I have neglected this blog. Since I am currently enjoying Spring Break, I've decided to take this week to update my blog. Hopefully I will be able to keep up on posts, instead of waiting for my next vacation.
I want to use this blog to archive our adventures in Philadelphia. So I am playing a little catch-up from August 2011.
August 2011
David and I drove across the country to begin our new adventure in Philadelphia. We left Utah on August 1 with our Penske moving truck and car-in-tow. We spent 5 days on the road... visiting many places along the way. We drove past Green River, Wyoming... which reminded me of my grandfather, Papa John. We saw Church historic sites in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, Liberty, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. Along the way we were lucky enough to stay the night with friends and family. We spent the night at Megan Bartlett's home in Nebraska, and Krista and Bart's house in Ohio.
We traveled over 2,372 miles and paid over $1,000 in gas to get to Pennsylvania. However, we loved every minute of our time together. I have never enjoyed road trips, until I met David. I love talking to him as we drive (he's trapped and must stay awake and listen to me), I love falling asleep while he sings along to the tunes on the radio, and I love exploring new places with him. We are planning another trip out to Utah this summer, so David can host the Timpanogos Half Marathon. I can't wait to experience another road trip with him!
Here are some of our memories from the road trip:
- Almost running out of gas on the way to Megan's house in Nebraska
- Trying to camp in the hot, sticky, muggy, buggy Nauvoo (we ended up staying in a hotel)
- Carting my wedding dress into our hotel room, because I wanted to make sure that no one stole it from our truck while we slept. (David wasn't thrilled about this)
- Spending hours at Zoombezi Bay / Columbus Zoo with Krista and her family
- Taking a detour through Missiouri (we drove on the backroads through the entire state and saw a lot of corn)
- Attending the Nauvoo temple and seeing Carthage Jail
- Visiting with Krista, Bart, Whitney, and Bubba before arriving in our new home
- Driving through a downpour in West Virginia
- Using our phone GPS to take us the entire route to Philly (I look back now and think I should have printed out some directions, just in case the GPS' didn't work)
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| In front of our first apartment as a married couple (we lived in the basement). |
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| On the road |
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| What I looked like for many hours on our trip |
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| Liberty Jail |
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| Nauvoo Temple |
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| Carthage Jail |
Philly had a unique way of welcoming us. We had record breaking rainfall during the month of August. Being a Washington girl, I figured I could take a little rain. But that's just it... I can take a little rain... not a downpour everyday for a month. We found a leak in our apartment the first weekend we were in Philly. Luckily it was in the spare bedroom. The leak later turned into a collapsed ceiling, which was then repaired by a kind, old man in a wife beater and suspenders. We were also welcomed by Hurricane Irene (with tornado warnings) and an earthquake. However, I must admit that Philadelphia has made up for the wild summer weather with a calm, warm winter.
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| Our new home (2nd floor) |
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| The leak in our spare bedroom |
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| The leak turned into a collapsed ceiling. |
David started Medical School right away. I found my first (of many) jobs here in Philly. I was hired to teach first grade at a charter school in West Philly. Unique experience... if you're wondering why I quit... call me. I've got stories.
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| David's first day of Medical School |
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| A picture of my classroom at the charter school |
September 2011
We had our very first visitors during the month of September. Bart, Krista, Whitney and Mackay came to see us. We loved having them... despite the emtional breakdown I was having (due to my job), and the stress David was experiencing with school. We hope they can come again!
On September 17, Constitution Day, we watched the groundbreaking for the Philadelphia Temple. President Eyring came to preside at the groundbreaking. David and I were able to watch the televised event at the church. The temple should be completed by 2014... and we will still be here! It will be nice to have a temple 15 minutes away, instead of 2 1/2 hours.
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| This is what the temple currently looks like... it's still a parking lot |
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| This is what the Philadelphia temple will look like when it is completed |
October 2011
We started this month with David's white coat ceremony. We were so happy to have David's parents and brother, Jared, join us for this special day. I am so proud of David! He worked so hard to make it to medical school, and has been studying a lot.
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| David with his brother (Jared) and dad (Bill) |
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| David with his parents, Bill and Debbie |
David and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary on October 16th. To celebrate, David gave me roses and white hydrangea's (to remind me of my wedding bouquet). We spent the day (well, the day before, since it was on a Sunday) together.... no studying was allowed! (That was the rule I decided upon, of course.) We went running along a Schuylkill River trail, enjoyed a snack at Fairmount Park- overlooking the city skyline, and went out to eat at a very nice restaurant in Bryn Mawr called Sola. Afterwards we traveled to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Rocky statue and steps. It was a perfect day for us. Thank you for a wonderful 1st year David! I love you more each day and am excited for the years ahead!
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| The Rocky Statue |
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| 1st year anniversary |
November 2011
David finished his first trimester of school and had a few days off before his next set of classes. We took the opportunity to travel to Palmyra, NY (see previous blog post). After looking for work for 5 weeks, I started my next job as a librarian assistant at a school in the Lower Merion School District. This job- although not super glamorous- was actually a huge blessing for us. Because I was still traumatized by my charter school experience, this job was a stepping stone for building my confidence and desire to work again. I did the Dewey (decimal system) and feel as though I mastered checking books in and out of the library. I loved the lady I worked with, and felt extremely blessed to have my foot in the door at a great, NORMAL, public school district.
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| This is where I worked as the librarian assistant |
We finally finished putting our apartment together! We cleaned the carpets, washed and hemmed the curtains, and was given a bookshelf and bed for the spare bedroom. Brett came to visit for 10 days during Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving Day at the Murphy's.
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| Brett shopping at an Amish store... he was contemplating becoming Amish until David told him it was a religion |
We loved having Brett come and hope he is able to come again soon! He provided wonderful entertainment... and even left us some garbonzo beans (still not sure what to do with them.)
December 2011
Before David and I got married we tried to have all the important "dating" conversations. I'm sure we had each conversation at least 5 times, just so I could make sure he was the right guy. Anyways, one of our important conversations was when to buy and decorate our Christmas tree. David's family usually has the tradition of selecting and decorating their Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. My family didn't have a set date... but I wasn't opposed to getting our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. (I start listening to Christmas music in September...)
David and I compromised, and we decided to buy and decorate our Christmas tree the first weekend in December. (I'll have to admit that David gave a little more on this issue). This year we went to the closest tree lot we could find.... Lowes. Of course I wanted the perfect tree, for the smallest price. We found one! The tree was listed for $40, but was sitting in the $25 section. I questioned the man in charge (he was about 16 years old), and he gave us the tree for $25. We shoved it into our little honda accord, and headed home!
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| David did all of the heavy lifting...I was the photographer |
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| Our cute little tree. It smelled so good. We're in the market for a new star... our current star is from Big!Lots |
I was in charge of our ward Christmas party... which wasn't a party at all, but instead was a service night. Our church building is located in downtown Philly, on Chestnut Street. We decided to open our doors to the public, so they could see what our church is all about. We had beautiful decorations, caroling, hot chocolate and cookies, a live nativity, Chirstmas music, a creche exibit, a Christ display, and the nativity movie. It was a lot of work, but I loved participating in it. Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I am happy to have been able to share it with the people of Philadelphia.
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| "Christmas on Chestnut" was the name of the event. This looked better in real life. |
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| Pictures of Christ display (part of it) |
We spent our 2nd Christmas together at David's family's home. All of David's brothers were able to come for Christmas. David and I got a new camera for Christmas. It's a Canon T2i. We are really impressed by the pictures it takes.... here are a few.
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| Each year David and I make an ornament to add to our tree. This was the back of my ornament. |
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| The front of my ornament |
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| David's Ornament |
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| David's shoe when he was a baby boy. It hangs on his parent's tree each year as an ornament. As his wife, I loved seeing this cute little shoe. |
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| Longwood Gardens- An internationally known botanical garden, about one mile away from the Murphy's home. We were able to see the Christmas decorations and display. |
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| The water show at Longwood Gardens |
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| The Murphy Family (in front of a parsley Christmas tree) |
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| I made Honey's rolls for New Years! They were delicious, but I think I need a bit more practice. |
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| On the last day of our Christmas vacation David and I took pictures of the city skyline from a lookout in Fairmount Park (about 1 mile from our house) |
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| If you look closely at this picture you will see a green dome in the center of the picture. This is the Archdiocese (the Catholic headquarters) of Philadelphia. When the temple is completed it will be across the street from the Archdiocese, and we will hopefully be able to see Angel Moroni in our city skyline! |
It was nice to spend time with David's family. Even though we live quite close to them, we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. Thank you for a wonderful Christmas and New Years!
January 2012
David and I were serving as CTR 7 teachers in our ward. One of our students turned 8 during December and made the decision to be baptized. Her dad is not a member of the church, so she asked David to baptize her. It was a special day!
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| David and Ashtyn (this picture is a little dark because I took it with my phone) |
My librarian assistant position was supposed to end just before Christmas break. However, when the previous assistant wasn't able to return from her medical leave, they asked if I would come back for a few more weeks. I had the job for 2 weeks, before receiving a new/different job in the same district. I was hired as a substitute instructional aide at a different elementary school. I worked in a learning support classroom, and was able to teach small groups. Again, I felt as though this was the next step in my process to return to teaching. I really feel as though Heavenly Father has given me these opportunities to help me regain my confidence as an educator. (That silly charter school threw me for a loop).
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| I made this spelling center while I was the instructional aide in the learning support classroom |
February 2012
Many things happened this month. I'll let the pictures do the explaining.
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| A few people in our ward went to the DC temple. The two men on the far right joined the church a week before Christmas. This was their first time going to the temple to do baptisms. |
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| David took me to the cheesecake factory for my birthday (we're still using our wedding gift cards) |
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| David made my birthday cake... can you tell the candles say "29"? |
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| David gave me roses for Valentine's day (can you tell I like taking picture with my flowers?) |
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| My cute hubby |
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| David and I explored Penn's Landing one day. I love this area because the waterfront reminds me of being in Seattle. You can see the Ben Franklin bridge behind us. Jersey is on the other side of the Delaware River. |
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| We brought some bread to feed the birds. At first we didn't see any seagulls... |
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| ...but then they all arrived for a free lunch. It doesn't matter what coast you are on, seagulls are all the same. |
I also started my next job.... as a 2nd grade teacher! I am working in the same district (Lower Merion), but at a different school than before. I am a longterm sub for a lady out on maternity leave. After 9 interviews with this district (3 alone were for this job) I was offered a position for the remainder of the year. I am receiving a full teacher's salary and have benefits through June (which was perfect... since I had some doctor appointments set up for March). I was terrified before my first day. But now I am getting used to the class, school, parents, and schedule. My school is only 8 minutes away from our house!
March 2012
David took a short trip out to Utah to attend his friend Simeon's wedding. (I would attach a picture... but it won't load for some reason.)
Annette and her kids came to visit us!
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| This is how Annette feeds the sheep |
We were invited to Simmandi's Endowment at the DC temple. Afterwards we went to explore downtown DC, but arrived too late to see any of the museums. We did see the cherry blossoms and ran into an atheist festival. (We promptly left.) It was very rainy that day. We only had one umbrella, so David gave me the umbrella and found himself a poncho in his emergency kit. It must have been a one-time-use poncho, it was completely ripped by the time he was done with it.
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| Simmandi is in the middle in the pink dress. She is Simeon's sister, and is good friends with David. It was a special experience for all of us! |
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| In DC... David was wearing shorts that day, which you couldn't quite see with his poncho on... he sort of resembled a flasher. |
