Six Days and Counting

Six days to go! We spent yesterday running around looking for all the different things we'll need for living out of our car. I think we are pretty much set. A good feeling, except for the fear that I'm forgetting something - though right now I can't think of what that would be!

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving on the road, probably in Texas. So I found some plush Thanksgiving decorations that'll be easy to pack and unpack - just to make the hotel rooms more homey. We also found a candle warmer... one of those plates you plug in and set the candle on and it melts the wax w/o a flame... and we'll take our fall candle and pick up a Christmas candle (probably a fir tree smelling one to help with the lack of a Christmas tree!) on the road. I think that will make the hotel rooms smell a bit more festive at least:o). We also picked up those candle lights that you set in the window... since we won't be doing actual lights this year. All in all, I think we'll make it a special holiday season.

We got the dog's tags engraved yesterday too, so after being neutered, flea dipped, de-wormed and vaccinated, the dog is set! Yay. I managed to find a travel water dish for her, and I think we'll just use her normal food dish. She's been riding in the car with us this last week, and she's actually really good. I think this will be okay.

Now comes the monumental task of packing... We'll be taking laundry detergent with us so that laundry will simply be paying to use the machines in a laundromat, and our own mugs (drinking coffee out of styrofoam cups will get old fast!), and of course the kids cups... so we'll be packing a thing of dish soap... And we'll be in many different climates, so we've got to figure out how to pack conservatively, but sufficiently for each place and temperature. I think I have that figured out... Then, there's toys for the kids, Elie's school curriculum, and snacks so we aren't eating gas station junk food (though I'm sure there will be the occasional Twinkies;o)! and I think we'll take our own pillows...

Can I just say that I'm so incredibly thankful we have such an amazing God?! I am finding the physical truth in the statements, "not by my might, but by His strength," and "not I, but Christ in me."

Welcome To Our Trip Blog!

We are eight days and counting... We launch our monumental road trip Monday, November 5th, heading to Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. The plan is to spend two days there, then slip over to the smokey mountains for a few days of fun, then head on over to Texas for about six weeks. We plan on flying out of Texas to Portland, Or. where we'll spend Christmas with our families there. We'll fly back to Texas to complete another week or so there, and then probably head to over to Arizona, then Colorado, and back toward Michigan, hitting Mississippi, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Louisiana on the way, with a possible detour in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina before walking back through our front door sometime in January - hopefully.

As we head into this week we're feeling a bit overwhelmed at the immensity of what has to be accomplished before we leave - not to mention the great adventure we are taking on! I am learning yet again how to let go of the controls and allow God to stir a bit of chaos into my life. One of these days I'll meet uncertainty with grace and ease... until that day, I guess I'm just happy to have the happy-go-lucky husband who takes it all in stride with ease, and hope that this underlining feeling of free falling fades, like when you fall in a dream and realize you are actually safe in bed...

Prayer Requests:
1. That this trip and the planning of it brings us closer together as a family, that the kids don't get left out or pushed aside, and that we learn just how incredibly involved God is in the details.

2. For health as we push to get things done, for protection as we take off and drive across the country.

3. For lots of laughter!