Professional Movers

Moving days have been some of the hardest days in our marriage!  There were all-nighters getting ready to move, trying to take advantage of the time that the kids were sleeping.  We celebrated several of our anniversaries in transit.  I remember our fifth was in a McD's in Uniontown;  we were dirty, hot and tired.  I looked across the table and wished Debbie a happy anniversary!  We laughed.

We've moved more than our share of times:

1. to a cement-block duplex at 301 East Morrison Street, Wilmore, Kentucky - after our honeymoon!
2. to our first real home:  a 40' x 8' mobile home at 20 Chapelview, Wilmore, which we paid $1,800 for and sold for the same a year-and-a-half later.  Travis was born while we lived here.
3. to another, nicer duplex at 104 Stephens Drive, Nicholasville, Kentucky. On weekends we lived in a 70' mobile home behind the Tunnel Hill Free Methodist Church in English, Indiana.
4. to 112 Oak Lane, Harrison City, Pennsylvania.  Here we endured two horrendous winters in 1977 and 1978.
5. to Blaine Avenue, McClellandtown, Pennsylvania.  Troy and Tracie were born while we lived here and Travis went to Kindergarden.
6. to 315 Hill Boulevard, East Liverpool, Ohio.  Travis started and finished school in East Liverpool!  
7. to a home we purchased at 316 Thompson Avenue, East Liverpool, Ohio.  Debbie bought the house - I bought the view!  
8. to 285 Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool, Ohio.  We were told we were moving, so we sold our house!  Had to rent this one and move.  A year later it was sold and we had to move again!  
9. to 500 West Fifth Street, East Liverpool, Ohio.  We nicknamed this place 'Maniac Mansion'.  It was HUGE!  There was a Bruno's pizza shop on the corner that sold big slices for $.50 - we ate a lot of pizza while there with three teenagers!  Travis left for college from here (He hated his semester there!  He called me one day and said, "Dad, they're stricter here than you were!").  
10. to 2100 Spencerville Road, Spencerville, Maryland.  Travis was at the United States Naval Academy while we lived here (25 miles away).  
11. to?    We lived in several places for a few months:  the farm in Enon Valley, an apartment in Chester, West Virginia (courtesy of our friend, Heidi Dietz), and a house in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.  This was a transition during a time of family crisis;  we ended up running a licensed home for severely behaviorally challenged children in Summit County for six years!  
12. to 962 Kickapoo Avenue (my favorite address - very poetic) where we worked for the Shelter Care Agency.  I also joined the staff at the Cornerstone FMC.  Troy and Tracie both left the nest while we lived here.
13. to 4350 E Calla Road, New Middletown, Ohio.  
14. to room 1237, Hua Yuan Hotel, Weixing Liu, Changchun, Jilin Province, PRC.
15. to 273 Gilmore Road, Enon Valley, Pennsylvania (after a disastrous one-month in a duplex in New Castle, Pennsylvania).  
16. to 190 Rusty Trail, Enon Valley, Pennsylvania - hopefully our last stop before Heaven!

Travis always made us jealous when he moved.  He did 'nothing'.  The military sent packers in and then movers.  He was lodged in nice hotels until everything was ready.  Tracie and Jon have had this experience too!  Our moves were all self-moves - usually using a U-Haul trailer or truck!  Ugh!  

Actually, we still have a dream of living in some other places like:

• Dahlonega, Georgia
• Ocean City, Maryland
• Savannah, Georgia (winters)
• near the Smokey Mountains (along the Appalachian Trail)
• Hong Kong
• the Philippines
• Portugal
• wherever else God leads...

The dream continues!

These moves reflect lots of lifting and sifting.  They reflect exhaustion and anticipation.  Some of the churches had teams who helped us unpack;  I can't remember any that helped us pack to leave!  People have loaned us trucks. But, by-and-large, the Hal/Debbie Moving Company has developed some major skills along the way.  However, our number is unpublished - we're not taking on any clients at present.  

Give us a couple of months to get settled and then stop by and visit us.  Just remember when you come that you should plan to be gone by 10:00 PM. That's when our eyelids get heavy and we drift off into never-never-land!  

But there's usually a pot of soup or chili on the stove and a pizza in the freezer!  If not, we always have popcorn!  

BOXES

Debbie works at the Springfield Local Elementary School.  The 'cafeteria' ladies have been supplying us with boxes to assist with our move. 

Nice boxes.  Many of them are cereal boxes.

Now when you're moving, boxes are vital.

Banana boxes are exceptional for packing garage items like tools, paint cans, garden supplies and other heavy objects!

Egg boxes are also very useful.  They're fairly sturdy and reasonably large and can hold shoes, boots, Christmas decorations, coats and hats!

You need sturdy boxes for dishes - and lots of newspaper!

Large shoe boxes are great for the contents of junk drawers!  Of course, garbage bags also work exceptionally well for these contents (hint, hint).

The large, flimsy boxes aren't much help, except for packing afgans, comforters, and other soft, light items.

It's nice to gather a wide array of sizes to facilitate the many odd-shaped things you will come across as you root through the bottoms of your closets.

For many of our moves I found that State Store boxes were the best.  They sliced three sides of the lids which made them perfect for reclosing.  Many had corrugated dividers that could be used for glasses and other fragile items.  They were very sturdy.

However, it made many of my parishoners nervous to see us carrying in boxes labeled Jack Daniels and Jim Beam!

OUR FIRST MOVE

When we arrived in Wilmore, Kentucky, it was early evening - just about dusk.  It had been a long drive with me leading the way in the U-Haul truck and Deb following in our old Buick!

I backed the truck up to the porch of 301 East Morrison Street and pulled the ramp out to the porch.  We hoped to get enough off to be able to sleep.

Suddenly, people started coming from every direction!  Young couples - our age!  Guys started hefting all of our belongings into our duplex apartment.  It kept me busy just unloading the truck.  As fast as I took it down, someone grabbed it and carried it into the apartment!

We met so many people that night, we wondered if we'd be able to remember them in the daylight.  Debbie stood at the doorway and directed traffic - telling them where to put each box and each piece of furniture.

Then, just as suddenly, they were gone!  And we were alone!

We walked through our new home - in disarray.  Yet we were very satisfied and excited!  We would be spending our first night together in our first home!

We opened the door to our bedroom and got a shock!

The bed was set up, made, and the covers were turned down!  Candles had been lighted.  The room was orderly with our new (used) bedroom furniture placed neatly in the room!  We giggled with excitement and surprise!

We later learned that this was an Asbury tradition!  We had the privilege of helping others 'move in' during our years in Wilmore. 

Interesting factoid:  we still sleep in that same bed today and still have the same (used) bedroom furniture - almost thirty-nine years later!

WE'RE SPECIALISTS WHEN IT COMES TO THIS!!!

After all, we've done it twelve times!  The first time was right after our honeymoon!

We packed our U-Haul truck and moved to Wilmore, Kentucky (1).  After a year, we bought a small mobile home and moved into it (2).  A year later, we moved to Nicholasville, Kentucky (3).  Travis was born so we added a lot of baby stuff to our collection.

Then, I was assigned to my first full-time church - so we moved to Jeannette, Pennsylvania (4).

Two years later, I was assigned to the McClellandtown Free Methodist Church - so we moved to McClellandtown (5).  Troy and Tracie were born here;  moving became far more challenging after this.

Four years later, we moved to a small parsonage in East Liverpool (6).  Then we bought a house and moved into it for seven years (7).  Then I was told that I was moving to a new church, so I sold the house!  Trouble is, the move fell through!  We had to move into a rented house (8).  A year later, the owner sold the house and we had to move to another rented house (this one we affectionately named 'Maniac Mansion' #9).

Then, we moved to Spencerville, Maryland (10). We left there in crisis and moved several times that were so short that I don't count them:

• to the farm in Enon Valley
• to an apartment in Chester, West Virginia
• to a house in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
• and finally to a house on Kickapoo Avenue in Akron, Ohio (back to counting #11).

Then, we moved to New Middletown, nine years ago (12)!

And now, we're about to do it again!  Only we don't know where we're moving to!  Yikes! 

It's time to panic!

No!  It's time to trust!  God already knows where we're heading - He just hasn't let us know yet. 

We're on a need-to-know basis and I guess we don't need to know yet!  Anybody got any boxes?