"Well we're living here in Allentown..."

Unless you are a Billy Joel fan or are super old, you've probably never heard of the song called "Allentown." But it is true, we are living here in Allentown. So far, we love it! Even more than we expected (and we expected to love it a lot). We have looked forward to this summer for nine months. I kept putting off projects and saying I would do them in the summer. The summer has arrived and I am doing great! Hopefully I will stick to it so I can get a lot of things done.

The move was one of the more atrocious moves we have had. Surprising because it was the shortest distance of the five moves we've had since being married. I was cleaning the oven the night before we left Ithaca and the cleaner was extremely strong; I didn't wear a mask. I felt very sick when I went to bed that night. Alex did not sleep well so we got a grand total of four hours of sleep. Thursday morning, I felt even worse than I had the night before. Every time I moved or lifted anything, I felt like I was going to throw up. That was a problem because we still had a few things to load (including our mattress and Alex's crib). We called a guy in the ward to come over and help Sam load. Then I threw up. I could feel the cleaner coming back up because it was burning my throat just like it had on the way down. I am so glad Alex was already in bed when I cleaned the oven because it would have been so much harder on his little body.

We were supposed to leave Ithaca by 10am but we didn't end up checking out until noon. The apartment manager came over to walk through our apartment. He walked straight to the back bedroom then said, "Everything looks good. I'll mail you your deposit this week." He didn't even set foot in the kitchen! Checking the oven was the last thing he was thinking of doing. I was angry that I spent so much time cleaning.

It took us almost an hour to figure out how to get Sam's car on the trailer (which ended up ripping off his bumper). The actual trailer did not match the images in the instruction manual. It was pretty frustrating. We were in a hurry to get to Allentown before 4pm so we could read the lease, sign it, and then get our keys. I was falling asleep while driving and I was so tempted to pull over and sleep but we didn't have time. We got to our new complex at 4:40pm.

After throwing up, all I had eaten was a 6" sub sandwich (known in these parts as a hoagie) and a glass of water. Alex was not happy about that and I was worried I wouldn't be able to nurse anymore.

I was still feeling incredibly sick and I fell asleep bundled on the floor of our living room. The moving truck was due the next morning though and it had to be unloaded. Sam was trying to carry everything in himself and told me to just stay where I was until I felt better. After I watched him carry our mattress up a flight of stairs and through two doors, I knew he wouldn't be able to do it all alone that night. So I called the bishop of the ward here. I had never met or talked to him; I found his number online. I left a message and a few minutes later he called back. He was going into a meeting but 45 minutes later, he and four other men showed up and unloaded the truck in 30 minutes while I sat on the ground holding my head and being completely useless.

I love the gospel, but the community of the church is an incredible thing and I am not sure what we would have done without it. Five complete strangers came over to help people whom they knew nothing about. They probably thought I was worthless just sitting there as they carried things in. They even stayed a little extra to help us set up our bed. I am so grateful to be a member of the church, not just because of the gospel, but because of the community within the church.

In my own defense, I did help load the truck and was not intentionally flaking out on unloading. Here are my wounds to prove I did something.