An update...

My deepest apologies for the great lapse in blog updates. My reason is a combination of lack of internet and the fact that we've been INCREDIBLY busy the last couple of weeks. But, we now have internet up and working and here I am to catch you up on the whirlwind that has been our life.

Last weekend David and I flew back to our "investment property" in Michigan to move all of our belongings to Minnesota. We had reserved two U-Haul trucks (yes, it took 2, and yes, it's just the two of us...) about a month prior to the move. I don't know if any of you have had experience with U-Haul, but the way it works is you reserve the truck(s) in advance and then they call you the day before you are supposed to pick them up to tell you when and where they are available. Our reservations were to pick them up on Friday and our plan was to load on Friday evening and Saturday morning, clean the house, and be on the road mid-to-late-afternoon on Saturday. We got our call on Thursday, as expected, only they were calling to inform us that they had no trucks for us, but they would call back on Friday and maybe they would have some on Saturday. There was nothing we could do. So we kept packing and waited for our call on Friday. That call came and they again informed us that they still had no trucks for us, but they would call back on Saturday and maybe they would have some trucks for us on Sunday. At this point we were getting VERY frustrated; we were supposed to be on the road by Sunday; not loading a truck! Fortunately Saturday morning began with a couple of phone calls informing us of 2 trucks that had magically appeared in the night, I guess, and the marathon to load all of our belongings began. We were able to get loaded up and out of the house by evening and still made it to Minnesota by our expected deadline. Lessons learned: Michigan's economy is SO bad right now that U-Haul's are only leaving the state and none are coming back. They have to fly people to other places in the country and pay them to drive U-Haul's into Michigan. Also, we probably won't be calling U-Haul the next time we have to move...

We were blessed to have the help of Mom and Dad Gafford, both with the driving of the second U-Haul, and unpacking throughout the week that followed. I had to turn around and start preparing my classroom as soon as we got back to Minnesota, so I wasn't a whole lot of help at home. Their assistance was greatly appreciated!

Those of you who are addicted to the weather channel like me may have heard about the terrible storms and tornados that swept through Minnesota last week. Fortunately we didn't have any damage, but I was able to take these pictures from our back deck once the worst had passed by.





I hadn't thought about it at the time, but as I'm writing this blog, I'm reminded of that first rainbow for Noah and the covenant that it represented. Maybe this rainbow was for David and I and it was God saying, "Ok guys, it's safe to get off the boat. Continue to follow me and trust in me as you have over the last several months, and I promise not to send a flood of this magnitude ever again." Maybe not, but it sure is a good reminder and incentive to remember the lessons learned, so maybe I won't have to learn them all over again.