So, back in April we, rather abruptly, decided to up and move across the country. Mike hated his job and was having no luck getting into the field that he really wanted to be in, and my parents had offered a long while before to let us stay with them if we wanted to come out and look for a job out there. We had talked about doing it before, and in fact, about 9 months earlier, Mike was all set to do it, but I convinced him to wait at that point since I was over 8 months pregnant. But, not being pregnant, having an apartment contract about up, and Mike about to die from boredom at his job, we decided to go for it. So, we loaded up a POD and took a road trip!
We stopped in Utah for a few days to see friends and family, and do a little reminiscing. Can you believe the picture above is the new DT at BYU?? I am so jealous! And of course we stopped at the Malt Shop, which Alexa loved! Kaelyn, too, actually! We were able to see a lot of our friends, play a lot of games and even played night games!
Then came 3 very long days of driving. The girls became very big fans of rest stops that had something for them to do. I think this was their favorite- a big sandbox, lots of grass, and even horses! Well, at least a farm next door with horses.
Our next real stop was in Illinois where we stopped and stayed with my Aunt Cathy and got to see some of my extended family. The girls got to meet/see again Great-Grandma, plus a couple of my aunts and uncles and a bunch of my cousins.
From Illinois we went to Kentucky to stop and see Aunt Kari. Kaelyn had bonded with her car seat by that point and liked sitting in it even when not in the car.
We went to an awesome children's museum with Kari and co. Alexa especially loved all the things she was able to see and do!
I love Alexa's look of intense concentration (and stance) as she gets ready to catch a ball being shot at her.
And finally we arrived!! It was so nice getting here and knowing that we wouldn't have to drive again the next day! Of course, we had to go another week before our POD got there- which we were not happy with since it was supposed to get there the day after us, but we made it, our stuff finally made it, and Mike got a job not long after!
So, not quite a month after we got here Mike received a job offer and took it! He's really liking it, and it has a lot of opportunity for upward movement. He's getting really good experience, and while it isn't exactly where he wants to be for years, it is a huuuuge step up from where he was. It also made us feel very vindicated in our choice to move here, even with so little planning!
