Book Club

We started a book club. So excited! 

First books on the list: The Shape of Mercy (about Salem witch trials) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; both in honor of Halloween.

Way to go Utes!

Saturday we got together to watch the Utah v. BYU game with some friends. As you can tell, we are the only people wearing red. Every single one of our friends are BYU fans, which I guess isn't surprising as most of them aren't from Utah. We were proud to support the Utes and they certainly didn't let us down!

Recital

Last weekend one of the girls in our ward put together a mini recital at her house.  I was able to accompany Aimee as she sang "Amazing Grace" She did a beautiful job and lots of fun!

Moving

Moving across the country is quite the experience. As I've never really had to move, it was surprising how much work goes into it. The first challenge was trying to cram all of our belongings into this small pod (6x7x8 feet). To illustrate just how challenging this was I'll have to quote Blair (my father-in-law) as he was helping us move. "There is no way in hell we're going to fit all that damn stuff into that damn pod."

Well they managed to fit all of our damn stuff into the pod, plus some.  In the end it looked like this:

It made it across the country and we were able to get unpacked without too much stress. We truly felt so blessed when we moved out here, everything went so smoothly. We flew out to Baltimore, rented a car and then drove to Manheim, Pennsylvania to pick up this beauty:

Our first car, a 2006 Honda Accord. It's such a wonderful car and we love it. Next we drove our car back to Baltimore, got a little lost, picked up some food for breakfast the next day and an air mattress to sleep on that night, went to our apartment (which actually existed and had keys with our names on it, hooray!). 

The next day we drove back up by Baltimore to pick up a U-Haul and transfered our stuff (which made it across the country with minimal damage) to the U-Haul, then drove back to DC, unloaded our stuff, drove back up by Baltimore to drop the U-Haul off and spent the rest of the next two days unpacking. It was a lot of work and a lot of sweat but everything went great and we feel that we were so watched over and blessed.

Afternoon at the Pool

A couple of weeks ago I got together with some new girlfriends to spend an afternoon at the pool. Randi (far left) invited us over for breakfast the next day with our husbands, which was delicious, followed by a little shopping while our hubbies went home to study. All of our husbands are in grad school so it's great to be able to get together while they're busy being students. Love these ladies!

Labor Day Weekend

We had so much fun over Labor Day weekend but we don't have very many pictures to prove it.

Friday we went downtown to the Smithsonian natural history museum.

After seeing the oceans exhibit I'm glad I don't spend much time in the ocean, there are so many large creepy things that live down there!

Saturday I played tennis with my new friend Savanna after which Tyler and I spent some quality time together watching Man vs. Wild (one of Ty's most favorite shows). Sunday we went to a movie night and a game night with some friends from our ward.

On Monday Tyler and I slept in, had breakfast in bed, played tennis, then spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the company of some wonderful friends in our ward at a BBQ at a beautiful place called Fletcher's Cove. It's right by the Potomac and it is so lush and beautiful I felt like I was back in the bayou in Louisiana. It was such a blast! We feel so blessed to have so many young married couples sans children in our ward, there are probably about 10-15 couples and they are all so much fun!

(This pic is Fletcher's Cove, courtesy of Google)

My two cents...

You don't get to hear from me very often but if there is one thing I have to say it is that I have the most amazing wife! It’s funny, Lauren and I have only been out here for a few weeks, but we have already noticed a huge increase in love for each other. I can’t explain it except for the fact that we are out here on our own on a new adventure; that and the fact that I’m positive that the Lord is blessing us. However it happened, all I know is that we have had some days of pure bliss lately. On my part, I have been amazed at how she has handled the move. I expected her to be a lot more torn up about leaving home, family, and friends, especially because we did it so I could do my thing. However, she has been nothing but positive and happy about being here. Everyone has their hard times, but she is doing great. Also, because I am gone all day and then have to study at night, I am not as available as I have been to help with things around the house. Without saying a word, Lauren has taken on the double responsibility of doing EVERYTHING for us. She cooks, cleans, launders, shops, washes, prepares, and generally takes care of anything and everything that we need. She drives me to school in the mornings and picks me up at night. She often makes me breakfast before I leave and then I come home to find an amazing dinner waiting for me. And she does it with a smile on her face. She has given me such a terrific example of service and she amazes me. I love you Lauren!