One year ago

Wow, it is hard to believe that we have been in Maryland for an entire year now. I vividly remember the stress of having to move. From selling our home to buying a new one to physically moving and everything in between. Our home sold in 3 days, yes amazing. We hit it at the right time. Finding a home in Maryland took a bit more work. We took one family trip and the husband came up alone a few times on house hunting missions. It was difficult dragging around three children. The last trip the husband made included videoing 4 homes that he liked. Guess what, I ended up not really loving any of them. So we decided to bid on a house that I only saw on the computer and my husband walked through once, quickly at that. We had a tip from a neighbor who knew someone who lived here....and she was one of those people who researches every little aspect of everything. How could we go wrong? The bidding process did not go so well and I thought we lost the house. After my husband saw my tears he upped the bid just a bit and it was rejected again. A few days later they came crawling back to us and asked us if we could raise our bid $10K. We stood firm in our offer AND we ended up getting the house.

Once the house was purchased our focus was getting us packed. Yes, we had movers but we would be in temporary housing for 3 weeks. We had 2 cars fully packed and mine had a roof luggage carrier that was stuffed to the max. We left NC on Friday November 15th and arrived at our apartment on November 16th. I will never forget this day. The boys were out with their Dad lugging things from the car to our 2nd story apartment. The boys took off and ran into a different building and into a strangers' home. I will never forget the panic I felt when my husband came into the apartment asking me if the boys were here. I immediately picked up the baby (yes he really was a baby back then) and we ran outside calling their names. Thankfully, they figured it out and ran back outside. That is my first experience here.

We arrived prior to Thanksgiving and my first priority was to get the boys enrolled in school. My husband was having to start work right after Thanksgiving. After many phone calls to the school board and the school I was able to get a meeting set up to turn in our documents (contract on house plus the lease term on the apartment). The main rule was to ensure the kids were never late or we could possibly be "kicked out" until the move was final. You can believe they were never late.



The process of moving into our home was not smooth either. We had painters in the house for what seemed like forever. They were delayed in starting so we had to move them around from one area to the next in order to accommodate other workers. I was never so happy to have all of the work completed in our home. It seems like the unpacking process took forever, actually it did take forever. But as the weeks went by the amount of boxes were diminishing little by little.

The hardest part of all of this was having to put our dog down. She started limping, almost to the point of not being able to walk, upon our arrival. After many tests it was determined that she had cancer everywhere. We still miss her so much. She was the best dog ever.



We have come a long way in the last year. We are starting to put down roots here in the great white north. We have made a lot of friends as have the boys. I know I am doing well when my GPS system is not being put to use. It is a good feeling to know where I am going. I am not sure that I will ever get used to the cold weather but I am learning to dress a little more appropriately. Will we be here forever? Who knows but for right now it is good.

And as I know that you have been concerned, I am happy to report that we have not seen any moths in the last month. I still look for them though........