My life in a hotel...

  I am thinking of making that the title of my new blog....at least for the next few months...That, or something like "New Orleans-the number one LAZY state in the Nation.", or maybe even " No clue"  I think I like that one best actually!  Another title to put in the middle of all of those would be "angel friends..."  oh  yeah!

 It has been a whirlwind for the past few weeks...which explains my absence in posting.  I wasn't even going to post tonight, but Steve is in our bed studying, and Andy is lying here asleep, and I can't bother Steve, so I decided tonight would be as good as any night!

 My mom came to help with our move about a week before we moved.  I don't know how I could have done it without her!  Then, one of my dearest friends in the world , Jen, showed up at my house the day before the big move and helped me for hours on end.  She took charge and helped me to get rid of things I wouldn't have had the courage to, and just kept me together getting it all done ( not to mention she picked up Andy the next day at 7 in the morning when the moving truck came).

 If it weren't for family and friends who helped us load our truck (the big diesel uhaul truck company)--we would NOT have made it!  All of these people are among my "angel friends" who have helped us along this journey of the biggest adventure!

 Another angel friend were my in-laws who, through some miracle...were inspired to help us get a new car.  We had been debating what to do with our cars since BOTH were at their tail ends...so we sold both and put the money toward this new car--which is going to save us so much money in so many ways over the next couple of years ( one of the ways is also that we trusted driving the car to make it--another story, so we didn't have to pay to have it hauled!).

 My in laws also have this sort of "time share" hotel in New Orleans.  They knew we hadn't worked everything out with the base, so they arranged for us to be able to stay in this hotel (for now) until Sept while we figure things out ( thank heavens cause we are still so far away from figuring things out---don't get me started).  The good news is that there is a bed for Andy and one for Steve and I most of the time, and that we have always had a microwave and fridge.  The bad news is that we have had to move every couple of days (I will get into that later).

 I was nervous about flying with the gals here, it is not that fun by yourself...and out of some miracle ( or tender mercy as my next angel friend called it) my sister-in- law Echo (angel) happened to be booked on the first flight leg of the journey as me...This was a miracle for me in so many ways not only cause we were running late, and forgot our stroller ( I knew I would die without it not only at the airport but in New Orleans in general) , but because I always take forever to get through the gate at security!  I feel really strongly that we wouldn't have even caught the flight without Echo who waited for someone to bring us the stroller, and walked through security with Andy while I went ahead so as to speed up the security process...

 My next flight, the next miracle was that the flight was NOT full and I was able to sit both my car seats down, so my hands were free.  This was not a big deal when flying with Echo, since she helped me hold my gals, and also got me to my next gait.  I was so worried...

 But, I made a new angel friend on the way who I talked to during the flight.  The woman and her daughter helped me with my bags, then continued to baggage claim with me, paid a guy to haul my bags to the shuttle.  I almost sat there and cried at the angel friends I made.  The shuttle driver helped me...and I was so happy.  When I got to the rental car place is when I realized I had over packed and was now alone.  I wanted to cry, but not because I was overwhelmed, but because I felt my angel friends really watching and helping me along the trip.  This woman saw me with "happy tears" but thought they were sad tears.  They turned out to be really good tears cause she ended up helping me load my car up and check me in...I just couldn't believe it.

 Our last trip to New Orleans was not like this at all.  No one was helpful, or happy or anything.  I was being blown away by kindness--and didn't believe it.  I really felt watched over.  The hardest part of the journey was driving to the hotel itself!  When I got out of the car, I looked around and almost flipped out --it was 1 am in the MIDDLE of NEW ORLEANS, dark, and scary.  The front of the hotel was locked but out of some other tender mercy I had another angel friend appear out of nowhere and open the doors for me.

 The front desk tells me I need to drive my car to the valet, and I almost break down in tears again.  It took me forever to load the girls with all our stuff out of the car--you want me to get us all back in and navigate to the valet? (it would have taken forever since you don't just turn left you have to go down a one way--turn onto another and keep going until you get the right road).  The guy was insistant, so I started praying and walking outside.  He then freaked out himself and made several calls to make a special arrangement to have them come get the car--another tender mercy.

 Needless to say, we are here and have been here for over two weeks.  So much has happened that I need to write about eventually.  For now I will leave you with saying that I have been blessed with a new set of eyes---I am not freaked out by the city anymore for some reason ( maybe cause I don't have a choice, we are here and I have to deal), but I actually really enjoy it.  It reminds me of Chicago in a LOT of ways ( another not very family friendly city).  I kind of fit well with the insanity.

 I will have to write later about the ward we attended ( I already hav a calling even if only there for a few months), the trauma of moving from room to room, the HEAT, the inabilty to get an id card and thus figure out our living arrangements, the crazy insane people we have met here, Steve's orientation and white coat ceremony, the children's museum, grocery shopping, learning about horrible schooling, and my three hour trek!  Craziness...for now, I am going to go to sleep in the big easy and enjoy this hotel for another day---taking Steve to school at 7 tomorrow.  Wish us luck!