Throw the plans out the window!

Last week was our yearly shopping trip in Fairbanks. Yep, I only have to go to Walmart ONCE a year, but after the trip we had this year I think I will switch to Fred Meyers(which is owned by Kroger) It is so much nicer and has so many nicer choices then Walmart does. Our trip this year did NOT go as smooth as we planned it to. I guess that should remind me that having plans and being organized is NOT always good because when plans fall through you have to learn to adjust. This trip was more like fly by the seat of our pants! I am not really sure where that "fly by the seat of our pants" actually comes from but I Know Keith and I were totally winging it this last week. If Murphey's law applies to a shopping trip it was stuck like glue to this one!  I have decided to just throw the plans out the window!

The day before we left to Fairbanks, Keith found out that our Credit Cards had been canceled due to a breach in security by some vender company! And our debit card only allows you to use $1000 a day. Well that doesn't work when you spend about $5000 in a matter of 2 days! So that was a bit stressful. Thankfully I grabbed the check book on a whim. It was sitting in the truck and I really didn't think it would be safe to leave in the truck while we were gone so I stuffed it in my backpack. THANKFULLY! We used it all week to pay for stuff. I bet some of you who took the Crown Financial class with us would say " why do you use a credit card anyways?" Let me tell you..... Plane tickets! Yep we get miles for using it and after you buy a ticket to Galena you would understand you want as much of a discount as you can get. So with no credit card this last week we lost ALLLLLLL those points.... I kind of want to cry! And a few times during this trip I did! Like after 4 days of mishaps, we drove up to Lulu's Breads & Bagels and it was CLOSED!!! I cried! It was heart breaking! People if you are ever in Fairbanks you have to go there and get their savory rolls.... DELICIOUS! But they were closed...ALL WEEK! OH MAN!!!  After the expense of our dog Daisy, who ate something(probably from Isaiah) she had to be flown into town and have surgery. Yeah! Wow dogs are like Children, you may think they are cheap till you actually get the bill!=) After the planes wouldn't take her on certain days, finding a boarding place for her, after the Credit card and Debit card issues, our truck not being ready, UHAUL giving away our trailer, Walmart not having got their shipment from China(seriously, There was NOTHING on the shelves) Keith and I were so glad the shopping trip was over. I was so glad to know God had our trip in his hand and no matter how bad it got he was working it out. Because if it was just up to us, I think Keith and I would have just come home and ate Ramen Noodles all winter! =) hehehe not quite but I am glad God is in control. Friday we finally got Daisy on the flight to Galena and got all of our groceries loaded in to a different UHAUL trailer and drove to Nenana. I love that drive! Mountains, Rivers, Flowers and animals. Packing went smoothly except when it started to rain, right as we were getting the sugar put in! So a bit of scrambling went on there but our sugar survived.... I hope.(we find out tomorrow when the barge arrives.) It was a great sigh of relief when we closed the last Fish tote(the Packing boxes we use). I think I could be a professional packer! After packing all my life, I am pretty good at it! And I think it is kind of fun! Kind of!

  During the week it was fun to go eat at Pagodas, Cookie Jar and of course McDonald's! The boys did great while shopping for hours, as long as Kaden had the game-boy and Isaiah had some snacks. Thank goodness SAMS Club has Click and pull and Bush shopping. That saved us A LOT of time! And Fred Meyers, the boys and I could have stayed in their fruit section for hours. We came out with a cart full of Cherries, Peaches, Plums, and Bananas for my little monkey Isaiah. We didn't take a lot of pictures while we shopped but we really didn't have time and were frantically trying to purchase all of our food, but here are some pictures of us traveling to Nenana and packing up stuff in the fish totes.

Our New to Us truck and the UHAUL Trailer

 Beautiful Views

 Inland Barge service

 Packing in Fish totes. 4X4X4 boxes

 Using EVERY inch..Just like my momma and Daddy taught me to!

 Julia(Inland Barge office manager) and I waiting out the rain!

Oh If you are wondering. Don't worry, When we got home we had BRAND NEW UNUSED Credit cards! ....... That work! Glad we have them for next .... BUT WAIT they expire in January! What in the WORLD???? =) Just keep smiling just keep smiling.........=)