Somewhat settled in, a virtual tour of our new home!

Things have been going really well, Derek has completed his first week of Medical School and he is still very excited to become a Doctor. I continue to submit applications for work on a daily basis, I'm really getting tired of people asking me if I've found a job yet. No more updates on endless submissions of applications until I find a winner o.k everyone? Until then, I've enjoyed cooking recipes from the Food Network channel and watching the Baby Show on TLC, I've decided that I want to have my babies natural (actually, I've always wanted to have them natural but the show has been inspirational)I'd like to give birth in a jetted bathtub..at a birthing center. I doubt this ity biti town has a birthing center, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I do other things as well besides watch t.v., I should enter clips titled 'The Housewives of West Virginia', we're husbandless, jobless and penniless, we have to make our own fun in this great town:)

My sister Kura insists on seeing pictures of our new home. So here they are (one of the many reasons why I have a private blog).

This was once a house, it was converted into an upper and lower level apartment. We have a lot of random spaces for that reason.

ENTRANCE:
This is pretty random space, I don't have anything to put in it yet but I think a sofa table would look great against the wall opposite of this photo. This door leads to a ton of storage and the cellar. My favorite part of about this random space is the old school window unit. It cools down our living room quiet nicely.



FRONT ROOM:
This space is a bit small, I've always liked wooden floors they make a room feel so classy. I have to sweep everyday, sometimes 2x a day because Skofeilds hair everywhere, I would hate for anyone visiting to see it. The nifty square box is our heating system, I've never seen anything like it. I hope it keeps us warm






OFFICE/PERSONAL GYM/ GUEST ROOM:

The office needs a bit more work, I have a few projects that I've been working on. I still have two huge boxes filled with frames. My treadmill is next to the window, I don't plan to use it until it's frigid cold outside.
We also have a comfy air mattress so if your ever passing through and need a free place to say you'll get the pleasure of staying in this room. Derek doesn't use it too much as an office, he has his own office at school that he prefers to use.



BEDROOM:
Our bedroom has two separate spaces. Our bed is right next to a window and a walk in closet. The second space serves as my vanity area since our bathroom is so tiny. We're thinking that it will be a great space once we have a little one, if we have one during the two years we live here. My brother Simi tells me that it's a horrible idea. We'll see about that.





BATHROOM:
We defiantly downgraded from our previous bathroom, even our toilet seems miniature. Oh well, it serves its purpose.



UTILITY ROOM:
This is by far one of the greatest rooms! We've been doing laundry at our family's homes for the past two years. I can multi-task now, I no longer have to spend my whole day away from home waiting on laundry.



KITCHEN:
Derek says the kitchen was the heart of the home during his childhood because his mother spent so much time in it. My childhood of course was the opposite, we ate ramen noodles raw and cold cereal. I definitely need to work on the decor, I'll have to watch more interior design shows to get inspired. I have photos of family up right now but it still needs serious help.



KITCHEN FRIENDS:
One night we had Honey Walnut Shrimp for dinner and we saved the oil in its original bottle. Several days later, I noticed the wrapping was clawed off in pieced and mice droppings near it. We went through all our covers and bleached everything. We purchased rat poisoning and humane mice traps. It only took two days to catch a mouse, we were too freaked out to pick up the box so thanks to our friend Stuart, we got it out of our house. Since then, the mice have mysteriously disappeared. I think we killed them off with the poisoning. Supposedly it's normal to have mice in this area.



So this is our new home and we've enjoyed it. Next week, I'll post a virtual tour of our neighborhood, it's beautiful here.

Life thus far in Ronceverte, WV

For the past couple of weeks Derek and I have been discovering our new surroundings. We've hiked several trails, biked through narrow pathways near the Greenbriar river and I've found several running routes that will work for me. Our puppy Skofeild is getting a lot of exercise. I eventually want to train him to run/bike with us with out a leash. He just turned 1 on July 21 (Actually June 21st but we didn't bring him home until July 21st), we didn't do much to celebrate good thing he is a dog and dogs don't care whether we celebrate their birthdays or not.




Each week we've looked forward to attending church, we've met several other 1st year medical students. This year there are 5 LDS first year medical students, 2-2ND year and 2-3rd year. It's been great because the 2ND year students have been so willing to answer questions regarding what to expect our first year. I'm really excited that all the students have wives that I get to hang out with, it has made our transition a lot easier.



Future Doctors! Pictured Left to Right: Jonathan Lewis (TN), my good looking hubby, Stuart North (ID), James Bishop(UT), Joey Sorber (UT)



My new friends! Left to Right: Racheal and their eight month old Arianna, Me-childless...but maybe soon!, Becci-childless too-, Jame's has a wife but she is due to deliver in Utah, Kathryn and their two week old Ozzy-such a cute little boy.

I'm still looking for employment. A lot of people are out of work here in West Virginia. I'm actually o.k with a break after having worked a full time job and a part time job the majority of this year. I still have a lot to do to get settled, I enjoy living in a clutter free, organized house. I have a whole lists of tasks to complete so it's not like I'm at home twiddling my thumbs waiting for my husband to get home.

Today was Derek's first day of school, he is pretty excited. He already has a group a friends from our ward to support him and his own office space at the school reserved for studying (a recommendation that most students don't know about, thanks to the 2ND year med students). Tommorow we have an orientation scheduled for the wives/partners, I look forward to it so that I can have a better idea of what to expect. It still is crazy to think that we are finally here accomplishing a goal that seemed so far away. We're thankful that everything has fallen in to place for us, we know that this is where we need to be.