The Journey

So we are moving to Seattle. I have been stewing over this for the past nine weeks. I guess stewing is not the best word. I have been working like a crazy women to figure out where we should live. I have been networking like crazy!! Sending e-mails and answering e-mails.

Face-Book, Yahoo groups, Blogs, Google Maps.... you name it I have been searching it. The Internet has been a remarkable tool to find so much information. I have overwhelmed myself with all the things I have found out about Seattle, Home Schoolers in Seattle, Wards, Stakes, Costco's, Wal marts..... did you know that Wal mart is an oddity in Seattle. The closest one is eleven miles out and it is shopped to death so everyone, everyone that has written reviews about that particular store despises it. The next one is twenty miles away. I am talking every direction. They apparently don't like chain stores in Seattle. I am not a fan either , but I can buy my pasta for .60 cheaper there than anywhere else ..what are you gonna do.

Well, It has been such an amazing journey. One that is just in it's infancy I have made over thirty new friends. I reached out first to friends I knew that had lived in Seattle. They gave me the low down on the weather and what they liked and disliked about Seattle.

Then I searched google for LDS Home Schoolers. I found a great Yahoo group. These ladies are awesome. They gave me so much info on all aspects of the Seattle area, including things from Commute to and from Downtown, Washington Home school law, the amount of bugs they have there (important to know), weather of course, and many things pertaining to Amazon . I found a wonderful blog that one of the women has with so much home school info it was like I hit the jack pot.

Then I put a request in on my Face Book page. This was great. I had many friends come to my aid. Friends that had once lived in Seattle and they introduce me to their friends that live in the Seattle Area now. Through these connections I have found information on areas that I had never even thought of living. Areas that I would never have known about. Now I know all about the Stake and Wards in those areas. I have been able to talk to Bishops, Young Men's Presidents, and many other ward leaders in the area. I have traded e-mails with people not just from my church but from all over. They have been so friendly and helpful..they are strangers yet they seem like long lost friends. I have found out about shopping, library's, community centers, and the dreaded commute. These people, again have been fabulous.

Google maps has been a great tool too. I can zoom in on an area, find all the stores I want to shop at, drop down into the street level and virtually drive through the city. I love this. I have found many could be rentals and driven around in the neighborhood virtually. I now know how far all the places are that I would be going to and how far they are from the different neighborhoods we could be living in. SO HELPFUL! I can really narrow things down. I think I have! It involves a ferry.

This is what is taking up so much time. I am obsessed, I am addicted we need this to be over so I can get back to real life. Three weeks and counting!