Bowling

On July 29 it was incredibly hot outside, so we decided to go to the bowling alley and use their super strong air conditioning!

There were five of us, so we got two lanes and had two games going at the same time. We had one lane going oldest to youngest, and the other going in reverse order. It was so fun, and we all did really well.

Me and my brother Justin

Darren

My brother Dallin calls Darren "Yogurt". Don't ask why.

Lane 2 - Darren schooled us

Lane 1 - I schooled everyone this time! And take a look at the last 3 frames. That's right. I got a Turkey.

It was a lot of fun, and the guy at the counter let us use my little brother and sister's free games so all we had to pay for was shoes!

Irene and a Rewind

So, I was looking through our pictures the other day and realized that I have seriously slacked off in posting! We've done quite a few fun things.

Before I get to that though, I would like to let everyone know, even if you don't care, that we are all alive and well. Hurricane Irene started rolling through town Saturday afternoon, and got its loudest and strongest sometime during the night. Darren and I are lucky enough to have a room in the basement, so we heard absolutely nothing!

We woke up to clearing skies and TONS of leaves and branches in our front and back yard. Lucky for us, no big limbs came down from the gobs of trees surrounding the house. My mom and I had actually spent some of Friday cutting down some low-hanging limbs.

Our neighbors (living next door in the house I grew up in), had the top of one of their trees completely break off. It fell in the best possible place it could, along with a few limbs it took out on the way down.

We're still cleaning up, but that's boring so I'll move on.

Since our last July post we have: gone bowling, attended a swim meet every Saturday through July 30, visited Cafe Rio, celebrated the end of the swim season with my little siblings, seen numerous deer wander through the back yard, celebrated two birthdays, went to an amusement park and saw Stephen Strasburg pitch up close! Since all of those would make one way too long post, I'll probably break them up and do one each day. Starting tomorrow :)

Shake, Rattle & Roll

Things got a little interesting around here yesterday afternoon. At about 1:50pm I went outside to check the mail, and as I was coming back up the driveway I heard a low, but deep, rumbling. I didn't really think anything of it since there's a rock quarry just across the river and we get the occasional rumble. Though, as I kept walking, I realized the rumbling was getting louder (which never happens), and I could feel the ground shaking beneath me. I quickly realized we were having an earthquake and got inside and under the kitchen table with my brother and the family dog. The shaking and rumbling continued for a little longer (nothing more than about 20-30 seconds), and then we just sat there in shock. Earthquakes are RARE out here.

After the initial shock of it, we got online and figured out that it had been a 5.9 quake epicentered about 75 miles southwest of us...

We're pretty much in between Burke & Fredricksburg. The yellow square is the 5.9, and the smaller blue squares are two of the 4 aftershocks.

It took a while to get a hold of Darren (cell reception was next to impossible to find for an hour or two after), and I guess traffic was horrible, but he made it home safely. Rumors were swirling that this was a precursor to a much bigger quake to come. I wasn't so sure about that.

We checked the US Geological Survey site periodically through the afternoon and learned that two smaller aftershocks had already happened. One an hour after the first, and a second about 30 minutes later. Both were in the 2 range on the Richter scale, so I figured we were in the clear. Well, that was until about 8:05pm when we were all gathered on the couch watching the Nationals' ball game and another little rumble came through. This one was smaller, about a 4.2 at the epicenter, but it was enough that we could feel it.

Needless to say, it made our Tuesday very exciting! We have no damage, and there was very minimal damage in the area. Quite the day!

New Employment

We moved here to Virginia to look for a job.  There were more openings here, so we decided to move.  It was a difficult decision for us but the benefits, better job prospects and being close to Natalie's family, were what swayed us.  My position in Idaho, which was already only a 1/2 time job, was cut to 1/4 time.  We could barely afford to live on my job and Natalie substitute teaching almost every day, so there would be no way for us to pay our bills. 

From the time we arrived here I was getting a lot of interviews.  Some went well, and some did not.  I was starting to feel a little worried about finding a job, even though we would still be in a better situation with me substitute teaching here than in Idaho.

Friday the 15th around 4:50, I received a call from Loudoun County.  I expected it to be a call to set up an interview with a specific school.  They started talking to me about a position with Loudoun County, and offered me a job as a Spanish teacher.  I accepted.  I got the job from a screening interview I had with the county in April. Then after 5, I realized he either didn't tell me the school or I was so excited about getting a job that I missed it.  I attended a new hire session scheduled for Monday, to fill out paper work, get fingerprinted, and sign a contract.  Come to find out I don't have a specific school that I will be teaching at yet.  I have a job though. Apparently the district is still working on site placement, figuring out where everyone will be.

So what I do know for now is that I have a job with Loudoun County, and I am super excited to start on August 17th.  To me this experience has been a strong testament to the power of Heavenly Father.  I know I would not have been able to do all this with out his guidance in our lives.  We would never have left Idaho where we were comfortable and had a job, and would never have gotten a job. 

Updates!

There are oodles of new posts (11) below. We're still getting settled here in Virginia, but having been here just about a week things are going really well. Darren has had three interviews, and has one more scheduled for next Tuesday. Hopefully we'll have good news soon!

Road Trip - Day 5. . . The End!

We made it! I questioned it at times, but we actually made it all the way from Idaho Falls, to Woodbridge in a moving truck. We even left about 30 minutes before my parents this morning. Yea, we rock.

Toll roads were still abundant today, but the drive was much better. We were able to stay even or just minutes behind my parents the whole way.

Welcome to Pennsylvania!

Welcome to Maryland!

Welcome to Virginia!

Luckily, we didn't hit traffic until about 30 minutes outside our house. We were going to be cutting it pretty close to 5:00 when we would get into town, so I called ahead to a storage unit (it was going to be too crazy to try and get everything in tomorrow morning, and return the truck before Darren's interview) and the office lady was nice enough to wait for us.

We got there about 4:55. I signed papers while Darren took the truck back to start unloading. I gave him a call when I was done, and he let me know that "we've got almost everything out of the truck." I thought about it for a second, and then realized that he said "we". As far as I knew there was no one with him! When I turned the corner I found both of my parents and 4 of my siblings (the ones still in VA) helping Darren unload the truck, and load the unit. I was so surprised! We had all just spent 8 hours in the car and they were all here (on one mighty muggy afternoon) helping us out. I was SO grateful. It made everything so much easier and it took much less time. By 6:00 we were on our way home.

While we are so glad to be out of the truck and at my parents', we certainly miss all of our family and friends we left behind. We'll do our very best to keep you all updated on our life out here in Virginia.

Road Trip - Day 4

We're gettin' better! We were able to leave the hotel this morning at about the same time as my parents.

Welcome to Illinois!

 Lake Michigan

We were cruisin' and making great time (despite all the many, many toll roads) until we came to Chicago...It ended up taking us about an hour and a half to get through the city, and there was no visible explanation as to why. Poor Darren had to put up with my hysterics for way too long. (I don't do well in major traffic, and we were in a huge moving van that only makes it worse.)

Welcome to Indiana!

Welcome to Ohio!

We hoped to have more time at the hotel tonight to relax, but the traffic in Chicago put us quite a bit behind schedule. We got into Maumee, Ohio, with enough time to get dinner and now we've got about an hour before bed. One more day. That's what's gettin' me through. One more day...