Final Post! Sort of...

This is the final post from Texas.
(for 2 years anyway because according to Jenny we have to be back by then)

The final post on this blog.

But not the final blog post.

We're moving to Singapore and we're also moving to http://thestunzfamily.wordpress.com/.

This is one move you can definitey make with us. Hope you'll come along.


Good bye, Texas.

Singapore, here we come! Not sure if you're quite ready for the Stunz Family 5!!!

Where in the world is...

We are in Dallas now for a few days and boy is it hot! We're staying with my sister and enjoying a much needed day of rest today. Church, lunch and then a couple hours at the spa with the girls for pedicures, manicures, foot massage, etc. Tomorrow and Tuesday Tommy, Tori and I will be going to Tori's college orientation. Tommy and Jakeb will be driving to Oklahoma tomorrow night for a Wilco concert. Yes, they're insane! Can we cram anything else into a day??? :)

We actually got all of our suitcases packed up and found we had a little space to spare. WOW!! We are under the allowed weight but it's really hard to fit 70# into a suitcase and it be manageable so most suitcases are around 50-60#'s. I sure hope it all makes it to Singapore.

We drove up to Dallas in a rental truck because we had to bring Tori's college stuff to put in storage since she won't have a closet at home to leave her winter clothes, etc. We also needed room for all of our bags. 14 large suitcases, 5 carry on's and 5 backpacks. A Mazda 3 just ain't big enough!

The goodbyes over the last few days were too hard for words. It's so incredibly twisted to know you are excited about going somewhere and feel so bad about leaving the people you love. Those goodbye hugs are a killer and they just don't last long enough. They are sweet hugs, though. And that's saying alot for a non-huggin' kind of person.

We'll leave early Wednesday morning for the airport and begin our 30 hour journey to Singapore. About 24 will actually be in a plane. What a trip!

Something Good

We've shared some sweet time with friends and family over the past couple of weeks. That's something really good.

We've also had alot of "treats" come our way. Meals paid for, coffee paid for, small and very thoughtful gifts, pool party lifeguards paid for, etc. You gotta admit, there are some benefits to moving. :) None of the givers of those treats would want a thank you, but thank you anyway!!

We've eaten as much Mexican food as we could manage - it really is even better when it's free! We're eating the rest of Jakeb's deer today for lunch. My mom has fixed all of the kids' favorites and spoiled them rotten. The kids got Shipley's for breakfast once more and we're having Mimi's tostadas tonight. And Anna and I had a Sonic date yesterday during Happy Hour.

Yep. Definitely something good!

I just wanna watch cartoons!

So last night ended horribly. We said some tough goodbyes.

I picked up this precious little nephew of mine

and gave him a big hug and a big smooch and told him to grow up and be a good big boy. To which he replied:

"I just wanna watch cartoons!"

Me too, sweet boy, me too.

What I'll Miss

I'm starting this post with dry eyes. I'm sure I won't finish it that way. I don't want this to seem like we're dying or anything. We're just moving. These are some things I'll miss and I thought I'd document. Don't get me wrong, we ARE looking forward to the many new things we'll experience in Singapore. We'll create new memories there and when we leave after a few years, we'll have material for a similar post, I'm sure.

But for now... I'll miss Chipotle, buying large quantities of groceries at one time, roaming the aisles of Target and Walmart, getting in the car to head wherever I need to go on my timeline, Sonic Happy Hour, Target clearance racks, free or cheap shipping and much more.

I'll miss the ample supply of huge pecans off of my huge pecan trees in my front yard. I'll also miss making pecan pies in a jar and tons and tons of peanut brittle!

I'll miss our annual trips to Lake Catherine State Park (pictured) and Landa Park.

I'll miss our neighbors. Jay, Pam, Sonny & Kaetlyn, Jesse & Nealie and their boys and "Mr. Boy". That's short for his real name but Anna started calling him Mr. Boy when she was little. That man could run circles around us!

I'll miss living in the place where one of our previous dogs was buried.

I'll miss looking out my back window to see the fort that Jakeb and Tommy built when Jakeb was about 8 years old. He bought the supplies at Lowe's with about $140 of one dollar bills and a bunch of change.


I'll miss my Christmas time gingerbread house.

I'll miss those hand painted tiles that we put on our backsplash thinking we'd never move. Not recommended by the way.

I'll miss the joy that Anna got when she played with Bella.

I'll miss all of the family birthday celebrations.

I'll miss our family Easter mischeif. (aka - Halloweaster)

I'll miss being goofy with my sisters.

I'll miss seeing my kids be goofy together. (Since one will head to college in the fall.)

I'll miss these wonderful friends at the BEST nail place in the world.

I'll miss my kids being goofy with their friends here.

I'll miss being goofy with my friends.

And I'll even miss being goofy with these weird people. :) Edie, how'd you miss out on this one?

I'll miss family meals around this particular table. I love this table! So many fun memories from as far back as I can remember.

And family memories around this table. Just as special!
I'll miss getting to see these precious little kiddos, and a few others whom we love, grow up before our eyes. I'm also sure we'll miss the grand entrance of some new ones that are sure to come along at some point.

And going to their adorable school performances.

I'll miss my sister leading me in worship at our church.

I'll even miss sitting in those blue chairs. Mostly because of who was sitting next to me.

I'll miss the giggles every time we pass this statue of Stephen F. Austin on our way out of town.

I'll miss that last stretch of road headed south on Hwy 288. This means we're almost home.

I wonder what that stretch of road will look like that leads to our next home.

There's so much more I'll miss but I can't wrap my brain or heart around it. I think this will do for now. Don't you? As Jenny puts it, I spilled a little.

The Countdown Is On

8 days from now we'll be on a plane headed for Singapore, and this week is pretty full. Our week is full of events and everything pretty much has to go like clockwork to make it all happen. There's really no time for being spontaneous. Not that I'm ever really good at spontaneous anyway... We want to fit it all in and then some because it's all about spending time with those we love but when we get to the end of this week there will not have been enough time, I'm afraid.

A few things have made the list and a few things haven't. We think we've done a good job in spending time with friends and family. I'm sure they'd be telling us if we hadn't. :)

A few months ago, we created a Singapore Bucket List (things we wanted to do before we leave for Singapore) and I think we've mostly accomplished the items on that list. I really wanted to go eat Indian food with Tommy yesterday for lunch at his favorite place there but my to do list was too long and the kids were going to need to be taxi'd around. I really want to go eat at our favorite Persian food place before we leave but it doesn't look like that will be possible. We got to eat Chipotle on Sunday and I waddled out. I think I'll miss that place the most. Why does almost everything we want to do revolve around food? Who knows? It's either that or coffee. Oh well. Food, family, friends, fun and coffee. That's it. That's what matters. Ok, God is at the top of that list but I hope that goes without saying.

I feel very pressed for time but I also feel like we're sort of going in slow motion. I'm really trying to be still long enough to soak in the moment. My moments are going to be drastically changing very soon and I'll miss these ones.

Semi-sad post coming so brace yourself.

To Do List

It's long. And I'm sure you wouldn't care to read it. But that's what our life is about right now. There is much to do.

I think this may be the shortest post in the Stunz blog history. But I got it checked off of my list. :)

Sans home life ain't so bad.

Tommy has a t shirt that says, "camping mocks the homeless". He got it from a blog that he reads because it makes fun of the people who take complex issues and reduce them down to sound bites and because he likes things that make people think. In regards to the homeless, we aren't heartless people and that's not what this post is about.

People usually don't get that t shirt and at first read, it seems offensive. In fact, it was pretty offensive to one Starbucks employee we encountered because she volunteered at a homeless shelter in Houston. We understood completely. But if you give it a second or two and think about it, people all over the world are homeless and live in the outdoors while we vacation in the outdoors in our luxury campers and rv's. Even sleeping on the ground (or air mattresses) in our tents is more luxurious than what homeless people have. We love to camp and we think it's ironic that we enjoy what others endure.

For the last week and for one more week before our move to Singapore, we are sans home and "camping" in my parents driveway. We have taken over one room of their house for our bazillion pieces of luggage and one bed and their camper. When I walked out of the camper this morning, it was cool out, the birds were singing, squirrels were scampering and it was quiet and peaceful just as if I was stepping out into our favorite state park in Arkansas. Except the ground was concrete and had some cars in it and I walked about 10 feet into a house. :)

So there's not a whole lot that I can do right now. I'm tying up some loose ends with cell phone cancellations, helping Tori & Jakeb get ready for their Kenya trip, completing school forms for the Singapore schools, finishing up the last little tidbits of homeschooling, taking care of insurance changes and a few photo projects that I wanted to get done before we left. We're getting to visit with my parents, family and friends. We're busy but it's certainly better than the last few months of sorting, organizing and packing and all the crazy decisions we had to make each day. Right now, we are pretty much in a holding pattern until next weekend. Then it will get chaotic again.

Sans home or homeless life, for us right now anyway, ain't so bad.

All Packed Up

Well, our life is all neatly packed up in a box but it took three days for the moving company to get it that way and many days before that for us to get it all sorted and organized. Our air freight was over so my beloved Bath & Body collection and homemade candles will be travelling by boat. :( We actually had some extra room in the sea container. Benito, the moving guy, told me I needed to go shopping. I was simply too tired, believe it or not...

We had some fun with our mover people. They were very nice and we almost feel like we’ve known them for years. Who knows, maybe we’ll see some of the same ones in a couple years when we unpack all of this mess back here in Texas.

They worked fast and furious to get it all done. I was kinda surprised at the relaxed pace of the first two days with only two packer people. Tommy and I even got to sit around for a while. The third day, however, was a flurry of motion and things went very fast. We're exhausted and we're glad that part of it is over with. My feet, legs and brain have never hurt so bad.

We're spoiled now after this move. Using a moving company, especially when someone else is paying for it, is way better than packing a Uhaul ourselves!

Anna and Jakeb took our dog, Bella, out to my sister's house where she (Bella) has barked so much she's hoarse. Sorry, Colleen. The kids got to watch part of the spelling bee yesterday until they ripped the couches out from under them. We cleaned up the house and turned over the keys to the new owner. They are a sweet couple who will begin raising their family there. We're very happy that it sold and that part is over with as well.

Now, we're at my parents house spread out in their camper and in bedrooms in their house. We'll be here for a couple more weeks spending time with family and friends and then we're off to the next big adventure.

Below are some pics of the last few days. The before's, the during's and the after's.

And there it goes...

Movin' On

Just a quick update. We had a great time away in Dallas and my neice's wedding was really nice. It was a nice break from our chaotic and ever-changing world. We hit the ground running as soon as we got home yestrday.

So...

We got our suitcases packed up, mostly.

We got the rest of our stuff sorted and organized, mostly.

We borrowed a hanging baggage scale from Tony and Laurie to weigh our suit cases. It broke on the 2nd bag. oops! It wasn't that heavy.... We'll replace it, we promise! Anyway, we got to visit with them a little and that was really nice.

We slept in our beds, in our rooms, where we have for the last 8 years and 1 month, for the last time in our home on Center Way.

The next time we see our beds, they'll be in Singapore.

The movers come this morning. They say it will take them a couple of days. A couple of days of craziness from what I hear and I'll be needing some serious caffeine and an extra portion of serenity.

We think we're supposed to close on the house on Thursday. We hope.

Regardless, we'll be out of our house by tonight and staying at my parents house cause we won't have any beds here.

The kids are doing well. It's so nice having older kids that can do some of their own packing and driving to run some last minute errands.

Tommy saw some of our friends in Walmart last night. He was buying yet another suitcase. (Walmart was the only place open.) He was also buying a bunch of Lean Cuisines cause we don't have time to cook and we're about to not have any dishes. Anyway, these friends popped in a little later and brought us some food. They felt sorry for us, I guess. :) We also had a fun, short visit. I cherish these moments!

Anna and Jakeb will take our dog, Bella, to her new home today. My sister and her family will be taking her in. That's going to be a little rough for Anna especially.

Tommy and I are doing well. I'm blogging and he's out running. I can't imagine having the energy to run right now. I woke up yawning...

I hate packing (I think I've said that before) and am very overwhelmed by this process. Taking the time to write helps me out a little. It helps me purge at least a few of the thoughts that are running wild in my head. Tommy helps me out alot and tells me what to do when I'm standing in the middle of the floor slowly turning in circles not knowing which way to go. There are so many little things that have to be decided on. You know, things like, "where does that box of q-tips need to get packed?" I think I started to cry a couple of times for various reasons but was just too tired. So no tears yet.

A Perfectly Wrong Kind of Day

So, yesterday was lousy. Getting in bed last night was a welcome end to a perfectly wrong kind of day. Alot about this move seems perfectly wrong. We know we are supposed to go and we are excited about going. It's what God wants us to do. We are completely confident in that fact. But that doesn't make it any easier to pack up our life, say goodbye's, and get on that plane.

Did I mention that yesterday was lousy? I think I did. So, I wake up this morning and this email is in my inbox. I have an incredible daughter. I have three incredible kids. I'm trying to be strong for them through all of this and they come through for me. I've got it good.

Hey!

This is one of those Joy Williams songs that I told you about.

Anyway you should listen to it and THEN go have a spectacular day in Dallas and make today not "one of those days". Unless of course "one of those days" means wonderful :)

Love you!
-Tori

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynyA6qPjUpo

A day in the life of....

... a family moving to Singapore. And a yucky day it has been. Mostly cause we still own this house. We're told it will be soon but we've been told that since, oh, about April 30th.

The movers come next Tuesday to pack us up. We'll be at a family wedding (YEA Brett & Jon!) so we'll lose a few days of sorting and organizing before then. We've been told that when the movers come, they are a flurry of activity and we'd better be watching closely or one of our kids will end up in a box.

Unfortunately, I've experienced, rather we all experienced, my first major meltdown today. I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. I wish I was better at blowing stuff off. I want to. I really, really want to. But truth be told, because I'm me, I would fill up every day possible with doing things to "get ready" and it would still never be done so not being here for a few of those days for the wedding will help me out I think. Come Tuesday it is what it is. Thanks to Jenny, my bedding will get packed dirty. She talked me into it. I'm not washing it for it to sit on a boat for 6 weeks and then have to wash it again once we're there. If anyone else wants to talk me into something that will save me some time and grief, I'm open.

We are throwing tons of stuff away. Some of it is probably not trash but I don't care to mess with it. Trash day is Friday if anyone wants to come diggin'. :)

All in all, we are simplifying and that part of it feels good. We're really trying to get rid of that pack rat mentality. We're not, ok, I'm not a pro at it but I'm better. It ain't goin' with us. Anywhere.

So, our kitchen floor is the designated area for the stuff that's going in our 500lb air shipment.

Our office is where all of the storage items are being put.

Alot that is going into the sea container shipment is all over Anna's floor. She can get to her bed but that's about it. I promised her I wouldn't put stuff on her bed.

We have two closets that are designated for DO NOT TOUCH signs for the movers. They'd better not even think about going in there.

We have suitcases EVERYWHERE and are having to pack those so we can get all of that stuff out of the way before Tuesday. To where, we're not sure. We planned on going to my mom & dad's but we may find a suite instead. We're gonna have lots of junk and that would give us some space to spread out. We'll see...

For now, we can still sit on our couches and a corner of a table is open to finish up our last little bit of school work on.

We have color coded post-its ALL over our house. Red - storage, green - airplane, blue - sea container, yellow - 500lb air shipment.

It's a mess around here and I'm tired. I have nothing more interesting to write about right now. Sorry. This is our life. Exhausting, not enteratining. Perhaps something laughable and/or interesting will happen soon. I'll let you know if that happens.

The First of the Lasts

Anna is a part of the MP3 team in our Children's Ministry at church. They lead out in our children's worship time on Sunday mornings and have choreographed dance moves to help motivate other kiddos to participate and enjoy their worship time.

She's been a part of this group for well over a year, maybe even two, and LOVES it. Until now...

Yesterday was her last time to serve in MP3. It was a reminder to me that we are really beginning to experience our "lasts" before we go.

As I lamented about this with a friend in the hallway at church, after I went and took pictures of Anna "doin' her thang", this friend cheerfully reminded me that even though there are many "lasts" now, we'll get to experience a lot of exciting firsts very soon. Thanks for the perspective, Cindy S.!

Great job, Anna! Your dad and I are so proud of your passion to serve God and His Church and you do such a good job at it! It will be fun to find our places of service at a new church in Singapore.

Brain Mush

We've made a lot of decisions related to the move this week and thought through a lot of stuff. Throw in a couple of allergy ridden kids and homeschool and our brains are mush. I've got a few blog posts formulating but haven't had time to sit and really polish them up.

So, as anxious as you are to read post after post on the Stunz family blog, you'll just have to wait.

Hope you have a great weekend and get to do something fun!! We will be turning our "home" into a "house" this weekend. The moving chaos begins as we clean out our offsite storage unit, move our piano to my mom's house and begin turning our rooms into onsite storage units.

"We Don't Have To Make Our Beds Today" Day is HERE!!!

(That's Kim, our realtor/friend. Thanks, Kim!)

YES!!!

We still have to get through to closing on the 30th but the "SOLD" sign gets us a little closer to hearing the perverbial fat lady singing. I hope she breaks the glass on this one.

Honestly, we haven't made our beds for a couple of days now cause we've just been too busy to care but now, I really don't care. Oh, except for Tuesday when the appraiser comes. But after that, I REALLY don't care.

In a previous post, I said we'd celebrate this joyous occasion. Today, we celebrate. Not sure how, but we will. Any ideas?

If you could see our calendar!

If you could see our calendar it would make your head spin. It does mine. When I hit that airplane seat I think I'll leave skid marks on the floor.

We leave for Singapore on June 17th, that's only 60 days from today, and our calendar is quickly filling up. Dinners and lunches with friends and family, appointments to take care of things, etc. Our google calendar stays up all the time on my computer. Oh, how I love my google calendar!!! We cannot make any plans without referring to it first. Everything has to be on the calendar. That's just our life these days. We have managed to reserve two weekends between now and June 17th when we will plan nothing if at all possible. They won't stay empty, there will be things to do on those weekends but we'll have them open to do whatever needs to be done or whatever we want to do if that should be the case. Every other weekend and most week days are jam packed!

Tommy and I went on a date last night. We haven't seen much of each other this whole week. He leaves for work at around 5am and gets home around 7pm. I had to cancel something with friends to make the date happen but they understood and it was much needed time together. Our dates these days consist of eating out, last night we had Mexican food, getting a tea or coffee at the local coffee shop, updating our calendar and our shopping list for Singapore items and our "to do" list of things we need to remember to take care of before we go. Last night we just sat in silence for a little while. Expressing a thought here and there but just sat. In the same space. At the same time. Nice..... Then we went grocery shopping! Fun, fun, fun. But, it was time away and time together.

Jakeb and Tommy left for the Gator Gallop, a local 5k race that Jakeb really wants to win. I've already baked 6 dozen cookies and put a pot of charro beans on for dinner and it's just 7:30am. Today also consists of a wedding shower, a lunch in Houston with the group that Tommy works with and their families who are all going to Singapore. We had to say no to some things today just to keep the time for this carved out. Then we'll come back for dinner and games with friends. Oh, and I'll need to finish up some school work with Anna on the drive to Houston.

I know I said in a previous post that time with family and friends is valued and a super high priority, and it definitely is! But there are things that just have to get taken care of and cut into our days and time for things we'd rather be doing like hanging out with you. If for some reason we don't meet your expectations of spending enough time with you, which I'm sure will be the case at some point, please accept our apologies and cut us some slack. We're trying. There's so much to do and we're really not lazy people so I hope you understand that we're doing the best we can. There's just so much to do. Oh, sorry, I already said that....

So, in trying to find balance and some peace and perspective in the chaos, I write this post. I'm not whining, I promise! We are busy, we're trying to live in the here and now while planning for the then and there. We are trying to "not sweat the small stuff", keep a positive and healthy attitude and a right relationship with God and each other (that's the key to making all of this work). Stepping back a bit and looking at the big picture, it's all very exciting and we're very grateful for the journey. We love that we're being given this opportunity and honored that we get to go and that the company Tommy works for would deem us worthy of the investment.


Speaking of calendars..... When are you coming to see us in Singapore? That's one calendar item I'd be delighted to add. Oh, and go get your passport! :)

House/Move Update

Warning: This post may bore you so feel free to skim or skip. Just don't be offended if you ask me about something that I've written and I tell you to go read the blog. :) I've said before that part of the purpose of this blog is for me to journal. This post is written partly with that in mind. So this move and process will be documented for future reference.

Just wanted to let you all know that the inspections are all done on the house and nothing major was found that would delay closing. Negotiations are all done as well. That's a big relief! We should have a "SOLD" sign in our front yard soon.

The buyers of our house are a sweet young couple who will most likely be starting their family here. This has been a great family home since 1965, one where the children have all been tucked into bed and prayed with at night, played hard and enjoyed growing up here, and we're glad that it will continue on as such. They will be the 4th owners of this home since 1965. I think that's pretty incredible that a 44 year old house has only had 4 owners.

We prayed for someone to buy our house who would be good neighbors to our neighbors and we feel they will be. We have loved living here and we LOVE our neighbors and it will be hard to leave them. Along with our other friends and family, of course!

Unless something major happens, we are on for closing for April 30th and we'll rent back and stay in the house until May 28th. The movers will probably come on the 27th. What fun that will be! Ugghhh...

We have alot to do between now and then. Still alot of sorting to be done and getting rid of. What stays, what goes??? If it stays, where does it go? Storage? Trash? Someone elses house? If storage, then which one, ours or Tori's so she can get to it while she's here at college? An agent from the moving company is coming next Wednesday to help us get a better idea of how much can fit in a 20ft sea container and what to put in the 500lb air shipment. This will help us decide what to take and not to take.

We also have to find a home for our dog, move a piano, sell a car, empty out the attic (major yuck!), move out of our current storage building, get International Driver's licenses, purchase the other things we need to buy here that either aren't available in Singapore or will be 3x the price, finish figuring out how the global banking process works and how we set up Tori for banking here, make contacts for change of address and utility disconnects, complete our Will and Power of Attorney paperwork, spend as much time with our friends and family as we can. I'm sure there's more, in fact I know there's more but this list just exhausts me and probably bores you so I'm not putting anymore down.

Then, after all that is done, on May 27th or 28th, we will move in with my Mom & Dad until June 13th - taking over their camper and a couple of beds inside their house. Hopefully, those two weeks will be relaxed and we can just play with our friends and family. Hopefully..... If you are local, and you are related to us or consider yourself to be one of our friends, ask me about June 9th the next time you see me in person.

On June 13th our family of 5 will head to Dallas, probably in a Uhaul truck, to stay with my sister for a few days. I wish we could drive to the airport in the Uhaul. That would just be hilarious to me and would probably embarass the kids to no end. Can you imagine the looks on people faces when we start hopping out of a Uhaul and unloading our luggage??? Makes me laugh just thinking about it. We'll have already sold our Camry, we hope, and there's no way in the world we'd have a vehicle big enough to carry our bazillion suitcases. Picture 5 people each with three oversized suitcases and our carry on and backpacks! Well, Tori will only have two but still... that's 14 large suitcases and 5 carry-ons and backpacks.

We'll attend Tori's college orientation at UNT on Monday and Tuesday. Our plane leaves from Dallas on June 17th at 7am and Tori's will leave at 10am. The company flies us differently since Tori is not actually relocating there. It's a bummer.... but she's okay with it. We'll actually end up in Tokyo at about the same time and then in Singapore within about 30 minutes of each other. Tori will be on Dramamine the whole time so she won't even miss us.

If you made it this far, I'm impressed! You are a true friend!! Thank you for all of your prayers so far and please keep praying that things with the house and the move go smoothly from here on out. You'll be seeing pictures of Singapore before you know it.

My countdown clock says we leave 63 days from today!! We've been waiting for this since last May. It really is strange to think we'll be residents in a foreign country in just two months. That makes my head spin. If you see me and my head is spinning, please make it stop.