Sales Tax

In California, the sales tax, rounded, is 10% !

In North Platte, Nebraska (as is varies by counties, and we'll be in Lincoln County) the sales tax is:

7%

Woo Hoo!

Lincoln County Fair

North Platte, Nebraska is home to the Lincoln County Fair!

This year, the fair is from July 21st - July 30th!

This is what is said about it:

"Lincoln County Fair Event Details - For the last 120 years, the Lincoln County Fair has provided entertainment to thousands of area residents. The children of the county have won blue ribbon after blue ribbon, showing animals of every kind, size and shape. Adults and kids alike have created a masterpiece in art projects. Green thumbs, both novice and pro, have grown vegetables of every variety. It's no secret that the Lincoln County Fair is where it's at. The food is second to none, and the entertainment is first rate. Bring the entire family - come on out and enjoy the fun. You will find something for everyone at the Lincoln County Fair!"

We know what we'll be doing during one of those July 21st-July 30th days!

Until Next Time...

Today's Progress...

Today was a busy, busy day! 

We started off by going to church, eating lunch, & posting over 20 ads on craigslist. 

We had a potential buyer for our TV... it fell through! Who knew it would be so difficult to sell a 50 inch LCD Hitachi TV? (Advertising on blogspot.com... it is possible... ;])

She's a beaut, ain't she? Did we mention she is for sale?

Today also brought more sifting through of items.... more trash runs... one more sale... and a donation run!

Two days ago we made a list of what we thought we would use our fifteen boxes for. Here it is:

*2 Kitchen Boxes

*3 Picture Boxes

*1 Important Document Box

*2 Book Boxes

*1 Wii/Playstation Box

*1 DVD Box

*1 Game Box

*1 Tools & Supplies Box

*1 Bathroom Box

*2 Misc. Boxes

(Are we forgetting anything?)

Well, today we started packing our official boxes that we are taking to North Platte, Nebraska!

We are happy to report that we have 1 DVD box (with some room on top!), 1 Book Box (and the rest were sold or donated), and 1 Kitchen Box (with a little bit more room on top!)

We are THRILLED as we are one box under on the kitchen (we're bringing our Corelle matching set, silverware, glasses, and spatula things) and one box under on our books (which was extremely difficult)!

We have not sealed any boxes yet, as we want to maximize every nook and cranny!

We also made a lot of progress on the bedroom today:

We can do this!

Until Next Time...

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Going Through Our Back Room...

Today's objective was to clear out our back room. We went through a lot of boxes, threw a lot of things away, and realized that we have a lot of stuff.

This is before we started tackling it today....

While tackling it...

And the cute signs we put on the boxes we're taking...

Until Next Time...

New Thing on Our To-Do List

Another thing added to our To-Do list...

We have to fix this lovely damage... fun...

Plus, our car just hit 60,000 miles, so we also need to get all of the 60,000 mile work on it before our 1300 mile journey. Needless to say, our car is getting an "extreme makeover" in the next coming weeks... as is our bank account, it seems. 

Until Next Time...

We Did It! Class of 2011!

We graduated from California State University, Northridge on May 25, 2011 with honors!

We graduated from CSUN in only four years and spent almost three of those years married.

Life feels so good right now... we did it! CLASS OF 2011!!

BRIAN GRADUATED WITH HIS DEGREE IN ENGLISH AS WELL AS A TEACHING CREDENTIAL (for both English & Chemistry)

NINA GRADUATED WITH HER DEGREE IN SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WELFARE!

What a productive week.... :]

Our Life in Box Form

Today we went to our local Lowes to quantify our lives in boxes.  Our cute, little Kia can only hold 15 small boxes.  The reality of our situation is here.  What should we bring? What should we donate?  What can we throw away?  So many decisions.  It's scary, but exciting!

Tornadoes

We were doing some research about Nebraskan weather after a conversation we had with our parents last night, and this is what we found:

With May around the corner, we are near the beginning of tornado season in Nebraska.  We know you don't need much reminder of tornado season in Nebraska, but you might find these facts interesting as we all start to watch the evening sky....

*Nebraska's most number of tornadoes was 110 in 2004

* Nebraska's peak month for tornadoes is June.

* May and June account for 63% of all of our tornadoes.

* May, June and July account for 78% of all of our tornadoes.

* There have been 115 Nebraska tornado fatalities since 1916.

* Every decade in the 1900's had tornado fatalities, but not the 1990's!

* There were no tornado fatalities in Nebraska from 1987 until June 2003 when two occurred.

* ALL 93 Nebraska counties have been visited by tornadoes since 1950.

* Hall County's tornado density is 4 times greater than the state average and

3 times greater than the average for the Omaha and Lincoln areas.

* Most tornadoes from one storm, 7 in Grand Island (this is about 2 hours from where we'll be), June 3, 1980.

* Nebraska has had reported tornadoes in every month but February.

* Omaha May 5, 1975 and Grand Island June 3, 1980 are ranked 2nd &

9th in U.S. top 10 most costly tornadoes.

* Over 50% of our tornadoes occur between 4 PM and 8 PM.

* Nebraska is ranked 5th in the U.S. for total number of tornadoes.

* Nebraska is ranked 23rd for number of tornado fatalities and 24th for number of tornado injuries.

* May 2006 was the first May in recorded history to NOT have any reported tornadoes.

(http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/4a00f4922c0a8)

Honors Convocation

Today is the day that we walk across the stage in recognition for our achievements in college in regards to GPA - we are both graduating college with HONORS.

This is important for our move to Nebraska because the move would not be possible without our college education... and since our GPA's are above 3.6 for our entire college career... we get to be recognized tonight on the CSUN campus and get to have the love and support from our family there, as well. 

CLASS OF 2011

Brian & Nina Fleming - Graduating with Honors from Cal State Northridge

Our grandparents supporting us tonight!

Our parents & siblings supporting us tonight!

Our aunt, uncle & cousins supporting us tonight!

Our parents & sister supporting us tonight!

"Tonight's gonna be a good night.... tonight's gonna be a good, GOOD night...."

The Geography of our New Home

So, we've been doing more research on our future home town of North Platte.  We are excited because we have just learned the actual geographical size of North Platte.  Can you guess how big North Platte is?  We'll give you a hint, Northridge, CA, which is sandwiched between other cities of the San Fernando Valley is 17 square miles.  Here's a picture of Northridge.  So, how many square miles do you think North Platte is?

North Platte is....10.5 square miles! We think this is great news!  Moving to a smaller city is going to be our great adventure!  We are looking forward to driving down every single street of our new hometown.

Until next post!

What it Means to be a Nebraskan...

Recently, we have asked the question, "What is life like as a Nebraskan?" to a few of our contacts in Nebraska. We've decided to list some of the answers we've received as they offer an exciting glimpse into our future!

" You get all four season in one week"


" You get alot of colds"

"The scenery and wildlife are beautiful"

"There are more cows than people"

"The people are very kind and friendly, if you have car trouble on the
road, you will have 10 people stop and ask if you need help"

"You must be a cornhusker fan, its the law"

Approximate Countdown

MySpace-Countdown-Clocks

Selling

Over the past week or so we have sold a lot of our stuff... and we are happy to announce that the only big things we have left are:

Our Mattress

&

Our 50 inch TV

Man... everything went a lot quicker than we thought... but we are happy to have money to help pay for the food , gas & hotel for our move to Nebraska!

We're still selling small kitchen appliances (anyone need a waffle maker, electric mixer or electric can opener?) and other little things that are left, but we're just about done!

Until Next Time...

Kia & Boxes

When we move to Nebraska, we're only taking whatever fits into our car... & our car is just like the one pictured above... just to give you a sense of how much we'll be able to take.

Today we measured how many boxes we'll be able to fit into our little Kia, and we have a number...and it is...

FIFTEEN.

We can fit 15 small boxes in our little Kia with a little bit of room in the backseat area for blankets and such and a little bit of room in the trunk to lay down our clothes!

Fifteen boxes is what we need to condense our life into.... we can do this!

The Job Search

A poem written by Brian in March 2011.

The Job Search. 

Sent: 10:00AM

T      The time to search, the time to pray to God,                    T
O      It's dreaded, anticipated, dreamt for,                              H
W     That position which grants us wealth helps mod.             A
H      Our desperate and uncertain mind's core                        N
O      Which for the last five months has never ceased             K
M      To haunt us in the fear of poverty                                  S,
I        Until that dollar is in hand and creased                           B
T       Into wallets of peace. The job, you see,                         R
M       Is more than meets the eye; it is the way                       I
A       To create hope and peace within our hearts.                 A
Y       It is not about the money, as some say,                        N
C       Nay! Positions such as these are our carts                    F
O       Which encompass the future of our life.                        L
N       The time has come; the interview is here.                     E
C       Now, put away the nerves and kiss the wife,               M
E       Hide the jitters, uncertainty, and fear.                            I
R       The call will come, now to wait for the day,                 N
N      When they say "yes", hopefully, before May!               G

Received: 10:01AM

Blow out sale, everything must go!

  Welcome to the Fleming blow-out sale!  Come one, come all!  Sale ends June 15th! (Supplies are limited)

Seriously, selling our stuff to get ready for the move to Nebraska has been intense.  We have been selling things left and right, like a store going out of business.  We have been so fortunate to have family, friends, and friendly citizens of Northridge who have helped buy our wide assortment of stuff.  

Boxes have become our new best friends.  Who knew that you could use a box as a dresser, a night stand,a couch, and a bookcase?  All at the same time!  What an adventure!  You may be wondering, why do we have so many boxes if we are selling all of our stuff?  The answer?  We just love boxes!  

No, but seriously, we had bought a ton of boxes when we were considering taking a moving van.  The receipt for the boxes ran away before we decided against the truck, so, we have repurposed our boxes as other things we need.

That's it for now.  Got to go sell...

Picture from Above the City

The picture to the right is a view of North Platte, Nebraska from above. As you can see... it's a pretty small city. It currently has a little less than 30,000 people that dwell within it.

We will be calling a space within this picture home very soon (60 days and counting...).

Phew!

Well... we know a lot of you were worried... but we finally researched it and are proud to announce that...

there *IS* a STARBUCKS in North Platte, NE.

We are very happy to report this news.

The Home of our Ancestors?

Brief and Quirky post coming in 3....2...1....

When we move to North Platte, we will only be two hours away from (wait for it...) Fleming, Colorado!  

That's right, a whole town named after us.  Okay, maybe not after us, but maybe after our ancestors?  It's possible, right? =}

Turns out there is even a Fleming museum in Fleming.  Just think, a whole museum dedicated to the Fleming family!  (Yes, we are choosing to believe the museum is about the Fleming family, not about the town's history.) 

And yes, great news!  There is Moore!  Moore, Oklahoma to be exact.  Only nine hours away from our future home in North Platte.  I wonder if they have a Moore museum....food for thought!

Okay, random posting done, much more to come!