A big hello from New York!

We're here! (and alive for those of you back home wondering what happened to us) About a week before Duane arrived in Albany, we found a house that was for sale, but who's owner agreed to let us rent it for 3 months with an option to buy. We were pumped! We had looked for a home to rent, but this was our first lead and couldn't be happier to finally feel like we had a place to move into.

Duane left for the cross country drive with Uncle Dale on June 19. I am so grateful for Uncle Dale's willingness to escort Duane. I knew it'd be a safer drive and they'd get here a little faster. Boy oh boy did Uncle Dale help with the drive! He kept them both motivated and on the move! Duane had alloted 5 days for the 40 hour drive (that's as much as a full time job!) and with Uncle Dales enthusiasm they arrived on the 4th day!

The paperwork was not ready by the time Duane made it up here, so he was working on it as best he could in between having to be at work. I came with my Mom, sister, Rachel, and Kalvin and Tristen, at 2:30 AM (NY time) on Wed. June 24. We were still scrambling to get in the house, but felt like we had little help from our lawyer or real estate agent. We were stayed with the Branch President and his wife, John and Mary Porter. They were to have their son and his family come the next day to stay with them for a month and I really didn't want to intrude on their family. I could hardly stand knowing I was homeless.

The morning after we arrived the bad news came just as Duane was walking into an mandatory meeting. The homeowner changed her mind and wanted to sell her house instead of allowing us to rent it out. I could have died!!! Why didn't she tell us sooner?! I hardly knew what to do. The moving truck was due back in a day and a half and we had no leads! Duane suggested an apartment complex we had only seen online, but knew would be a nice place. My mom, Rachel, both kids and I jumped in the car and drove around the city looking at rentals (thank goodness my mom was here too, to help with the little kiddos). I somehow felt a sense of peace that we would find a place, yet also felt the urgency to find a place quickly.

As we drove around the inner city I recalled what Duane had told me about feeling like rolling up the car windows, locking the doors, and covering my eyes with sunglasses. It felt pretty ghetto. The homes here are amazingly different from anything I've ever seen! In the inner city most are two or three levels and house multiple families. In the outskirts of town, the homes are just as unique to me. I love the nicer neighborhoods. I love that the homes are all so beautiful, but different from each other. Just yesterday we were all in the car driving down one of these beautiful streets and most the homes had long driveways lined with trees. I told him that I wanted a house like that (lined with trees). He reminded me that AZ is a desert, but that I could line my driveway with cactus.

Back to the home search...

So, we looked and looked all day... we got home at about 9:00 that night after a long day of searching. I was exhausted and didn't know what to do next, but Duane stayed up and searched for homes on Craigslist again and picked out a couple favorites. In the morning (before I woke up) Duane called on the CL postings and made appointments to go see two houses. Soon after, I woke up and quickly got ready to go with him. I didn't have time for breakfast before taking Tristen and leaving with Duane to see these homes that were within a mile of the Medical Center. It was raining as we pulled up to the first house.

The two homes we previewed were fairly similar in layout and both built in the 1950's. They were decent for their age, but I could not imagine myself living in either of these homes. If we had chose to move into either of them we would have definitely fulfilled the "Albany" experience, but something inside me couldn't. In the first home the kitchen appliances were probably the same that came with the house in the 50's and the second home was very small and just looked dirty... maybe someday I'll brave the "Albany" way, but I didn't feel strong enough to do it at the time. I thought of the apartment I had looked at the day previous and even though it was much more expensive, I can't put a price on my sanity.

I talked Duane into getting the apartment, but for the next few hours he had to be at work. I dropped him off and took Tristen with me to the apartment complex see about getting the two bedroom apartment that was available the day before. I walked in with a half finished application and a hungry baby and met a woman that I had seen the day before while with my mom. I approached and asked the woman about the apartment for rent. We talked for a few minutes about the situation and then she told me that the soonest she could get me into the apartment was Monday (the day being Friday). I needed the place that day! I told her that if I couldn't get in that day it wasn't going to work for to get into the apartment at all. She didn't seem to mind. Just then I was reminded of a quote my mom read to me from the book "The Secret" the day before (and this is paraphrasing), 'if you want something to happen, make it happen'. And with that I sat down in their waiting room to think about my options and to figure out where I was going to find the hungry Tristen.

About a half a minute after sitting down, a women who worked in the office came to me and offered help in getting my things together. I explained that I HAD to move in that same day because the rental truck was going to charge us $500 to keep the truck till Monday. The manager (the first woman I saw and who did not offer much help) told this woman that if everything was in place by 5:00 that afternoon we could move in the same day. We had three hours. I did all I could and after a few hiccups we were able to get everything together in time.

We signed the lease papers just minutes before 5:00 and immediately informed the elders quorum in the branch (who had been on hold for days waiting for us to get a place) that we needed help that night moving in so we could get the moving truck in by the next morning at 9:00 AM to avoid the $100 late fee. The truck actually was a day late, but Duane called and talked to them the day previous and they told us that if we could get the truck in by the said time, we would avoid ALL late fees.

After signing the papers, I took Duane to the stake center where the moving truck had stayed for a few days and he left to move into our new place. I went to President Porters house to pick up my Mom, sister and Kalvin and to meet Duane at the house. We made a few stops along the way to get a few necessaries for the house and burgers for the Elders Quorum helpers. By the time we got to the apartment the moving truck was 3/4 empty and there were about 7 guys here unloading it! It was the neatest thing to see so much help from someone I'd never met before.

Duane and I found out shortly after signing the lease papers that one of his fellow intern residence lived just under us! And to make it better they have two children also, and they are within one month of our kids ages. In the two weeks we've been here, I still haven't seen the wife yet though... I can't imagine how bored and lonely she must be since her family is in LA. I hope to invite her to the branches mothers group.

We have a six month lease, so by Dec. 26, we will be living somewhere else. We've left many boxes unopened.

Everything is so green! On the road coming into our complex we've seen a deer, and fawn (looked just like Bambi), a possum and tons of squirrels!

Duane had the great idea of going to Boston for the 4th of July to see the Boston Pops. The show was unlike anything I'd seen or heard. The fireworks were timed to fit the music and was incredible. While in Boston we also saw the USS Constitution or Old Ironsides on a little cruise in the bay. For those who don't know, it is the oldest navy ship from the late 1700's. It shot off over 20 canon balls! That was so loud and Kalvin was amazed!

These guys were guarding the USS Constitution

After the canon shootings everyone clapped and boats all around blew their horns. From that time on every time Kalvin heard a boat blow its horn he clapped thinking that's why everyone had been clapping earlier.

Kalvin, eating a NY hotdog with his Boston hat!

We also walked to Breeds hill, AKA Bunker Hill and walked up the 294 steps of the monument. Amazingly Kalvin walked up and down EVERY step himself!!! I was absolutely amazed! On our way up, by step 150, there was a line to get to the top so we had a few brakes (though the line moved fairly quickly) that helped Kalvin I'm sure.

When we got to the top of the Memorial at Bunker hill Kalvin was a little scared looking out the window.

More to come... Blogger is not letting me upload any more pictures of videos right now...