Let Freedom Rain... I mean Ring

This 4th of July was surely one we'll always remember! Lilly was so adamant about seeing the fireworks, so we were going to make it happen - come swells of high water! Well, rain that is. Lots and lots of rain.
My mom, the girls, and I drove the car to the local High School where the fireworks were being set off, and Jason and his dad walked the mile and a half to meet us there (we didn't have enough seats in the car for all of us to drive together). It started sprinkling, but we were hopeful. We arrived at the school, and it was packed. We looked and looked for a parking spot, but finally a police officer told us there was no space left. By this point, the rain is starting to pick up. As we leave the school, we see Jason and Barry walking. Lilly is crying, because we left the school. We quickly make a plan. Lilly's gets out and walks with Jason and his dad to where the fireworks will be, while mom and I park the car somewhere with Abby. That somewhere was down a steep road, on a side street. We park, and with determination (and mom with an umbrella) we get Abby in her stroller and book it for the school. Pouring rain... steep hill... burning lungs... drenched clothes.  WE DID IT! We meet up with Jason, Lilly, and Grandpa Barry, and watch the 15 minute firework show through the mist of the pouring rain. Then we walked back through the downpour to the car. Poor Jason and Barry had to keep walking the mile and a half back to our Condo.
Enjoy the pics!

    Abby as a little scared of the fireworks...



Jason and Barry are ready for the trek home! (Weird light from the camera flash)



We survived! Soaking wet, and ready to get home for a nice bath/shower...

Our New Home...For Now

Well, we finally made it! We moved in to our new apartment (condo) and absolutely love it! This place is more like a retirement home, with the average age of residents being bout 75 - no joke; but we love it! There are a few families, but most of them reside in the North and West Tower. We are in the South. Beaver Hill Condominiums is/are AMAZING. We have absolutely no worries about safety, and everyone has been kind and friendly. Lilly's school is right across the street, along with a HUGE playground that is accessible to the community! Jason's school is only 0.7 miles away too. Honestly, we could not be more happy with our location, and the quality of our living space. So many blessings!!!

Now for the pictures. As I said, there are three buildings that make up Beaver Hill Condominiums. We live in the South. When you enter the building, there is a doorman that greets you, a lobby, and elevators. Take the elevators up to our floor, and you have three hallways to choose from. It looks like a hotel!

Hey, it just feels like we're on vacation every time we come home - walking through the hotel to our place! This is looking out our door toward where the elevators are. We are towards the end of the hall.














Upon entering our unit, you will be whisked away to the Pacific Northwest as you gaze upon this beautiful photo of Cannon Beach, Oregon... The kitchen is the opening to the right, and we have an amazing pantry to the left. Walk down this entrance, and to the right is our living room to the left the two bedrooms and bathrooms.









We love our kitchen. It has granite counter tops and new stainless steel appliances. As you can see, our dining room is right on the other side.










Here is our dining room...



Our living room....
(We still need to mount our TV)



Hallway leading to the two bedrooms on the right, and the bathroom on the left... (P.S. We found out after moving in that our apartment needed to have 75% of the area covered with carpet/rugs. We did not know this when we moved in and it was all wood floors. Hence, our lovely carpets squares from Home Depot! We're still working on all the decorating and placing of things...)

Guest Bathroom/Girl's Bathroom

Master bathroom. We have closets on both side of the walkway, and a walk-in shower across from the toilet. The sink is also on the left, but hard to see in the picture.

Our rooms are too disorganized for pictures, so I'm not showing those. And there you have it! A little preview of our new home! We're still organizing, decorating, etc., but thought that family and friends would like to see what it's like!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

I have a lot of posts to make, but wanted to show some fun pictures of our flight to Philadelphia! We are here now, and getting settle in. I'll make a post describing all those details, but for now - the anticipated PLANE RIDE!

Lilly had been waiting for months to finally get to go on the airplane. Before we left the house, she said goodbye to Esme...

Then we loaded into the car, and we were off to the airport!

The girls had so much fun waiting in the airport and watching the airplanes out the window. They even enjoyed some yummy frozen yogurt, courtesy of Grammie Teri!

Once on the plane, it was pure excitement. Lilly was so excited for take-off, and Abby was just excited to be on a plane.












Poor Abby was so scared during take-off. Lilly was excitedly looking out the window while I was trying to comfort Abby. When she realized Abby was scared, she said, "Awe, are you scared sweetheart? Come here, Lilly will hold you." Melt my heart...

Entertainment on the plane was great! It was Abby's nap time, so she wasn't too interested with keeping the headphones on. But I was able to snap these pics while she was using them...




Soon, after a bit of crabbiness, Abby fell asleep. Lilly was such a sweet big sister, and let Abby put her feet on her while she slept. Eventually, Lilly started getting tired and cuddled up to fall asleep too. It was a long flight - almost four hours! (And we had another flight after this one that was almost three hours long.)

Mom and me feeling successful that the girls fell asleep!





















The girls did so good on both flights, and were happy when we finally arrived at the airport in Philadelphia. What made it even better, was Daddy was there to welcome us! Lilly ran straight to Jason, and Abby didn't even wait for me to lift the tray up on her stroller - she slid underneath lightning fast, and ran to him too. Both were yelling, "Daddy!!!" It was so heartwarming! And of course, Daddy made the trip to the car a fun one. A successful trip indeed!

We're In! Now What?

Now that we know Jason will be attending P.A. School, it's time to PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE- and SAVE!

The first hard part is over. What a relief it is to know that Jason will for sure be attending P.A. school, to know where he will be attending, and to know when he will be attending. Now comes the second hard part. Getting the paperwork in order, and getting ready for the move! There is so much that goes in to both of these preparations.

First, the paperwork. Matriculation fees ($1000 in total for Salus), agreements to sign, and the dreaded - LOANS. Financial aid is definitely one of the more strenuous parts of preparing for P.A. School. Learning about all of the different kinds of loans and what will be best for you can get a little confusing. Then, you learn about the interest. Oh the interest. And up until now, I didn't realize the term "paying interest on interest" was even legal. Well, I'm here to assure you - it is. Quite disgusting really.  The hard part about the LOAN process, is that the amount of money you are awarded is only based on one person - the student attending. Therefore, cost of living (rent, food, travel, etc.) is only based on one individual. That means it doesn't matter if you have a wife and kids and mouths to feed - you've got to figure out a way to make your budget work. Apparently there is a loan maximum amount too, and you can't ask for more than that amount. So that has been a bit daunting to think about. But we'll figure it out! P.S. Fastweb is not what it used to be. Trying to find a decent scholarship to apply for is hard! Everything is, "Join our website and we'll enter you in to a drawing." No thanks. I prefer writing an essay and actually having a chance.

Next comes planning the move. We're not talking just packing, driving/flying across country, and transportation of all of our belongings (which, by the way, is estimated to cost us about $3500 - OUCH again). Along with this comes the tedious job of finding a place to live. It might be easy for some people, but for me, I plan every detail. For example: Where is the Elementary School located that Lilly will be attending in proximity to where we will be living? What are it's school ratings? Is it a walkable distance for when Jason has the car in his second year of schooling for rotations? How far away is Jason's school? Is there a bus route so I can have the car? How far away is Walmart, Target, Costco, grocery stores? - These are just some of the things I look in to when deciding on where we should live. The minute Jason got his interview invite to Salus, I started to begin my research. I had found a few apartments for him to visit after his interview, in the few hours he had before his plane took off. However, the Lord had everything in His hands. Jason happened to talk to a current student (who happened to be LDS and have a wife and two daughters also) who told him where he was living and to check it out. Jason went there, got the Real Estate Card from the doorman (they are Condos that people rent out), and went to the park across the street. There he happened upon the wife with her two daughters of the before mentioned student! The Lord directed our paths, and we now know where we will live for P.A. School! And for those who may be wondering, Lilly's school is right across the street from the Condos (along with an AMAZING park), and Jason's school is only a mile away!

This is just the beginning of the adventure. I know that as the time draws closer to actually move out to Pennsylvania, lots more will have to be done. I'm just grateful that the Lord is directing our paths, and we have a supportive family to help us along the way. That's all for now!
~Lindsay