Update

Last week I flew out here to Virginia to begin looking for housing so I could register Ellie for school in time for Back to School night on the 15th.  I thought it'd be pretty cut and dry and I'd have plenty of time for myself for reading and blogging until my family arrived on Monday the 8th.  Heh - little did I know.  On Friday it felt like I had tracted Christiansburg to the ground and had narrowed it down to two places I liked.  I explored some of the shopping, parks, and recreation so I could get a better feel on the town as well.  The next morning I saw a place in Blacksburg currently occupied by undergrad boys - complete with dirty underwear lying on the ground - I felt like I needed disinfecting after looking there.  But I was able to find two places in Blacksburg a mile from the stadium and a block from church and from the elementary.  I was sold - they were $100 above our budget of $1000, but we would be able to live with one car by being close to everything.  Great, right?  I kept on trying to set appointments in Bburg to see more places - for some reason the appointments kept falling through.  One appointment I went out on none of her keys matched the front doors!  So I set up appointments to show Darik my top 4 choices on Tuesday morning.  That morning both the Bburg homes called to say they'd been rented or pulled off the market.  I was heartbroken and a little upset at myself for letting them get away.  But also just hope things will all work out for our good - our choice was between a new twin home on the outskirts of town with a longer commute, or the main level of a really nice, established neighborhood with a super easy commute up the freeway.  We went with the easier commute and signed the application on Tuesday, the lease on Wednesday, and registered for school the next day in the nick of time.  Our lease starts Monday.  We have permission from the owners to paint the walls if we like (esp the red one) so that is nice we can get that done before our things get here.

Unfortunately when VT included in their job offer that packing and moving our things - they just happened to leave out explaining that doesn't happen on our timetable, but theirs.  Their first estimate was they could pack and ship our things on the 15th.  They called us back and changed it to the 20th with an estimate of 7-10 days transportation time.  Meanwhile we're staying in the Hilton on VT's reward points dime, I'm sure.  And staying in a hotel is fun, for a weekend.  But after a week of this place I'm ready to move out.  ALL of our clothes in a tiny room - it feels like we live in a studio apartment.  I've already put a request in with the ward to see if anyone has air mattresses we can borrow so we can actually stay at our new place - at least on school nights so Ellie can ride the bus and meet the neighborhood kids.

And they are providing meals until Darik starts on Monday.  So, we never could really afford to eat out a lot while in Idaho.  I thought it would be nice to not have to cook or clean til our things arrived.  And let me tell you, I would KILL for a homecooked meal about now.  The closest thing we have to go with is Panera Bread (whole organic hormone-free ingredients :-).  Darik and I were so excited to start eating a healthy, raw diet when we moved here ~ we've resigned ourselves to gaining 10 pounds before we start that diet.  Hopefully it will just make us feel better when it comes off, right?  Oh and a new term for "feel like I have to barf" is "feel like I just ate Cici's Pizza."  Seriously.

Here's a little rundown of what we've been up to:

THURS:  Kris flies out
FRI: Christiansburg househunting
SAT:  Blacksburg houshunting
SUN: Church, dinner with Kelloggs
MON:  Blacksburg househunting, pick D&E up at the airport
TUE:  Househunting, show finalists - sign application by 5 pm
WED:  Playdate at Kelloggs, Register Ellie for School, Swimming at Acquatic Center
THU:  Library cards, Utilities, Falling Branch Elementary, Go out to matinee
FRI:  Drove to Pembroke and hiked 4 miles to Cascades Waterfall, Soccer Game, Coldstone
TOMORROW: Parks, School Shopping
SUN: Church, ?
MON: Get keys, paint


And don't even get me started with the fact that I've been up in the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in my WHOLE LIFE today and I brought along my DSLR - only to have the batteries die before I even get out of the car.  I think I m issed about a MILLION perfect shots today.  I've had to make a vow to go back there with my camera ASAP.  On the hike down we ran into a few ladies that teach school in Pulaski County and they offered to take this pic of our family and email it to us.  They were incredibly friendly and sweet (and not just because they found out D works as a VT ticket manager).