Eight Months in a Nut shell

Well its been a while since i sat down and wrote.  It has been a quick few months or so it has seemed.  Here is a quick in review to catch you up:

January:

In January we had been continuously praying for months for answers to a job that Tony had applied too back in June.  We had family, friends, church family all praying with and for us as well.  The day we were leaving Pennsylvania after Christmas, (We celebrate Russian Orthodox Christmas~http://www.russianlife.com/article.cfm?Number=201) we got home to a job offer with a start date of  Valentines Day.  Since we had been living in boxes since August, the packing was easy.  We had a wonderful Realtor, Robin Lawson, of Century 21 Adventure http://century21adventure.com/robert_lawson who spent numerous days driving us around showing us houses to rent but none in the end were the perfect fit for us.  We arranged for living in a hotel when we moved and a storage building for our stuff.  

February:

February came, and so did flu season.  The day we were to load the U~haul, Tony, Payton, and I all 3 had the flu, multiple doctor bills, a U~haul and no energy to load it and were wasting money and time dragging around.  Thankfully we had a my wonderful parents who just so happened to be on their way home from Statesville who came to take Payton and I to two different doctors and to the pharmacy for medication and a wonderful Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church (The Journey Class) and a few from other classes too who came out and helped us until late at night load our truck, do some quick cleaning of baseboards and fans, so that we could get up the next morning to start our new adventure to Virginia. A Special thank you to those of you reading this and you know who you are who helped us. We could not have done it without you.. You are very special to us and we thank God for you.  We arrived in Virginia to live for a month or so at ( The Sleep Inn, Dumfries Quantico Main Gate http://www.sleepinn.com/hotel-dumfries-virginia-VA327?promo=gglocal&cha=google&camf=local ).  They treated us like family.  If you are looking for a great place to stay check them out.   We unloaded our stuff into a storage building, thanks to Marta at Falls Run Storage, and my mother-in-law Connie and Brother-in-law Jeff for helping us unload.  Tony then began his new job working as a dispatcher for the Government, driving to and from Arlington everyday.

March:


Hotel living was great but we decided I missed cooking as well as it was very expensive to eat out and that was not a luxury we had available to us.  We tried eating can soups, and boil in bag rice, and snack bars but it wasn't home cooking.  Those of you who know me, know I love to cook and I needed a little more than a Microwave to cook with.  So we ventured out in search of an apartment.  Then in mid March, we moved to Spotsylvania County to apartment until we are able to find a house in the school district we like.  Why did we choose to live so far away from Tony's work?  When we as a family would venture out to go to the mall or to eat or to the store, we drove to Fredericksburg, yet when we house hunted we looked northward.  When apartment hunting we finally found a place.  We have been very active in our new community activities, taking advantage of the free events both Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania offer; spending as much family time together we can.  We went to Poquoson, to visit for Nana's birthday.  She was very surprised; so surprised she screamed.  My parents and brother came up to visit and dad and mom had a few friends from Poquoson come to visit as well.

Our First Meal in our New Apartment on the Back porch on a box

April:


This month I celebrated my 35th birthday, and we celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary.  Tony's parents came down to visit and to spend Easter.  We are on a new adventure, Thanking God for each other and loving our time together Every day.

May:

May was a rough month for me.  On Mother Day, Tony, Payton, and I went to Richmond to Amanda and Chucks for Mothers Day lunch.  They had mom and dad and Mitchell and all of us for lunch.  We had a great time.  Then on Monday we received some bad news.  My grandmother, we called her Nana had passed away.  She was not only my grandmother she was my friend.  Her passing hit kind of hard especially after thinking we had moved a lot closer an could start making more trips down to her house to do all the going she liked to do.

June:

We did some traveling back to North Carolina for family reunions, and a First Baptist Church Raleigh event where the kids sang. Spent a lot of time in the pool enjoying the sun and meeting new friends.

July:

Then on July 1st, Tony's brother Jeff got married to Heidi Holler (FINALLY, I MIGHT ADD). We missed the wedding and reception but made it up for the 4th of July to say Congrats.

August:


WOW, August is here already and I sit and realize how time has really flown by.  It seemed just like yesterday I was rocking Payton in the chair, and now in a week she will be going in to kindergarten.