Made it to Colorado! :) We're headed towards Denver then on to Grand Junction. The kitties have been so good today!

In Nebraska!

We made it into Lincoln safe and sound and are staying at a *GREAT* hotel! The kitties are fed and watered and happy and we just had a yummy breakfast ourselves. The man at check-in last night was really nice and even let us bring both our kitties in for the price of one - woohoo! Can't beat that! We are off to Grand Junction, CO soon and hoping to see some snow. Stay tuned!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

We're in Iowa! Woohoo! :)

We're in Iowa! Woohoo! :) Next stop - Lincoln, NE!

The kitties are finally asleep and happy!

Pulling out of the apartment

Pulling out of the apartment at 12:50! 2 1/2 hours late, but who's countin?! :)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Moving Day!

Up bright and early to get ready for the moving truck! 
This is sooo exciting!!!
They moved so fast our camera couldn't keep up!
Seems it is gonna be a long day for the moving crew too! They packed their lunch. :)
Mummified dining room chairs!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Our Last Week in Chicagoland

Yesterday was an emotional day as we said our "Godspeeds" to First Christian Church in Downers Grove. The choir and congregation sang with enthusiasm, and at the end of worship, we were "blessed" by the Pastor and Elders. Then, to top it all off, the church threw a "Reception Celebration" complete with all of our favorite things (milk chocolate, diet pepsi, strawberry dessert, and a beautiful "music" cake). The church was extremely generous by giving us a going away gift including a beautiful photo of the cross in the sanctuary at FCCDG.

So, this week has already been an experience to remember...and it's only just begun! :)

Megan is diligently working on her 3rd grade musical ("The Mighty Meter Gnome") which will be presented the night before we hit the road. She is feeling somewhat better after several weeks of crumminess. B. J. is diligently working to get the final preparations done with the boxes, moving company, and cats (they are not too excited about us putting their toys in boxes...so, the boxes have become their toys)!!!

We are extremely excited to hit the road...but we know that we have to take time to enjoy all of it as it goes by. Sometimes life goes by so quickly that it feels as if it is just happening to you...it's in those moments that we remember to LIVE life to its fullest. Sooo...we went to Potbelly Subs for the last time last night and made a friend who offered to have his picture taken to help us "remember Chicago". His name is Manuel...if you see him at Potbelly in Buffalo Grove, IL...say hello! :)

Visalia - - we'll see you soon!!!!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Moving companies are crap!

Today is our fifth wedding anniversary...and the moving company gave us a gift of an additional $1,000.00 deposit fee. It is a long...boring story...but just know that when they say that moving is one of the most stressful times of life...they are not joking. The good news is, we are going to dinner to celebrate our five years of bliss...and also to celebrate that our next anniversary will be spent in sunny California! :-)