Moving to Texas: The Grand Canyon

When our story left off we were turning off of I-40 to head to the Grand Canyon. We got to the Grand Canyon entrance late and it was dark, no moon, no stars (cloudy) and no street lights. We finally managed to find our hotel, the Maswik Lodge, and got checked in. The room was gorgeous and perfect for a two day stay. It felt like a lodge but with all of the modern conveniences. We slept well that night and then the next day got up early to soak up as much of the park as we could in such a short amount of time. Here are some of the highlights from the day:

I was in love, the Grand Canyon is pretty amazing! I just can't believe how fortunate I am that I got to see and experience it. One day I'm going to hike from the South Rim to the North Rim. This trip we stayed above the rim, there were lots of signs warning people not to try to get to the river and back in one day. Lots of signs warning of dehydration and hyponutrimia and other such perils of hiking. It was pretty intense and we made sure to drink our water all day long. I think we managed to stop at all of the overlooks along this portion of the south rim but we didn't manage to get a good sunset. As you can see it was very cloudy while we were there and it didn't make for a nice sunrise or sunset.

Last Days in LA

Well, we did it. We left the beauty and traffic congestion of Southern California and moved to West Texas. I know it sounds crazy, and trust me, we are aware that on the outside it looks like a crazy decision, but really it's not so crazy. Is it crazy to want a full time job where you can use your spiritual gifts? Is it crazy to want to own a free standing home? Is it crazy to want to live a less chaotic life? I didn't think so either. So, we moved. But before we moved we decided to make the most of our last summer in SoCal and I'd say we succeeded. The following are just a few of the highlights from this summer's farewell tour of SoCal.

It started when my sister came up to visit with her three little boys. We spent the day out at a local farm picking our own berries, playing and watching the goats climb overhead. It was great to spend some more time with them before the big move. We also enjoyed the pool in our complex and the boys showed off their swim moves that they learned at their lessons.

Later in the month we did some hiking around Malibu Creek State Park with some friends. We hiked up to some caves where apparently Jim Morrison used to hang out. It was fun climbing all over the rocks and just enjoying the view.

Chris' last official day at work was on Friday, July 22nd. On Saturday we enjoyed a tour of the Getty Villa in Malibu with some members of our church. The tour was focused on the connections between the art pieces and the New Testament, we really enjoyed it and wish we had gone sooner.

The following day Chris' brother flew in from Kentucky to hang out and help with the move. We began his tour of LA with a stop at Randy's Donuts near the airport. I must say, these were amazing and so worth the 85 cents we paid!

After donuts we ate dinner at In-N-Out burger and then finally saw the last installment of the Harry Potter series. This last movie may have been my favorite and I was more than a little sad that it was all over.

On Monday we started the day by investigating the water that had mysteriously pooled on the floor of my back seat. We found the leak and fixed it but then needed to dry out the car, it would take until we got to Albuquerque to get the carpet and padding completely dry. After the car fiasco we headed to downtown with the goal of going to MOCA to see the street art exhibit. When we finally got parked and over to the museum we were greeted with the most ridiculous line ever for a museum. We didn't have time to wait in line so we decided to head to the Griffith Observatory instead. We got there and walked up towards the Hollywood sign and took a ton of pictures of the cityscape and the sign and walked around the observatory. However, we didn't get to go inside, apparently it is closed on Mondays.

We had tickets for the Dodgers game so we headed to Elysian park where we found a great view of the stadium and then made our way into the park. We got the tickets and went in and I was confused because I thought I knew where we were going but apparently I was wrong. I just never expected to get to sit in the dugout club! This is the view from our seats which included an all-you-can eat buffet with a candy bar and unlimited peanuts and popcorn. Amazing!

After the win we lined up along the dugout and one of the players threw me a ball, what a great souvenir of our time spent living in LA! To top off the spectacular night we saw Pat Sajak as we were leaving, he was seated in the same section as us.

On Tuesday we spent the morning trying to air out my car a bit and then went to Brats Brothers for dinner and enjoyed some great Bavarian cuisine. I need to find a place like this in Texas (not likely). We had tickets to see the LA Phil perform Tzchaikovsky and it was very enjoyable especially sitting outside in the gorgeous California weather. I miss that weather!

On Wednesday we spent the morning drying out the car and then got some sandwiches and headed to the beach where we spent time with my sister, nephews, and some amazing friends. It was so good to get to spend time with some folks before we moved away. The picture below is Eli being terribly adorable. I miss my little guys!

Wednesday night Chris and his brother headed to LAX to pick up his dad who would be helping us move the next day. While they went to the airport I headed to dessert with my friend from church. It was so good to get to spend some time with her and chocolate cake is great for coping with stressful sad times!

On Thursday morning we hosted a load the truck party and were so thankful to have a lot of help on hand, it took only about two hours to get the entire apartment loaded into the truck and two cars. We then loaded one car onto a trailer to tow behind the truck and headed out of the city. We stopped in Barstow for lunch. We stopped outside of Needles so that Chris' brother could jump in our car and we could make a detour through Laughlin, NV so that he could say he'd been there. We found the U-haul cruising through Arizona and stopped at a Denny's outside of Flagstaff. From there the three of us headed to the Grand Canyon while the FIL headed to a hotel in Flagstaff.

Look for my next post on the details of our Grand Canyon adventures and our new home in Texas!

Saying Goodbye is Bittersweet

Today marks the last day that I will teach a class at Pepperdine.  I still have final exams to give next week but for the most part I'm all done with my job here and am just wrapping up the loose ends.  This week, as I secured some boxes to begin packing up my office I felt a twinge of sadness about the prospect of leaving.  There have been some rough moments in the 2 years that I have worked here but for the most part I have truly loved the experience.  I have learned so much in the last 3 semesters and I wouldn't trade my time here for anything.

Leaving isn't all sorrowful though, it also has a sweet side.  As I pack up and count down the three months until moving day I am also counting down the days until I begin my new career as Assistant Professor of Sociology at Abilene Christian University!  That's right, now visiting or adjunct in front of that title.  I'm very excited to be working with a great team and am looking forward to the variety of classes that I am going to be teaching.  It's going to be a great change!

Moving Complete!!

We are finally all moved in to our new apartment! We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends who also own big trucks and trailers. With everyone's help we were done by 5pm on Sunday moving everything over. They even put the bed together for us :) Monday was cleaning day for the old apartment and then Tuesday we turned in the keys to the old place. It felt good to get that done and out of the way. Chris has been amazing and pretty much unpacked the entire place. We have gone through every box and pretty well found a home for everything. We have lots of stuff that will go to my sister's house for a big garage sale and once all of that is moved it will look much better.

Our new place is smaller but it is nice to have an extra $500 a month so that we can pay off our credit card and begin saving for a house and all of the things that we (well, mostly I) want to do in the coming years. I think the one bedroom is going to work out just fine for a few years.

Weekend Update

Hehe, I wish I were funny enough to warrant that title. Anyway, deserving or not, this is my weekend update.

• We are moving in 7 days!! My amazingly wonderful husband has packed pretty much everything and left me to sit back and rest (or, work on my dissertation, you know, whatever).
  
• Speaking of the dis. I finished chapter 4 on Saturday and now just need to finish up 2 and 3 and get them to JD for approval. Praying for approval.
  
• I was also able to get a haircut yesterday, it's so much better! Nice and short, I use less shampoo and it takes less then half the time to dry. My mom was awesome and sent me a gift card which paid for the lovely hair cut and a some new clothes.
• Today I led the opening prayer at church, went to Bible class and then taught Sunday school. A very busy morning!
• After church we had a baby shower planning meeting - a Tea Party theme for a baby girl! So cute. I'm making teacup and teapot shaped sugar cookies. I'm a little nervous about decorating but it will be fun anyway.
• Went to Golden Spoon for a yummy treat and then to the Commons for a free concert, it was a U2 cover band but they were pretty good, sadly, not the best acoustics.

Now, we are both sitting in bed on our laptops and I'm beginning to get a little drowsy. Tomorrow is my first 8 hour day at work so I'm anticipating exhaustion at the end of the day :)

Figured it out!

Why I'm so tired, that is. I have been taking Zyrtec (well, the Costco version of it) and it's making me so tired that after sleeping 12 hours I took a 2 hour afternoon nap and would have continued sleeping if I hadn't needed to go to work! It's so strange because I've never had that reaction to the medicine before. Anyway, today I am drug free and feeling more alert and awake.

I even put together some boxes this morning and planned a weekend of packing for the big move. Hehe. This move will be a piece of cake compared to our last 2 moves. Rather than drive 2500 miles we only need to go about .25 miles! We don't even need to rent a truck. I'm going to pick up some furniture dolly's on Sunday and that should get us through.

Today is my first payday and the first time I've been paid hourly in about 6 years. I'm excited to see the check and spend it on a new couch! Working hourly really makes me want to work all the time. I have much more motivation. Maybe I should pay myself per word to work on my dissertation, do you think that would improve my speed?

Let the packing commence!

Okay, so yesterday I promised to give you the full update on what's been going on around here. First, I have not made any significant progress on my dissertation. I've been crawling towards the finish line and not even crawling like a baby that really wants something but crawling just using my elbows to propel me forward. I feel like I'm never going to see the end of this darn thing! Each week my boss and I sit down to plot my hours for the next week and I keep saying "I might be defending that day" and the day keeps getting pushed forward. What happened to the drive and motivation I had a few weeks ago? Is it gone? Will I ever finish? Today, after lunch, I am heading back to Starbucks to get the revisions done. I want to get the monkey off my back and start making everyone call me Dr. Suzie!

Second, we are switching apartments in just 2 weeks!!! We have been approved for the one bedroom bond program so we are moving on June 28th. We really like the location of our new apartment and it will be a lot easier to move out of when we finally get a house. I imagine we will live there for two years or so and hopefully be able to save up for a house by then. We will be saving $500 a month on rent which makes me super happy. With the savings and the income from my job we should be debt free in about 6-7 months. We have also sold most of our big furniture so we have much less to move these days. It should be fairly painless :)

Third, my job is going well. I really enjoy working with the family and the time seems to go by quickly. Each week I am getting more and more hours which is really great. I am also working to line up another nanny job to start in September which will be fantastic.

Fourth, and most exciting, we went on a hike on Sunday and ran across 2 rattlesnakes on the trail. I got totally freaked out but the snakes didn't rattle, they just slithered off into the weeds. We definitely have to keep our eyes open whenever we are on the trail to prevent any tragedies. The hike itself was great, we were out for an hour and a half and there was a lot of uphill. My behind was a little sore on Monday.

I think that's all that's been going on, we are excited about the move and looking forward to all that is to come.