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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Farewell Peoria. . .




I am finally leaving my parents' house after being here in Peoria for a whole year. It was nice to have somewhere to stay while Dave was deployed and we've had some great times here. I will miss my parents and my friends who still live here, but I would never choose to move back here.


Yesterday we took care of seeing a lot of the family at my cousin's house, who was having a 1st birthday party for her little girl. They were having a pool party, so Layla was the only baby swimming topless yesterday! She absolutely loved the pool and got a little upset when we took her out.


Our plans get a little hectic starting tomorrow. We have to pack everything we have at my parents' house into our little Mazda Protege. Then we are driving to Minneapolis, where we will say goodbye to Dave's mom and siblings and our good friends there. After that we being the approximately 1800 mile journey from there to Portland. Since we are staying a couple days in Minneapolis, we should InshaAllah get into Portland next Monday (the 22nd).
We should already have an apartment held in Portland, that way we won't be homeless when we get there. Our original plan was to rent a U-haul and drag our car behind, but the U-haul was $1400 one-way and the tow dolly for the car was another $400, so now we are only going with what we absolutely need. The only problem is that my husband and I own a lot of books. We may have to ship quite a few of them, but I know that should not cost anywhere near $1400.
When we get to Minneapolis, our mechanic friend will be looking over the car, rotating tires, changing the oil, and putting on new brake pads. We also got AAA just in case we break down along the way.
I am so excited about making our new home in Portland! We're finally getting out of the Midwest.

5 comments:

Yasemin said...

Hi habibty,

Thank you for your recent comments. Know that I loved them all.

Layla looks so blonde right now! I just love her, and don't feel bad habibty about her swimming topless. At the baby shower the other day, all the Arab children jumped into the swimming pool in their undies, and they're all 4 years old :) We simply couldn't stop the inevitable :)

$1400 is crazy. And one-way! Wow, couldn't you fly yourself, your entire family, and all your stuff for less than that?

I definitely think you have to keep the books, I'd die without mine. Maybe a relative can hold onto some and you can slowly ship them all if cost is an issue.

Oh I love roadtrips! I hope you stop off at Yellowstone or Glacier National Park in Montana on the way. And maybe Craters of the Moon in Idaho. I'm a national park fanatic as you can see....

You guys are super organized thinking about rotating tires and all. And AAA is a lifesaver. I've gotten amazing hotel prices just because I always seem to be locking my keys in the car.

I am smiling just imagining you on this little trip. It's nice that you'll have a small break between packing and unpacking. Love you and praying for safe travels.

NoReply said...

Safe journey... we off to Turkey for two weeks shortly and already I am panicking :0D

Manal said...

Hello, I found your blog through "OrganicMuslima". First I should say "Salam" and how are you? Where are you from? IF you don't mind me asking all these questions. I am always curious to find out about people and meeting new people. I think we can all learn so much from each other.:) BTW, my sister, who is in Saudi, is a linguist too!

Are you a convert? Where is hubby from? And of course, would you mind if I added you to my blog list? You have a beautiful baby girl, Masha'Allah!

Yallah hope to hear from you and definitley read your blog as well! Take care and God bless.....

Umm Omar said...

Love the pics of Miss Layla. So cute. Have a safe trip. and btw, you've been awarded. See my latest post. :-)

Stacy K. said...

Hi Lisa, Your suggestions for the trip would have been great were it not for our little Layla. I would love to visit Glacier Natnl park sometime. It just seems less "touristy" than some of the other places.

Ahavah, I hope that you will enjoy Turkey. Try to learn a little Turkish, it will help you endear yourself to the locals. Safe travels!

Manal, I am glad you found my blog, I enjoy meeting new people as well. I am from IL originally, but have also lived in MN and now Portland OR.
I am not "officially" Muslim, but I do find a lot of things in Islam that I love and appreciate. That is probably why I read so many Muslimah blogs.
My husband is from MN originally and has never lived anywhere else until now. I would love it if you added me to your blog list!

Umm Omar, Thanks again for awarding me! It definitely gives me more incentive to continue to update more often.

God bless everyone!
I will be back with more pics of Layla on another post.