“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way”

Hello friends! After much debate and deliberation I FINALLY succumbed to the peer pressure and set up a blog for our trip. We really want to keep everyone in the loop with where we are and what we are doing and this seems to be the easiest way. Neither of us are comfortable getting super personal on facebook so hopefully this will be a good compromise.

Okay, so let's rewind...

September started out nice enough with Nick saying goodbye to his full time job and our first family trip to Disney. On the way home from Disney, we heard about a swirling mass of energy in the Atlantic called Florence. After a few hours of deliberation, we decided to bump up our move date and get the heck out of town before the storm hit. This was probably the best decision we made all year as we know what happened next.

We truly don't have many belongings left but nonetheless it was a frantic 72 hours from the time we returned home from Florida until we were sitting in evacuation traffic with all of our crap stuffed in the Prius and a UHaul. Sadly, we didn't get to properly say goodbye to our friends and our town, which was kind of traumatic, especially after images of our wrecked town started rolling in after the storm.

Meanwhile, we were unpacking said UHaul into my parents' basement and adjusting to life in a multigenerational household. We made the decision to come to Reidsville to spend some quality time with family and prepare for the trip. We are also "trying on" small town life to see if it agrees with us. ; )

One thing we have noticed since deciding to embark on this adventure is how everyone reacts to the idea of it. Fortunately for us, our friends have been very supportive but it has been humorous to see some folks raise their eyebrows or explain how they would NEVER want to do this. Hey, it is not for everyone, we know. : ) Moving in with my parents has elicited similar reactions. Many people have commented that they could never move back in with their parents while others have shared that multigenerational living does sound like a good idea. We feel fortunate to have awesome relatives on all sides of our family, particularly ones that are willing to let all of us move in for a few months.

Surprisingly, things are going well. We get the benefit of a cheap place to stay, help with the kids and all the valuable resources of my "older" and wiser parents. They are getting free groceries, dinners prepared by the one and only Nick Lauretta, and TONS of quality time with Zinn and Asa. It is a win/win. Other than dealing with Maya and her constantly shedding fur, I don't think they mind us too much. ; ) 

We will be here until we officially leave on the trip at the end of January. Only a few weeks to go!

Here are some pics of what we have been up to the past few months:

Lots of Mo Mo time

Spending time with friends old and new

Never follow a 3 year old in a corn maze

First NASCAR race! We had a blast hanging out in the pits with Pa!

Zinn took a Lego robotics course at the Greensboro Science Center

Nick rocked the Thanksgiving turkey once again

We were so excited when our neighbor cows had calves!

Cracking walnuts with the Great Grands!

Asa at his Nature Tots class at the Greensboro Science Center

Wentworth Fall Festival

Zinn played on an awesome soccer team!

Nick and I are in the middle of an intense bread baking competition.

The best friends are old friends