ONE-BEDROOM GUESTHOUSE...

Our time here in Virginia is going by so fast. We can't believe it has already been one month. There are definitely good things about this place and definitely things we miss about our Provo home. Here's a little photo update of what we've been up to the past month...

Our first month here started out with a visit from my MOM. It was so fun to have her here. She and I (Chana) spent our days scouring fairfax county for thrift/antiques stores. We had great success! She was a gem to have around. She helped me hang curtains, make pillows, and paint end tables, just to mention a few things.

One of our favorite second hand/antique stores

(Ok, so I stole this picture off the internet; we went in August not December)

The month continued with our SECOND ANNIVERSARY. Andrew and I celebrated by going out to dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the wharf in Old Town Alexandria. We ate outside and it was amazing. The view of the Potomac River was breath taking, the company was perfect and the clam chowder was to die for.

Andrew and part of our view of the Potomac

Our restaurant

(We ate right under the blue umbrellas)

Andrew and me on the wharf

Next came our SECOND set of visitors. April, Trevor and Douglas. (April and I went to France together. Trevor is her husband, and Doug is her little brother. I actually knew Doug way before I knew and loved April. Doug is best friends with the little brother of one of my best friends (Carli) so we got to know each other very well with all the time I spent at her house during college.) The three of them came for a rally in DC and we were so excited to have them stay at our little apartment. April and Trevor slept on our blow up mattress and Doug... he slept on the floor with our couch cushions. It was a tight squeeze but oh so fun. We spent hours talking, laughing and touring museums.

Group Picture at 4:00 am

Our month here came to end with a THIRD set of visitors. Our favorite little family came to see us. Eric, Rachel and Lucy. Eric is getting his MBA at Duke in Durham, North Carolina, which means they are only four hours away and we are very excited to have more of these weekends. Andrew's mom came along with them, which made it even more exciting. We had a great weekend. Our one bedroom apartment was very crowded, but it was so fun. We spent the weekend going to DC monuments, going to museums, eating delicious food, swimming, and baking amazing peanut butter cupcakes.

The girls in front of the Capitol

The White House at dusk

Taking a break from walking at the Washington Monument

We felt right at home amongst all the BLUE and ORANGE in DC

(the BSU/Virginia Tech game was that weekend and there were fans everywhere we looked)

Andrew and I at the Mall

Lucy

(she was such a good little mama)

Despite the distraction of all our visitors, Andrew has been very disciplined at his school work this past month. He comes home every night with very tired eyes from reading all day long. We are finally filling settled in to our new adventure in Virginia... now if we could only find me a job.

p.s. Visitors are always welcome. We have a very comfortable blow up mattress and a couch.

VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS...

Not that more than a handful of people noticed, but we’ve failed to update our blog for a long time. Why, you might ask? We don’t know. Maybe we are lazy. Or maybe it’s because anybody who does read our blog probably already knows what’s going on in our lives. After blogging all last summer about sand, camels, pyramids, and singing and dancing with Arabs, perhaps writing a sufficiently interesting post about our life in Provo, Utah is simply a hard act to follow. It’s not like we have been sitting on the couch twiddling our thumbs. I (Andrew) graduated from college, we have a new sister named Roxy (she married Craig), and Preston left on his mission to South Africa. Despite our long and mysterious absence though, we are back.

You may have heard the saying “Virginia is for lovers”. If you’ve noticed how intensely in love Chana and I are, you now know the saying is true (Chana is now rolling her eyes). That’s right, about 2 weeks ago we packed up everything we have and moved east (again, anybody reading this probably already knows). We will be here for at least three years for me to attend law school at George Mason University. Now on to some things the handful of you reading this may not know....

We had a pretty cool trip out here. We were lucky enough to have friends also moving out to the D.C. area so we came up with a master plan to split the cost of a moving truck. Even better, they offered to drive it out for us a couple weeks early and put our stuff in storage. So it was me, Chana, and Stella (that’s our Toyota Corolla) driving across the country. I quite enjoyed the company. Chana enjoyed Stella and put up with me. Stella was a trooper though she lost her sight in one eye, which resulted in a $25 ticket while cruising the streets of Chicago after dark. We stayed one night in Kearny, Nebraska, then two nights and a day in Chicago, and one night in Cincinati, Ohio. It was the first time to Chicago for both of us and we had a great time. We did an architectural boat tour through the Chicago river, spent some time with Chana’s cousin who introduced us to the world famous Garrett’s popcorn, and had some delicious Chicagoan pizza for dinner.

We live in Fairfax, Virginia in a little one-bedroom apartment west of D.C. We’d never seen the place in person so we were a little nervous. Despite a few minor glitches, we are happy with our pick. We’ve yet to really meet any of our neighbors . . . it’s not quite the same as our BYU married couples complex in Provo, but it’s a nice little community and we have any store imaginable within 2 miles of us. We live about 15 miles from my school and something like 20 miles from D.C. My school is in Arlington, VA, close to the Arlington Cemetery and Pentagon. Chana swore she saw Michelle Obama just walking down the street by herself. She eventually conceded that the first lady probably wouldn’t just be walking by herself. I take a bus/metro combination and it takes just under an hour to get to school in the morning and about the same to get home. Pammy (Chana’s mom) spent this last week here with us. She was a huge help in getting our apartment set up and keeping Chana entertained while I started school. In short, we love our new home. Virginia and D.C. are beautiful and we haven’t even scratched the surface. Of course we really miss friends and family back west but are excited for our new adventure.

Graduation from BYU

Craig and Roxy's Reception in Boise

Preston entering the MTC
(we love Preston and miss him so much)

Chicago after the architectural river boat ride

Andrew enjoying the boat ride

We made it!

Andrew in front of his school in Arlington

P.S. Chana posted the pictures (I'm really not that obsessed with myself).