As we approached the end of 2016, we patiently waited for insight into our next assignment. Our work visa was set to expire on March 1st. One of two things would need to happen at the start of 2017. Either we would apply for an extension to our visa in order to stay in the country or we would be reassigned to another job and a move would happen. While I enjoyed my time in Canada very much, I did not anticipate staying for longer than our original three-year visa. Just before the Christmas holidays, the company made a request that we extend our visa, and suddenly I was faced with the possibility of continuing in Canada for another significant amount of time. I was a little disappointed. I had thought that we would be heading back down south. But, I was thankful for the positive aspects. We had a fantastic group of friends in Canada and Brenna enjoyed her time at Sarnia Christian School.
Just after the first of the year, we began working on the paperwork for our visa extension. I settled into the mindset that we were here for another long haul and then something unexpected happened. In early February we found out that Jacob was being transferred to Houston.
The move plan was uncertain. Jacob's effective date was April 1st, which complicated a school move. Most schools in Houston finished in late May, so it didn't seem reasonable to transfer to a new school for only 6 weeks. But our school in Canada continued until the very end of June, which we couldn't wait around that long for. Jacob's schedule also complicated things, as we weren't able to get away for a housing hunting trip until the end of March. Mom and Dad came up and kept Brenna while Jacob and I flew to Houston for a quick house hunting trip. After a few days and some hard decisions we ended up buying a house that wasn't finished and wouldn't be complete until August. That really threw a wrench into our plans.
After a lot of coordination, we decided that Jacob would go down to Houston ahead of us. Brenna and I would stay behind until the end of May. Jacob moved into a corporate apartment in The Woodlands, which was still about a 45 minute drive from our new home. He kept track of the house as it was being built, visiting regularly. Brenna's school was very accommodating and allowed us to complete the school year in May. Jacob flew back up to Sarnia the last week of May to help as the house got packed up and to attend Brenna's District Track and Field meet.
We also decided to drive the cross-country trip together as a family with the cats in tow. We broke the trip up into multiple legs to accommodate Brenna's track meet and visit with family. We left Sarnia late Thursday afternoon and drove through the miles of farmland to Windsor where we checked into a hotel and prepared for the early morning track meet the next day. Because the track meet was an all day affair, we chose to spend one more night in Windsor and pack-up early the next morning for our drive down south. We crossed the border via the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and started our journey back home. There were stop-overs to visit with both Jacob's and my family. In total the trip had 4 legs, was 18 days, over 1,500 miles, and roughly 30 hours in the car. We traveled through Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Looking back on it now, I don't know what we were thinking!
We finally arrived at our temporary home and got settled in. It's been a long time since I've experienced apartment living and it was long before family life, so we all had some adjustments to make in our new accommodations. There was lots of take-out, mostly because our corporate apartment was not equipped with my usually cookery needs and because after making multiple trips across the apartment parking lot to haul in the bags from my first grocery shopping trip, I was no longer enthusiastic about cooking. The biggest issue for me and Brenna was finding something to do! Usually our summers are packed with sports and travel. Because we were caught in the "in-between" we couldn't easily manage a sports season of any kind and the trip down was all the travel I could handle for a while. Fortunately, we re-connected with friends, made the most out of the entertainment and activities that the area had to offer, and enjoyed the amenities of our new neighborhood with each trip to check on the new house's progress. We took advantage of the apartment complexes pool. We visited indoor adventure parks and jump parks with friends. Brenna and I celebrated our annual Mom and Me Day at Painting with a Twist and we enjoyed the splash park and fish camp in our new neighborhood.
Between apartment living and building a new house, we certainly experienced some bumps in the road. But, the house progressed quickly and before we knew it, it was move-in day.... a whopping 68 days from our original displacement. This move-in did seem a bit harder than previous ones. Maybe because I was worn out from our long, drawn-out move. Or maybe because everything that had been in storage during our stay in Canada had to be sorted (I mean, if you haven't needed in nearly 4 years, do you really need it!). There were things I'd forgotten that I had, things I'm not sure why kept, and things I'm certain weren't mine (see the rawhide rug below!). It took about three weeks to slowly make my way through the boxes and get the house set up, but it was finally starting to look like home.
After I finally unpacked the last box, and with school starting in just three days, I thought we were ready to start our new normal. Unfortunately, Hurricane Harvey had other plans. Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast on August 25th as a category 4 hurricane. It became stalled between two high pressure systems and continued to circulate over Southeast Texas making 3 separate landfalls over 6 days. It was the longest lasting land fallen hurricane in history continuing at hurricane strength for 117 hours after its initial landfall. Over 6 days it continued to pull water from the Gulf of Mexico and dumped more than 1 trillion gallons of rain on Harris County with totals ranging between 40 to 61 inches of rain in areas. 82 people were lost to the storm, more than 200,000 private homes were damaged, and $180 billion of damage was incurred throughout the county. This was definitely an event that will be remembered for a lifetime and not the "Welcome back to Texas" we were expecting.
We were very fortunate and our home did not flood. Others along our street did take in some water, but in general our neighborhood was spared. Other neighborhoods in our area took on between 1.5 to 5 feet of flood waters, with some interstate underpasses holding as much as 25 feet of water.
The whole event was devastating to all of Southeast Texas. School was postponed for nearly two weeks as people tried to access their situations. The community did pull together to overcome the circumstances. Jacob helped with the demolition of a friend's home and Brenna and I took part in a laundry convoy that washed the clothes of flood victims in an attempt to salvage somethings.
During this move, Jacob and I celebrated a wedding anniversary. Of course, we were living in two different countries at the time so there wasn't a lot of fanfare, but milestone anniversaries tend to call for a look back. I realized we'd managed 15 years, 5 locations, 4 major moves, and 2 countries. I'm thankful to the have this move behind us with it's long-haul, temporary living, new construction, and natural disasters. We're excited about our new location and looking forward to what lies ahead!
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