Virginia. Chapter 1

Virginia. I'm so glad that I'm finally here. There's still a lot to do because I have a trailer and car full of my things, but at least I'm here. I'm excited to move into the apartment on Saturday. I'm not really looking forward towards unloading it, but it's better than packing because it took about a month to get everything boxed up. I had to sell a lot of things that weren't needed, which freed up some necessary space, and concluded with a couple garage sales.

The worst part of the moving experience happened yesterday. It was a drive that seemed like would never end. I left Chris' apartment at 3:30 am, after having about 4 hours of sleep. I was loaded up with snacks, sandwiches, and energy drinks. I had a couple books on tape and satellite radio to keep me company. I couldn't make any phone calls because the trailer would sway if I took both hands off the wheel. That was real fun, trying to keep that thing steady for that long. I'm sure if I took some time to unload it and put more heavy things to the front, it would keep it from moving, but I was tired of packing. So, 17 hours later I was in Alexandria, VA. I finally made it! It didn't seem real considering it was similar to the prior two times I was here. We don't have our apartment yet, and I didn't start my job. That was about to change.

This afternoon I was supposed to start my job, second shift, at 3pm. Well, I got a call at 9:30. They were wondering why I wasn't there. Apparently, they thought it would be a good idea for me to train 8:30 to 4:30 the first two weeks, without telling me. So, on my way there I thought to myself that they think I'm incompetent. It turned out to be okay because they had an email printout of my start time and it wasn't sent to me, so I was in the clear. It turned out to be a half day of training with a lot of information, but it doesn't seem like anything that will be out of my reach. I had a good feeling after my first day. We'll see how day #2 goes.

Next step... apartment. Stay tuned for the last installment of moving to VA.

Adjusting

It's been about 3 weeks now and I'm finally adjusting to VA, DC and my job. I finally figured out the easiest way to get to work via metro. Any place you want to go, there are 8 different ways to get there.

Each day is certainly interesting, too. This past week I had a scare on the metro when a man boarded in the morning and started yelling and screaming at all the white people in my metro car. I had been sitting next to and chatting with a blind man when it happened. The blind man (obviously concerned because he couldn't see what was going on) asked me if I wanted to exit at the next stop with him, so I did. The crazy guy leaned out of the metro and yelled at us that "white people didn't inherit the earth" just before it pulled away. I was pretty nervous and figured the blind guy was harmless so I ended up leading him to his last stop that morning.

Also, this past week, my alarm on my phone decided to play games with me and I woke up 2 hours late for work. I had to navigate the rush hour commute which is awful. Luckily my boss just laughed at me when I came in and said it happens to everyone.

I still haven't done any sight seeing yet since I've just been trying to get everything ready for the apartment. Shane gets here tonight and it's about time! Then we can start moving stuff in on Thursday!

I have some pictures from our road trip up through Savannah that I just uploaded. Our hotel was a bar and restaurant style B&B that was supposed to be haunted. They say a girl named Anna jumped out a window because she was in love with a sailor who either left or didn't love her back. But I didn't see or hear anything funny there.

They put an "Anna" doll in the window for people on ghost tours.

Shane and Anna

The 17 Hundred 90 Inn

Last leg of our road trip!

Last 2 weeks in Florida

I never thought I would be writing a blog, well a blog that's not sports related. Here goes nothing...

It's been a crazy few months to say the least. I've been frantically trying to get a lot of things done before I start my drive by myself up to VA. I'm sure it's going to be the most boring, longest drive ever, but I know it's going to be worth it. I have been packing, trashing, and selling my things so I can fit everything in a 6'x12' trailer. I worry that everything won't fit, but as long as the important things make it, that's all that matters.

The biggest worry over the last few months has been whether I can get a good job. I've been trying to get a government job, since I figured they wouldn't mind passing out a few hundred grand my way, right? I guess it's harder than I thought to get clearance and finding an open position. I settled for the next best thing, a job that I actually have experience and have been doing since college. I think it's a great opportunity and I hope there's a future there for me. I have to start with the second shift, which isn't the ideal time slot because I won't see Kat as much, but I have a feeling I won't be working that shift too long. I'm a little nervous about starting a new job, but who wouldn't be?

I've been the most excited about living in a towers apartment in Arlington. We have a lot of ideas for how we want our place set up, but it's going to take some time, since we don't have a lot of things to decorate. The main thing will be having our own place... all the material things really don't matter. 

There's so many things we want to do, but first things first... I have two weeks left in Florida...

Disaster Preparedness

I finally made it it to Virginia and DC! My first week here has been memorable, to say the least. There was the earthquake on Tuesday, the hurricane on Saturday and a new job to top it all off. I couldn't have been less prepared for all of this.

In fact, this past week had me so nervous that I was sure I was having a panic-induced seizure instead of feeling an earthquake. But my boss came running out of her office and told me to "get out!" I watched as the whole hospital evacuated. Kids in wheelchairs and doctors who were scrubbed in to start surgeries all came filing out. It was pretty surreal.

The hurricane was a great excuse to sleep all day and be lazy this Saturday. I needed lots of it since I'm not used to waking up at 5:30am. Ugh.

My head is spinning from all of my new responsibilities. I also haven't figured out the whole bus-metro commute business here either. There are 8 different ways to get anywhere you want to go here so I've taken a different route to work every day. Most of the time, it's an hour and a half, but sometimes it's two hours. It will much easier once Shane and I move into our apartment which is closer. Right now I'm staying with Erin and Toby, who have done so much for Shane and I to make this move easier on us; thank you!!

 This is  the main campus of the hospital.

 Dr. Bear is a big thing there for the kids. He walks around sometimes. 

 As soon as you walk in, you see these balloons.