Quick Update - Happy Fall!

John just checked our blog, for the first time in forever, and complained that I haven't posted anything for a long time. So this is me posting a quick update.

We are loving Northern Virginia in the fall - the colors out here are amazing with all the different trees. It's also starting to cool off, which I love. We've used our fireplace a couple of times - I also love that. And I've made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies a couple of times, too, which we both love.

We have both been really busy at work. They are giving John lots of projects and he's getting some great experience. I also got an increase in my workload recently, which is great, but has been pretty stressful the last couple weeks. But we're both grateful for our jobs, despite the craziness and stress.

I am doing NanoWrimo again this year, but I am painfully behind. I hope to catch up and make the 50K mark in a couple of weeks.

John has recently discovered how to make split pea soup from scratch so he's been spending more time in the kitchen. He also got to take a couple of trips for work in the last few months.

I've still got pictures to post from when Lauren and Julia visited and when Mom and Dad Woodbury came through. We took a quick trip to Philadelphia so I've pictures from that as well. Wow, I've got some blogging to do!

Zincke's in D.C. - All Pictures

Mount Vernon - George Washington's home

Rangers Game

Updates

Okay... so the last couple of months have been a little busy, but a lot of fun.

We moved out of the hotel and into our apartment in August. We live on the fourth floor of an apartment building in Herndon. Its close to John's office, which is nice. But we still haven't gotten used to all those stairs!

John enjoys his job, I think. He likes the people he works with - they play volleyball every Thursday - and they're keeping him challenged with lots of projects. He comes home tired, but generally happy. And that's always good!

I got a job as an Account Manager with a technological manufacturing company. It was a little rough for the first couple of days and I felt extremely overwhelmed. I tried to be positive, and some days were actually pretty good, but when I got a call to interview for another position, I was excited at the opportunity. They offered me the job about 15 minutes after my interview and I started my new job 3 days later. I am now a Recruiting Administrator at Booz Allen Hamilton. I've been in training for a week now and I think I'm going to like it.

We've already had visitors! Mom and Dad Zincke came for almost 2 weeks. Then my sisters Lauren and Julia were here last weekend. They're on their way out to the United Kingdom for three weeks of frolicking in England, Scotland, and Ireland. We took tons of pictures, which I will post shortly. The best part about having company is that we've had the chance to see most of the great stuff downtown in Washington D.C. I don't think we would have done the White House tour if Mom Zincke hadn't gotten us tickets (thanks!).

Coming up next: Mom and Dad Woodbury are stopping by for a weekend and then we'll see Lauren and Julia again when they come through on their way back home from their British adventures.

I am finally starting to feel settled.

Getting Settled

Here are some pictures from our first round of sightseeing out here. We went to a park nearby for fireworks on the Fourth. We went over to the National Air and Space Museum the next day and saw some very cool things, including the SR-71 Blackbird (the fastest jet in the world). Then the next weekend we went downtown to the National Archives and the Museum of Natural History. We're excited to see more stuff and I'll keep posting pictures.

John is getting settled in at work and I'm still looking for a job. I've had a couple of interviews and I have a couple more lined up so hopefully something will pan out soon. We got callings this week, too. I'm teaching the CTR 6 class in Primary and John's is the Duty to God Specialist. And we're moving into our apartment on Friday so we'll be all settled soon. Woot!

We Have Arrived!

We have officially arrived in Virginia. We drove into town last Thursday and we've been getting used to the humidity. We are staying in a very nice extended stay hotel for the next 3 weeks and we'll move into our apartment in the middle of July.

Road Trip Round 2 was awesome because we got to see so many of you but it was a lot of driving. And I didn't even do any actual driving! But thank you to all of you who made time to visit with us - it made the trip worth while.

We're excited to be here, despite the mugginess, and although John is a little nervous to start work tomorrow I think it's going to be great.

And we welcome visitors - for reals!

Moving Stress

John and I flew out to Virginia on Sunday and we've spent the last couple of days looking for an apartment. I forgot how stressful it can be! It is so hard to find something that we both like, that has all the things we want (like washer & dryer in unit), and is still within our price range. And will have enough space for all our stuff...

But we found something and I feel good about it. It's close to John's office, it has the washer and dryer, it's in a lovely area, it has a fireplace, the kitchen is big, and it was the best price per square footage. And we have a second bedroom... sort of. They call it a den because it won't fit more than a double bed, but it means we have space for visitors!

So when are you coming to see us?

But before we get settled in our new apartment we have to pack up our old one. The movers come on Friday and then we'll be heading out on road trip round 2!

Change is good, change is good. Sigh.

Summer of Road Trip

My last day of work was May 28 and we left at 3am the next morning to drive to Colorado. We could have left earlier but we didn't want to miss the last, last party with our friends to celebrate Cooper's birthday.

So we drove all day Saturday and made it just in time to catch Lauren's show Stage Fright. It was awesome and I am so glad we got to be there. Unfortunately, I caught a cold and had a sore throat for almost a week. Not usually a big deal except that our health insurance coverage ended when I quit. We stayed in Colorado for a few days and had a fun Memorial Day with the Woodbury's then we drove to Utah.

We've been here for almost a week and we've had a great time hanging out with the Zincke's, seeing friends, and generally relaxing. And my throat finally feels better!

It still doesn't feel real that we'll be moving to the east coast before the month is over and John will be starting a new job. We're looking forward to this new adventure! But we sure will miss all our AZ friends... We'll meet ya'll in Utah for the holidays!