Leaving Cheyenne

I have lived the majority of my life in wet, rainy Oregon.  When I came to Cheyenne.. I felt like Spongebob Squarepants out of water.  It is very dry here, especially in the winter when it sucks the moisture right out of you.  Anyone moving to Cheyenne... I HIGHLY recommend installing a humidifier on your furnace, and also investing in ultrasonic humidifiers for every bedroom.  (It really helps with the static electricity in your home as well.)  However, the two best things about Cheyenne for myself, was that the majority of the year it is sunny and the people are fantastic!  Even if it is -40 below with the wind chill, it is probably still sunny outside.  Winter also lasts 6-9 months, but again... it's still sunny!

Since moving to Cheyenne, we have endured consistent "breezes" of 30+ MPH winds (yes, in Cheyenne.. that is a breeze) with 50-80 MPH wind gusts (for almost two years, our house had no "wind buffer".. just a vacant lot in front of us), freak blizzards, massive hail storms (that totaled our car that wasn't even a year old and damaged our tent trailer), and sun burns.  However, while in Cheyenne we also welcomed two new members to our family.  Our daughter, Emma was born in Cheyenne, and a puppy we named Sophie.  Our family has grown in other ways as well, with our neighbors and church family.  Without them, I know our time here wouldn't have been the same.  We have explored a little more of Colorado, visiting and loving Colorado Springs as well as Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  We took a road trip to Mt. Rushmore and Devils Tower National Monument.  

Even though we have known that we were leaving ever since September, and mentally prepared to leave in November.. it is still hard to say goodbye in January.  Packing started yesterday.. a normal sunny day in Cheyenne with 30+ MPH winds.  The only casualty in the moving process was to our screen door, which was caught in the wind for the second time.  This time, the actual door was bent instead of just the frame, so it doesn't look like an easy fix as it was the first time this happened last year.

This being my first PCS (Permanent Change of Station... and Bryce's first with a family), the idea of having other people pack up my things was hard to accept at first.  Yes, I am a control freak.  However, I admit one of my biggest weaknesses is packing.  As, I'd rather "sort" through things as I pack, which takes 5x longer than if you just stuff it in a box and move on.  So, once I was able to let go of the fact that I can't get everything organized before a move, it was much easier to sit back and enjoy the help.  Much less stressful.  However, I still can't just sit and watch everyone around me busting their butts and do nothing to help.  Yes, I helped.  Of course, the first day I HAD to help, as the moving company only sent two people to pack our first load.  TWO.  What they thought would be finished by noon, took them until 4:30pm to finish (well, not everything went on the first day that I wanted to, so technically they didn't really finish).  So, I told them the next day, they better send more people and a bigger truck, as our second day was going to be the majority of our house.  Today, Day 2, they started out with four people, and ended with six to eight people helping with the process at one time or another.  Tomorrow, on Day 3.. everything that is left is going to storage.  So, I don't need to be there.  I instead get to take care of the kids and take the dogs to the vet to get their travel certificates, as well as some other last minute errands.  And also have dinner with friends on our last night in Cheyenne.  Luckily, we had some great friends who took the girls the past two days so we could concentrate on getting things done at the house.  I didn't make Lilly go to school this week.  I made it her choice.  However, in exchange for not going to school, she had to read every day and work on learning French.

Day 4 will be tying up loose ends.  Bryce finalizing his paperwork.  Returning the car we have borrowed from yet another friend since Thanksgiving, handing over the keys to the realtor, and heading to Denver, as our flight on day 5 will be early in the morning.  We are connecting through Baltimore on our way to Germany.  We will be in Germany for two weeks.  We do not have travel plans to our final destination just yet.  So for now, all I know is that we will arrive in Djibouti before the end of the month.  And I also know that I have generous childhood friends willing to let myself, the girls, and dogs come visit them for a few days while Bryce is at his conference.  Then they are also letting us tag along on some tourist adventures over the weekend.  

That is all I know for now.  And so our adventure continues!

Cheyenne forcast for tomorrow, Jan. 9th: High of 52 degrees and low of 26 degrees.  Possible snow on Friday.
Djibouti forcast for today, Jan. 9th: High of 84 degrees, and low of 73 degrees