We are alive and other such things....

It's been far too long since my last blog update. And there is so much to tell! We've had two months of craziness driving from one end of the country to the other and I fully intend to bore you with all the minute details. But first, a quick update of where we are and what's been going on. (Just in case I never get around to the boring details.....)

We arrived home (to San Diego) on June 1st. After two weeks there--during which time, David out-processed with the Navy--we drove to Georgia to visit David's family, stopping in Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Vicksburg and Birmingham along the way. We spent two weeks in Atlanta--during which time David mostly helped his parents move into their new house--and we didn't have internet for awhile. (So sad! So glad I have a smart phone now.) We left Georgia on July 5th and drove back to San Diego, stopping in Nashville, Louisville, St. Louis, Springfield, Nauvoo, Independence, Oklahoma, Albuquerque, and Williams, Arizona along the way. We arrived in California on the 14th, just in time for my mom's big 60th birthday celebrations and mini family reunion. After that, we drove up to Lemoore, California (30 minutes away from Fresno) to spend some time with my sister and her kids. We went swimming, ate delicious food, and visited Sequoia National Park. We then drove through Northern California to Reno and from Reno to Utah.

We've been staying with my Aunt in American Fork for the last week as we've been house hunting for a place to live in the Provo/Orem area. The first few days were rather discouraging. We couldn't find anything decent in our price range in the Provo area and even when we widened our search to Orem and Springville, we still couldn't find anything we liked. Most of the houses in Provo are in a sad state of disrepair since students tend to move in and out frequently and the landlords don't have the time or inclination to keep their properties well-maintained. When we did find a place we liked, they always had a strict no pet policy.

We finally found a nice 2 bedroom condo in north Orem which we both liked, allowed pets, and was in good condition. It wasn't my ideal housing situation, but I knew we could make it work for the two years we'll be living here. It had a nice, big kitchen, a good sized bathroom, and several playgrounds and a swimming pool in the complex. But after putting in our application for the condo, we decided to keep looking at a few more places, just in case. We even drove all the way down to Provo to look at one 3-bedroom condo but the landlord got in a car accident that morning and didn't show up. (Obviously, that place wasn't meant to be.) As we were driving home that afternoon, I saw a new posting for an old house in Provo. What really caught my eye was the picture of the kitchen--with a gas stove. I love cooking with gas and was sad that everything we saw had electric stoves. I made David call about the house--even though the rent was a big higher than we wanted to pay--and we went out to see the house the next morning.

We fell a little bit in love with the house. It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home built in 1899 but it's been really well-maintained and upgraded. It has a beautiful kitchen, big rooms with high ceilings and is in a nice neighborhood in Provo that's within walking distance to several parks, shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and the Provo Library. Even better is that the house comes with a big backyard, a garage, and a separate fully finished bonus room (with electricity and air conditioner) that will become David's office and a sewing room for me. Best of all, they allow pets! Since we wanted a two year contract, the landlord struck a deal with us for a lower monthly rent. It's exactly what I was looking for and I'm so excited to move in. Unfortunately, we can't move in until August 15th, which means that we have another two weeks of bumming around, living out of suitcases. We're all pretty tired of the vagrant lifestyle and are really looking forward to getting settled again. I guess I can survive another two weeks and hopefully my aunt won't get sick of us and kick us out.