Friday, September 20, 2013

Where I've been since June

My last post was a question about trusting race medals to a moving truck. I got answers all over the board--everything from "if it means a lot to you and they're small, tuck them in the car" to "this made me laugh--the truck has all your stuff, it's probably fine." So what did I do? Was it fine? Oh, so much to tell.

Our move started on the 4th of July when Mr. Joanna flew east with our kiddos. They were going to hang out with the grandmothers while my Dad and I drove from MO to UT, close on the new place by the 14th, meet the moving truck by the 16th and get kids' rooms put together. I left MO on July 8th. That day was insane, starting with a run with my STL running buddy and friend Rachel, then signing all the sale papers on that house, and overseeing the movers as they loaded the truck. When the truck left, Dad and I left town. Our drive across the country was uneventful, we closed  a day late but we closed, and got busy painting immediately.

Me & Rachel after my send-off run. I miss this girl.

My Dad in downtown Omaha when we stopped for lunch

Downtown Cheyenne, which is adorable

Buying paint for the boys' rooms!

Mr. Joanna and the kids and my Mom (Pepper) were scheduled to fly to UT on 7/16. All that happened, except that at 5pm on the 15th we learned that our moving truck had not yet left MO and didn't even have a driver assigned and had failed to give us adequate notice because "they were busy". It was too late to get the flights from the east coast re-scheduled.....so, they arrived to an empty house and I was helpless to do anything at all about it. My parents stayed at a hotel until they left on the 22nd, and we bought enough provisions to essentially camp in our house--not without some bumps in the road, but we made it work.

Our things didn't arrive until July 28th, and I'm 99% positive that one of the people who unloaded the truck stole a pair of my earrings (which might have looked real to an untrained eye but weren't). NEVER USE NORTH AMERICAN TO MOVE!  I seriously cannot stress this enough and will happily give anyone the full details should it be useful to anyone. They were awful.

I made a point to swim at the hotels during our drive west, and I started running pretty soon after arriving, once I wasn't painting all day every day. My Garmin's charger was held hostage on the moving truck, so I ran tech-free until our things arrived.

Running in the high desert is a totally different animal than Midwestern or East Coast running. First, there is little to no humidity. This means that people are seen running at 90 degrees or even hotter temps (not me). Second, it gets cool at night even on the hottest days. This means that if you run at dawn, even on the hottest day of the year, it's completely reasonable. Third, I'm at 4600+ feet in elevation. The air is thin. This means that while it took only a few days to acclimate for everyday activities, running left me sucking air for several weeks. Fourth, it ain't flat! My glutes and hammies have been getting a good workout here, and I can already tell it's making me a stronger runner. 

Post-truck (when we finally got our stuff), we've settled in pretty well. While it was not our intention, we have become urban farmers. We grow an insane amount of produce, from which we've made homemade blackberry ice cream, apple pie, applesauce, grape juice, grape jelly, pear jam, and a few other smaller things. On the whole, eating healthy, whole, natural foods seems really easy here. It's a lifestyle, and it's so easy to love, especially when you grow the food yourself!

Stay tuned--there are TWO big announcements on the fitness front. Welcome back to JoannaRuns, everyone! Show me some love!

3 comments:

Christy @ My Dirt Road Anthem: A Runner's Blog said...

Ugh I have heard so many bad mover stories lately, that is crazy. Glad it ended mostly well though and you got your Garmin back!

Jen Feeny said...

I have been wondering where you have been, what a cluster! I'm glad you are all settled now and looking forward to hearing more about the new place and your exciting news!

Erin Bockoven-Troll said...

LOVE!