Monday, August 24, 2009

The Big Move and Nauvoo!

Wow! It has been a crazy 2 1/2 weeks! I have barely had time to breath much less blog. I started school today so, of course, instead of studying, I'm blogging.

First, the move! After packing the moving truck all day Thursday, we (meaning my parents and I), left Chicago on Friday morning August 7 and headed towards Nauvoo, Illinois. It was kind of on the way to Texas and I wanted to see it so we took a small detour. We got to Nauvoo about 3 pm, got checked into the hotel, and were able to walk around a little before dinner. We stayed at the Hotel Nauvoo in their cute little cottage. It was so nice because we basically had a 2 bedroom house for the 3 of us to enjoy.
Downtown Nauvoo-


This is the cottage we stayed in! So cute!


After dinner, we went to go see a Sunset show where the Missionaries performed a variety show with singing, dancing, and lots of laughter. We also got to see a singing group from BYU called Vocal Point. They are a group of college boys that sing acappella and they were fantastic. They even did Thriller!

Here are a few pictures of them singing!




Then we went over to the Temple to see what it looks like at night. It was beautiful! And you could really feel the Spirit!




The next morning, we went back to the Temple to see it during the day. We also went to the Nauvoo Visitors Center, learned about the history of Nauvoo, and toured some of the homes and places that were part of the old town. I wish we could have stayed longer but we had to hit the road to make our way down to Texas!







After the excitement of Nauvoo, we spent about 8 hours in the car driving. We made it to Arkansas that night. The next day, Sunday, we got up and hit the road pretty early. We accidentally took a wrong turn by Little Rock and spent 3 hours touring through central Arkansas. It took us way out of the way and we ended up getting to Houston really late (11:30 pm) on Sunday night. All added up, we spent about 15 hours driving on Sunday. It was the longest day ever!

After resting for about 12 hours at the hotel, Monday morning came and it was time to unload. Monday was spent unloading, Tuesday was spent unpacking and hanging out with my parents, and then I took them to the airport on Wednesday morning. It was a non-stop week from start to finish!

Now that I'm settled in and have started school, I am starting to get into a routine. I'm not sure what I'll have to blog about the next few days because basically all I do is go to school and study. I'm sure I'll think of something though!

Monday, August 3, 2009

In Exactly One Week-

In just one short week, I will be starting a new adventure. I will be living in a new home, in a new city, in a new state, where it is really really HOT! I will be missing my Geneva hone, the cool weather, all the friends I have made, the wonderful church I've been going to, my parents, my brother, and my dog.

I will have packed up all 28 years of my life in a moving van with the help of some nice friends, driven roughly 1,200 miles, unloaded most of the truck into a storage unit, moved the rest of the stuff into my new place, and returned the truck. And I'm sure I will have sweated buckets of sweat and lost a few pounds :)

Part of me is so excited to be moving, starting a new life, learning new things, going to a new church, meeting new friends, and being on my own.

Part of me is scared to death. There are so many what ifs with this move. I'll be on my own. I won't have my parents to call if something goes wrong (well, I can call them but they will be living 1,200 miles away so how much of a help will they be), everything will be new. SO to help me sort through all the what ifs- I decided to list some of them.

What if I hate it?
What if I love it so much I never want to leave?
What if I make so many friends I don't know what to do?
What if I don't make any friends?
What if something happens to my car? (I haven't had very good luck lately)
What if I don't like my new church as much as my old church?
What if I don't do well in school?
What if I rock the school thing?
What if things don't go as planned? (because they usually don't but that makes life exciting)
What if they go exactly as planned? (I'm not used to that either)

AND THE BIG ONE I'M WORRIED ABOUT- WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF MONEY? (I've never had to be on a REAL budget before. I have to admit I'm afraid I won't be very good at it.)

Ok, that's quite a few What ifs and I'm sure there are more I couldn't think of. I just need to remember to stop and breathe in this crazy time of my life. I'll ask you all to keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I venture off on this new, exciting, scary, different adventure! I'll keep you updated on my crazy adventures!

I also need to remember this-

Saturday, August 1, 2009

The Rest of Vacation: Days 3-7

So I figured I'd better write about the rest of my vacation that happened in JUNE! I've been so busy that I've hardly had any free time.
After going to Hershey, PA, my mom and I drove 3 hours to New York City. We spent 4 days and 3 nights exploring all the great things the city has to offer. We saw the Empire State building, Rockefeller Plaza, the Today Show, Brooklyn, Ground Zero, Central Park, Little Italy, the Fashion district, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Times Square, Madame Tussauds, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Ray Romano outside of David Letterman. We also ate hot dogs from the street vendors, bought 7 t-shirts for $10, took a double-decker bus tour of the city, and walked about a million miles. Our hotel room was the smallest room I've ever seen but it was only 1 block from Central Park so I didn't care. I was so sad to leave such a wonderful place but I know I'll be back there someday!
Here are some of the hundreds of pictures I took of the trip! Warning- there are lots of pictures but I couldn't chose just a few! Enjoy!

Times Square!



The ball from New Years Eve

On the double-decker bus tour. It rained but the ponchos helped!

The wall of tiles in remembrance of September 11-

Ground Zero-

In Brooklyn, with NYC in the background-

Brooklyn Bridge

Beginning of the night tour of the city


From the Real Housewives of NYC-

















As close as I got to Matt and Ann- I went to the Today Show the day after Michael Jackson dies so they didn't come outside and it was pretty quiet around the plaza.



Little Italy- yummy food!


The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Michael Jackson died the day we took this tour. There was a gathering outside the Apollo theater to remember him.


Tavern on the Green in Central Park

John Lennon Memorial

John Lennon's house


Fountain in Central Park

Our hotel- The Hudson. It was a fabulous hotel.

Our room was soooo small. We could hardly move in it!

The bathroom- small again

The hallway- I had to lay open my suitcase in this hallway to get out my clothes. There was no other place to put it!

On the way back home, we stayed in a hotel that had a hot tub in the bedroom. It was crazy!