This is going to be just like Smokey and the Bandit

These were Larry's lines to me, after he hopped off Megabus and into my overly-packed civic, while tucking his legs under a plant, a clothes basket and 2 19-inch computer monitors.

After 4 days of moving, at least 14 helpers and 14 bruises later, we are here! My arms are jelly! My eyes are droopy, but I am in Minnesota! I'll confess, it was hard. I got stressed and nervous and flustered. I forgot things that I meant to take care of, had to leave a few things behind, and drank too much at my goodbye party so I felt a bit hung over the next day. I guess 4 drinks is too many for me in 3 hours? Who'd have thought?

But I am reminded of the sincere power of friendship. I can't believe so many people came to help me while Dan was in Ankeny with his mom's neck surgery. It was definitely a controversial moment: Should Dan be with his mother or with me? Both had legitimate concerns, but Dan's an only child and his mom doesn't have siblings she can count on to help, nor does she have a husband. And since I have so many friends nearby to help and her surgery was not just an outpatient deal, Dan had to really be with her.

Larry and I drove the truck & car, and we discovered that leaving KC at 9 pm might require some red bull. We dashed through the store and found someone I knew. It was sort of a touching moment, giving someone a hug goodbye and telling them that it really was my last 20 minutes in the city. Then we drove away, after a few false starts and after stuffing our poor dog into the back and precariously arranging belongings around him.

When we landed here, Larry and I unpacked everything with 2 paid movers, named Hassan and Marco. Hassan hit on me excessively, commented on my strength, and said he would take me to Antigua with him. That's his home country. I hope he wasn't just flattering me for a better tip, because Damn, I want to go to Antigua!

Dan was finally able to squeeze away from the hospital to come up and help us eat a big serving of crab cakes de Larry. Jason and Sara, some old HS friends, decided to stay the night, too, so we had a full house of unpacked moving boxes and a big side of exhaustion.

But we made it, we're 89% unpacked and have already made our baptism trip to Ikea. We purchased nothing...but Ikea is only 5 minutes away should we decide to go back. If you're reading this and you helped me load stuff, I am in your debt.