Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Our Life Since Provo

A couple days before we left Provo, I got really brave and decided to cut 4 inches off my hair and get bangs! Afterwards I, of course, regretted it and missed every one of those inches. Brad continually assured me that my hair was still long and lovely. He, of course, was right. I decided I wanted my bangs to swoop a little more across my forehead, so instead of going back to the salon to have my stylist fix them Brad convinced me to let him cut my hair, which I swore would never happen. But here's the proof:

After training my hair to part in a different direction, I finally learned to accept my new bangs. Brad did a wonderful job cutting them, but bangs just aren't my thing. Needless to say, I will be growing these bangs back out. Maybe in the next couple days I'll get brave enough to post a picture of the new do.

It rains like 3 days out of the year in Provo, and just our luck, the day we moved was one of those 3 days. At the end of May it's still really cold outside, so the rain was freezing. Luckily we had some great friends from our married ward who came over and helped us pack the truck. Then we were off to Colorado to visit Lori and Jared and Neil, Valeri, Chloe, and Ryan. Valeri was an absolute sweetheart and took one year anniversary pics for us. Here's just one of the many fabulous photos:
Check out more of her stuff

HERE

and

HERE!


After our short stop in Colorado we began our long journey south. Once again we had unfortunate luck after only a couple hours on the road. Out in the middle of nowhere Nebraska we got a flat tire, and by flat I mean completely destroyed.
Thank goodness it was only our trailer carrying the car and not on the truck. We called the customer service line and were on hold for about 25 minutes until they finally gave us our options. Option #1: Wait for an undisclosed multiple number of hours until someone from Budget Truck Rental can come with a spare OR option #2: Drive down the road 3/4 of a mile to the car shop and have them replace the tire. I cannot even express have incredibly grateful I was that we got a flat tire where we did. I highly doubt that it was just coincidence that we got off on an exit with the only car shop in the entire state (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but we were seriously in the middle of nowhere with no civilization anywhere close). We carefully drove the mile down the road as we agitated the cars behind by driving 20 in a 50 mph zone. The tire was replaced in 10 minutes and we were back on the road.

We drove through Kansas all in one day (that's about 10 hours in case you were wondering), stopped at a rest area in Kansas City, MO, and slept in the back of the moving truck. It was quite the adventure and new camping experience. We pulled into Nashville, TN and decided to stop at my friend Lindsey's house for the night. The next morning we drove to my parents' home in Knoxville - 3 hours further. We stayed the night then stole my brother and sister and drove to Atlanta. Thank goodness for Thomas and Elizabeth being willing to help us move. We got everything out of the truck and into our apartment in about 2 or 3 hours. With just me and Brad it would have taken us all day. Finally everything is in order so we jump in the shower only to discover the instantly obvious lack of hot water. Brad, the handyman that he is, goes to the hot water heater closet and tries to turn the handle that won't turn. That's right, the door is locked. No key we were given at check-in fits the lock. Really? Is there seriously a door in our house we don't have access to? We call the maintenance guy who comes hours later to show us how to open the door with a screwdriver. Apparently they lock the door for child safety.

Thomas and Elizabeth had never been to Olympic Park, so we took them there to see the water rings show.

Two days after moving in and having hardly anything unpacked we drove another 6 hours down to Florida for a family vacation with Brad's grandparents. Pensacola was gorgeous, and we were lucky enough to get on the beaches before the oil did.
Beautiful clear water. No oil in sight.


We relaxed, hung out on the beach, and built a drippy sand castle complete with its own pool:
We were sad to leave Florida and the awesome beach weather but so glad to get back home and finally have some stability.

Brittney, another of my sister's, came to visit us just last week. My family is absolutely crazy about baseball, so Brad and I decided to take her to a Braves game. Knowing our luck, which has been evidenced and eluded to throughout this post, something had to go wrong. So what went wrong, you ask? The game got rain delayed for 2 1/2 hours! It didn't start until 9:30 pm. We could only stay until the 4th inning because Brad had work the next morning. But in order to keep us entertained the good folks at Turner Field put the Yankees Phillies game on the big screen for us. Go Yankees! They won that game by the way!

Brad has started his new job and is really liking it. He's still in training right now, which is never fun, but he likes the people he works with. He's also one mile from home, which is fabulous! He also got a sweet new pair of nice church shoes from his wonderful wife for Father's Day. No, he's not a father and won't be anytime soon. It was just an excuse to get him these shoes he wanted.

 I'm still on the look for jobs, so hopefully I'll find one soon. I've been bribed with a puppy. If I get a job, I get a puppy, so everyone pray I find a job soon!

Our life since Provo has been full of adventure, family, and a little bad luck. We miss Cafe Rio, but are loving Atlanta and being so close to home.

love, Brad & Courtney

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