Here is our moving story...FUN, FUN, FUN!! 


Thursday, we went to go pick up the moving truck and trailer. We got back to the house and Deryl started moving the jack to get the trailer off the truck so we could start loading as soon as the guys came to help. Well, the jack totally broke and we hadn't even been home 5 minutes! We called Budget and they had someone come out to take a look at it. The guy had to drive from Grand Prairie to Grapevine to get a part then drive back to us to fix it. Luckily it all worked out because we were ready to go and he finished fixing the trailer at the same exact time. So that worked out perfect. We ended up not getting to leave the house to be on our way until 10:30. So we went ahead and drove to Shreveport and then stayed the night there. 


We got up the next morning, ate breakfast and were on the road again. This was about 8:30 a.m. We were so excited because the GPS said we would arrive to our destination at 6:30 p.m. Around 11:30 a.m. I think it was, Heather and I heard some motorcycles speed by going the opposite way down the highway. Right after that we heard a noise again but couldn't figure out what it was. We rolled down the windows and it was tornado sirens!!!! We had been listening to CD's so we hadn't heard any of the alerts on the radio and it didn't look stormy. Anyway, we really didn't have any idea where we were other than the fact that we were in Mississippi. They kept mentioning on the radio different cities but we only knew what county we were in. 


Now let me just say that when we ate breakfast, which none of us usually do, we decided to eat at IHOP instead of just running through and getting fast food. Also, when we stopped for gas after eating breakfast there was a big mix up when Deryl checked out. So between breakfast and the mix up, we ended up being delayed about 30 - 45 minutes before we headed out that morning. Well, by the time we ended up in Jackson, Mississippi a tornado had ripped through about 30 - 45 minutes prior!! So, the delay was a GOD delay and spared us from the tornado. There were 9 deaths because of this tornado. Trees were on top of houses, debris all over the roads, a semi-truck flipped over, and I-20 was completely shut down. The traffic from all of this delayed us for close to 3 hours. It was amazing to drive by seeing all the destruction and all that God had spared us from. But not so great for the people in that town.


When we finally got through all the traffic mess and were on our way again, we hadn't been driving long and it started storming really bad....pouring rain. Literally, from Mississippi to Georgia it poured rain almost the entire time and every few minutes there were sirens on the radio and we were under tornado watches and warnings the entire rest of the trip. Finally, at around 11:45 p.m. we "think" we are in our friends neighborhood where we are going to be staying for a couple of months. I had been there once before and it just didn't look right. It looked like we were in the country but they live in a neighborhood. There was a road that said "no outlet" but that was where our GPS was telling us to go.


SO, Deryl pulls up some thinking he could turn around but we decided for me to just go down the road and check it out first to make sure it was okay. Rachel & I drive down and it looked like it was right out of a scene from the Blair Witch Project!!!! OMG, it was really scary and really creepy. I knew then that we were definitely not in the right place. Some bird was making an awful noise and Rachel and I just knew it was going to fly down and attack us at any moment! We went back and told Deryl & Heather what was going on and Deryl realizes that he is not going to be able to back the truck and trailer up. So, there was a big field and he figured he could just turn around. Well, he backed up a little bit then turned around and the truck got MAJOR stuck in the mud!


During the trip, Deryl drove the moving truck with the 4 runner on a trailer pulled behind it. I followed him and had spent the last who knows how many hours driving behind him in the pouring rain. Now, I just couldn't take it anymore and no more rational thoughts were in my mind!! There was no way to get out of this without help. Well, lo and behold some "good ole boys" who had obviously been doing some serious partying, stopped to see what was going on. They were driving a big dually. They tried pulling us out and the truck started sliding to the right WITH the trailer on the back. Yep, for those of you who know me....I started to PANIC, PANIC, PANIC!!!! Oh my goodness, it was so scary. By now, several of our friends showed up and I felt a little more at ease. The original guys that tried to help left and went to get another dually. In the mean time, everyone else unhooked the trailer and got the 4 runner off as well. 


So, the drunks came back and believe me, this was definitely not their first time doing this. They knew exactly what they were doing. They got their first dually onto the road and put a chain on the end of it and hooked it up to a second dually. They put a chain on it and hooked it up to the moving truck. And within seconds, it was out of the mud. I don't really know what happened after that because as soon as I knew the truck was unstuck I left with my friend to go to their house. I couldn't stand the thought of watching them put the trailer back on the truck and it was starting to rain again. 


So finally, after 1:00 a.m. we were finally at our destination. But the next morning after thinking over the whole trip, I realized that it had stormed all the way here to our new home. But when we got here the storms had stopped. The very next morning, it was so beautiful outside. And it has been so gorgeous...just absolutely perfect weather. I thought that was just so awesome. I think it was God showing us that although we have had several months of major storms in our lives, the sun is coming up. That something beautiful is on its way.


This morning we got up and went to church and saw some of our old friends. It was really refreshing. Such an awesome time of worship and a great message as well. I was really concerned about the girls and how they were going to feel about it. They both loved it! And they get to go to church camp this summer for SO much cheaper than it would have been in Texas and it is in Gatlinburg. I am so excited for them. 


I will be enrolling them in school tomorrow and they will hopefully start on Tuesday. So please keep us in your prayers and pray they will have NO problems in school whatsoever. I will be looking for a support group this week and Deryl starts his job tomorrow.