9000 Miles, 15 states, and 11 GB of pictures later...

Our last few days hanging out with Susan and Paul were fun, despite both of them (and Adam) coming down with some kind of stomach bug. Adam and I were also able to drive down to Provo to meet with Paul Schramm and his wife at a Brazilian steakhouse.

For Memorial Weekend, we went back to Syracuse to spend the rest of our time in Utah with Amy and the family again. It was a lot of fun hanging out with the family (I scrapbooked with Amy, we went on a picnic, I played a loooong game of Monopoly with Arianna, and we watched the girls for a day when Amy went in for her eye surgery and took them to their singing recital). We are really glad we got a chance to spend time with them before we head out., though Adam and I also ran a lot of errands while we were in Utah. I hope that Kevin (who served his mission in Ecuador) and Amy are able to come visit.

My niece Arianna kicking my butt at Disney Monopoly

Amy & I finding time to scrapbook!

Chalysse and Serenna on our picnic...aren't they cute!

Chalysse and Arianna with the hammock that Mark put up on the swingset

The girls after their singing recital

Then it was off to California! We made a pitstop in Salt Lake to see Jared one last time. Then it was a loooong drive back to Ridgecrest. We were there for a few days where I had the chance to spent time with my parents- we even had time to make some zong (see video below). It was so nice to be back home again!

Our road trip was a lot of fun and was definitely worth going on. We were able to meet and talk with a lot of interesting people on our trip, see a lot of amazing things, and really have a nice introduction to more regions of the US. We put a lot of miles on our lovely Matrix and took a ton of photos, but it is nice to be in one place...even if it is just for a few weeks!

In the next blog post, I'll write about our time in the OC and what we've been up to this week in the 'crest!

For your enjoyment, some videos from the past few weeks:

My nieces showing me around their room!


Arianna and Chalysse telling me about their chickens



Our nieces' singing recital- they did awesome!

I'm not sure if this video will work, but I'm trying to get it loaded since it is a bit longer and larger. On May 28, it was the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, and one of the traditions is to make zongzi (click the link to read more about the story behind the festival and the making of zongzi). I was so happy that I was in Ridgecrest with my parents, and we spent that evening wrapping zongzi, which I happily ate for dinner and for lunch the next day. I believe that we have plans for making more "zhong" as I call it, this weekend while Susan and Betty are in town too. Essentially, it is sticky rice with different fillings (like Chinese sausage, peanuts, etc.) and then wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled. Yum!!

Peace Corps Pre-Departure: Shopping!

In preparation for the Peace Corps, Adam and I purged A LOT of stuff, but we also had to gather a few items to bring with us. Here are some of the goodies that we've picked up over the past several months:

REI Backpack (2)
Black Diamond Headlamp (2)
Keen sandals (for Emily)
Salomon waterproof shoes (for Adam)
Waterproof Rain Jacket (2)
Travel Alarm Clock
Duffel Bag
Lonely Planet Ecuador
Quick dry pants (a pair for each of us)
Camp towels (2)
After-Bite (for Emily)

It isn't much, but boy do things add up when you aren't really shoppers like Adam and I! We have a few more things to gather (like those new Off! Clip Ons to keep the bugs away from sweet-meat Emily).

Ok, well I need to hop into the shower and get ready for some all-you-can-MEAT at the brazilian steakhouse in Provo, UT (Tucanos) with Jared and Paul! Hooray!

Peace Corps: The Beginnings!

After not really mentioning Peace Corps at all in our blog, I figure Adam and I should probably catch everyone up to speed regarding our Peace Corps assignments, etc. This will probably be a series of posts and also will probably record all the frenzy that will be the next few weeks!

Our General Timeline *some details not included*

11/03/07 - Adam and I attend a Peace Corps info session with Jennifer
01/03/08- Online applications submitted
04/04/08-Interview from 1pm-5pm in Los Angeles (for couples, we each had separate interviews, and then we were interviewed together...it was a long afternoon!)
05/30/08- Received nomination for Carribean, but it was for Feb. 09 which was too early for us
06/04/08- Received and accepted our new nomination for Central/South America, Spanish Speaking, June 09!
06/09/08- Received our nomination packet from Peace Corps
06/13/08- Received our medical, dental and vision packet
June & July- Medical and dental appointments, exams, & tests galore
10/24/08- We are medically cleared!
01/16/09- Received our invitation in the mail! We're going to Ecuador! Assignment for Emily is Youth & Families: Urban Youth Development and Assignment for Adam is Youth & Families: Information Technology. We accepted that week, sent in all of our aspiration statements, passport applications, etc. off
04/02/09- We quit our jobs and begin our 2 month road trip across the country
05/19/09- Received our staging information via email and we booked our flights. We fly out of Inyokern Airport on June 15 to Miami and we fly to Ecuador on June 17! Our adventure is about to start!

Peace Corps Info!

As a side note, separate from the trip updates- Adam and I received our staging information via email yesterday!! We will be flying into Miami on Monday, June 15th. We depart from the Inyokern Airport at 5am so that our family doesn't have to drive 3 hours to LA...just 20 minutes at 4am. =D It definitely feels much more like a reality now that we have our plane ticket booked and we know exactly what day we fly out.

On Tuesday in Miami, we have our Welcome to the Peace Corps and then we are off to Quito, where we will be greeted by the Country Director and other Peace Corps Staff and Volunteers!!

The next several days are supposed to be intense orientation to the Peace Corps, the local area and the culture, and "Survival Spanish." It will also be language proficiency testing and vaccinations. That following Sunday, we are supposed to meet our host families and move to our 9-week training site somewhere outside of Quito by 1.5 hours. I'm thankful that Adam and I, as a couple, will get to stay together with a host family. May we not slow down our Spanish learning during that time.

Well, we are definitely down to the wire. We are already starting to take care of a few things, but there seem to be so many other things we need to do before we leave (bank accounts, credit cards, power of attorney, wills, and PACKING!). However, this road trip has helped me realize how little clothing I really need to have (but, ahem Jennifer, I will be bringing lots of underwear).

More details to come as we get them!

All Caught Up on the Blog!

Whew! Blogging is hard work! But I'm finally caught up! That's right, Adam and I are STILL in Utah, and I am writing about Utah!

We arrived in Utah on Friday, May 15th. We arrived at Amy (Adam's sister) and Kevin's house and our Friday night was pretty relaxed. We just caught up since the last time we saw them was in October at Disneyland. Our niece Serenna (almost 1) has gotten really big! She is probably going to take her first steps any day now! Our other nieces Arianna (8), Chalysse (6) and Jenessa (4) are also getting big and are such funny characters! And our nephew Mark (15) also hit a growth spurt. In October, he was shorter than Adam, and now, just 7 months later, he is taller than him.

Saturday, I was woken up by the nieces, who informed me that it was time to wake up! They entertained me by spelling out their names and sharing funny anectdotes about life. Adam and I ran a few errands and I stopped by Robert's Crafts to get some scrapbooking supplies. That afternoon Arianna was insistent on getting me into shape, so we played soccer. Then I pushed the girls on their swingset, and finally I scrapbooked with Amy until 5, when it was time to get ready for the neighborhood barbecue that Amy organized with some neighbors.

Serenna!

Jenessa, Arianna and Chalysse

Neighborhood BBQ (folks were wondering if Adam and I were new to the neighborhood, or just some crazed hungry couple mooching off their grills...not really)

Kevin (our brother-in-law) and Serenna

Amy (Adam's sister) and Serenna

Sunday was also another nice day with the family. While Amy, Kevin & family were at church, Adam and I picked up some supplies. We also stopped at a Joann Fabric so Adam could get fabric to make a little chef's toolkit (with lots of Amy's help!). Dinner for the night was yummy picadillo with fried plantains and black beans. I had to do quite a bit of driving to hunt down some green plantains, but I found them!

On Monday, it was time to drive down to Salt Lake City to hang out with Susan and Paul. We got to Susan's house (very nice place that is set right next to the mountains and overlooks Salt Lake City) and then headed off to Pei Wei to meet up with Jared for lunch (yes Jennifer, I ordered some crab wontons). After that, we lounged around the house before we took a nice, HOT hike. Because it was a tad too toasty, we cut the hike short and ended up at REI, then at a frozen custard place, the yummy bakery, and then finally back to Susan's place where she cooked up a mean mapo tofu. It was fabulous! And luckily, Jared was able to join us for that too.

Sisterhood and Peace (right dad?)

Today Susan and Paul both had to work, so Adam and I did our errands. Well, first, I slept in until almost 11! It was great! Then we had lunch of corn dogs (mmmm...) before we headed out to Barnes & Noble, the camera store (another lens may be in my future...maybe a more versatile 18-200 lens?), and the A&W for another root beer float! When Susan got home, we went off to the library where I perused a scrapbook magazine. Dinner was Molca Salsa...a burrito joint that got Adam's approval (and mine, because they have a California burrito and decent hot sauce. Though I ordered the Carnitas Burrito...what was I thinking?). We ended the night with a trip to the movies to watch Angels and Demons. Two movie previews caught my eye...and I won't get to watch them before I leave for Ecuador. They were- Julie & Julia (with Amy Adams) and The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock). Jennifer: these are two chick flicks you'll have to watch!!

Ok. Now it is 5:30am and I am still up but I am going to bed soon. But with good reason. I caught up on the blog, talked to Jennifer on the phone, talked to Betty, read up on some Peace Corps stuff...and that's about it.

More photos to come...