Mom and Dad and Tom and I pulled into Wadsworth, OH around midnight last saturday (the 22nd) and were VERY shocked and the size and cleanliness of this place! We decided to just unload everything and we climbing in bed around 2 or 2:30am!!!! (I have to back up.... We pulled out of Morgan around 7:30 thursday morning, drove ALL day and spent the night in Lincoln, Nebraska. From there we drove to Nauvoo and spent a few hours at Carthage Jail and walking around Nauvoo. We didn't have enough time to also do a session at the temple and we arrived too late to visit the vistors center or see much of Nauvoo, but we had a really yummy dinner and enjoyed walking around the temple! That was friday.... then we drove from there to our new apartment in Wadsworth. We had planned to be here around 6 or 7 that evening, but we had a little bit of trouble during the day..... So, at most gas stations, the pump for diesel is usually green, so we pulled up to this gas station and started filling up with the green pump.... after dad had topping off one of his tanks in his diesel truck, Tom realized that we were putting regular gas in the tank!!!!! AHHHHHHH! We ended up spending about 2 1/2 hours at that dreaded gas station, siphoning out the mixed gas/diesel into gas cans that we had to go buy from Walmart. So.... by the time we arrived in Wadsworth, we were all VERY tired!)
Ok, so we realized right before we went to bed that we didn't have any hot water, so dad and Tom tried to light the pilot on the water heater and realized the gas was shut off. So, Sunday morning we all took very refreshing cold showers!!! Church was awesome! We didn't go till the last hour, thinking it would be sacrament meeting, but ended up attending Priesthood and R.S. The ward is VERY friendly, and they all knew about us and were expecting us! That was a really nice feeling! We were even invited to dinner with a cute family from the ward! As we got talking to them, we found out that he is from Utah, and he served in Calvin Steven's mission when he was the Mission Pres! What a small world! We came home Sunday night, scrounged up something for dinner and retired pretty early! Oh, so not only did we not have hot water, we didn't have drip pans in the stove so we couldn't cook. There was a lot of electric work that needed to be done, including changing either the outlet in the wall or the cord on our dryer so we could do laundry. And, oh.... did i mention that the place was really, really yucky dirty? haha!
Monday, we got up fairly early and got mom and dad out the door. They were heading to Kentucky to drop the piano off at Matt and Ann's and have dinner with them! We are SO grateful for my parents and for their help hauling our whole life 2000 miles across the country. Thanks Mom and Dad! We love you!!!
Tom also had a job interview on Monday morning and HE GOT THE JOB!!!! He will be staring in two weeks from today, the 14th, at Kindred Hospital in Cleveland! It is a long-term accute care center, and he is really excited about it! That little miracle right there was so much the reassurance that we needed to help us know that this move was right for us!
Oh man.... I don't even know where to go with the rest of this story..... let's just put it this way.... to make a long story short.... we had the cable guy install internet on monday, which is really nice, we had the electrician come on tuesday and do most of the stuff, and come back wednesday morning to hook up the dryer, on wednesday, after a lot of bugging our landlord, we finally had drip pans so we could use the stove and she had a newer used fridge delivered because the one in the apartment wasn't working and our food was going bad. And finally, on thursday afternoon, the gas company came and turning the gas on so now we have hot water!!! Man, I didn't realized how many luxuries we had previously enjoyed until we had to go without for several days!!!! And by thursday night, I had finally unloaded the last of the boxes! We visited Walmart several times last week, and sometimes, several times a day.... getting little things that we needed to make this apartment liveable for us. (Thanks Eddie and Karly!) Oh, and we were suppose to have new windows put in on saturday before we got here, but they didn't fit, so they had to order more.... so we had to be persistant for a few days to get some screens for the old windows that we have so we could have some sort of ventilation!!! (We are definitely not in hot, dry Utah anymore! ) It is really warm and muggy!!! So, along with having old windows and screens that don't really fit, we didn't have any window coverings, except for in the living room. So, while Tom was in Cleveland again on Friday, I spent all day making drapes for the windows! They are very amateur, but at least they give us a little bit of privacy!
Saturday afternoon, Tom and I made the two hour trip to the Columbus Temple to do a session! We had about an hour and a half to kill, so we walked around the mall.... which took us 30 minutes to find our way out of once we decided to leave! (Don't ask!!!!)
We rounded the corner to the temple, and I said, "I hope I can rent a dress from here" and Tom said, with a little bit of panic in his voice, "You can't. I forgot to mention that to you." Oh man! So, as we walked in, I asked one of the workers and she said they didn't rent clothing, but they did have a dress that I could borrow, so that was a relief, until Tom couldn't find his recommend in his wallet! Haha!!! We eventually found it, but by the time we got to the dressing rooms, we were both a little stressed out! The Columbus Temple is very little! Only one ordinance room, with sessions only every 2 hours, on some days, and some days they only do maybe one or two sessions! You go right from the dressing room to the ordinance room.... no chapel, so that was a little different. But we had a wonderful time there! A lot of promptings and revelations were received that night! Everyone, please don't take for granted, and take advantage of the blessing that we have in Utah to have so many temples so close to us! We have to drive two hours now, and we were talking to some ward members yesterday and they said that is really close for them. Before this temple was built, they use to have to drive 5 or 6 hours, one way to the closest temple! We are so blessed!
Church yesterday was awesome!!! We have never felt SO welcome in any ward since we've been married. We had another dinner invitation yesterday with a very nice little family and we feel like they are going to be really good, close friends!!! And much to Tom's excitment.... we found out that this ward loves to get together and play games!!! He is in heaven! The Bishop came over yesterday afternoon to get to know us a little better and he told us that there are several leaderships in the ward who are fighting over the "new couple"! I hope we get callings soon so we can start serving more!!! (We'll let you know as soon as we do!!) We have a really wonderful ward.... the ward membership is around 350 people and we average between 200-250 every week!!!! The Bishop said that the Stake steals a lot of people from our ward for Stake positions!
We really love being here!!! We are so blessed that Tom was able to find a job so quickly out here! After a lot of work and much more to come, I'm sure, this little apartment is starting to look and feel like home for us! We LOVE Wadsworth!!! It is a pretty small town, with lots of cute old houses and lots of really quiet neighborhoods! As we were driving through with my parents, my dad commented how I'd feel right at home, because this is the kind of town I love!
And Christmas was really fun! It was a little hard to be so far away from home and family, but we were able to do webcam video calls and so it didn't feel so much like we weren't there! Tom and I had to do things a day early because he had to work on the 25th, 26th, and 27th. =( So, we did Christmas Eve on the 23rd and Christmas day on the 24th! My parents gave us a WII, and Tom thought he was sure he knew what it was.... so I had to play a little trick on him, and on Christmas morning, he was totally surprised! We got spoiled this year! Tom enjoying his new gift! 
And, today, being the last sunday of the year, was the last day I had with my primary class! I was only with them for about 2 months, and they were really fun! I taught 6 six year old girls! I get to start teaching 5 seven year olds next week, and they all will be 8 this year and getting baptized!!! This is my primary class! Cute girls!!! 
