A Good Day

We've just been hanging around D.C. over this last week, but now we're finally getting somewhere. We had been looking for a house and today we signed a lease for a pleasant little condo in Sterling, Virginia! We're hopefully moving in on Tuesday. Here's a picture I took from the porch while we were checking it out:

The porch features railings so you don't fall and get injured to death

The community is called Dominion Station, and behind that building is the pool! I know, we'll probably never use it. But still. It's a POOL!

The next step is moving all of our stuff here from College Place, Washington. I've been getting quotes from moving companies, and we're looking at around $4500. So that might not work. Our new home might be a little bit... spacious. At least until we figure out how to get our stuff here.

Heidi got a job as a lead teacher at a preschool about three miles from our new home! So that means her commute probably won't be too much more than an hour! Not bad. She starts work this Monday.

I also finally got that job I've been pushing to get for a few months. I'm excited and relieved. The job is going to be perfect. It's at Janelia Farm Research Campus, which is under Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The place itself is gorgeous and modern. Here's a picture:

The whole place looks AT LEAST this cool

I've heard it referred to as "Science Heaven." I'll talk more about the job some other time, but to over-succinctify, I'll be doing Science there. Lots of the people there are my age! That's good. I'm starting work on October 4.

We found out about both our jobs and our new home today. So today was good.

I'm going to have a couple more weeks to do whatever I feel like. I think I may choose to spend most of that time with you, my faithful reader, by blogging four times a day.

Epic Road Trip, Days 7-9, etc.

You didn't miss much! Heidi got an interview in D.C., so we drove over right quick. About 25 hours of driving in three days, in fact. But we enjoyed it. Heidi is interviewing for a tutoring job as we speak, and I'm in the same coffee shop watching her impress the interviewer. A job interview in a coffee shop! How cool is that? My job is still somewhat up in the air, but I'm pretty sure I've got it. The job would be incredibly awesome.

So we're probably moving to D.C.!

Or more like the Ashburn area. It's not too far from D.C.

We don't have a home yet, so we're casually looking for a place to rent. After Heidi's interview, we're touring a little townhouse. Of course, we can't rent until we're sure we've got jobs, but we're right on the verge of being sure.

"You look terrible, Sean." "Quiet, self!" "You're talking to yourself, Sean."

Sorry we haven't taken pictures in a while. The driving was uneventful (fortunately) and now that we're in D.C. we've been PTSD-triggeringly busy. Driving to interviews in D.C. is stressful. Our nerves are about shot what with the intense driving, interviewing, and homelessness (we've found a week-long place to stay for cheap, so we're okay).

Fun? Yes. Terrifying? Yes.

Epic Road Trip, Continued

Day 4: Yellowstone!

After a long drive from Glacier to Yellowstone, we found a campsite at Indian Creek and settled in. The next morning we got up early and toured Yellowstone, including Old Faithful, the Paint Pots, the Mud Volcano, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Falls, and countless steam vents, pools, and geysers.

We ate lunch with Gus the buffalo, who sat and watched us from the nearby woods. Four times during the trip we were close enough to touch buffalo just by driving along the road. We also saw coyote, dear, elk, and maybe a bear. Without binoculars we weren't quite sure.

During our two nights in Yellowstone, the temperature dipped below freezing and frost covered our tent, firewood, and car. The first night and morning we couldn't get a fire started with the wet and cold wood, but the second night we made it work and had grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and corn on the cob. The next morning a sweet couple from Scotland or Ireland (maybe one from each?) had some left over boiling water so we were able to have a hot breakfast!

Day 5: To Grandma's House

We left Yellowstone and drove across Wyoming, including the charming town of Emblem, population: 10. By that evening, we were in my Grandma's house in Hot Springs, SD, enjoying hot homemade food, hot showers, and a real bed.

Day 6: East as far as we can get

This morning we had to leave Grandma and Uncle Carl, sadly, and continue our trek. I got an unexpected phone call inviting me to interview for a teaching job in an inner-city DC charter school. I'd applied months ago, but wasn't hired, until a teacher quit after school had already started. I'm interviewing Tuesday, and if I get the position, starting on Wednesday. Sean also got pleasant news when his top choice for a job contacted him and informed him that they are "very much interested" in him! We're so excited to have things start to work out and are making our way to DC as fast as we can. Nothing's final until it's final, of course, so if we don't get the jobs, we'll just pick up our epic road trip from there and head north to see Boston, New England, and Niagara Falls.

Epic Road Trip, Day 3

After several days in the mountains with no cell service, we finally found a friendly Starbucks in Great Falls to update our blog.  So far we are loving the trip, although it has been rainier, windier, and colder than we ordered.

Day 1: Flathead Lake
We stayed at a gorgeous little campground right on the lakeshore.  The weather was perfect!

Day 2: Glacier National Park
The next day we drove up and through Glacier on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.  The scenery was stunning but the road slightly scary.  There was construction all along it with construction workers wearing full climbing harnesses!  At the top of Logan Pass, it was sleeting, so we headed down quickly and pitched camp at Rising Sun Campground, which was cold and wet but protected from the wind by some trees.  It rained all night and into the morning, but we learned that our tent is so amazing that even when the tarp underneath collects a puddle of water, we stay dry!

Day 3: Moving toward Yellowstone

Since it was still raining, we decided not to hang around any longer and packed up in a hurry.  On our way out we stopped for some hot showers to cheer us up.  Since then, we've been driving through alternating storms and sunny weather toward Yellowstone National Park.  We'll be there a couple days, probably without service, but we'll update after that! Feel free to look at our Picasa web album. The link is on the right under "Picasa Photostream."