Welcome to Virginia!

I have officially been in Virginia for over a week. 

I landed in Baltimore last Friday at 5:45 PM. I had two carry-ons and two GIANT checked bags. While talking on the phone with my mom as I waited for my checked bags, she suggested that I get a luggage cart for all of my bags. Boy I am glad I listened to her! I felt like I had my whole closet with me (I pretty much did) and without the cart I would have been the next YouTube video hit “Girl struggles while trying to carry entire closet in four bags…” Well, thirty minutes after getting my bags I was relieved to finally see Chad because it meant I could take a restroom break, there was no way all of my bags would have fit into a stall with me!

Me and my entire wardrobe.
I swear it looked bigger in real life! 

From the airport we headed over to Chad’s aunt and uncles’ house, Colleen & Jim, who live in Baltimore. They were very kind and offered to feed us after my long journey and Chad’s long day of orientation. It was nice to visit with them. It was only the second time I had met them, but I felt right at home. All of Chad’s family is that way J.

Arriving at our apartment was exciting! I was excited to see where we would be living for the next little while, even though I had already seen it. It was different though, because now it was our apartment. Chad’s parents and sister Cammie had helped Chad unpack while I was finishing finals. They are AMAZING! There was not a box left for me to unpack and there was even food in the fridge (THANK YOU!). If moving was like that all of the time I would consider moving more often haha

The little house we live in

The first real day in Virginia Chad and I headed into DC. We ate at a nice little restaurant, right off the metro on the way to the law school, called Roti Mediterranean Grill. Chad was a little hesitant to eat there, but it was very delicious! The pita bread was especially good!! Funny thing, on the wall there was a poster talking about the salt that they use, apparently it comes from Utah and the title of the poster was "Salt of the Earth." It made Chad and I both giggle as we thought about second meanings it probably doesn't have.

Chad hesitant about his food.

Afterwards we headed over to the bookstore to finish buying the rest of Chad’s law books. The books are all HUGE! Seriously all “Harry Potter” size. We met a couple of Chad’s law school buddies. Everybody seemed very nice and friendly. Next it was off to find Chad’s locker. The students have to share a locker, so Chad’s locker buddy gets the bottom-half and Chad gets the top-half. 

Chad's locker + all the "Harry Potter" size books.

The rest of the day wasn’t very eventful; on Friday Chad had been given an enormous amount of homework to do before Monday, so we spent the evening at home. Chad studied and I organized.

So, the first couple of days were eventful, but then Monday morning came. It was Chad's first day of law school...

All ready for his big day

and I was SICK! I must have caught some sort of bug from the plane because something had slowly been growing, I thought maybe it was me adjusting to the humidity or different air pressure, but nope it was a cold. Since I am on summer vacation I decided I may as well act as though I am. So I was a hermit, I stayed indoors, watched TV, organized the apartment, rearranged furniture, and vegged…. Poor Chad was consistently studying, but it payed off! He got his first “cold-call” this week and answered the battery of questions he was asked perfectly! I’m so proud of him and all his hard work.

Chad's "favorite" spot in the apartment

By Friday I was feeling better and was DONE being a hermit! It is BORING! I was ready to get out and explore! Unfortunately, that was when Chad started getting sick. We compromised and went out to dinner up at Tyson’s Corner. We went to a fancy Italian place that was delicious!

Some of the best pasta I had ever eaten

Afterwards we walked around the mall a little bit. It is HUGE! There is an entire Vera Bradley store!! There is also an American Girl store (which I would have loved as a child) and a Tesla store (way fancy awesome car).

The missionaries had asked to come over and visit with us so we didn’t stay at the mall long. It was really nice to be able to visit with them, especially because it was Andy’s birthday! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to Elder Perkins!!

I loved talking with them knowing Andy is doing the same thing in Florida, bringing others unto Christ. I’m so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and the knowledge that I can be with my family forever.

Apparently where we live is known as Little Korea. There are many, many stores/shops where everything is in Korean! Friday night we went to Korean Karaoke with some friends. It was a BLAST! No, not everything was in Korean, although Chad had been practicing to sing in Korean. There are also no pictures or videos of the event, due to broken microphones, apparently our singing wasn’t up to par. But it was a ton of fun and we are definitely going to go again.

Saturday it rained. Actually, it had been raining the last couple of days. This plus homework, plus Chad being sick put a slight damper on the day, but it was still lots of fun. Chad and I played baseball for a little while, and I am proud to say I can catch the ball with a mitt! 

We also adopted the newest addition to our family, Elsa the Beta fish!

Do you want to build a snowman?

When Chad and I started discussing moving far away from Utah I told Chad I would need a puppy because I would have no family near by. Chad agreed to getting a puppy if we moved. Unfortunately, our apartment doesn’t allow puppies and it wasn’t worth the extra $1,000 in rent we would be paying to live somewhere we could be allowed to have a puppy. So, for now no puppy, but Elsa!

It is pretty silly but I’m actually really excited about Elsa (yes, I know its WEIRD that I’m so excited about a FISH) but she is adorable! She is soo tiny, and everybody knows anything smaller is cuter right?! I’ve never met such an active fish!! She swims and swims and swims. Now, as for her name, we tried naming her different things, but none of them seemed to fit. She is named Elsa because her color is exactly the color of Elsa’s dress in Frozen. Once one of us mentioned it, no other names sounded right.

Today was the second time attending our new ward and I am so excited to be a part of it! Somebody called it “the most welcoming ward in Virginia” and I believe them! Everybody was so nice and welcoming! I immediately felt at home. Everybody wanted to make sure we were on the ward email list-serve (I think that’s what its called) so we could know what is going on, and what events or outings people are planning. I got invited to join a book club, which the lady described more as an excuse to socialize and we got invited to dinner at another family’s home. I’m excited because I know I will feel right at home in this ward.

So far Virginia has been good. I love our apartment and am beginning to make great friends. Chad is thoroughly enjoying his classes, although he wishes there was a little bit less reading. We are having a great time together and are happy as can be. We hope the same for every one else!