Just Another Day of Unpacking

Thursday.....It's time to re-establish old habits for health. I'm heavier than I've ever been - and I've carried nine babies to term. My doc was happy that my blood pressure was 122/70 in the midst of a move - I was shocked, to tell the truth!  I've set some health goals for the next six months before I see her again.

Yuuki and I enjoy morning walks. The days of our walks are numbered. Winter will arrive before we are ready for it. It was raining this morning - hard - but we laced up and went out anyway. I took special note of the fireweed. When it blooms to the top and begins to seed our countdown to winter begins.

Seem to be at the top 

I'm going with these plants....not starting the 6 week count yet

 We live near this trail and want to challenge ourselves.....it didn't take long until I felt uneasy about hiking the trail in the rain, alone, without bear spray....we headed back to paved roads - thinking bears don't hike paved roads??? ::snort:: 

It's always easier going down than up! "That'll preach!" 

Back at home another day of unpacking loomed....we are losing steam....I keep hoping, as we  unpack one box after another, that suddenly we'll look up and realize we're done.

The majority of boxes are in the house. There were quite a few boxes which  the boys didn't know how to classify. Maria is sleeping in what will be our office/school room so those are all still in the garage with pro-gear, most of what came in the trailer and RV is still in the garage.....I've started a list of odd things that haven't shown up.....two bar stools, mixing bowls, baking pans....

Today, the kids, Maria and I focused on all the dish packs labeled "Kitchen" and "Dining Room Glassware." We moved the hutch and began filling it. I have lots of cupboards in the kitchen (many drawers and cupboards still empty) and so we have a plethora  of options for storage.

We discovered I did not THROW  OUT my wok! I promptly made stir fry. As you can see we also found the tupperware box today. LOL

While Maria and I kept working in the kitchen/dining room, Michael moved furniture, set up our bedroom and began unpacking boxes in there, and the kids turned Stacia's bed around so she can  utilize the space under the loft.

Maria made a salad and fruit salad for dinner. Cory showed up to work his magic on a variety of salmon - reds and pinks. We steamed some broccoli and had dinner with BreZaak and CoRielle.

Nolan got his permanent license in the mail. 

Michael, Nolan, Izaak, Arielle, Cory, Maria, Stacia, Bre and Gideon 

Proof We Are Retired!

Here it is. Proof we have retired and are putting down roots. Michael ALWAYS saves boxes. This time he told me to throw out the boxes...."We have no plans to move again." 

There are some things which should not be packed together.....glass music boxes and metals springs of some sort. They DID mark the box "fragile." None of us can figure out what the metal parts go to or are from. 

"Why would you put these in the same box?"

 Stacia and Maria put together Stacia's bed

The boys continued to haul boxes in all day. Five days in, we are now at the place we would have been after the movers left. The walls are painted, furniture and boxes are in the right rooms and we're thinking about assembling beds. LOL

First REAL Meal

Today, BreZaak are working on setting up the RV for their use. CoRielle are setting up their room. The five of us are going to empty this garage - or at least part of it. 

These two actually loaded in most the furniture and boxes. My mind is fuzzy, not sure what Michael was doing, but he was busy. I know there have been some fix-it jobs (not warrantied type jobs).

I was determined to have the table up today! 

It's never too early for Bella to learn that if you make a face at Gemma when she has a camera, it may well go world wide. 

Maria arrived at 1 p.m. She drove all the way from TX.  She jumped right in to help. It's been a God-send to have an extra pair of hands. We were Maria's "Chaplains" at Beale AFB.

Jamin, JaRissa and Josiah came over for dinner. It is rare for all of them to have the same night off.  Here we had our first guests and our first real meal (White Chicken Enchiladas) on our TABLE, which fits great in the dining room. The table still reminds me of the D family and Hospitality House. I'm so happy it made it to Alaska.  It easily sits 10....and when all the kids are home for a meal there will be 14 - soon to be 15.....We are happy to have the small table back from Josiah. We'll pull it out as needed and have seating for all around the table.

Many of you know when we moved things into storage we were planning on going to Japan for 10 - 15 years. We thought ahead and kept what an empty nester couple may need.....and got rid of all my GHERKINSIZE  pans and bakeware.  We never imagined two years later, we'd settle in Alaska and most of the Gherkins would be here for meals on a fairly regular basis. LOL

The thought that this is Jamin's last month before he leaves for the Marines is always in the back of my mind. We're trying to settle in AND make the most of our time with him.

Michael and Jamin talk all things military

MONDAY

We divided forces today. All the guys, except Cory, headed to Whittier. Fishing is always fun, this trip was also a chance for everyone to "welax". Josiah had some very tough situations to deal with at work this week, and all wanted to spend a bit of time circling the wagons with him. And, yes, any day of fishing beats unpacking. 🐽

I met my new doc at 0900. I think I"m going to like here and the family practice. She is prior military and "understood" things, I have had to explain over and over at other places. 

Stacia and I unpacked the rest of the kitchen. This moment went wrong....I threw paper off the porch and the tape wrapped around me. 

We spent a bit of time cleaning the RV. Just when we thought we were done, we found more things stored under the seats. Arielle was amazed at how much we had in the RV.

CoRielle set up their room/kitchen downstairs. Bre and Babies cleaned the trailer they were living in.

Izaak caught his first Alaskan salmon 

This smile - signing for a home and fishing. Fishing is easier!
I don't care if he does it often. 

The water was roiling with Humpies - pinks. Up here folks say these are cat or dog food. However, we've not had a lot of salmon and everyone is eating them. These are caught in salt water and that seems to make a bit of a difference, we've been told. We do prefer the reds. 

Back at home, Stacia and I HAD to go buy groceries! Our fuel light came on as we attempted to drive to the next down over. We managed to slide into the local station on fumes, dropped the groceries in the entry way and went to collect Bre and Babies. We've not seen them the last few days, as Bre has tried to keep them settled and safe while the moving chaos swirled over here. It took two trips in the Jeep to get them moved....and then the M's arrived to pick up their trailer.

The guys got home  late.

Helpful Gingerbread Man

I began the day helping the BOYS (though I'm traveling with the GIRLS this year) with the storage unit. 

I turned up everywhere! 

Ah, a moment to relax! 

Hello, ladies, need a hand? 

Yes, two Instant Pots - and she says she'll use them both

Shew! A long, hard day. I'm sure they couldn't have unloaded this unit, or unpacked the boxes without my help. I'm glad to be of assistance. 

Civilian/ Military Moves Compared

Civilian moves ARE much more work than a military move.  ::ducking:: Consider this, on move in day I usually sit on a chair, outside a semi-truck, with a glass of ice water and check off box numbers as they are carried into the house. By the end of the day, every box is in the room it belongs in, all the big pieces of furniture are set in place, beds are put back together, furniture such as tables and lamps are put back together, and we are NOT PHYSICALLY WORN OUT. 

The day after household goods arrive, we all enter a room, unpack boxes, and put things on shelves - which are assembled and ready to load. We have made a lot of military moves and after 20+ years we can get keys, move goods into a home, and be totally set up - to include curtains and decorations on the wall in ONE WEEK. This is our expected norm.

In contrast on the day we "moved in" we had to paint. This took Friday, Saturday and a bit of Sunday morning touch up.

Then we had to unload our household goods into our 5x6x10 trailer and make many loads up the Hwy to the valley.

I began unpacking - the kitchen - as it was the only room with "furniture" to put things in.

Michael and the boys made numerous trips to Chugiak to unload our storage area.

Our things were packed by movers contracted by the military. In our MINDS we knew unloading and setting up would be different, but until we walked in and faced the need to paint, until things began breaking which housing couldn't come fix, until we spent days doing what would have been done in one day - it hadn't really become reality. 😃😅😃 Arielle said she experienced the same thing on this, her first civilian  move. As they spent days packing she thought, "I've sorted and cleaned, the packers should be packing the boxes." LOL

Our goals for the day were:
 1. Move the RV to the house so Michael, I and the three younger Gherkins could sleep at the house tonight, find beds and assemble (in the end we settled for mattresses).

2. Empty the storage unit.

3. Empty the RV and begin unpacking in the house.

I will need to learn the best way to care for hardwood floors. We looked at what we had available and settled on Old English on a rag on a Swifter, then scooting around the floors with sheets on our feet. It worked. It was a bit slick for the first day....but it did make things shiny and covered  a few scratches. 

Arielle has been looking for jobs far from paint fumes and heavy lifting. She's been a trooper. Today she and Stacia emptied the RV, while I unpacked in the house.

Stacia was EXCITED to have her dresser back. 

Maybe this will feel like home - eventually. So many good memories of service and fellowship. 

Well, it probably was the most comfortable place to grab a quick nap. 

View from West Windows - we have a similar bank of windows across the south in the living room and dining room. 

No sooner had I unpacked vases, than Stacia filled them with bounty from our overgrown yard. 

I convinced Stacia to do this once. She insisted it was too frightening of a height to attempt again. 

The guys made trip after trip......We had given Josiah furniture when we downsized a couple of years ago. He is now renting wth JaRissa and asked if we'd like a couch and recliner back. He also gave us the table and chairs - which will be great when we max out the big table in the dining room. 

Storage is EMPTY. Alex and Jamin  also helped all day with the storage unit. They set up a system where we were receiving a van or trailer about every 20 minutes. 

It was after 9 p.m. when the five of our and CoRielle were ready to leave the house. None of us had had dinner. They drove off. We decided to drive into town for something to eat.  They were coming out of the drive through, as we were entering. They came inside and we ate.  On the way home, we stopped for these photos. What a beautiful place to live.

At the end of the day, we had met all of our goals. The five of us slept at the house. The garage is PACKED - amazing revelation: things do NOT magically march to their appointed spot and assemble themselves in a civilian move. 🐽 We have been talking about living here 3 - 5 years while we look for a bigger piece of property.

Michael closed the door on the day, turned to me and said, "I'm not moving again." 🐽 This makes a very nice forever home.

Stacia knows how to recover from long days on one's feet...