Kiwis in Texas #5 - Tornados, Brisket and Cars

| Mar 27, 2021
Well, this week we had the distinct pleasure of receiving a tornado warning and spending an hour in the closet under our stairs watching the news on my phone. The rain was torrential, but more nerve-wracking was the constant lightning. I didn't realise that lightning did that shimmery, strobe-like effect. It was pretty crazy! Then the hail started which only added more drama. We realised as we sat there that we were not really prepared for any type of emergency so we immediately got onto Amazon and kitted ourselves out. We will be sheltering in style - bed pads, blankets, pillows, lantern, survival kit and more. We will have our own secret hidey-hole. Hopefully, we will never have to use it for a tornado that is heading our way. To be honest, tornados are one of my bigger fears in moving here. I feel a bit better with our new emergency kit. 
Bryce waiting under the stairs during our tornado warning. It was actually dark in the closet, but the flash made it seem super light. 


 Before all the tornado drama, we had been having a pretty normal week of work and doing life. Last Friday, Bryce and I were able to receive our first dose of the Covid vaccine. We want to be able to travel to New Zealand and we are hopeful that being vaccinated will enable us to do so more freely. It was a super organised process and free to boot! My arm was pretty sore, but no other side effects. Only 5 more weeks and we will be completely immunised. Exciting! 

To console ourselves after being jabbed, we went for a drive to a small town called Celina (pronounced Se-line-ah). It's about 10 - 15 minutes north of our home in Prosper. We went to a bbq place there called Tender Smokehouse. It was delicious and the baked potatoes were incredible both in size and taste. Then we wandered around the small town centre. It was fun to go somewhere new and explore a bit. Nothing like a bit of Texas BBQ. 

Tomorrow, we're off to start the next adventure of looking for a car for us. We have been privileged to have been able to borrow a car, but we are excited at the prospect of our own vehicle. Texas drivers are fast - long straight roads and in our area not too much traffic, so having a decent sized car is going to make me feel a whole lot safer. Lots of semi-trucks and also just standard pickup trucks, though of course, Texas-sized. :) 

 Well, that's the latest from me. Till next time!
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Kiwis In Texas #4 - The Great Furniture Hunt 2021

| Mar 15, 2021

Gosh, after the initial flurry of writing as I processed all that had happened in early February, I have become very slack in updating on life. In some ways I feel that it is all pretty boring as life is already settling into a routine, just a slow, predictable one.

After all the snow had melted, Bryce and I were able to get out and about a bit and we decided to focus on getting some furniture for our house. We were so thankful for the table Mom and Dad left behind for us as that has provided somewhere to eat and sit. 

When we decided that we were going to move to the USA, I asked Bryce if we could buy furniture instead of schlepping our old beat up stuff all the way to America. He agreed and so began the Great Furniture Hunt 2021!!

Our friends told us to go to Nebraska Furniture Mart so we thought, why not? Off we toddled not even understanding what we were walking into. We arrived at this huge building on a beautiful sunny day. Armed with our masks (always an ugh!) we walked in the doors and stopped.........it was HUGE, GINORMOUS....not enough superlatives. I had no clue what a huge store it was.

The entrance to Nebraska Furniture Mart


We learned that NFM is 560,000 sq ft (52,000 sq m) in the retail part alone. You add on the warehouse and distribution and it is the biggest store I have ever been in. It was overwhelming, but we finally just started walking around. We did manage to get one thing - a TV. We are starting on the trail to normal.

Over the next couple of weekends we went out to different furniture places and ended up back at NFM. We were able to get all the furniture sorted for Bryce\"s library which is going to be so cool when it\"s done. 







We were pretty pleased when it arrived in our house and we were able to see the vision coming to life. We are still waiting for some things, but that\"s ok.

While we were on the Great Furniture Hunt we soon learned that COVID and the snow have created havoc with the supply chain and some pieces of furniture are taking months to arrive.  We started to feel the pressure to choose our living room furniture as it was going to take awhile by the sounds of things. The Hunt continued.......

In between forays into the actual working world at the office next door, I have been scouring websites looking for furniture ideas, rugs, wall decor - you name it!! Part of the problem is that I have developed an appreciation for LOTS of different styles and to be honest I am really a Traditional-French Country-Farmhouse-Coastal girl. Eek!!! Not the easiest when you have a house to furnish. 

I originally thought I would choose a rug to get inspiration from, but that turned out to be a bad idea and instead I became even more confused. Finally I went to an online fabric store and found the fabric that became my inspiration. I now had some direction. That next weekend Bryce and I went shopping and ordered our living room couches, a rug for the living room floor, our bedroom set and we started pulling stuff out of the garage that Mom and Dad had left behind. We finally felt like we were getting somewhere. 


I am so excited about these choices and though we won\"t be getting our couches until at least June, we are feeling like things are coming together. 

The couch is pictured here, but we are getting a different color hence the long wait.
The rug has definitely helped the living room feel more defined and comfy....still no furniture, but that\"s ok. We have a rug!!!


I found this picture at a beautiful home decor store called Kirkland\"s. I am obsessed with it for so many reasons. The colours, the flowers, the French-ness. AAAAHHH!!! Tres magnifique!

I am now on the hunt for a TV console for our main living space and new rugs for the breakfast dining and formal dining areas. 

The journey is going well though some days the thought of looking through another website at rugs, or counter stools or anything can slightly do my head in, but that\"s ok. I am super grateful to even be able to.

Well, that\"s all for this time. I will try and write another post sooner this time. Till next time!
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Prosper, Texas, United States
I've been married for 32 years to the love of my life and we have two awesome adult kids and a fantastic son-in-law. Big new adventure moving to Texas from New Zealand in February 2021

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