Our "vacation" to Virginia

Well, here I am again, after 3 years. I figured I'd better start blogging since I'm trying to become a bona fide writer. Where to begin???? We have been here for 3 1/2 months now, and it has been going fast; sometimes not fast enough though!
It's funny how we sometimes imagine having an adventure, doing something different, something totally out of our comfort zone. That's what I'd been doing before we even had considered this adventure. I love to watch House Hunters, and I was always especially fascinated with the East Coast; in fact I'd say that Virginia particularly intrigued me. I had visited North Carolina a few times to see my sister, my mom, and their respective families, but I had never been anywhere else in the East. When Jason called me one day and asked if I was interested in going to DC for a year, my immediate answer was, "Totally! Sounds perfect! We can see tons of the East Coast, visit my family, and then  come back home."  Of course, at that point, I wasn't thinking about the logistics of it at all. I just thought it sounded like a great experience and opportunity. As the months passed and we didn't hear back, we started to relax and think he wasn't going to get the position. To our surprise, he received an e-mail on a Sunday, telling him that he had been chosen! We were completely shocked, to say the least! We had always said that if he were accepted, we would almost definitely go, because we figured it would be meant to be. But, it was almost Thanksgiving, and the thought of leaving, of moving all the way across the country in a mere month and a half, not to mention right after Christmas...well, it seemed absolutely ludicrous to me! But, we prayed and pondered for a few days. I was completely sick to my stomach. It's funny that all of the logistics didn't occur to me one bit when he first presented the idea to me; all I thought of was how "fun" it would be, what an adventure. HA!
So, we decided to accept, just a few days before Thanksgiving. My nerves calmed down, temporarily, when the decision was made. We both felt good about it.  Whenever I would tell someone what we were going to do, they'd always resond, "Wow! Sounds amazing! What a great opportunity!" And I'd be thinking, "You must think we're crazy. How are we supposed to rent our house, pack up our entire house, decide what to take and what to store, not to mention where to store it, rent a house somewhere near DC, have Thanksgiving, have Christmas, celebrate Jason and Spencer's birthdays, get Spencer ordained, decide what to do with our second vehicle, drive across the country, decide how to get our stuff there, put the kids in new schools, etc, etc, etc." I though we were totally insane!
I have to say, despite the fact that I felt like hurling every second, everything worked out perfectly. I honestly believe it was a miracle; every bit of the whole process. We were able to get the house rented immediately (thank you, thank you, thank you, Shawn and Jessi-I could never, ever say it enough if I said it every day til the day I die!). We were able to fly out to DC in December (and the vast majority of the trip was paid for by his new boss) and find a home that was within walking distance of the train station. And, let me tell you, finding a home in DC is quite a feat because there are soooo many different areas to choose from, in all directions. It's amazing to me, miraculous really, how it all worked out. We were only here for 3 days, and we were able to find the home on the second day. We feel like we were led here because of the ward, and the location! I could go on and on and on and on, all day long, about all of the miracles we were privileged to have. I'll share a few more. So many wonderful family members and friends stepped up and helped us pack, clean, and load. It still makes me emotional to think of the help we received. I was a complete and total basket case. We got through Christmas okay; then the stress really hit. I felt like my brain had vacated my head, but the aforementioned wonderful people just stepped right in and did what needed to be done, even when I was so out of it that I couldn't begin to tell them what needed to be done. Equally miraculous was our drive out here. I was pretty nervous because we had never driven anywhere even half this far. Sam tends to get car sick, and it seems like we always get stuck in traffic, bad weather, or construction. And this was early January. Remember all the snow we were getting around Christmas? Well, the trip went better, far better, than I ever could have anticipated. Sam never barfed, or even came close. The only traffic we encountered was in Salt Lake on the way out of town. There was no construction. There was not even one snow flurry! There was snow on the ground across the entire country, yet the roads were completely dry. A big storm was chasing us, but it never caught up. The kids were absolute angels. I am not exaggerating when I say that they caused no stress or trouble whatsoever; which I owe in great part to the Kindle Fires they received from Santa. Bless that man! The only tiny complaint I had was that they occasionally fought over who got which bed in the hotel or who got which seat in the van each morning. The cross-country drive was FAR less stressful than the previous month of total insanity.
Well, um, apparently it's going to take me quite some time to catch up on the last 3 plus months of our adventure. I guess I'll end here and cover the first few weeks or so next time. Thank goodness I have my trusty journals to fill me in on what we've been doing.  It's been such a whirlwind that I can't remember much of it anymore.