Arriving in Orlando

We arrived at our new "home" about 3:00 yesterday.  After 30 minutes of paperwork I received my keys, we unloaded a few things, and then waited for the movers to arrive at 5:00.  

The  2 guys took all of 1.5 hours to completely empty the moving truck and set up the beds.  Good deal.

I have many pictures but no internet yet. 

 I'm using restaurant internet right now so I'll post just a couple for now.

The view from my front door

***Side Note***

Way to go Bolts

Moving Day 3

So glad this day is over.  

 3/5 of our traveling party have an annoying cold.  Two members got the cold a few days ago and are on the mend now, but the other one -ahem me - felt it starting last night so today I spent a lot of time feeling like a wadded up ball of used Kleenex.  

We weren't on the road a half hour when we ran into - what else - construction.  In Nashville.  

I65 north was closed so all traffic was being funneled into this exit 44A which, as you can see by the indicating arrows, was only two lanes.  So! Much! Fun!

Construction how I hate thee.

Somewhere in southern Tennessee we were "blessed" to come upon this car

In this picture she (driver) is passing me - for the 6th time!  One of my pet peeves is people who cannot keep a relatively constant speed on an interstate or highway. This lady's speed fluctuated by at least 15-20 mph while I had my cruise set at 75. So she would pass me doing about 80 mph and then suddenly just slow down to 60 mph so that I had to pass her.  

And then...guess what?  

Bumper to bumper merging into one lane

I found this sign hilarious

Since this was our speed at the time

We found a Burger King for lunch

And then the real fun started as we drove through one severe rainstorm after another.

We drove through downpours that had us slowed down to 30 mph at times and still hydroplaning all over the road.  It didn't help that my tires are terrible.  

I wasn't crazy about our travel route either which had us on some off the track highway meandering through several towns and having stoplights in said towns.  

Entering I10 - behind a semi truck of course.

We wanted to make it to Tallahassee but cold + storms + construction = a very stressed driver so we stopped about an hour west of there in Marianna, Florida.  

My parents didn't make it as far and are staying in Dothan, Alabama which means I have a room to myself tonight.  

Well, plus the dog.

Tomorrow we arrive at our new home in Orlando.  There are several excited people here. 

Moving Days 1&2

I have been so busy and have so much to blog about like my last day of school and our last visits with friends but - busy.

Yesterday was moving day.  My dad and I picked up the truck about 10:00 and then he went out to J's house to pick up some furniture that was left there while I went to the DMV.  Yes, to add to all the craziness, my bank would not allow me to cash my distribution check because of my name change (the name on the check was Koeck but my license still said Schneider) and the amount of the check was too high.  So, I had to get a new license even though I will be getting another one sometime in the next month for Florida.  

Then I went to the bank to deposit the check in my account and find out why my debit card was being rejected all weekend.  Someone used my card to purchase 9 Nintendo Digitals (whatever that is) for $20.00 each.  Hello fraud...grreeaat timing!   So, on top of everything else I sat at the bank an additional 20 minutes signing paperwork and getting a new debit card.  At least I'll get my $180.00 in 7-10 days.

Finally at noon I could go home and focus on packing up.  Ollie was freaking out and feeling quite insecure about everything going on. 

Moving mess

And...of course it was raining

One of the best things I did was hire movers for 3 hours of work.  For just under two hundred dollars these two guys came at 12:30 and loaded almost every...single...thing for us.  And *bonus* they knew how to arrange things so that every square inch of the truck was utilized.  In fact, I was so impressed that I called tonight and booked movers for Orlando too.  For the same price, they will unload everything and assemble the beds.  Let them sweat in the heat and humidity and I'll just point where I want things to be put.

We pulled out about 3:30 and promptly got lost.  Just as we were approaching Rosendale, the road was closed and obviously  it would have been too convenient to put up any detour signs so all we could do was guess our way around the construction.  After three strikeouts we backtracked to the highway and went a different way.  We stayed the night in Janesville and we will not be discussing the Tampa Bay Lightning game.

Today we drove from Janesville to Clarksville, TN.  

I was glad we were not traveling north on I39

My dad believes in avoiding Chicago and Indianapolis so we go the long and boring route through Illinois.  On the plus side - we avoid tolls.  There is only one toll this way and, of course, it was a toll I missed.  A truck blocked me in the IPass lane and I could not move over - am I the only one these things happen to?

One thing you can count on when driving with me - if exiting or entering a highway, you will be behind a large semi truck.

Guaranteed.

Some more scenes from our day

Oh Construction - how I despise you.

Hmmm...I wonder what they sell here:  WEED MAN

We had dinner at one of our faves - Cracker Barrel.

Pinning Ceremony

I am so happy I was here for this night and I feel so privileged to  be invited to participate in this very special evening for Emily and for her family.  

The culmination of 9 months of intense study and work, tonight's pinning ceremony was the symbolic welcoming of the newly graduated nurses into the nursing profession.  

The new nurses are presented with pins by members of the nursing faculty.  

Emily getting "pinned"

Such a beautiful girl - inside and out. I've known her since she was just 3 months old.

My favorite family in the world

Someone was handing out syringe shaped pens...so you gotta have a little fun with that - right?

Grad Dinner

On Sunday my bestest friend in the whole wide world invited us to a dinner to celebrate her daughter's graduation from nursing school.

Since my bf and I met when Emily was just 3 months old - she has been like a daughter to me.  Our kids act like siblings.  

We love them so much and will miss them like crazy!

Love the photobomb