Are We Almost There?

When I was a kid, we drove all over the earth on vacation. My parents had this awful cassette that played car trip songs with the title track being "Are we almost there?". From the moment this moving madness began I have wanted to ask when it would all be over! And now, Finally, we have "arrived".

Not sure how many people pack up their 2 toddlers and start an entirely new life somewhere in a 4 week span in a place they have never been! We have lost our minds!! Or have we? So far (in my rough 72 hours here) I am in love! I mean, of course, I am sad to leave OKLA. My family and my studio are a HUGE part of my world. But hey, that's why planes were invented. The hardest thing for me so far has been my 3 year old constantly asking for her friend Anna! Oh the heartbreak. It will pass and we WILL be visiting. 

Any who... Back to this place. My hubby had it basically set up for us when we arrived. (I hit the hubby jackpot) My mother (Tutu) and drove across the country with me and the crazies. (That's one KIND KIND woman) and my father drove another car out with my stuff that wouldn't fit in my car!! (Again, I'm a lucky girl). It takes a village to move your family across the country!!! 

My kids were not awful for 18 hours in the car. Crazy but not awful. They loved staying in hotels. Ha!! And were really pumped about the gross breakfast included in your stays...

We had one long stop at a Cracker Barrel (what? Who am I?) and Ballerina talked us into buying (and wearing) costumes! 

Once we arrived in NC, the kids were fab!! We've had a good few days playing with Tutu & Paps. We are all VERY happy to see Daddy again and now it's time to get our new home organized!! 

Here's to new beginnings!!! 

-whitney 

Car Owners!

So... we bought us some cars! 

Yup! That's right, we bought 2 cars this past month! Neither one of us had ever purchased a car before so it was quite a process. Not to mention a real "grown up" moment in our lives! I guess as future parents we should get used to acting like adults. 

We went to several dealerships and finally made a decision. 

By the time we sat down to do the paperwork we were starving and it was 8:30pm. 

Learning all about his first car loan.

The husband purchasing his very first car! 

We finally got out of the dealership at about 9:30pm and drove as fast as we could to the nearest restaurant to eat and celebrate our big purchase! 

Our second car we purchased from my Gege estate. And yes, she was 91 driving a mustang convertible. We realize that the convertible is not the most practical car for a new dad but it was the most affordable! Plus, who wouldn't want to drive around with the top down? (minus baby I promise!)

Plain White Mommy Car and Cool Daddy Convertible! 

So here we are now... living in the flyover states with 2 cars! 

Oh my!

-Whitney 

Updates at College Ave!

Hey Friends!

I am currently on a plane headed to Atlanta to judge dance competition. Brian wants to know how it is I continue to leave him at home alone, no matter where we live. What can I say? I love traveling!! Even if it is to spend the next 4 days in a theater watching 4-18 year olds spin & kick! 

Anyhow, we have been busy busy working on getting the house ready!! Here are a few pics from the past week or two to keep you up to date with the Hubs progress on things!

Brian hated our plastic chandeliers... so obviously he had to remove them.

He scares me. 

Putting his tool belt to good use. 

The neighbors dog got out and Brian had to keep him from crossing the street. 

Grown Man in a tool belt, just chilling on the front lawn. 

My wonderful girlfriend, Katie, happened to be getting rid of this bedframe! I love it!!

Guest Bedroom now has a bed!! Working on the decor but this room will probably be the last to get decorated. 

Stay tuned for pics and video from Brian's first tornado and buying 2 cars in a week!

-Whitney 

Sorry Friends!

Just a quick post to tell you all how sorry I am that I missed a week of updates! Expect there to be some extra posts coming your way soon!! So much to tell but SO MANY BOXES to unpack!

Brian working hard on getting the empty boxes out of the house!

Lots of Love!
-Whitney

Home Sweet Home!

We arrived at the OKC airport last Friday about 9pm. It had been a very long (and emotional) day. When we got to baggage claim, we realized we had no luggage. I love Oklahoma but Lordy! it sure does take a lot longer to get a "situation" straightened out around these parts. After over an hour of waiting we finally got our slips for missing luggage and were on our way to my grandparents house to get some sleep! Big thanks to my PawPaw for waiting at the airport with us!

The next day (St. Patty's Day!) we headed to Target for some clean clothes (green, of course) and then off to the new house we went.

Getting carried away! 

Uncle Coco was nice enough to drive all the wonderful wedding gifts from our Ardmore storage unit that we hadn't had the space to keep in NYC. So, after Brian and Uncle Coco unloaded the truck we headed over to Campus Corner for a little lunch. (Which means we walked Brians new route to work.) After lunch we all packed up and headed to Ardmore for the evening since we had no luggage and no furniture!

On Sunday we got up early and headed back to Norman, where are luggage was waiting for us on the back porch! YIPEE!!! My Mom was kind enough to put some of the essential cleaning tools in our house so we had a little something to work with when we got there. Mom also helped set us up with a SAMs Club membership! We had tons of fun at SAMs!!

Brian bringing Whitney something to survive the long SAMs run. 

We had some very important things to pick up on Sunday to survive the week. And thank goodness my mothers car was available to help us out!

Loading the mattress!! 

I am sure we were a site to see driving down the streets!!

Finally a place to lay our heads!

But at least we finally had something to sleep on! The rest of the week consisted of lots of rain and even some tornado watches. Brian has yet to understand the severity of tornadoes! Let's hope he never really understands it. Later in the week the storms started to clear and the sun was out! 

The week was a busy one. Brian started his new job and I unpacked all the wedding gifts! We sampled several new restaurants and made numerous trips to Lowes and Target. Things are slowly getting put in their place and the movers should arrive sometime this coming week. We even got a chance to sit on front porch swing and enjoy the sunshine! 

View of Campus from the block where Brian works. 

Cannot wait to share the weekend full of painting and baby shower! 

-Whitney 

Leaving NYC!

Moving to Oklahoma has been such a whirlwind. I am not sure we had a chance to think about leaving until the day was upon us. 

So Friday, we woke up early and put the finishing touches on packing and waited for the movers. 

Once the movers arrived, I sat in the hallway and watched all the chaos for a bit. After talking through the move with the guys, Brian and I went to a diner while they worked! Hiring movers is WORTH EVERY PENNNY! This pregnant girl was really happy to NOT be involved for once. 

After our trip to the diner we returned to find the apartment completely empty. 

I cried several tears. And even Brian got sad for about 30 seconds. 

After a brief photo shoot in the empty apartment and more tears on my part, we grabbed our luggage and headed to the airport!

The next time we are in a cab from LGA we will have a baby girl in tow!

Once we landed in OKC, we discovered we had no luggage. Nothing like realizing that everything you own is in transit somewhere! But, more on that later!
-Whitney 

Keeping Up with The Browns!

Hey friends!
Since we moved across the country and have so much happening, I will be doing a twice a week blog update for our family and friends scattered across the US. I am going to try to update every Monday & Thursday but we will see how that goes once the Princess arrives.
You can sign up for email updates or just stop by the blog when you are surfing the internet in bordem. We cannot wait to start sharing the craziness of the move and all that follows!
-Whitney

Until then, enjoy a pic or two from our crazy week!

All packed up!!

Arrival at the new house!