Bambi, Ice, and Uhauls. Ay Yi Yi!

We should have known when we were scrapping inches of snow and ice off the truck at 6:30am that the day wasn't going to go as planned. Just 12 hours earlier there had been 5 people planning to go to Phoenix for a furniture-retrieving, sunshine-loving adventure. At 6:25am the last person backed-out and it was down to two.

As much as I adore winter, I have to admit that I'm not quite used to it yet. So I hadn't received the common-sense memo that ice+snow+nightfall will equal a lot of work before you can drive away. So my faithful friend and I took to the windows with a tiny ice scraper and our sleeves to make the windshield less of a Christmas wonderland. It wasn't the last time that we would be unprepared that day. 

After enough of the windshield was cleared we drove away in the snow, ice, and dark to Phoenix, land of eternal sunshine and free furniture. 

About an hour into the 3 hour drive, coffee in hand and a strong will to not fall asleep we encountered our second unplanned obstacle of the day. . . sweet little Bambi. Why did she have to run? Why didn't she turn around? So many questions! It was a split second encounter. She ran, we tried to swerve, and in a quick moment of Disney movie dreams dying, BAM! The poor baby hit the side of our truck with the most magnificent force. Now that I think about it, that deer might have been suicidal. 

With closed eyes and an escaped scream we collided with dear Bambi. It's true. We have the dent and fur to prove it.  I think she escaped with just some intense brain damage, let's hope. It was quite the collision. 

Snow, Ice, Bambi encounters. . . . what else?? 

How about the Uhaul trailer almost not attaching to the truck? Or the ridiculously heavy piece of glass we had to move without any blankets to cover it with (I'm learning to be self-sufficient and let's just say I was in charge of the blankets and forgot them. Let's also be clear that without my faithful friend I would probably be furniture-less and still in Phoenix trying to figure out how to open the storage unit). Then perhaps after all that we drop the tailgate on the key in the lock and it snaps in two.

Sigh. What a day it was. 

But in the midst of the near death experiences, the strained arm muscles, and the frustrations, there was also sunshine, good friends, a delicious sandwich, and a trip to Ikea. And though the day was long, at the end I was reminded of this: 

Life is crazy. We have good days and bad days, but the gift is in going through them together. At the end of the day we have life, and each other, and a roof over our heads. I have friends that wake up at 6am to drive with me to Phoenix, friends that cut me down the perfect Christmas tree, and friends that let me recount every detail to them when I get home. And that is what sustains us through it all, isn't it? As much as people can be annoying, they are what pull us into tomorrow with the promise that all things will get better. The promise that one day we might be able to afford a dream couch, and even if we can't, we will have people that come sit on our floor for dinner. 

It is the people that make everything worth it, and though I sometimes feel isolated on this mountain, I know that I wouldn't make it through without the people that God has surrounded me with here. I am blessed beyond what I deserve and that makes every day easier to get through. . . 

. . . well, that and the hope that Bambi is still alive somewhere out there. . . 


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