From There to Here: Part I

I know everyone is dying to hear the nitty gritty of our trip. We laughed, we cried, we went to the bathroom 303458754 times.
We started off by having my mom fly to FL and move into the TLFs with us. We packed up 2,000 lbs of stuff we were going to move on our own and took it, my mom, and the kids down to the base and left them there. Cory and I slept in the TLFs with everyone and then would drive to Crestview (where our house is) to supervise the movers, clean the house, etc.
I know a lot of people that do their moves different ways. The way I prefer to do them is by moving to the TLF the day before the movers get there. I want to have every towel, plate and thing clean before it goes in the boxes. It makes my life much simpler on the actual moving days. I don't have to watch them like a hawk making sure they do/do not pack certain things. If it's on the property: it goes! Everything that stays with us is already at the TLF. This works for me. I don't like camping out in our house for several days on an air mattress with a few plates/forks while the movers are there. I know my makeup or car keys would end up getting packed and I would be irate.
Everyone always has a 'good story' with their moving company. I say it in quotes like that because that actually means a story that won't be funny for several more years.
We haven't had too many horror stories, but there's always some issue with something completely ridiculous.
This time our first issue was that they didn't bring enough guys on the 'put your crap in the truck' day. Somehow the size of our house/shipment was relayed incorrectly and they came under prepared. So it took them forever. And our driver had these weird rules for his team. He made them line all 15 thousand pounds of our stuff on the driveway/front yard and then he inventoried it from there and then he was the only one that could physically put it in the truck. I was kind of panicky when I realized nothing was in the truck yet and it was 3pm.
Also, they took EVERYTHING APART. INTO ONE MILLION PIECES. I mean, normally they  will take the legs off of some furniture, the entertainment center comes apart in a few big pieces, the beds in a few pieces. But they took the furniture and everything else they could think of apart into flat boards and hardware. You know, like when it comes in the box from the store?? They took apart Cory's garage organizer into about 50 pieces, they took apart our computer desk into about 100. They took the futon down to springs and wood pieces. They took the springs off of the furniture! They took my stroller wheels off my stroller! Are you getting the picture here? And lucky them, the guys who did this are not the ones that have to put it all back together. The moving guys on this end are. I felt so bad for them. But thankful that they stuck it out and got everything together pretty well.
 Also, my stroller wheels are nowhere to be seen. Every box has been unpacked and they are no where. My Phil and Ted! Jeez! Don't they know that stroller holds more than babies? It holds memories! Of Korea and all my other Phil and Ted sisters! in 2008, Osan AB was a walking Phil and Ted advertisement. I bet all the moms out there now have different strollers. I shudder at the thought. 
They day after the movers came, my mom went back home. (She babysat kids in the TLF for a week!) Then, we got the kids and the dog and drove to Nashville. We met my inlaws at the airport and did a quick lunchtime hand off of the kids, dog and our minivan. Cory and I rented a car and drove back to FL while my inlaws drove the rest of our crew up to their house in NW Indiana. Cory and I needed another 4 days to ourselves to clean and do maintenance on our house. We finally got renters (the day our packers showed up! Nothing like waiting till the last minute!) and we needed to get everything ready for them to move in. We finished all the cleaning and repairs, rented a uhaul and loaded our 2,000 lbs and started our drive toward TX.