N is for Nomad.

New Jersey, New York, and now we can add North Carolina to the list of states Glenn and I have lived since we were married almost 15 months ago. Either we are working our way through all the N states or we are nomads?  What is the reason for yet another move? Glenn was offered a job at a High School teaching technical theatre. I am so proud of my husband! I am so appreciative that he has been willing to suck up any pride and work in crappy jobs up until now to take care of his family, he really deserves this.

Once again the job application process proved to be challenging. Glenn was offered this teaching job in Durham, NC and he accepted. We told family, friends, chose a place to live, and researched the town. We were both ready to leave New York, and excited for our next chapter. The very next day Glenn received a call from a University in Alabama wanting to fly him out for an interview all expenses paid. The interview went well, teaching at a college is Glenn’s dream, and it was looking like we might be moving to Alabama. We were split on what to do if Glenn was actually offered a job. I voted North Carolina, and Glenn wanted Alabama. The best way to describe my feelings about Alabama is like moving to Mars. I was feeling like the worst wife. I should be ecstatic to see my husband’s dream come true, and I just couldn’t shake all my anxious feelings about Alabama. I tried to prepare myself for either location, I consulted advice from friends and family, we made lists, talked the subject to death, and I cried. When I finally started understanding why Glenn wanted Alabama and started coming around to the idea, in the end there wasn’t even an offer. Of course there were initial feelings of disappointment from Glenn, but as our new life was around the corner we were counting down weeks, days, hours, and minutes together.

The last week in New York was difficult for a couple reasons. We loaded up a truck with all our stuff on Monday, and then lived in an empty apartment until Friday. We also had a week’s worth of goodbyes. We truly loved West Point Branch, and never had a single day we felt like we didn’t have any friends. Friday at 3:00 felt like it would never come, and when it did we loaded our last few things in the car, said one more goodbye, and had no desire to look back. We will miss our friends, but in all other aspects this change is for the better.

Here we are Day #3 living in Durham, North Carolina. After a rocky first day, things are going pretty well now. Our apartment was looking really dark and uninviting. We were driving through a lot of shady neighborhoods and I was worried that we were living so close to the ghetto. Now we have scouted out the nicer routes to drive, where to eat out, Lowes, and of course Target, which we seem to have a need to visit everyday so far. A couple new light fixtures, hanging up curtains, putting pictures on the wall, and we’re slowly starting to feel a little more at home every day. My favorite thing to note, we have a washer and dryer!!! Those excessive exclamations don’t even come close to expressing what this means to me. We have not one article of dirty anything right now :-) Glenn is teasing I am getting things dirty on purpose just to have a reason to use it. We now have two floors, two bedrooms, tons of storage space, fireplace, patio, and my other favorite a spacious master bedroom, with a bigger closet, and a huge bathroom. Other than feeling like I need more stuff to fill up all this new space I am happy. The dogs are busy exploring every square inch of their new home and happy to have a backyard area with grass. Glenn is busy with meetings at the school and preparing for his classes. I am hoping that I will be able to work as a substitute teacher while I continue to look for a job that I would be happy at and want to stay more permanently. Don’t quote me on this, but I have a feeling that Durham will be our home for quite a while. 

Our new townhome!

DCI & A day in NYC with my Momma!

My very talented little sister has been a member of the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps for four years now. She has spent three of those years playing trumpet and this year is the backfield drum major. They spend practically all year rehearsing and then spend summers traveling the U.S. wowing people with their musicality and impressive field performances. Lucky for me they stop in Allentown, PA. Which just so happens to be a quick 2 ½ jaunt away. Trust me this show is all I have heard about from her for months and I was so stoked to finally watch. I continue to be in awe of Rebekah and how talented she is! Lucky for me again, my Mom had been traveling as a cook, and my Dad and Kayla as drivers for the past week. I was so happy to see all my family!! I miss them so much! We stole my Mom away with us and took her back to our incredibly chaotic apartment in the midst of a move.

We spent the best day in NYC! This is really saying something for me. I remember our first trip into the city and I was nervous, overwhelmed, claustrophobic, felt everything around me was dirty, and it was hard for to understand why people are so in love with NYC. This time everything just went perfect! The drive there didn’t really have traffic, we parked for $11 all day, we navigated the subway like pros, and my favorite we got an awesome deal on Broadway tickets! This was absolutely my #1 thing I wanted to do while we lived so close to NYC, and I’m so grateful to have parents that spoil me! We spent the morning wandering in shops and bargaining with street vendors. My Mom and I got matching hippie chic NYC bags (I wish we took a picture). After a yummy lunch at Hard Rock Café in Times Square we made the walk around the corner to see Mary Poppins! The show was incredible! The theatre was gorgeous, the set constantly changing, people tap dancing on the roof, Mary Poppins flying over the audience and pulling objects out of her magic bag, and just so much overall fun to this show. I have been humming nonstop since this weekend the practically perfect song. After our show we met up with my Dad and sisters who spent their afternoon watching a Yankees game, and went to the 9/11 Memorial Site. It was such a beautifully done memorial and so humbling to see all those names.

That evening we went on a lantern tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. My Mother, the eccentric, strangely fascinated with cemeteries woman that she is, didn’t understand how we could live so close and not make it on a tour yet. So to please her we spent the next two hours wandering around a cemetery in the middle of the night, solely lit by lanterns, listening to stories of some of Sleepy Hollow’s most popular patrons. There is never too much fun in a cemetery to be had so the next day we walked around the cemetery on West Point campus. My Mom was actually giddy to be taking pictures, and looking at all the names. Who remembers General Custer? I however, had the most fun lying on top of people’s grave markers pretending I was sacrificing myself. Maybe that’s slightly irreverent to some, but I guess I am my Mother’s daughter a little bit. I love you Mom! Looking forward to the cemetery tours we will take you on in N.C. ;-)

George Wahington Bridge. Picture taken from a moving car.

My Momma and Me! I wanted the Hunger Games backdrop.

Glenn wants to be an Avenger!

 

Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square!

The new trade center that is being built. Already the tallest building in NYC.

Glenn hypothesized that each individual stream of water represents a person.

Touching the tree for luck. This is the only tree that survived the 9/11 attacks!

How NYC parks cars.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery lantern tour.

The angel of hope. She sat the highest of all the statues in the cemetery.

Ummm?



Washington Irvine





Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise.

Candid photo of what Glenn and I looked like at the end of the tour.

Virginia Vacation :-)

We absolutely love having family in Virginia because it is such a beautiful place to visit. Glenn’s oldest brother Bill, his wife Suzanne, and their beautiful girls are the only family on the East Coast with us. We have lucked out that when we lived in New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina (in a matter of days) that they have never been more than five hours away. Normally we only have time to make a quick weekend and sometimes just a 24 hour trip, so it was so nice to have a whole week to spend there! Since Sydney and Savannah were so grown up by the time I became a Fox I look forward to these visits with my nieces so much! To top it off we were able to persuade Stephanie, who I have never met yet, with roller coasters and water slides to join us on our family vacation. Glenn’s Mom even flew out all the way from California to join us too!! Months ago I suggested we go to Busch Gardens for Glenn’s birthday back in June. A trip to Virginia was of course a perfect time to meet up with some of the Fox’s, and I’m so happy they all jumped on board with our plans.

This ended up not being a birthday trip since we went in July, but it was way better having more family involved. We left on a Thursday right when Glenn was home from work. He always teases me because whenever I’m excited for something I’m literally bouncing up and down at the front door ready to leave right when he pulls up in the driveway. We have driven right near Washington D.C. and never had the chance to be touristy yet. We stayed at my friend Emily’s in Maryland for the night and spent all day Friday walking around all the monuments. I had no idea that there were so many, we mapped our walk at the end of the day and walked more than 6.5 miles. I felt so patriotic all day just being there and thinking about all the wars and all the people who fought for America. We’re so lucky to live here!

On Saturday we drove the last hour to Virginia and met up with the Fox’s. We spent a chill day going to see Dark Knight Rises. Then later that night we went to watch Syd and Sav in their Youth Conference Extravaganza celebration. Oh how I remember well all the silly dancing and singing you do as a youth. Sunday we drove down to Williamsburg and settled into our little home for the next few days.  

Monday morning I French braided all the girl’s hair for our day at Water Country USA! We were so lucky to never have very long lines and were able to go on our favorite slides over and over. My favorites were the giant tube rides where we could cram in five people. I also had to go on Vanish Point, the crazy cliffhanger water slide where you drop straight down. They had a new ride where you step into a clear tube and they close a door on you, after you wait a few seconds the floor drops out beneath you. Crazy right! I wouldn’t say it was my favorite but I wanted to go on everything. I loved soaking up some sunshine, eating some dippin dots, and was just as excited as all the little kids there! Tuesday we went to Busch Gardens. Again we had no lines! Who has ever heard of walking straight onto the front row of a roller coaster?! The longest wait all day was like 20 minutes for their brand new ride, and everything else was like 5 minutes or less. We went on every major coaster in the park, ate our lunch with fairy tale characters, and watched an Irish dancing show. Our day ended when the monsoon rain started and we had to make a mad dash to our car that was a good 15 minutes away.

It was clear skies the next day, perfect to hang out at Virginia Beach! The waves were so strong I was being tossed around like a rag doll. Literally at one point Glenn and I were holding hands when a huge wave came that we dove under, and it completely ripped our hands apart. I didn’t last that long in the water but Glenn stayed in and toughed it out. After a yummy late lunch at a Greek restaurant we had to sadly say goodbye. Even our drive home was memorable. We decided to suck it up and take the toll route so we could get home an hour sooner. We drove across this freeway that literally cuts straight through the ocean, seriously like 20 miles surrounded by water on all sides, two tunnels, and no exits! I didn’t even know that was possible, I was so freaked out! I am so thankful we were able to have this super fun vacation, and for me the chance to get to know my nieces a bit better. It gave me a break from waiting impatiently for our move, and let me relax and focus on fun!

Water is dangerous!



Pictures don't do these waves justice.