the Move to Missoula

As promised, a post with pics about my moving adventures. Here goes.

Arizona tea in hand, one last picture before hitting the road


an hour later: guess i'm staying in Boise a few more days


It has been quite the adventure. It began on Saturday August 18 and is still going since some of my belongings and (totaled?) car are still in Boise. And no, still no official word on whose fault the accident was and if my car is totaled. I seem to remember a little song:
"Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry..."

But I digress. After the wreck, I had my car towed to my Atmore house in Boise, where I lived all summer. I ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream and watched silly movies and tried not to do any thinking about the future for the rest of the day. Sunday I reported my claim and Monday I took my car to the Auto Body shop. After a few days of waiting for official things to happen, and seeing little results, I decided to go up to Missoula as soon as possible.

My friend Jamey drove down Friday August 24 with her dad's '83 Ford truck. We packed it to the gills and headed out late Saturday morning. It was a typical southern Idaho day: sunny and hot. With no air conditioning in the truck, we had the windows down and turned the music as high as I could stand. Then, a merciful break from the heat in a reservoir park.

the cold, mountain water felt so good.




All was fine until about 15 miles outside of Blackfoot, ID when we heard a mysterious sound. Since we had no idea what it was and since the truck need more gas anyway, we pulled into Blackfoot, Idaho and began the process of looking puzzled next to the truck and having random men come up to us and offer advice, lots of advice. Of these, some relatively knowledgeable ones told us the truck was un-drivable until a mechanic could look at it. On Monday, which was two days away.

quelle horreur! Jamey reenacting our expressions upon learning our fate...


Each of us spent time talking to our dads, trying to get advice. Jamey's parents said they'd drive down to us from Missoula. (My family was in New York. Not gonna make it out to Idaho!) We got some supper and wasted some time at the local Walmart. And then we slept on the lawn of Jamey's great-uncle's house, since he wasn't home and we couldn't afford a motel.

Sunday morning, as soon as it was warm enough to get out of our sleeping bags, we had a picnic breakfast and colored in these giant coloring pages (Pirates of the Carribbean themed) that we had found at Walmart.



Jamey's mom took this picture of Jamey and I under the Weeping Willow that Jamey liked so much. After a short drive and look at the truck, Jamey's dad decided it was probably okay, and we started driving again, with Jamey's parents in her mom's car behind us just in case. This is where we stopped for lunch.

Yesterday's Calf-A in beautiful downtown Dell, Montana (pop. 10?)


We finally landed in Missoula on Sunday August 26 at about 10 pm. I was seriously relieved to finally, finally be in my new home.

greetings from 59801

just wanted to let y'all know that i finally made it to Missoula. more about my adventure in Blackfoot, ID coming soon.
happy monday all!

here we go! er, maybe not...

Saturday mornin' I was all giddy with excitement about driving up to Missoula. I finally got all packed, got everything I needed for the next few weeks in my car, got some last minutes pics with my roommates and a pic of me with my packed car - so proud of all that work to make it fit. And off I went.
I didn't get too far. Instead, I found myself in a wreck just 30 miles north of Boise, in a town called Horseshoe Bend. No worries. I'm fine, my violin and computer and all the other stuff in my car - these are all fine. My car that? Not so much! The passenger side is pretty messed up. The front windshield is buckled and cracked, and the back windshield and back passenger-side windows are completely gone. The hood is buckled from the right, the part immediately above the right wheel is gone, and the whole passenger side is scraped. As I rode in the tow truck coming back to Boise I looked back at my poor, poor car and thought, "Did I have an antenna? I don't remember..."

So now I am playing a waiting game. Waiting for the claims adjuster to call me, so I can tell him/her the auto body shop where the car is, and then waiting for those two to chat, and then waiting to hear if my car is totaled and, officially, whose fault it was. All signs at present point to the accident being the other guy's fault. Other's opinions about it being totaled vary more. No matter; I can't make any concrete plans until I hear from the insurance one way or the other. Grrrr. Anyone else hate waiting? Anyone else feel lost when you find yourself in an in between place - not here, not there? Sigh. :)

I'm soooo grateful that the car took all the damage. I really have nothing to complain about. To all my friends and family who are praying and helping me in these days of in between, thanks a bunch. I'll let you know more when I know more!

Walking Around the Corner

Greetings from Boise State University's Albertsons Library. I am in here for, pretty much, the last time. My classes are all done. The final 25lb-cotton-paper version of my thesis was turned in last week. It's probably on the way to the bindery now. Grades are in now, too. Wow. I'm done with school. When I get that diploma in the mail, then it will really sink in!

And now? Well, tomorrow I move to Missoula, Montana. If you only read this blog and haven't gotten any emails from me, my deepest apologies. To fill you in, for the past 8 months or so, God has been turning my world upside down. While my life plans are only slightly tweaked, and I'm only moving one state away, my life view has undergone some significant channges. This move to Missoula, to work on staff with Chi Alpha at the University of Montana, is just one step in the direction of that new view.

How am I? I'm equal parts excited and terrified. And a little sad to be saying goodbye to some folks here. But excitement for the plans God has for me long-term, and the commitment I made to do this, these keep me moving forward. The unknown waits around the corner - funny thing, though. We never really know what the future holds anyway, right? We think we do, but we don't. Every once in awhile God allows us to feel just how much we don't know. I guess that's a huge part of faith, maybe the thing in its entirety. So here's to taking the risks and walking around the corner. Here's to faith in the One who is deserving. I hope you all get a chance to live in this faith, too. :)