finally.

Two months to the day, we finally received 7,200 pounds of our stuff.

To give some background, prior to moving here, we divided our stuff into three piles: storage, the 7,200 lb. sea shipment, and the 450 lb. air shipment. We were there when the movers came and we watched them pack up the little house in Atlanta. I had carefully labeled every box either "air," "sea," or "store" and it wasn't until Monday that I realized numerous things that I had labeled "air" had actually come across the sea.

Anyway, when we first got here, all we had was the luggage we brought with us on the plane. Two weeks later, we got our 450 lb. shipment of randomness, which included, among other things, all of our suits and dress clothes (that we don't really need here), my magnet collection, a couple things from my office in Atlanta, and dog beds. Weird? Yes. This meant more time wearing only the clothes we brought with us.

Luckily, our shipment came early. It typically takes three months. Ours would have been here in 1.5 months, but the hurricanes slowed the ship, so we got them 2 months to the day.

Were we excited? Heck yes. But now we live in chaos!

It was apparent that our movers felt it necessary to pack things very randomly. For example, in one box, you may find socks, toiletries, dog biscuits, one cast iron skillet, some pens, and a blanket. Weird? Yes. This made it very frustrating to unpack as I felt like I was constantly runnings things up and down the stairs for what didn't belong. Luckily, Beth came over on Monday and was an absolute rock star in helping us get things sorted. Our housekeeper, Maria, also helped get everything sorted out so we finally have most items in the rooms they belong in so now its just a matter of each item finding its home.

We were also lucky in that we only have two things missing (I know other people who have entire crates missing, which are seriously the size of the office I am sitting in right now, if not bigger). We're missing our shop broom, which is no big deal, but we're also missing Will's collection of framed sports memorabilia (for lack of a better description). Two items are pretty much priceless. One is a poster from the 1980 Masters tournament which is in Japanese and framed beautifully. Prior to having it preserved, someone offered Will $750 for it. Before we left, Will paid an arm and a leg to have it preserved and framed so I don't even know what price tag to put on it. We are also missing a huge panaromic framed photo of Sanford Stadium, my favorite ink sketch called "The Freshman" which pictures a bulldog puppy sitting at the base of the Arch, and fear upon fears, Will's Sigma Chi fraternity signature thing (I know no way to describe it). Is he upset? YES. I'm hoping it wound up in storage or that its making its way here, because unless you're a UGA sports fan, I don't think anyone would want to make these items theirs... we will see. Keep your fingers crossed. We also think we're missing Will's medical kit we got from work, which would be a HUGE bummer, but I'm hoping I can ask one of my colleagues to pick one up and bring it with them from Atlanta when they visit in a few weeks.

Now we're going through the tough decisions on setting up our first true home together. Do we paint? Do we exchange out furniture? Can we please get rid of the 1970s china cabinet that is so hideous ugly (plus I have no china to display in them as its all in storage in Atlanta!)? What on earth do we do with the awesome 1970s wedding pics of our parents (my vote: display them on an end table with a picture from of us from our wedding)?