Holy smokes, I moved to Utah!

Moving day was such a whirlwind. So many emotions and so many moving parts.

My mom, dad, and sister were all able to drive with me to the airport and I will forever be grateful for that.

I miss them so much already.

On the Saturday before I left, I spent some time with all of my grandparents and my uncle. I miss them so much too. I’ve lived five minutes away from all of them for my entire life.

It’s weird to think how far away I am now.

I cry as I type about missing all of my family, but I am so happy to be here with Naz as well.

It feels so good to see him in person instead of FaceTime, and to know we don’t have to deal with long distance any more.

Calli and I had to fly out of Chicago, because I wanted a direct flight to make things as short and easy as possible for her.

For anyone that has never traveled with a pet, there are so many restrictions and rules.

None of them are listed in the same place, of course.

To be completely honest, the system is pretty unorganized, which makes for an extremely stressful, hectic day for travelers.

Especially first timers like me! (Maybe that’s why I think it’s unorganized too, I didn’t know what to expect haha)

And then you add on the fact that I have no idea how she is handling the plane ride until I arrive and just hope that everything goes okay.

I struggled to say goodbye and leave my family at the airport. I’m crying now just thinking about it.

In fact, I cried all the way to my gate and even some on the plane.

I talked to Naz for a while before boarding and he calmed me down a bit.

It’s hard to move away from so many people you Love to be with another person you Love.

It’s so exciting and so heart wrenching at the same time.

Like I said, so many emotions.

Then toss in the fact that I was worried about Calli the entire time and I was a wreck!

I got a sandwich for the flight and waited to board. Still fighting tears.

I couldn’t (still can’t) get the image of my dad’s teary-eyed face out of my head and that instantly brings the water works.

Anyways, I saw a glimpse of Calli’s cage through the window when I was boarding, so I was glad to know they at least got her on the right plane lol.

I talked to the flight attendant about Calli being in cargo and she called the pilot to confirm he was aware and would control the temperature and pressure for her.

Sitting in my seat, I was feeling extremely nervous and anxious for her.

I know she was probably petrified and I always said I would never put a dog through that, but it was the only way for me to keep her.

Maybe that’s selfish, but I knew she had been abandoned in the cold for at least a couple days, and I wanted to make sure she was Loved to no end.

My palms were sweating, I was jittery, and I felt like I could throw up for the entire flight.

I listened to Kaitlyn Bristowe’s podcast, Off The Vine, because each episode is one hour, so I just had to get through three of them and I would be back on the ground.

The flight felt like it lasted 3 days.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally landed and I booked it to baggage claim.

I waited right at the counter for her cage to arrive.

When she was delivered I felt so much relief. I could tell she was scared but to see her little eyes light up and her tail go crazy when I put my hand to the cage made it all worth while.

I got my bags off the carousel.

Then I thought I was going to pass out standing there with my two large checked bags, my roller carry-on, my giant purse, my coat, a large dog cage, and a dog that can’t wait another second to get out!

People were starting to crowd around her cage asking about where she came from and what not. She handled it very well but I just needed to get everything in the truck already lol.

I don’t mean to sound rude but I had been up since 5:30AM and just had about a four hour-long anxiety attack haha. I needed my boyfriend and to get the heck out of there with our pup!

Naz arrived about two minutes later, thankfully, and finally being able to hug him made the entire trip worthwhile.

He helped me get all of my stuff out to Georges truck and the four of us were off to the apartment!

Georges, Naz, Calli, and I are roommates by the way! Lol

Calli instantly Loved both of them and has enjoyed the overload of belly rubs and kisses!

She has already learned where her bell is to ring to go potty and seems to Love everything about it here!

I finally calmed down once we got to the apartment, and I got all of my stuff unpacked and organized.

I also organized a bunch of Naz’s stuff lol. Shocker.

For those wondering, surprisingly no I did not take over the entire closet! Lol I did very well packing and seriously only take up half!

We made a trip to the store to get some groceries, food for Calli, and a couple other necessities.

I made dinner, poured a glass of wine, and fell asleep before even touching it haha.

That’s how you know I was exhausted!

Confession: This photo is SO staged haha Calli hated every minute of this and looked petrified the entire time lol – Thankfully we don’t have any problems with her getting stuff on the counters…knock on wood haha

Anyways, after a long, stressful, emotional moving day, we’ve arrived in Salt Lake and are all settled in as happy as can be!

Our first week has been incredible!

We had a few game days and I know I talked about it in my last game day post, but I have met so many friendly, welcoming people in this program. I am so thankful they’ve made this transition so smooth for us!

Calli made some friends at the dog park, played in a lot of snow, learned to lay down, stay, and shake with both paws – she’s a smart girl!

Life is so good right now, we couldn’t be happier (:

Here’s to our new adventure in Utah!

-AP



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