About two weeks after deciding to go to Ithaca college in NY because of a small scholarship, Drew got a call from the
Communication department at Virginia Tech offering him a paid assistantship with half tuition the first year and full tuition the second year. Since VT had a more promising program than Ithaca and was focused more on media studies and the effects of communication, Drew jumped at the chance to go to his dream school. After weeks of worrying, praying, and fasting about our decision to go to Ithaca, we instantly felt great about this opportunity to go to VA Tech.
We decided to go to VA during the last week in May, right after my last week teaching Kindergarten. I originally was going to take a few days of my vacation to DE to look for a place in NY, but since we decided to go to VA and it is a 6.5 hour drive from my parent's house in DE to Blacksburg, VA, I decided it was too much to handle in my little trip home. So, my parents volunteered instead and made a trip of visiting Blacksburg during the last weekend in June. My mom and I researched rental properties and agencies and made back to back appointments for the Saturday they were there. I am glad my parents took the time to go down there, because some of the rentals that sounded the best were actually the worst. There was one basement apartment my mom said was one of the worst smelling/looking apartments she had ever seen.
At the end of the day, my parents came out thinking that
Foxridge was one of the most beautiful communities they had ever seen. I say community because it has several apartment
complexes, some for singles and some specifically set aside for graduate/professional people. There are many
amenities including two pools, various tennis/basketball/volleyball courts, about 10 playgrounds, a pond, workroom, car wash, BBQ pits, picnic tables, etc. There is a 3 mile bike trail that goes straight to VA Tech - it even has tunnels to go under roadways so that you never have to cross the street. I AM SO EXCITED to live in such a fun community! Isabelle and I will get good use of the pools, playground, and bike trails as soon as we get there.
Although there are
many different apartment options, we decided to go with the
2 bedroom standard apartment with coin/op laundry. Since housing is about at least $150 more than Provo per month, we thought it would be best to save what money we can and opt for a one year lease on a standard apartment and search for something else if we feel the need next summer. We did luck out and get a remodeled kitchen in our unit. AND it has a 1.5 bath so we can have our own bathrooms when Drew and I get ready in the morning! Here is our floor plan:
While at Foxridge, my parents took pictures of the standard model apartment. Here is the entryway looking at the dining area:
The living room:
The kitchen (you can't see it, but there is a full pantry next to the dishwasher. On the opposite wall - not pictured - is the refrigerator, more counters and cupboards, and some open wall space for a table):
The master bedroom. The far left door leads out into the hallway, where you can immediately see the full bath. The next door is the .5 bath in our master bedroom. The far right door that you can barely see is the walk-in closet with his and her clothes racks. Yeah!:
I didn't post the picture of the second bedroom or bath, but you get the idea. Here is our apartment complex. Our apartment in the bottom unit (because it was cheaper than the other floors - they up the price for every little detail at this place!):
The workout room (notice the color scheme):
One of the pools. Both pools are like a huge Z shapes, with lifeguards:
The playground closest to our apartment:
The pond and bike trails:
We left Provo at the end of July.
ABF u-pack moving drove our stuff across the country while Drew, Isabelle, and I made a 4 day drive to DE.
The next few days were spent relaxing. We went swimming at Drew's parent's house with my sister Katie and Drew's sister Kat.
We had a mini-birthday celebration for me since my birthday was kind of sidetracked because of the move. My mom and Katie made a great ice cream sandwich cake. Yum! On the last day of our stay in DE, we went to the beach with Drew's family. We spent a few hours at the beach where Drew swam with Kat in the freezing water, I read some of Breaking Dawn, and Isabelle screamed because she didn't like the water or the sand! After showers (with more screaming), everyone was happy that we were going to the boardwalk. We had Italian Ice, Dip 'n Dots, and rode on some rides. Then we played a round of mini golf and headed down to the Rusty Rudder for a sea food buffet - yay for crabs! It was a fun day and we were all exhausted by the time we got back to the Shades.
We were on the road from DE to VA by 7:30AM the next morning. We had some car trouble on the way down and pulled into our new apartment Welcome Center around 2:00PM. After getting our keys, signing a few things, and driving our then-noisy car to our building, we unpacked the car and laid around the new apartment until 5:30 when the new ward members came to help unpack the ABF truck. With everything unloaded within the hour because of the help we received, we cleaned up quickly and enjoyed a home-cooked meal from a ward family who lives close by. It was really nice to meet people and gain new friends so quickly after our arrival.
My parents drove to VA after work on Thursday in order to help us unpack boxes and arrived at about 12:30AM on Friday. We spent the next two days unpacking everything and doing some essential shopping before my parents left on Sunday morning. We unpacked everything and really couldn't have done it without their help. Sadly, during all the moving and unpacking, we learned that our Stratus blew its engine and would cost too much to replace. It has been a hard reality to deal with because we have put all our money into this move and living expenses while Drew is in school, but we also feel blessed through this ordeal. While in northern VA, we prayed that our car would make it to Blacksburg, and it literally made it that far and died. My parents also drove their Echo down from DE and left it with us until we can figure out a replacement car for our pooper.
Since becoming settled, we have met our new ward, explored some of the walking trails in our neighborhood, driven around both Blacksburg and Christiansburg, gotten new VA drivers licenses, and celebrated Drew's 28th birthday! He enjoyed some breakfast in bed on Tuesday before we drove around the rest of the day running errands.
Isabelle has been busy during this move as well. About a week before we moved she took her first independent step. Since then, she has decided that walking is much faster than crawling and now walks everywhere. She was especially excited to move into a larger apartment because now she has a lot of room to walk and explore. Isabelle also got her first tooth & teeth! I don't think the picture below does it justice, but she got both of her bottom front teeth. While feeling around in her mouth, we also discovered that she is getting a canine tooth on her right side. It's about time! I hope they just keep coming.
We feel really blessed to have had such a great move and "vacation". All of our things made it safely here, despite a few bumps and scratches. Our apartment is fantastic! Although it is a two bedroom, it is roomy. I will have to post pictures sometime, but basically we just find a lot of extra space in literally every room. With walk-in hallway and bedroom closets, a giant closet in Isabelle's room, and a pro-packed storage closet (thanks to my dad) we have enough space to pack everything away, including my teaching files, and still have room remaining. We were able to use the pool on Drew's birthday and it has a perfect kiddy pool for Isabelle. There are a few parks within walking distance and a Food Lion for quick groceries. We are really excited to be here! Drew has a Graduate Teaching Assistantship meetings yesterday and is really excited to get things going here. He got keys to his office and learned that he will be teaching a Public Speaking class this fall. As for me, it definitely already feels like a new life style for me as I look ahead and realize I am not teaching Kindergarten in two weeks. We still don't know who and when one/both of us will need to get part-time jobs, but for now we are enjoying our independence. Hope you all have had a great few weeks and please do keep in touch!
