Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Our New Home

The Living Room
Another view, with a pyramid of books...

Our TV stand without a TV.



Another angle...



The Dining Room


The Dining Room...from another angle.

The Kitchen--the side with the sink, and more counter space!

Another angle of the same.


The other side of the kitchen, gas stove, refrigerator, ets.


A view of the whole kitchen!


The Hallway The Bathroom

The Spare Room, where Tyler set up his disc golf cage...


Our Bedroom, which does not have much in it yet, except our bed.

We have a really big walk in closet, which I really like!

So far, we really like this apartment. It is pretty spacious and fairly nice. The floors are sort of cold and make the rooms echo a little, but besides that I like it. We just need a book shelf, a desk, a T.V, and jobs.
Tyler and I are doing really well and are liking SVU so far. We really like being able to take some classes together. We have a pretty good ward and we are liking Virginia.
Thats all for now!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

We Are Finally Moving!!!!

Woo Hoo!!!! We are moving into Treemont Apartments today!!! Finally, after a long process of signing papers, checking our backgrounds and waiting on the manager, we get to move in!! I will post some pictures as soon as I can!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Disasterous D.C. Trip




We decided to go up to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to pick Jessica up a cheap bed at IKEA. We made it to IKEA, got the bed, picked up a little table and chairs for ourselves and then made our way into D.C. About 3 miles outside of D.C., on the freeway, our car decided not to work. So, Tyler steered over to a very narrow shoulder and called up USSA to tow us to a Saab shop. We then waited for over an hour for the tow truck to pick us up. When it finally came, we were met by a local who was pretty much what I expected from someone from D.C.. He was nice, but pretty rough around the edges. We, then dropped our car off and proceeded to a Quiznos across the street to wait for Jessica, Ricky (her boyfriend) and Kelan (sorry if misspelled) to pick us up. We waited for 2 1/2 hours for them.... They could not find their way from the Holocaust Musuem to where we were in Arlington. Finally, they found us and picked us up. Now, all we needed to do was to figure out what to do.... The Saab guy told us our car would most likely be done the next day, but if not we were 3 hours from Buena Vista. Ricky's car 2 door car was also going to be pretty packed as they also had to pick up 2 people from the airport. So, we decided to stay in a motel nearby that "was not quite sketchy enough" for Ricky.
I am on the closer bed and Ricky, Kelan and Jessica are on the other bed (sorry, this is not a very clear picture). We went and got pizza at a nearby joint and they came back to our room before they had to head to the airport by 11pm.

So, Tyler and I did not have a change of clothes, toothbrushes, deodorant, or make-up, but we did get showers!

The next day, we walked about 10 min. down to a mall to see if we could find a charger for Tyler's phone, which we eventually did...but had to sit for a few hours to let it charge. In the meantime, we had found out how much our car was going to cost... Of course, Tyler and I did not have enough money and had to ask our families to help. Thank you!!! After that was all figured out we decided to actually see D.C., so we bought subway passes to head over to the National Monument.

Tyler had never been on the subway before and thought it was really cool. The DC subway system was pretty cool and really clean.

The Washington Monument on a very cold, wet and blustery day.
Tyler and I decided to go to the Holocaust musuem, as Jess saud it was a good one to see. It was very interesting, disturbing and depressing, which was pretty much what I thought it would be like.
Then, we got a call from the Saab guy (at 3 in the afternoon) that our car would not be done until tomorrow. AAAHHH!! Now what were we supposed to do. Every musuem closes at 5 and if Jess and Ricky were going to come pick us up, where would we wait? Also, we had our 1st day of school the next day, but we also did not want to have to drive up to DC again to pick up the car. We found shelter from the darkening sky and the cold and damp in this beautiful castle (also know as the Smithsonian) to figure out what to do.

We finally decided to take the SVU's charter bus back to Buena Vista from the Dulles Airport at 8pm. So, we rushed to the subway, and then we would have to take a bus to get to that airport. When, we got phone service as we came up from the underground, we got a call from the Saab guy saying that our car was ready (Hallelujah!!!), but we had to get there fast as they were closing. So, we hopped on the subway and heading back to Arlington.

Now, we have our car, we made it home and I have already had my first class. What an adventure for Tyler and I in our 1st week in Virginia!... I am glad to be back in Buena Vista.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas, The Great Crossing, and Virginia

Tyler and I had a great first Christmas together. Here we are all dressed up for Christmas Eve at my parents house, where we had a most delightful time. We had Christmas Day with Tyler's family.
Every Christmas Eve, we open up new pajamas to wear that night and this year Jessica and I got matching ones! We have not had matching Christmas pajamas since we were about 8 and 7 or so... Pretty cute, huh?

This is Ian looking very handsome on Christmas morning!


Tyler and I made my mom this bag for Christmas to carry all of her theatre gear.

The Great Crossing Begins
The first day, from Portland to Salt Lake was pretty cramped. We somehow fit all of our stuff and 7 people into 2 cars.

This is a picture of my lovely cousin Julie and I.
We stayed 2 nights and a day with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in Salt Lake City to recooperate. Tyler had never been to Salt Lake City, so we showed him around. We spent a very enjoyable day walking around Temple Square and watching the Joseph Smith movie playing in the theater. Ian and Erik stayed with the McKees this whole week, so they did not have to drive all the way across the country.

Tyler and I in front of the Conference Center (where General Conference is held). The water fall behind us starts from the top of the buliding and stair steps down. It is so beautiful!


Susy and Jessica sitting on a bench in Temple Square.


Tyler took this amazing picture of the Salt Lake City Temple. It took the pioneers 40 years to build! It is such a beautiful temple...


This is the statue of the Savior in the Visitors Center. I love this sculpture.

Tyler and I in Temple square at night when it is all lit up. It is amazing how every branch on the trees are lit up. It is worth it see Temple Square at Christmas time. Beautiful !!!!!

Susy, Jessica, Julie and I



On the Road Again...

A beautiful sunrise, with windmills.....we had already been up and driving for several hours...uggh...

We drove through Utah, Wyoming and almost all of Nebraska in one day. Nebraska was not too interesting, but it had lovely sunrises and sunsets and really nice rest stops.
On the second day, we drove south through what was left of Nebraska, a tiny bit of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and finally Virginia! St. Louis, Missouri was a really cool city (I wish I took some pictures!-but I was driving). I also thought that Louisville, Kentucky would have been a fun place to stop at and explore. It sort of reminded me of Portland, because of how it was situated on the river.
Finally.... VIRGINIA!
This is beautiful, sunshiny Virginia! The Blue Ridge Mountains are in the background.


This is Main Hall at SVU. They have dorms, offices, the cafeteria, and a ballroom in this building. It is such a neat buliding with an amazing view.

Tyler and I standing next to the SVU Knight.

Wow, what a journey! 3000 miles later and we are across the country... Thank you Mom and Dad for helping us get over here. We could not have done it without you! Thank you!!!! We love you and will miss you!
Ian and Erik, Tyler and will really miss you, but we will be sure to let you know what is going on with Jessica..... (you too mom and dad) Tyler and I will hang up your artwork as soon as we get moved in! We love you!
Tyler and I are living in temporary housing provided by SVU until we get approved to live in Treemont Apartments (government housing). So we will let everyone know when that happens and will be sure to put some more picures on. Thats all for now!