MD4: Post-Trip Update

Apartments

We've chosen The Elms at Montjoy in Ellicott City. It seems to be the perfect combination of ammenities, layout, looks, age, price per sq ft, quality staff, and distance to various areas. This happens to be the complex I found several months ago online and got very excited about, thinking that it had to be it. And sure enough, it is! All that's left now is to get a ballpark figure of what Matt will make after he graduates so we can know for sure if the slight rent increase is doable. Then we can fill out aps and such to hold a spot. They should know availability for September starting in July. Pray with us that a Covington (with or without a sunroom) on the first floor will be available! Here are pictures and personal video of the Covington Sunroom model.







Job

Matt ordered the 5 jobs according to his preference and has been in contact with people about them. Then we get a call at 6:50 this morning (East Coasters apparently forget or don't care about the time difference) from a new lady. She said that she actually has 4 people in her division who wanted to interview Matt! Usually, she only gets 1 or 2 hits when she passes around a resume, so she deems this significant enough for Matt to make another trip BACK to MD. She was going to contact the travel people, so we're not sure when this trip will be. All I'm sayin' is that our anniversary is Monday and Elijah's birthday is only in a month. Make it lickety-split, Government! I imagine it'll only be a three day trip -- travel day, interview day, travel day. We're certainly being kept on our toes!

Landscape

Here are some pics of the landscape to prove how much it looks like Little Rock. And of Judah the trooper kid and Matt the driver. I was the navigator/camera woman. :-)




Denver

We asked many to pray that we'd be able to get at least 15 minutes at the airport to meet Jaclyn's family (minus father and oldest brother). Well, we get there and were informed by Mrs. Z that our flight back to Monterey had been delayed. Jaclyn also told us my mom had called her to tell her about the delayed flight. So we got to have dinner at the airport with them! Not just 15 tiny minutes.

OH but wait. Just before Mrs. Z left to take her kids to their last night of VBS, she got a feeling and wanted to check the flight status one more time. She returned from downstairs saying our flight was cancelled!!! We couldn't believe it! Jaclyn, Judah, and I went to get some dinner while Matt went to ticketing to sort things out. Sure enough, the flight was completely cancelled due to mechanical issues. There were three options:

1) 10:00 pm flight to San Jose - Our car was in Monterey, not San Jose. So it would have cost a lot to taxi it all the way to Monterey. And it would have been WAY too late to call anyone in Hollister to come get us, take us to Monterey to get our car.

2) 10:00 pm flight to Las Vegas, then another flight back to Monterey. Yeah right.

3) Take the next available flight from Denver to Monterey...which wasn't leaving until Sunday at 6:00 pm. Two whole days of delay...with Jaclyn and her family!!! God answered this prayer in a MIGHTY and UNEXPECTED way!

It was so awesome to be there. This was where Jaclyn grew up. This was her family and friends, the ones I feel like I've known for years because of how close Jaclyn and I are! It was surreal and yet so natural. I love them to death, not just because they are Jaclyn's, but because they are just that loveable. They were precious enough to house, feed, and entertain us so unexpectedly. And can I say it was WONDERFUL to have sooo many extra hands to play with and take care of Judah. Timmy and Tori were great with him, and it was fun to watch Judah and Sammie play together (or learn about conflict with each other). Such a treasure of memories we have now! I'll post pics as soon as Jaclyn gets them to me. ;-)

Random Tidbits

On our way to Jamba Juice for a mid-day family outing, Matt asked if butterflies poop.

My mom sent me flowers today that are just too cute! A ball of sunshine yellow in a green/yellow striped bubble vase. There's a smile on my dining room table now. :-D

Judah's a whiner now. And his mental capacity shot through the roof over our travels. A genuine little kid. I think we're almost back to normal schedule now, which is nice. And may I say it is rough being in public when your child needs discipline. People complain under their breath about the behavior of your child and your lack of parenting skills...and yet it is because of THEM that you can't discipline your child in a Biblical way in public. Come on, people. Either let us discipline our children properly or quit complaining about us! Hopefully, within a few days, the whining will be under control again.

I gained four pounds since my last appointment, but frankly I don't care. I'm too tired to care, and I have a pretty good excuse of having been gone and not 100% in control of meal management for 10 days. Four weeks. That's all that's left. I prefer to see it as one month...seems a little longer that way.

My nose decided to hold off on it's bleeds until AFTER Colorado. I thought for sure it'd happen in that not-one-drop-of-moisture air so high in the sky. The Rockies are beautiful! Got a good look at them from the air. Which is nigh depleted of oxygen -- I got out of breath a few times just turning over in bed at night, not to mention a few stairs made me quite winded!

But we got some SONIC, baby! The closest one to the Elms is 68 miles away. Tis our lot in life to be separated from the goodness that is Sonic. ::sigh:: The closest Jamba will be 17 miles, so that's not so bad I guess. Closest In & Out? Yeah, thousands of miles away, I'm sure.

Oh, and we also saw some awesome rain/storm clouds in Denver on our way to the aiport on Sunday night. Even some cloud-to-ground lightning. Haven't seen that in years.

I'm still low, so we're still pretty sure Elijah dropped. Guess I should get a pic, huh? I've also thought about measuring my waistline. I never did it with Judah. It might be interesting.

Our third anniversary is on Monday! Only three years...and we have two kids and are moving for a third time. I think we're going to go to the Duck Club Grill for breakfast and then go shopping. We've decided to buck tradition a little and not get each other gifts, but rather choose one gift for home/family together. I'll let you know what we get this year as soon as we figure out what we want!

Autumn's birthday is also on Monday. And then my favorite holiday on Wednesday. The beginning of July is truly a special time!

My first professional massage (and dream come true) is Friday morning. Stoked is what I am.

Never go to an ice cream shop when the sun is shining through the mall roof right down onto the ice cream and such. I wanted ice cream last week, so we stopped at a place called Maggie Moos. Had to be the worst, most pitiful ice cream encounter for us ever. We treated ourselves to chocolate dipped waffle cones with caramel ice cream. The chocolate on the cones was soft in it's half-melted state, and the ice cream was very runny in it's 3/4 melted state. We found a bench, and the ice cream just dripped EVERYWHERE as we tried to eat it...including a huge streak down the front and center of my belly (which, the shirt, after being washed, still has a dark streak down the middle...and it's one of my favorites). Such a waste of an ice cream experience. I want me some Coldstone. I'm sorry for straying, oh King of Ice Cream Companies!

And now I want some ice cream.