Florida-bama

We're here! After about 22 hours and 1,000 miles of driving in tandem we arrived in our new "hometown" of Pensacola, FL. We were welcomed to the Sunshine state in the pouring rain...we'll talk about that some more later...

(at a rest area in NC at 3 am...Josh wondering why pulling my camera out to take a picture is on my mind)


(Giving my neck a rub with the "theracane" before we continue driving...boy was I tense!)

I presented my final research presentation on Monday night and afterwards we began driving south. We originally intended stopping somewhere to sleep but drove more or less "straight through" in tandem with stops for gas, food, and rest...I suppose it was all the adrenaline from finishing my Master's degree- FINALLY!

Tired and weary we arrived to the Navy Lodge on base and settled in Tuesday night. This morning we went to see the first rental home on our list and shortly thereafter we were surrounded by torrential rain and flooding (you know it's bad when an area that tends to get a lot of rain stops the radio station you are listening to in order to discuss evacuation routes!) Well, we are sad to say the rain was not in our favor and what seemed like a "driveway" into a parking lot (we were trying to turn around) was actually a very large curb and drain. Needless to say, 0.5 seconds later we had 2 flat tires and only one spare. I think I kept imagining it would go away, so when Josh asked me to call a cab company I sat there, thought about it awhile (while he was putting on one spare in the pouring rain) and then decided to call Dad Gropp...hmmm....denial??

...Several hours later, after encountering many nice people, spending some money, and ultimately doing what Josh asked me to do in the first place (calling a cab to get the other car)- we were back in working order.

While Josh was getting the tires replaced I went to look at the other houses on our list to try to expedite the process and we ultimately decided on the first house we looked at. We are so thrilled and blessed by the timing of everything relating to our move. The movers in Baltimore packed us up Friday and here we are with a house to rent and movers coming tomorrow to deliver our boxes! We are really looking forward to eating some home-cooked meals again and settling in.

Below are some pictures from our adventure so far...there is so much yet to explore...hopefully some of that exploring can happen without the rain soon!


(The view from our Navy Lodge hotel room on base)

Our new home:

(outside in the dark- will get pictures of backyard some other time)

(we had a lot of "thinking" to do during all of that driving...one thing that occurred to me during the drive is that we have a blue car and a gold car...people in the navy might think we're Navy Blue and Gold fanatics...we really didn't do this on purpose but it gave me a good laugh on the car ride...)


(living room when you walk in the front door- bedrooms/bathrooms to the left once in house. Kitchen to the right)


("dining room"/area for kitchen table)


(Kitchen- fake granite)

(kitchen with pass through to dining room- door here goes to garage)


(garage with lots of shelving and washer/dryer)

(garage-last tenants left a t.v.)


(Hallway to bathroom and three small bedrooms)

(Master bathroom)

(lots of great closet space)

(2nd bathroom)

...well, if you've made it this far I'm impressed!

Tomorrow Josh will "check in" and we should be doing plenty of unpacking. Monday I have my first interview.

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers.