Moving Forward Foot By Foot

Princess Four and I have been shopping the past few days trying to get some of the items for her mission to Sapporo, Japan. 
 
We have been to many stores and before this in her life, we really haven't had to find many shoes at the same time buying one here and one there. 

She needs four pair of shoes and some boots. We aren't exactly sure what type of shoes and boots would be best as it is wet, cold / hot and humid. 


We contacted several people who have been in that area asking what would be best but we have gotten many different and conflicting reports from them about the situation. 

Some say to wait and purchase everything there. Others have told us that they couldn't get what they needed there. The one that struggled said she was a size 8 1/2 shoe and couldn't find shoes in her size there. 
 
That was what I was worried about. I can't send her there without all the items on her list as I don't know what she can get there and if they will have it in her size etc. 

In the past three days, Princess Four has tried on about 200 shoes. She has a wide flatter foot with a very thin heel and most of the shoes she tried on have bigger heels where they rub so we don't want her to get blisters. 

We found a pair of boots when shopping earlier that are from a company named Naot that fit her well. In all the shopping, they were the only comfortable shoes she tried on. They were like new at a second hand store for less than $10 so I was excited about it. I was getting very frustrated with the lack of shoes fitting her. 
 
Today we spent another four hours shopping for shoes. The first place we went, they sold the Naot brand of shoes made in Israel. We looked at the price of the boots that were similar to the ones we purchased and they were $200. 

We were excited about the deal we got but since the shoes were $185, we tried on every shoe in the store and none fit. We then tried on the Naot shoe and it fit. So, for $185, she has a pair of shoes for her mission. 


We moved on to the boots. She needs tall boots as the snow gets deep. She also needed water proof. Several people said galoshes but  I still worry about the cold. 

We almost bought a pair of grey with polka dots but they were quite heavy and I was hoping to find a pair of black. 

The store that had the expensive shoes had some crock brand boots that are quite light and fit well and my favorite part is that they have a fabric band at the top that would keep the snow out. They were just under $100. 

She tried them on with a pair of wool socks and said they were comfortable and warm so hopefully she can wear a few pair of warm socks and keep her feet from freezing but still be warm. 

The socks we bought were for snow boarders and were thinner at the ankle on the fold but she said they were really warm and got rather hot wearing the boots and the socks for a few minutes walking around the store. The boots were just under $100 and the wool socks were $14 each. I bought one thinking I may have a few I purchased for emergencies at home.

We then went to a more common shoe store and found a black / airy type shoe that was laced which wasn't something we wanted as she will have to remove her shoes at every home but she could get her shoe on and off without tying the shoes so I think we will exchange the laces with black elastic and avoid the laces at all. 

At that store, there was 25% off the shoes that were $60 and they had a sale on their socks. They had buy two and get one free. In her paperwork for her mission, they said that I can't mail her anything ever as it costs her more to get it out of customs than to purchase the items there and that by the time it finds her, she will most likely have moved on. 

So, we purchased 15 pairs of the footie nylon type socks that have the little non-skid pads in the back. Since we need to have summer socks and very cold winter socks, I still need to figure out the other wool socks but at least we have the summer months covered. 
 
There were also some plastic Danskin ankle boots that were super cute with a heel and were $100 but were very heavy and I worried about the weight. I looked on Amazon Asia to see if I could purchase them on there and mail them directly to her in Japan but they were $270 on Amazon so they cost us $170 more than if she bought them here. She did say that if we want to buy them she could wear them on her flight over to save on weight in her suitcases. 

We saw some Slogger brand cloggs that looked interesting and we are going to try and find some of them locally to see if we can see some in person and try them on. They were a bit cheaper than the Danskin pair and don't have heels like the Danskin pair so if we can't find one she likes, we will buy the Danskin pair. 

If someone had ever asked me if I would pay $185 plus tax for a pair of shoes, I would have said "no" but if it allows Princess four to be comfortable, it was worth it. 

So, today, we spent about $365 in shoes and socks. Hopefully, we can find the last pair of shoes and the wool socks I think I have at home will work. They may be too irritating for her so I may just pay the $14 each for a few more pair as I know she liked those and they have a bit of spandex so the won't be falling down in her boot.   

I was super stressed after charging the $285 at the first store and we were talking with another person shopping there who is also going to Japan and while we were walking out of the store, "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World came on. I looked at Princess Four and we both knew that we needed to trust God and that "everythings gonna be alright, alright!" Check out my blog about that song here.