Two Weeks of Craziness

The constant craziness in our lives has finally stopped! The month of July has been a month of constant stop and go for Tony and I. Here are some of the highlights of the last two weeks.

Michigan Open House

Naomi and I (thanks Naomi!)

After getting back from our honeymoon and unpacking, we traveled across the Midwest to Michigan where Tony's mother had organized an open house at church. It was truly a blessing to not have to organize the event and for that I am eternally grateful. Thanks Mom! While there we had the chance to spend time with the people and Tony grew up with and quality time with some of the Hammond clan. Another blessing was the chance for my parents and my sister, Naomi to be there for the open house. Tony and I had a great time with everyone and enjoyed visiting with everyone. It was really a joy being welcomed and accepted into Tony's immediate, extended and church family. 

Week 2 in Iowa

Tony's first day of work

Tony officially started work on Monday, July 23rd. He spent the week doing basic training for work, while I spent the week finding things to do. I attacked the second bedroom right away and it took me a day to turn it from this:

To this:

 I thought it'd take me a longer time to do this so I had to be creative for the remainder of the week, aka, sit and do a little more organizing, but mostly fall into boredom. However, Thursday I received an email from a professor at the University and arranged a meeting for the following day. She gave me some training to do so that I could start working in one of her research labs in the following weeks. Finally. something to do!!

Natasha and Pat's Wedding

Joanna, Laura, Me, Zach, Pat, Natasha, Paul, Jenna, Michelle
Lisa, Tony, Becky, Adam

The following weekend we took another trip across the Midwest, back to Wisconsin to share in the joy of watching one of my oldest friends marry an incredible man. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful chance to see everyone one last time for the summer. Congratulations Natasha and Pat!!

We then traveled home for the last 4+ hour drive of the month. Not that we don't love all of you, but I think we're all sick of driving for the time being and are going to stay put for quite some time here.

Week 3 in Iowa

This last week involved much less boredom on both mine and Tony's part. While Tony began officially working and was settled into his position, I spent the week biking all over Iowa City and running all over Coralville. Monday, I started the official name changing process with both the government and the school, new social security card, new email address, change name at the bank. So much change, but not a new drivers license due to the DOT (Department of Transportation) being closed. (I biked 3 miles one way only for it to be closed!) I also accomplished most of the training given to me, met with the head of my department to register for classes (done!!), learned more about my fellowship for school, and took out my sewing machine for some relaxing time.

Thursday brought about my birthday. 22!! Not much of a difference. I have come to believe that our age does not make us old, but rather our current stage in life. Being married has made me feel so much older than 18, 21 or 22 has ever felt. Anyway, I had the chance to do mostly nothing on my birthday. It was a wonderful day to which I received two surprises. One: a basket of flowers with balloons was delievered. Thanks Mom and Dad Hammond! Two: Tony arrived home from work with a bouquet of flowers and a bag of candy. Another part of my birthday included Tony making me dinner on Saturday, which was a sweet onion sauce over pasta and chicken with some broccoli. It was very delicious. 

Birthday surprises!

Friday night Tony and I had the chance to get out of the apartment and go see The Dark Knight Rises. We both enjoyed the time together and movie was excellent. It also helps that Tony gets discount tickets to the Marcus Theaters from his work. Thank you Rockwell!

Friday Night Escape

Yesterday, we finalized the name change for me by traveling to the DOT to change over our drivers licenses. Who knew you needed that much documentation to switch over your drivers license. I must say my picture is the worst one yet, but it wouldn't be a true license with a good picture. We then traveled to the library to pick up some library cards. There also happened to be a book sale going on, our weakness, so we ended up buying a pretty large pile of books, to which our bookshelves are now full. 

My pile on the left, Tony's on the right

While at the booksale, there was also a torrential downpour that puddled the streets (yes, puddled is now a word) and I'm pretty sure it caught the ground off guard. However, it was nice to get some rain. I spent the rest of the day reading one of the books I got from the library while Tony cooked dinner. It was truly a nice weekend to just sit and relax.