Ronceverte, West Virginia Our New Home

We made it to our final destination after driving for over 50 hours. Special thanks to my dad, he's a professional truck driver so he offered to drive us to West Virginia. Many people told him he was crazy for offering but I'm thankful for a father who is so ready and willing to help us out when we need him. My little brother Stevey also came along to supposedly keep me awake but he slept with his mouth wide open the majority of the time. I kept threatening to throw something in his mouth but I'm too much of a cautious driver so I didn't risk the potential distractions that would lead to an accident.

We drove through Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. Derek and I rotated driving our Mini SUV. By the end of each day we were so tired, we had planned to sleep at the rest stops but we later decided to sleep in motels/inns so that we could get a good night rest.



...somewhere along the way



This is us very exhausted...



Ronceverte is a smaller town about 5 miles away from Lewisburg (the town where the medical school is located). The population is 1,500 and we have been told that everyone knows every one's business. Derek and I are private, I figure that most people won't know more than what they see in our actions.

We attend church about 30 minutes away in another small town called White Sulphur Springs. There are so many churches surrounding us, just from our house I can see five most of them are Baptist but there are a few Evangelical and Pentecostal. Our neighbor, the Pentecostal Preacher has already invited us to dinner (I look forward to that:). I'm thankful that the church is everywhere, it makes me feel secure no matter where I am.

Personally I still feel very uncomfortable. It's different here, comparable to a 3rd world country in some areas. Prices for everything are so inflated even though most companies pay minimum wage $6.55/hr. We asked the locals for an explanation for the inflation and they claimed it was because a lot of wealthy people retire here. Other locals said that they are used to 'penny pinchin'. The pace of life is extreamly slow, we set up a bank account at the local bank and it took 2 hours. The banker was a native of Ronceverte and she had stories about everything. The accent alone takes some getting used to. Derek is starting to talk with a twang and it is driving me nuts.

Overall this town is beautiful and people are extreamly friendly. Several of the girls I met at our new ward mentioned that it will take several months to get used to life here. I need to stay busy and I know I'll be o.k.



I took this picture around 4am, on Friday morning. The airport is 2 hours away so we had to get up extra early. It's raw, no edits at all. I really enjoy photography so I'm thinking that I might do it on the side for a little extra money. I've learned everything I know via internet so I've still got a lot to learn. I plan to eventually set up a photo blog to show off my work, I just have too many other things to do for now.

Our Busy life!

The past two weeks have been crazy busy. I was asked to organize our ward/neighborhood's first annual 5k run. Members of the ward referred to me as a professional runner so I felt extremal pressure to make sure the race ran smoothly. I mapped out the run, ordered the bibs and the metals.
I knew that the number of runners would be relatively small because it was our first race so I tried to convince everyone I knew to run it.16 runners registered, I was so happy that there was more than Steve and Jim running.




Jim also ran a 10k earlier that morning. Everyone in the race was so impressed by his running abilities. He was injured and still managed to come in second place.



Although Steve has muscular built, he had never run a race before. I always tell him that he doesn't work for his muscles...they are inherited from our hardworking ancestors. Why didn't I inherit such a nice built? Here he is with my mom. He's wearing all my running gear. Don't worry, I only asked for my hydration belt and i-pod back.



Meanwhile, we have been trying to get a renter for our apartment. I've been posting our apartment on KSL and Craig's list at least every other day. Our apartment agreement is lame because we had to pay the whole months rent unless we get a renter before we leave. Next time I'll read the lease agreement more thoroughly, if we had known that we would have to pay $625 for only 11 days, we would have left on June
30th!
I'm really glad I'm not a manager, I've had a lot of weird folks ask strange questions and walk through our apartment.



This past week was also my last week at work as a Housing Counselor for Community Development Corporation of Utah. I was ready to be done but I didn't think I'd get emotional. Some people think I'm emotionless...call Spock because it is somewhat true. I was given a farewell card and it was quiet touching because in it listed all the things I had done to contribute to CDC. I actually felt like I played an important role...so yeah, it was a tearful ride home in the privacy of my car.

This week we've just packing like robots, I purchased plenty of bubble wrap to make sure nothing breaks. I'm a bit OCD about the way I pack, I like things organized and I really think it's driving my husband nuts. If he could, he would grab a whole drawer, dump it in a box and call it good. Doesn't fly with me so our packing has been slow and steady rather than rushed. It's hard to believe that at this time next week, we'll be in West Virgina. Wish us luck.