To Buffalo or Bust

Well, as you've probably gathered from my last blog post, we've moved. After getting the movers in to the house and all of our earthly belongings loaded up and shipped out, we headed to Kansas for a month of vacation. It was hot. So, so hot. But we were able to spend time with a lot of family. Alex was home from Afghanistan and we were able to get to know our new sister in law Jenn so much better. Amanda came home with Ryker from Arkansas and that was a great visit. Uncle Dwight was in from Florida. We went to two family reunions, Grandma and Grandpa Neeley's 60th wedding anniversary party, bbq's pool visits, birthday parties, the zoo.....with a few exceptions (such as my van being hit in Topeka the last week we were there), it was a wonderful time.

We met our movers at our new house in Orchard Park, NY on July 18. That's pretty much where things began to go downhill. They were awful. It took them 4.5hrs to unload the truck. They were snarky and disrespectful and I actually had to talk to one of them about her habit of literally dropping boxes on top of other boxes. And 4.5hrs to unload? I could've done it myself in less time than that. That's almost the time it took to pack our entire house in the first place. And these people didn't have to do anything but bring in the stuff. They didn't even put together beds and tables as they should have, Dad did.

My first moment of utter rage, however, was when they brought in my 1 yr old futon. Ripped. Filthy. It was never covered as it should have been. Shortly thereafter comes my couch cushions (the ones that were not put in the box marked "couch cousins" lol) and they are also unwrapped and filthy. But that's not all! Here comes Andy's recliner. Ripped in several places, bent inward, missing hardware, just completely wrecked. How does that even happen? Andy's dresser, the bottom drawer completely broken. And I wish I could say that was all. I believe for the most part the breakage in the boxes was from poor handling. Our printer, a lamp, some Christmas decorations, a handprint Tory made for me when she was 2, all broken. My scrapbook and craft room dispersed throughout boxes from literally every other room in the house, none of it secured or wrapped in any way, quite a bit of it spilled out and broken. Canning jars taken out of their secure box in the basement and put in with Tory's toys and clothes. Unwrapped. I could go on and on. It basically boils down to the worst move ever and we'll be doing a DITY move next time. I'm never letting these maniacs near my belongings again. I wish the man who had packed up the kitchen and/or the man who packed up Livy and Chloe's rooms had done the entire house because they did a great job.

So, now, here we are in our 2nd week of living in Orchard Park. And I have to say I feel a little guilty that I was so mad when I found out we'd be moving here. No, it isn't 7 hours or less from Burlingame, KS. But it is a very nice area. Our house is fantastic. I love all the space. Our neighborhood is quiet and serene. Our neighbors are great and very kind and friendly. I haven't come across one rude person since we've been here. People are genuinely kind and polite. And my favorite thing? Aldi's! I love it there. Even in regular grocery stores or department stores everything seems so cheap. I know I've been used to paying over $4 a gallon for milk for many years and 1.50 for a loaf of cheap bread so that probably impacts my feelings. But when you walk in to a store and see $.76 for a loaf of white bread or $1.90 for a gallon of milk, it's hard not to do a jig right there in the middle of the aisle.

Overall, things are going well and now that we're more or less settled, I'll try to get back in to the habit of blogging to keep you all up to date on our new home and new adventures. After all, home is where the Coast Guard sends us. :)