Happy New Year from Missoula, Montana!

We're still working on those 2500 miles. Some wind and snowy conditions slowed our progress this evening. We are holed up in Missoula, Montana...about 5 hours short of Pullman. Looks like continuous snow is on schedule for tomorrow's drive. Five hours may be optimistic!

Giving Dixie some exercise just after stopping in Missoula.

Somewhere between Butte and Missoula, MT. The weather was starting to go downhill. These pictures don't do justice to the stunning scenery!

Beautiful Wyoming, just beyond Sheridan.

Dixie enjoying her plush travel arrangements. A foam air mattress, her own bed, and her new blanket keep her more than comfortable during travel. She dutifully takes a bathroom break each time we stop for gas, and as always...is a champion traveller!

Dixie enjoying her very first stay on a hotel bed.

I had to wake her up three times to make her snoring stop.

Next stop... Pullman, Washington. Happy New Year!

Hello from Wyoming!

Well, we're slowly chipping away at the 2500 miles. We have stopped early tonight to stay in Sheridan, Wyoming. The trip is going well, but a little more slowly than we had hoped. The fierce wind coming at us head-on is killing both our time and our gas-mileage. On a good note, the weather has been clear, sunny, and cooperative. But cold. I apologize for the lack of pictures with this post, but neither of us felt up to venturing across the frozen parking lot in the 15 degree weather to fetch the camera cord to download some pictures.

We would love to make it the rest of the way to Pullman tomorrow, but we'll have to see how the weather goes. We just wanted to let everyone know that we're still chugging along!

We'll post more as soon as we can.

Ugly Sweater Contest 2008

To be a little more "green" this Christmas, our family decided to repurpose some old clothing and have an ugly sweater contest. Some were straight off the rack, some had extra time and craftiness put into them. But they all had one thing in common. They were hideous! Hannah and Randall got things started off when they rang the doorbell, proudly wearing their faux, multicolored velvet and glittery puff-paint creations. Greg stepped things up by adding too-small sweatpants and a motion-sensitive Christmas tree hat. I had on my oversized, super-itchy Goodwill purchase, while Dixie nearly choked to death in her shrunken Christmas turtleneck.

Mom and Dad made their entrance with doo-dads galore. Dad went the extra mile with tinsel and lights that he could switch from blinking to continuous with the mere click of a button in his pocket! Mom's sweatshirt was the only entrant that actually came from her closet!



Jen and Greg were last...but certainly not least!... with their gloriously tacky outfits. Greg's (woman's) cardigan sweater featured beautiful teal accents and sequins. But Jennifer took the cake with her pageant-inspired red suit jacket with red velvet bows, black fleur-de-lis detailing on the sleeves, and the ugliest plastic creation I've ever seen hot-glued onto the back. Melted plastic chips in the form of Santa Claus!!



Gram served as the judge...and what a difficult job she had. So many tacky creations in one room was overload for anybody! I think we've found our new Christmas tradition.

Washington or BUST!

The journey begins. We departed Beckley, WV around 10:00 this morning (Friday). Our first stop is in Columbus, OH to celebrate Christmas with my family. We will be leaving there on Monday morning to continue our cross-country trek.

My first time pulling a trailer went well. Both vehicles are loaded down with the "few" odd and ends that we thought were left. We estimated that the last few things would fill up my backseat...turns out they filled up my backseat, my passenger seat, Greg's passenger seat, the leftover room in the Uhaul, and even some of poor Dixie's space in the back of the truck! Who knew we had that much junk!!

Well, we'll post when we can during these next few days. Here's hoping for good weather during our travels. Stay tuned...

Merry Christmas Dixie!

Christmas has been good to all of us so far...and we're not even finished yet. The Sunday before Christmas found us visiting some of Greg's family. Christmas Eve was filled with appetizers and lots of good gifts. Including this brand new blanket for Dixie...from MawMaw Kathy! We're not sure...but judging by the amount of time she spends curled up underneath it, we think she likes it!

Next stop...Christmas in Columbus!

Times Are Tough!

Only about a week and a half, and we'll be on our way to the state of Washington! We're getting there with the packing...it's a little sporadic, but starting to come together. Who knew two people and a small brown dog could accumulate so much stuff!?! We made progress last weekend thanks to some help from the parents. Anyone in need of a mover... let me send my mom! She can make amazing amounts of stuff fit into very tiny spaces!! We've made some progress this week by selling our living room furniture, delivering our kitchen table and chairs, and giving away some odds and ends. We now have to get down on Dixie's level to eat our dinner (which she loves)!

We've actually got our Christmas shopping taken care of without much hassle this year. Now if only I could get motivated to work on those Christmas cards! I normally love Christmas, but it's hardly registered with me this year. With all the hubbub about moving, and trying to downsize, and looking for a job, poor little Christmas has been neglected. So, per the pastor's advice this past Sunday, and to keep the Christmas spirit at the center of everything, here are...

5 Reasons to be Joyful Today!

1. We have a floor to eat on!

2. We have each other.... and Dixie... and lots of STUFF!

3. We are able to give gifts to those we love this year.

4. No matter how bad the economy, the political environment, the unemployment rate, or the nightly news, we have a much greater hope and a much brighter (eternal) future.

5. I'm not allergic to chocolate! (Now that's reason for joy!)

Last WV Christmas...for now.

'Tis three weeks before Christmas, we are all about to freeze,

Not a Dixie was stirring, she was being bribed with cheese;

No stockings were hung for we sold all our fixtures,

Dixie finally got her cheese, after taking these pictures!

Thanksgiving Day 5 Miler

We started Thanksgiving Day in a non-traditional way this year, by running 5 miles... at 8 o'clock in the morning... in the freezing cold! It felt good though. Greg finished in 37:24 and I finished in 43:08. Nothing to write home about, but we felt better for having completed the race.

Just before the race with our matching t-shirts. Yeah for matching!

After collecting our trophies, we cleaned up, and headed to my grandparents house for a nice calorie-laden Thanksgiving dinner! We enjoyed visiting with everyone, and said our goodbyes to those we probably won't see again before heading to Washington.

Then came what we had been waiting for... spending the night in "The Tramper!" The set-up needs some fine-tuning, namely one less large brown dog! Dixie got booted to the garage sometime in the middle of the night for hogging more than her share. That was probably unfair after she held still for so long while we rested the laptop on her to watch "The Patriot." :) At any rate, she'll have her own private suite in the extended cab area so that we can all enjoy our sleep the next time around.

Before Dixie got booted out.

The "Tramper"

Well, we're gearing up for the maiden voyage in the "Tramper," aka- Greg's truck/camper set-up. He built the handy platform that we can easily disassemble when we need to haul something. We purchased a self-inflating, 4" thick mattress to sleep on (this also functions as our guest bed!). He mounted three pivoting LED touch lights on the ceiling, and we're still looking for a source of heat. Yeah... that might be kind of important come January! We're also still working on getting some curtains up... but the two of us trying to make a committment to fabric is proving rather difficult. :) According to Greg, all we need now is a portable DVD player! Now that's roughing it!

We'll be trying the Tramper out Thursday evening when we stay in Ripley for Thanksgiving. Let's hope it's not too cold! We'll let you know how things work out... and if Dixie takes more than her share of the bed!  :)

We thought it was only fitting that this introductory post be about Dixie. Dixie is our 75lb., nine-year old boxer who dictates the majority of our daily events and decisions. We work so that we can buy food for Dixie. We walk so that Dixie can have exercise. We turn on the heat so that Dixie doesn't turn into a doggie-sicle. She even has her own human-sized mummy sleeping bag rated for 20 degrees. 

Make no mistake though...Dixie is not spoiled. She does chew her own food, and she never expects more than her 9/10 share of the bed, couch, etc! We could fill the Met with all the photos we've taken of her. And then there are the videos. And the scrapbook pages. But she remains humble to this day.

Despite her high-maintenance life style...we wouldn't trade her for anything. She is a champion traveller, adjusts well to our many moves, and never complains about having to eat on the floor!

Now you have a reference point for all of her mentions in our future stories!