Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Hey everyone! Well, it certainly has been a while, sorry about that! I meant to update our blog earlier, but Steve has been holding the computer hostage, writing his many papers for school. But the good news is, he is done! He just had his last day of school last Monday, and now he's just getting ready for his finals this weekend, and then graduation is next Friday, the 25th! YAY! We are so excited! After that, it's off to law school! We have finally decided where we're going! About a week and a half ago, Steve and I went on a trip for 8 days, touring different law schools. We left the twins with my parents for the most part, but they did stay for a bit with Steve's parents as well, but it was so hard to be away from them! I was calling all the time, just to check in, so it probably drove everyone crazy. But Steve and I started our tour at the University of Illinois, in Champaign, and we loved it! We stayed with a couple who is graduating this year from law, and we were able to meet all of the other LDS couples who are going to law school, which was so fun! After a couple of days there, we flew to D.C. and then drove to Lexington, VA to look at Washington and Lee University, and we loved it there as well. It was absolutely beautiful and so full of history! For example, Robert E. Lee's house is on the campus, since he served as the school's president from the time after the "War of Northern Aggression" (as the locals called the Civil War :) ), to the time he died. It was pretty cool. After this, we drove to Williamsburg, VA to look at William and Mary, and the school was really neat. After a day there, we drove back to Washington D.C. and met up with Steve's parents, who were there for a conference, and his sister Minde and her husband Tyler and little boy Chase, who came down from New York City, and hung out with them for a few days. It was really fun. We were able to see all of the sites, and we timed it perfectly so we were there during the Cherry Blossom Festival, and was absolutely beautiful! In the middle of all this, Steve and I also ran over to George Mason University for their open house. Then on Sunday, we flew home. It was a crazy couple of days! But it also helped us to finally decide where we wanted to go, and we decided on the University of Illinois, and they also 'upped' Steve's scholarship, so we were really excited! Anyway, to the U of I is located about 1 1/2 hours away from Chicago, 3 hours from Nauvoo, 21/2 hours from Springfield (where Lincoln lived), and 45 mins from Amish country. It's really neat! Plus, Steve's really excited about being close to the Cubs and Bears, and being at a school with Big 10 sports, which, I guess, is cool too.:) But also, because the cost of living is so cheap there, we'll be able to buy a house, which I'm really excited about! Anyway, so overall, it's a perfect fit for us, despite the fact that's completely flat out there. After we got home, Steve's cousin Rob Whiting died at age 53, which was really hard. He was the closest man we knew to being perfect, and we really loved him, and will truly miss him.
So now we're hoping things will settle down for a little bit, until May 3, when Steve's sister, Stephanie, is marrying Spencer Randle, so we're really excited for that! Then after that, we'll celebrate our anniversary, start packing, go to Lake Powell with Steve's family, have family reunion with my family in Yellowstone, then go to Hawaii with Steve's family, and then we move! I'll upload pictures a little later, but I just wanted to let you all know what's been going on in our lives! Thank you again to everyone who has left comments! Sorry I haven't gotten back to you, but I will! Love Ya!