Last box.... unpacked!............. Well, that's mostly true. There's one box, full of entirely miscilaneous objects, most of which I have no recollection of acquiring, that remains in the corner of our bedroom. BUT, aside from that we are settled. Now to the stage of hanging pictures, reorganizing the kitchen for the third time, and more importantly- starting life here in Jax.
Alas, I have jumped many noteworthy events in our tale. Let's start back three weeks ago....
Work for me finished well. I really had the best co-workers :) We had a weekend long party. Miss you ladies! Jarrod feverishly worked on assignments for his hermaneutics class and we said our goodbyes to church family. The last few days of packing were quite funny - we learned that I pack too quickly (kitchen boxes went through three rounds of tape....) The morning of packing day arrived and we headed off to pick up the Budget truck. It was a monster! Retrospect, definitely should have recorded Jarrod scaling into the truck and maneuvering in our complex... could've won america's funniest video!
We had a great group of friends come and load us up (THANK YOU!!!), camped the night in our empty apartment, then headed out early the next morning.... here's where the fun (and God's provision) begins.....
Eliaya slept most of the way between Louisville and Nashville, which was great. Our plan was to stop at a truck station just south of the city. But of course, being around Christmas, traffic picked up more than we expected. Ok ,we can deal with that. Then, Jarrod calls me: he's breathing really fast and describing this incredible pain he can't get rid of, says he feels like he could pass out any minute. *Onset of freaking out*
We manage to get off at an exit and get to the shoulder. I run out of the car (Jarrod's mom was riding with me to help with E) and jump into the truck Long story short, he was okay after some rest and food. Note to self, do not have a huge starbucks drink at 5am and not have any other water or food until past 9. So we got back on the interstate and laughed, assuming the worst part of our journey was now far behind us.
Fast forward a few hundred miles, and now we are just outside of Atlanta. Making pretty good time, everyone's feeling well, E has only had one major meltdown... thing's were looking bright! We hit Atlanta traffic just at the onset of rush hour: things were moving, but slowly. In the homestretch of downtown, we came to a stop. Doing a double-take, I thought I saw the moving truck get closer to us...hmmm... watching again, I hear the engine rev and definitely see the bumper of our towed car meander back towards me.
"Jarrod, you're rolling BACKWARDS!" (my highly insightful and helpful greeting when he called). The truck wouldn't engage. He tried turning it off, to see if heat was the problem, no change. After a few minutes, traffic was beginning to move again, and we were just as stuck as ever. Yikes.
We called for help, and the Atlanta "highway heroes" came to our rescue. Found out later that the traffic control center was able to locate us via a camera on an exit sign. Cool, huh? They towed us off I-75 to the median around an exit. Budget sent out a mechanic, we stayed in a hotel.... they next morning the truck was fixed and the rest of our trip was truly.... boring. It was great.
The whirlwind continued: unpacking, Christmas, traveling to see other family, New Years..... now we're starting to see what day-to-day life will be. Jarrod has started work, I'm on to my second round of interviews.... we're really excited about where God has us. I've run out of witty one-liners and this quick update has rambled far too long... so here are a few pictures of Christmas and Eliaya, enjoy!
 |
| our first truly girly dress, thanks Susu |
 |
| LOVED our musical table, and it talks to us in Spanish! |
 |
| hmm.... play with presents or the puppies?? |
Hope your 2013 is off to a great start, thanks for reading :)
-the Reeds
