Great American Road Trip 2013!

One last photo in our condo Thursday AM

Andrew and I were able to take another Great American Road Trip this Memorial Day weekend.  Seems fitting since it has been almost exactly a year since we last took one.

This trip was taken out of necessity since WE ARE MOVING!  Andrew got his acceptance to Lynchburg College of Physical Therapy in Lynchburg, Virginia and he starts June 3.

We packed up our trailer from ABF with tons of help from the ward (we love and will miss you, Cherry Hill 6th!) Tuesday night and then tied up loose ends to head out early Thursday morning. 


Quick stop in Lamarie, WY for gas

This trip will be a little different because we won't have time to stop and enjoy the scenery as we did previously.  But it will give us more time to maximize visits with friends and family.

Our first day we drove from Orem, Utah to Omaha, Nebraska.  What a haul!  It was a long day and pretty unvaried through Wyoming.  I actually like the drive through Nebraska due to the rolling cornfields along the side of the road.  It means that I am getting close to the scenery of my childhood.

We spent the night in Omaha at Mindy Lerum's.  The next morning we met Aaron & Jessica Bullock's family for breakfast.  It is so good to catch up with good friends!  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures.  Probably because I looked like a ragamuffin.

It was on to North Liberty, Iowa the next day.  We saw Sarah at her school and then headed to Oasis Falafel in Iowa City for dinner.  MY FAVORITE.  I literally have and would drive 18 hours for a half chicken pita loaded up with all the fixings from there.  Last year we even delayed our trip by a day just so I could eat there since they were closed on Memorial Day.  I will not be thwarted!


I am in FOOD HEAVEN!

I am happy to report that after his whole lamb pita plus trimmings on THIS visit that Andrew has made mention of "when we go to Nauvoo next, we'll have to drive over to Iowa to eat at Oasis."  I knew I loved this boy.

We had an amazing visit in Iowa.  Sadly, this is our last planned visit since Sarah and her family are moving to Denver, Colorado in just a few short weeks.  But, we will be looking for excuses to go! (Stringtown Grocery, Kalona Cheese Factory, Hawkeye football, Keith & Karen Steurer, Marla Bailey & company, etc.)

 Sunday morning we hit the road again for more and more driving.  We drove from North Liberty, Iowa to West Lafayette, Indiana to stay with my parents for a few days.

Dominos and Dominion at the same table

We were able to have Dan & Alicia Ditto stay with us on Sunday and Monday.  It was so good to see them! 

We had so much fun and played Dominion galore!  Can you believe that we didn't bring our games but packed them up and sent them on the trailer?  Good thing Dan & Alicia, Curt & Vanessa, and even Sarah & Todd when we were in Iowa came through for us and had their sets all ready to go.  Ha ha!  I do love that my family loves to play games.  If you come to visit us, there will be games played virtually around the clock and plenty of participants. 

Dad passes along the duties of "Grill Master" to the guys

We had a great BBQ on Memorial Day (despite the rain!)  Dad was sure to have plenty of selection when it came to grilling.  Yum!  Dan and Andrew manned the grill and braved the smoke that threatened to choke us all as they grilled in the garage due to the weather.

We went to the mall for a last minute shopping splurge before Andrew starts school.  We have no idea what kind of stores will be available in Lynchburg so we had better stock up while we are close to civilization!  Frozen custard afterwards (Andrew's favorite always in the frozen treat hierarchy).

 

We are not in Kansas anymore.  In fact, I'm not even sure we are in the US.

And then more driving.  This time West Lafayette, Indiana to Lynchburg, Virginia.  We stopped in West Virginia at an Applebee's for dinner and that was the moment that it hit me that WE HAD MOVED.  I can't explain it.  But maybe it had something to do with our waitress named Fatima who wore an Islamic head covering and spoke with the thickest Southern drawl you would NEVER have expected!  Maybe that was it.  I realized we were surrounded and now we were the outsiders.  Everything has changed. 

But you can follow our adventures here in Virginia by looking for our Instagram hashtag #virginiaisforlurvers.  Also, we used the hashtag #gart2013 for all of our photos along the way to Virginia.  Enjoy!

Our First Place

We are packing up and moving away!  It is bittersweet to think about all of the familiar, wonderful things that we will miss about our first year together as newlyweds.

We lived in a cozy little two bedroom condo in Park Avenue Condos.  We rented from the world's best landlords, Mike and Melissa Summers.  We are so grateful to have their friendship in our lives!

When we moved in, we were a little sparse in the furniture department.  We had my bed, an old bookshelf, a desk, a secondhand kitchen table with four chairs and the settle table my Grandpa Martin had made for me.  (What a luxury furnished rentals had been!)  It took us a little over a year to get to where we were when these photos were taken in late May.  There were still so many projects to do and things to hang, but this was a good start for our first year.

One of my favorite projects that Andrew and I worked on was our "kitchen command center."  I brainstormed this sucker for months!  I kept comparing boards and looking at clocks and letter "Ms."  Way too much work for this little thing, but I was ecstatic with the results!

 

I was only able to fully complete the kitchen and the bathroom in the short time we lived there.  But I loved how cozy a completed room made our home feel. 

 

 

 

We lived at: 1475 S. 110 E. Orem, Utah

We worked at: Excel Eye Center in Provo (Andrew) and Family Legacy Dental in Orem & Huntington Family Dental in Santaquin (Jess)

We worshipped at: Cherry Hill 6th ward with Bishop John Keele in the Cherry Hill stake

We served as: Young Men's First Counselor (Andrew) and Compassionate Service Leader (Jessica)

We got together with: Chris & Amy Silva, Clay & Haley George, Katie & Dustin Locke, Katie & Dustin Hofheins, Eric & Lyndsi Espinel, Jake & Diana Rothfels, Derek & Krista Hill, Mike & Tara Hall, Seth & Brooke Merrill, Connor & Christina MacArthur, Scottie & Lara Wilson, Scott & Morgan Allen (and many, many more!)