Sunday, August 22, 2010

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).

11 comments:

  1. chana I forgot to tell you how long your hair is!! loving it. and I so don't care if I already know things, you two need to blog more!! You have no idea the look that came over my face when I saw you had updated: a mixture of shock and pure joy...kind-a made me look crazy.

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  2. Congrats on graduation and getting accepted to law school! We are jealous of your trip to Chicago. I'm sure the pizza was good.

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  3. WHATTTT!!!!? Chana, you came to Chicago and did not call me?! My apartment is in the picture of your boat ride! I forgive you because you're the best. But really, next time at least let me and Nate take you out to dinner in the city.

    I've been wondering what you two have been up to. Congrats on graduation and law school! I've heard Virginia is beautiful. So fun!

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  4. Chana! it's great to see an update! We miss you here at BYU! Congrats on all the changes in your life!

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  5. Chana, we have some LDS friends that live (or lived, not sure if they're still there) in Fairfax. There names are Scott and Denise Jenson. Way nice family! Best of luck in your new adventure!! I've missed your blogging!

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  6. Ok yes they still live there...he's in med school in DC!

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  7. Matt and I did the architectural tour too! We loved it especially after reading Devil in the White City (it's about a serial killer at the world's fair in Chicago...it was creepy but way good). Anyway, I'm definitely going to come visit! Good luck with school! Miss you guys.

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  8. Oh Chana, I am so happy for you guys and glad you made it safely to your new home. Thank you for posting :) Please keep us updated!! Hope that all is well...

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  9. We stayed in Fairfax when we went to pick up Greg from his mission. There were some wonderful LDS people in that area. He's a little jealous!
    We're very excited for you.

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  10. CHANA! If you and andrew ever find yourself in manhattan...let me know!!! We just hit our year mark for living out East. We just got back from a month long trip to utah and idaho to visit family...definitely miss it out there, but love it here too! Hank and I have been to your part of VA once, but always talk about a second trip...we'll let you know when we make it out there!

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  11. Chana, You ought to take a trip to Columbus, OH! Burke is in his second year of optometry school here, and we are loving it. So fun to find you and see what you are up to! Hope all is well!

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