Texas! (picture heavy)

We made it, everyone! I know I've been absent a while but we set out on the trip last Friday and it took us three days to drive out. The first night we spent with a friend in Los Angeles. We got really lucky, actually. There were some major wildfires along I-5 which we could see as we drove by:

A few hours after we drove by they ended up shutting I-5 down and we wouldn't have been able to get through! First night in LA was fun, I'd never been. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time there as our car was packed so solidly we couldn't check our blind spots (we had to check each other when we drove) so neither one of us wanted a car full of stuff parked on the street in LA.

The next day we left LA.

We drove for hours and hours and hours through the desert, all the way through California, into Arizona, through Phoenix, and stopped to stay with some of Boyfriend's family in Tucson. 

We ate some food, slept, and set out early the next morning for Texas. Made our way through El Paso with some difficulty and, after over 10 hours of driving on Sunday alone, we made it to Texas.

Right now we're staying in some temporary housing with two cats. One of the cats, Spike, is the sweetest thing in the world. He's kind of old and the second full day we were here he started to get sick. Really, really sick. He wouldn't stop throwing up, started drooling excessively, and did not look good overall. Of course there was a HUGE thunderstorm going on at the time but once it stopped, at around 11:30pm, we took him to the 24 hour clinic. They gave him some injections, did some blood work, and around 2am we went home. He got progressively better and after a vet visit Thursday, the problem lies with his bad teeth. So now we have to give him antibiotics and Monday morning Spike is getting his teeth cleaned, poor old guy. Other than that he is a complete sweetheart.

The other cat, Vincent, is a nightmare. I don't normally say this about animals or cats, but seriously, Vincent is crazy. He bites feet. Sometimes playfully, sometimes really hard. It's actually really difficult to describe why he's a demon because as I tried to type it out I realized that I'm just kind of describing normal cat behavior. But it's not. I used to have cats. He's still pretty young and kitten-y but it's taken to an extreme. A crazy extreme. We're having a hard time handling him. Also, when we arrived, he started leaving us presents in the form of tapeworms. He only just got rescued about 6 weeks ago off the street, though, so that has a lot to do with it but man, he is a handful. Last night he wouldn't let us sleep so Boyfriend had to lock him in the bathroom (before you get mad at me the bathroom has everything he needs - water, litter box, a floor mat for him to sleep on, and a window for him to sit in) just so we could get some sleep. It was awful.

So basically it has been just under a week since we got here and already we have had to take both cats to the vet. 

The place itself is nice, though. Small, but nice.

It's out in the country, kind of far away from everything, but it is a nice place and it's furnished, which is great. We're here until our apartment is ready July 14th and after that I'll just be stopping by twice a day to take care of the kitties until July 22. Our movers should get out things to us between July 14th and the 20th. And by the way, this is the complex we're moving into:

I'm really excited to have a place of my own with my own things and no crazy/sick cats.

Handsome Helpful Boyfriend starts work on Monday and we're both really excited. We're going today to meet the people and check the place out. Since he's going to be working in the oil fields and going down the oil roads, my Yaris, unfortunately, wouldn't cut it so after we got here he ended up buying himself a car (which I haggled for, actually. Completely out of character for me but I'm proud of myself!).

It has enough clearance for the oil roads along with 4WD and plenty of storage space if I decide we need some more furniture. Which I probably will. It's a 2004 Honda Pilot.

It has been an adventure trying to figure out the city of Midland. The roads are different here than in California. The people are different. The weather is different. And we don't know anyone here. But we're together, in our own place, making a life for ourselves. I miss seeing my parents everyday but I guess at least this means I get to stitch on College now without having to hide, right? 

Speaking of stitching, it's IHSW. I fully intend to participate with TRGM and hopefully finish it. Once I do I'll be working on College again. I tried packing Greek Mandala but it just wouldn't fit in the car so the only things I have to work on here, after TRGM, are College, Middle Earf, and Medieval Shelf. 

If you're still here, thanks for reading, and thanks for being patient! If you want to see my Texas albums either now or in the future feel free to friend me or follow these links:

Texas (an album I started at the beginning of the road trip and will continue as I take more pictures in Texas).

Mobile Uploads (an album off my phone that has Texas pictures in it along with a bunch of others, whenever I forget my camera or leave my memory card in my card reader).

Happy stitching, everyone!