A "few" Updates

Now that Kyle and I are pretty much as far away from our family as possible, but still in the United States, I thought a blog would help me stay sane while Kyle is at work and of course to please our families with updates on our new life in Virginia.

Here is what's been going on in our lives since we left Oregon:

March 11th 
Day 1: Portland, OR to Nampa, ID     430 miles

We have Kyle's newish Toyota Tacoma all packed up with our bikes in the back and ready for our road trip across country!

First of off...we weren't sure how our trip was going to go because we both despise driving! Luckily, our first day was a shorter drive from Portland to Nampa, Idaho, so we decided to stop by and see Amanda Rodriguez, my best friend (old roommate) from college. We stopped by her house in Hermiston, Oregon and got to say hello and goodbye to her and her daughter Sofia and we were hoping to meet her new boy Koby, but he came a few days later :) It was wonderful to be able to say goodbye to her.

Welcome to Idaho! Our goal was to take a picture of every "Welcome to" sign...you'll see how that worked out for us...

P.S. Neither of us had drove past Pendleton and we'll just say eastern Oregon...well it's definitely not the Willamette Valley!

March 12th

Day 2: Nampa, ID to Cheyenne, WY     750 miles

Kyle drove all day from Oregon to Idaho and he surprisingly wanted to drive AGAIN on day 2. I was in charge of taking the Utah picture and I was a second too late and here is what we got...

About half way through the drive, I got into the drivers seat and that is when we decided to start our audio book, "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. This audio book was 11 hours long and it was AMAZING! I recommend anyone who goes on a long road trip to get an audio book to listen to. 

Since Kyle and I switched driving, Kyle was in charge of the camera and here is how his picture turned out of Wyoming:

March 13th

Day 3: Cheyenne, WY to St. Louis, MO     855 miles

We woke up to snow in Cheyenne. Since, this was our longest day we decided to head out before sunrise at 6am. Kyle got behind the wheel and we drove...

Without fail, another mishap with our Welcome to Nebraska sign:

If you've never been to Nebraska...you aren't missing much.

We took this picture too soon, trying to ensure we'd get a good picture. Welcome to Iowa:

FINALLY! A good one of Missouri:

After driving through the midwest for the first time, we both decided we never need to drive through those states again. Once was definitely enough for us!

March 14th

Day 4: St. Louis, MO to Charleston, WV     538 miles

We thought we were safe and sound from bad weather (snow in particular), but boy were we wrong. This is what we woke up to in St. Louis:

We both wanted to sight see in St. Louis, but due to our time constraint, as well as the weather we weren't able to, but we did drive by the St. Louis Arch! If you look hard enough you can see it through the window, rain drops and fog!

As I am sure you know St. Louis is split in half, Missouri and Illinois, so across the bridge that we say the arch we also crossed over into The Land of Lincoln!

Next up was Indiana. Passing through there I wish I had a dvd player and Hoosiers :)

Kentucky was another terrible state sign picture and also terrible state, but it is the home state of one of Kyle's and my favorite TV shows "Justified".

Below is a coal mining plant we passed. It was HUGE!

And once again, our state sign of West Virginia...can you tell? ;)

After traveling through 5 states, we made it to Charleston. One state away from our new home!

March 15th

Day 5: Charleston, WV to Stafford, VA     326 miles

The final leg! Welcome to your new home!

We made the 5 day, 2900 mile trip, and drove through 12 states. We listened to 2 audio books (Water for Elephants and a Stephen King Novel...scary!), were saved by XM Radio and ate fast food every day. It was definitely an experience we were able to enjoy together, complain about the "ugly" sates together and have memorable conversations together.

March 16th - April 2nd

We received our belongings on the 18th and finally moved into our apartment. I was shocked at how quickly we unpacked and got things set up. This will definitely come in handy in the future, since we know we will be making a LOT more moves! I am still need to get a few more pictures developed and put up and once I do I will post pictures!

Kyle began his first day at The Basic School on March 22nd. For the first two weeks it is called zero week, which is basically the time for them to get "checked in". Don't ask me why it takes this long, but it does.

While Kyle is at work I am keeping busy working out and doing school work. For those of you who don't know, I am taking courses through Walden University. It is an online school where I will receive my Masters in Education in Reading and Literacy. I am almost finished with my first course and it has been great so far!

April 3

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO US! 

I cannot believe it has been 1 year! The time has flown by! We were lucky to have our anniversary on a Sunday, so Kyle was able to celebrate. I have never been to Washington, D.C., which I find it astonishing due to the fact my dad is a social studies teacher! But that's beside the point ;)  We decided to spend the day in D.C. and play it by ear. That may have been a mistake because we decided to drive. We arrived in downtown D.C. around 10am and there was a huge 10K run! There were thousands of people! We eventually found a parking garage and then decided to walk around to view the monuments and beautiful cherry blossoms!

Here is the Washington Monument with a breathtaking cherry blossom.

Kyle in front of the Washington Monument.

I think this is an AWESOME picture!

I was amazed at how much larger the White House was in person.

We did get not one, but two pictures of us in front of the White House, but both times the lady took our picture she didn't get the White House in it! So here I am :)

At this point, even though it looks sunny, it was very windy and cold! Kyle did not have a jacket, so we decided to skip out on the other monuments and get inside. Since we only live 40 minutes away, we will come back when it is sunny and warm :) To get inside we decided to go to the American History Museum.

There's no place like home. One of my all time favorite movies from childhood and these are Dorothy's slippers!

Abraham Lincoln's top hat. Unbelievable.

After the museum we got lunch at a delicious restaurant downtown before we went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving (the place they make $). On our walk to their I started feeling a little ill. We had to stop multiple times because I didn't think I was going to make it. When we finally made it we found out they were closed on weekends :( We then had to make the long trek back to the parking garage to head home. We made it to the car just in time for me to get sick. Yuck! 

The night ended much better...I felt extremely better and relaxed the rest of the evening and divulged in a delicious ice cream cake (one of my faves!) that Kyle bought :) This year had brought us to many different places, we have learned more and more about each other, and keep God the focus of our relationship...I look forward to the years to come with my best friend. 

April 4 - Today

Kyle has been working and I have been trying to get settled. On the 6th there was a spouse orientation where the wives and husbands attended. We were able to meet and mingle with other couples and hear important information for couples. It was informative, but I also attended a spouse meeting this last Tuesday. It was only for spouses and it was great! We were able to learn more about the Marine Corps and how to specifically deal with it as a spouse. It was reassuring to hear wives who are in the same spot as me. I feel more comfortable with the military life now than I did a month ago, but it is still so new and a bit terrifying.

So, these "few" updates weren't so "few" ;) Hope you enjoyed getting caught up with our lives so far!

Love,

Britt