As of today our mail is officially being forwarded, and we no longer live in Florida. The new address is:

Samuel Minter, Brandy Donaghy and Amy Roney
15210 NE 13th Place #2601
Bellevue, WA 98007

This will probably change again before the end of the year, but for now, this is it if you want to actually use physical mail for us.

As of a few hours ago the house is empty except what we are taking with us.

We’ve been cleaning and spending some final time in the pool. We’re heading out for dinner now. One of Amy’s friends from the neighborhood is going with us.

Then a few errands. Then once we drop the friend back home it is off to a hotel. There are no beds. Our last night at home has already happened. :-(

Tommorow one last time back home in the morning then we will be on our way!

The movers arrived almost on the dot at 12 UTC. I had meant to take a few more pictures and such. (And take a shower.) But that didn’t happen. They arrived and then it was a whirlwind. Us scrambling to make sure the things we wanted to take with us in the car were seperate. All of them running all over the house sticking things in boxes. They have been here six hours now. Almost everything is packed. A couple more hours and they will be gone for the day. By the time they leave everything in the house except what we will need for the trip West will be packed nicely in boxes.

Then tomorrow they will come back and load everything into the truck. boxes and furniture. Tonight will probably be our last night in this house. Tomorrow will be a hotel. Then we’ll leave Palm Bay… presumably for good… on Wednesday morning.

I am a bit overwhelmed, so I’m reatreating to the computer for a little bit. Most of the house is already packed. It is already not quite home any more. And it makes me very sad.

THere is absolutely no question that this was the right move. Absolutely no question that things are better and will be better in Washington than they were in Florida.

But when I moved here. When I bought this house. For the first time since I was 9 years old I left myself think of where I was living as not just where I was living, but as HOME. I indended to stay here for many years. I intended to marry Brandy here, adopt Amy here, and maybe even have another someday. And this was the place for it. This was the place to settle and finally grow some roots. This was a house that would be good not just for a couple years, but which I would have been happy staying in until I retired and beyond. It was never supposed to be a 16 month house. It was supposed to be home. It WAS home.

And now we are leaving. After driving cross country we will arrive at a small 2 bedroom basic apartment with a six month lease that is almost up. We’ll probably renew that lease for at least a few months more. Then maybe get a slighty nicer apartment. We won’t however be looking at buying a place again for many years most likely. On top of the much higher cost of housing there, we also made the decision to send Amy to private school, which will basically use all the money we might have considered spending on buying a house again. So… maybe sometime. But definately not in a timeframe we can forsee and predict. Apartments can be OK… depending on the apartment. But I had definately gotten used to being an owner. And I liked it.

The movers pack our lives away, taking them away from this place. Some of it will come to our apartment in Bellevue. Most of it will just go into storage, most likely for many years to come.

Anyway, this is a sad goodbye that is in progress. The final goodbye will be Wednesday morning. In the mean time, there is not much to do. The movers are doing their thing.

I sit and watch and am sad.

And I trust. I trust that before too long, with all of us there, one way or another, Washington will start to feel like home and not just where I happen to be this year. But not yet. Maybe in a few years.