Greetings from Iowa!

*Long post alert*

Oh boy, what a ride it's been! Proof that my life has changed quite drastically in the last several weeks is the fact that I haven't posted since I announced our big move.

Our move went rather well- we left Las Cruces (with a difficult good-bye between Erin and I-tears were definitely shed by both of us!) on Friday July 27, my dad pulling my aunt's horse trailer with most of what was in our apartment. We were so glad to get the heck out of there. Don't think I mentioned this in my last two posts, but our apartment manager was making our lives a lot more hellish than it needed to be, all because of what happened with our next door neighbor several months ago. Won't go into too many details now, but basically they hated us because of our "constant" complaints about the raging parties... when filling out the rental verification form for our landlord in Iowa, they basically made it sound like we were the ones that were a nuisance, and that we were bad tenants. All because we were continuously asking them to do their job and let us live in peace. Luckily, our current landlord is amazingly nice and she believed every word we said, and disregarded the form.

Sheesh. Anyway, we stayed in Los Alamos for a few days, then on August 1st we left for Iowa! My mom rode with me the whole way in my car, my dad pulled the trailer in his truck, and Jake drove his highlander. The first night, we stayed in Grand Island, Nebraska. A neat town, actually. I opened my windows when we were driving into the town that night, and we were bombarded with the smell of hay and the feel of humidity. I loved it.

Next day we drove to our new home in Coralville, Iowa-a suburb of Iowa City that is nicely set away from the college atmosphere. We took over another couple's lease for an apartment, a nice 2-bedroom in a very friendly and relatively quiet community. I was skeptical about living in an apartment again-I was pretty determined to get a house rental or at least a townhouse or duplex next, but so far it's been great. I mean, no apartment living situation is perfect, but the few *slightly* negative things about this apartment/complex are definitely outweighed by the positive things, and are practically nothing compared to our last living situation in Cruces.

My parents stayed with us for 3 nights and helped us set up the apartment and get settled. That Sunday, Aug. 5, they left early in the morning. Probably one of the hardest times of my life. My mom, dad, and I could not hold back the tears and sobs. I don't think I'd ever seen my dad break down that much in front of me-I've seen him tear up, but nothing like this. It was heartbreaking, but knowing that they were proud of me and that this was a new adventure made things a little better. Things were made more difficult by the fact that my 17 month (at the time) niece, Arwen, was fighting a really bad MRSA infection in her leg. We found this out while we were all in Iowa, so I know it was difficult for my parents to not be there. Hard for me, too, especially because I couldn't go back to see them. She pulled through, though, and a few days after my parents got back to NM she had surgery to drain the infection, and she's good as new now, thanks to so many people's prayers and great doctors.

I started my job the day after my mom and dad left, and I absolutely love it. The three other new people and I went through intense training the first two weeks, and have been training on and off but also seeing students the last three weeks. It's a tricky job, but it keeps my mind busy and I've been learning quickly! I feel so comfortable there, too, and fit in with the office culture and the people so well. There is a wide range of ages and types of people, which I love. Everyone has been so accommodating and helpful.

While it's taken a lot of getting used to because of how different it is from New Mexico, this area is beautiful and we love it so far. There are thick forests all around, we've been getting a lot of rain, and there are many places to go hiking/camping/fishing. Jake and I went fishing last week at a nice secluded pond in a state park only 10 minutes away last weekend, and caught four bluegill between the two of us. Also, we've been searching for a dog to add to our family! Last week we met a 1 1/2 year old black lab mix at a dog rescue in Cedar Rapids, and hopefully will be hearing back about our application soon.  I'll update if this goes through, and post some pics :)

Overall, we've been enjoying this new phase of our lives and are trying to be as involved as possible at public events around here. I will be going to the Faculty-Staff Orchestra practice on Monday-I'm so nervous, because I've hardly played my violin since high school! But I think it will be fun to try it out. Jake is enjoying his "new" job too-even though it's not really new, it is a new place and the office culture where he works is very different (and according to him, far better than) from the one in Las Cruces. There's also a program at the University of Iowa called Dual Career Network that is specifically for helping spouses of new University employees in their job search. He's met with his DCN officer and she's helped him with his resume. Hopefully something will come along soon, but we are so grateful that he at least has a job here, too.

Anyway, I think that's enough update for now. I miss my friends and family and the mountains like crazy, but I know this is what we needed at this time in our lives and look forward to more to come!