The Shipment

Seven weeks after we loaded our earthly possessions into a shipping container in Aberdeen, they arrived via Panama to the Oakland, CA port where they were ‘randomly’ selected for a customs inspection (it didn’t feel very ‘random’ since our air shipment was also ‘randomly’ selected for the same thing). After passing the USA Border Control test, our belongings were delivered to us on a Tuesday morning. 

After our moving experience in Scotland, we were a bit nervous. Read more about that traumatic day here, but basically, despite the rooms in our Scottish house being big enough for our things, the door frames and stairwells were not, so we had to get rid of lots of stuff and also had to totally rearrange our layout. 

Shipment day in Aberdeen

Anyways, we were slightly apprehensive when the delivery truck pulled up to our house in San Ramon and we geared up for a couple of long, stressful, and chaotic days. 

Well, I’m happy to say that the team sent to unpack us were AMAZING! They had all of our furniture put together and all of the boxes unpacked by 1:30 in the afternoon! 

Somehow, Forest must have known it was important for him to nap his heart out, and he delivered with *2* 2 hour naps. That almost NEVER (aka NEVER) happens. 

Jonathan and I tag teamed the task of putting away all the belongings and really pushed ourselves to the point of exhaustion on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Wednesday night, Jon’s mom flew in from Louisiana to help with the baby care while we continued to unpack. It was so helpful, especially since I was travelling to Missouri for the weekend. I know Jonathan felt a bit more comfortable having her there for his first weekend alone with the munchkin, and I think she was pretty happy to scoop up some un-mommy-censored grandson time while Jonathan continued to work towards his Olympic medal in: Unpacking Like a Boss. 

By the time I got home on Sunday, there was almost nothing left to do except hang a few pictures on the walls and find a random place to put all the random knick knacks one acquires over the years. 

It was a bajillion times easier than our experience moving to Scotland. It does help the unpacking process when your house has plenty of space and storage. That's one thing that Americans definitely  value more than the Brits!

I promise to post pictures of the finished house just as soon as we hang the pictures, put away those final lingering items, and give the house a thorough cleaning (aka NEVER). 

Can I just say, I am so happy to be over the hump of this relocation! I’m very eager to put the move behind us and just start enjoying the time we have left in wonderful Northern California. We had some friends up from Bakersfield over the past few days and it’s definitely helping CA feel a bit more like home. 

We are totally loving it here and can’t wait for more people to come and visit us. So, when are you coming???