hello titus: Independence Day (in more ways than one)

We had a much different weekend than we had planned...not that we had planned anything...

Jamie (my sister) called on Friday and asked if we wanted some company for the weekend. Of course!! :) I guess Mark had a rough week at work and wanted to get away for the weekend. They had planned on spending the weekend at Virginia Beach but trying to find an open hotel for 4th of July weekend was impossible. So, she called us to see if they could come visit us for the weekend. Since we didn't have any plans and that worked out better for us than our previous plans, I said YES! (The previous plans were for just Jamie and the kids to come and stay a night or two on Tuesday because Mark was going to be out of town for scout camp)

Meanwhile, Josh quit working last Monday, the day after we got back from Virginia. He wasn't doing as well as he had planned and so the summer wasn't producing the results that we needed to afford everything. So we made plans to leave Raleigh and head to Columbia on Thursday. But Josh's mom had work for us on Wednesday so when we found out Jamie and the kids were coming to visit sooner, it worked out great for us. And we actually got to head out even sooner than we had planned. Everything worked out so well, we feel really blessed.

Jamie, Mark and the kids got to Raleigh on Friday night just before the kids bed time so we didn't do much on Friday. We hung out and watched the movie, Son of Rambo. On Saturday we went to Chipotle for lunch and then saw an early showing of Toy Story 3. That movie was so adorable and it's always funnest to see those movies with children. I loved watching their faces. After Chipotle I felt a little sick to my stomach but sitting through the movie made me feel a little better. When we got back to the apartment, we went swimming at the complex pool. The kids love that pool and so we all headed down there to swim. After the pool I felt awfully sick and so we spent the rest of the day relaxing around the apartment. The boys played video games, we watched a lot of tv and sat around and talked after the kids went to bed. I felt very sick to my stomach and tried to sleep on the couch to avoid throwing up. I woke up feeling much better after a good nights rest the next morning. Unfortunately, Jamie woke up Sunday feeling pretty sick. We think we were probably passing around a little 12 hour bug. Since Sunday was the 4th of July we made tentative plans to watch the local firework show but with Jamie feeling sick and not wanting to bust through the crowds, we decided to pick up some little fireworks and do them in the parking lot. I thought it was a lot of fun and the kids really seemed to enjoy it too. So we got to celebrate our independence as a country and our independence from a horrible summer job :) I must say though, we are both incredibly grateful for this wonderful country we live in. It's easy to take it all for granted, but we really are so blessed.

On Monday morning Jamie, Mark and the kids helped us pack up our apartment! They really were very sweet to stay and help us all morning. We really appreciated all their help, so much. They left around noon and we finished packing up and hit the road around 2:30.

Amazingly for us, Jenn was leaving for Columbia on Monday as well and so by packing up our car, her car and their trailer that her car can pull, we were able to fit everything we needed to (including the furniture that Josh's parents brought down for us)! It worked out so well. On the way down Josh and I were talking about how well it all worked out and how blessed we felt. It really felt like Heavenly Father knew what we needed and made sure that everything we needed fell right into place.

A huge thank you, again, to Jamie and Mark for everything. For coming to visit us (we always love seeing them), for treating us to lunch and the movies and for helping us all morning on Monday! It was such a blessing.

And a huge thank you, also, to Jenn! We couldn't have done it if it weren't for her willingness to help out and haul a load down here!

Our plan from here goes as follows:

We will work for Josh's parents cleaning company just like last summer. Work will be here and there until the end of July when we do the apartment turns for 2 1/2 weeks straight.

We are planning a weekend camping trip with Josh's friend Tommy and his soon-to-be wife.

We are also planning a 4-5 day trip back home to Provo to visit my mom, her parents and Joe and Karen and the kids. That will be a lot of fun!

After the turns (which end on August 12) we will head back up to Raleigh to pick up the mattress we borrowed from Jamie and Mark and head up to Virginia. Jamie and Mark's anniversary is August 14 and so we are planning to stay up there to watch their kids over night while they get a night away.

Then it's back to Columbia for a few days before our anniversary :) I'm planning it this year, so I can't say anything about it yet. I wouldn't want Josh to actually read this and find out what I have planned.

Then we head back to Provo around the 22 of August to unpack our house and get back in the swing of things before school starts!

Good things are happening! We feel so blessed right now. Josh's parents were more than willing to let us stay here at their house again. And I think they were more excited about the fact that we're working for them again :) We are so appreciative of a place where we don't have to pay rent, water, electricity, internet, food, etc, etc.

There is only one picture from the weekend so far. My camera was dead all weekend so Jamie has them all. She promised to get them to me. So I'll have them soon! :) But I did snap just one with Josh's phone.