Thank you for moving us

Thank-you cards are not my forte. In fact, every time I receive a thank-you card I feel guilty. I have the most difficult time remembering to do them. And even if I remember to write them out, I rarely remember to deliver them. I'm terrible at it.

I only got half the thank-you cards from our wedding reception finished. And I still feel terrible about that. If you didn't get one, thank you!

It isn't that I don't appreciate what people do for me. I do! But I find the whole thank-you card thing a little over the top.

Take baby showers, for example. (I'm pretty sure I forgot to get cards out for that, too!) Here all these women bring you gifts. And then they sit around and watch you open them up. And you tell them thank you and gush over the gift so that they know you like it. And then you're supposed to go home and write up a bunch of notes to thank them again. It seems a bit ridiculous.

I had a baby less than a week after my ward baby shower. I don't think I got the thank-you cards out for that, either. I know I didn't get the cards out for my family shower. Thank you!

People also seem to give help when I'm in need of help. You know, the times when I'm absolutely swamped and don't have time to write out 50 individual notes to people, thanking them, and then taking the time to stick them in envelopes, lick them, seal them, stamp them, etc., etc., etc.

I don't know why that seems so overwhelming to me. It just does.

Part of the reason might be that Andrew refused to help me write the thank-you notes after our wedding because, quote, "My handwriting stinks."

That is true, but we just got a thank-you card in the mail (that made me feel quite guilty) from one of Andrew's mission companions. He obviously wrote in the card. And his handwriting stunk. But he did it!

Oh, and since we're on the subject, what do you write in thank-you cards, anyway. After you've written in 20 of them, everything starts to sound cheesy and lame and absolutely the same. Especially if you received duplicate gifts. Take our 5 crock pots, for example. Or our 12 muffin tins. Obviously we didn't keep each one of those, but we had to write out cards for them, anyway.

"Thanks for your crock pot! It will be so nice to use for our Sunday dinners!"

Did the person that received that card (if I mailed it) compare it with someone else who also gave us a crock pot. If they did, would they know that we returned one of the crock pots, or would they think,

"Well, she wrote out Sunday, but she's probably using our crock pot for Saturday dinners."

And then the lame ones.

"Thanks for your gift. It was...nice..."

I mean, what do you say? You already saw them at the reception and thanked them for coming...isn't it all a bit redundant? Tree wasting?

Deep down inside I know that it's a nice thing to do...but I also know that I will never get around to it. So, I will thank you all here.

Thank you to Kim, Val, and Bonnie for babysitting Rachel these past few days so that we could get all our stuff packed and our apartment cleaned.

Thank you to Jacob for coming home from work on Monday, riding up the driveway on his bike, and then immediately coming to help carry boxes into the house without being asked.

Thank you to Karen and Reid for letting us store our stuff in your basement.

Thank you to Grandma Pat for letting us store our furniture at your house.

Thank you to Patrick, Jacob, Emily, Sarah, and Dan for helping us get all our furniture into the truck/van/car.

Thank you to Shallee and Dan for letting us borrow your truck.

Thank you to Karen for playing with Rachel while we moved things.

Thank you to Reid, Dave, Grandma Pat, Jacob, and Emily for helping us unload the truck/van/car.

Thank you to Emily and Karen for driving up to Salt Lake loaded with furniture.

Thank you to everyone who came to our Farewell party.

Thank you to Sarah for helping me wash our walls.

Thank you to Heather for cutting my hair and for lending us your Pack'n'Play (again) and your bathroom scale.

Thank you Karen for lending us your bathroom scale, as well.

Thank you to Dorothy Gillespie for notarizing our documents.

Thank you to the Parkes for letting us use your internet when ours was shut off a day early.

Thank you to Kim for letting us use your printer.

Thank you to Grandma Sharon for the extra suitcases.

Thank you to Josie for watching Rachel while I went to the dentist. And for spending the day with me.

Thank you to all our family for supporting us in this adventure. We're crazy, I know. Sorry to take Rachel so far away from you!

Thank you to all our friends here for your support as well. We've loved living here!

Thank you to anyone we may have forgotten. And thanks for anything that you'll do in the future.

Don't expect a card. Please...