Back in New Haven!

For anyone with a low shock tolerance, you may want to sit down before...oops. Too late. This is an actual post on our actual blog, the first installment in what we hope becomes a long and prosperous tradition of us feeding you trivial tidbits as well as life-altering, mind-shattering epiphanies and revelations and events in our lives. Into the latter category we would submit the following earth-shattering event. Walker and I can finally make our way around the apartment without yelping in pain, squeaking as we walk on the cardboard that served as a veritable second floor, or rifling madly through the piles for the...where the heck are they?!?...nail clippers (we now have three). That qualifies as a modern-day miracle.

After our wedding in Manti on May 24, open house at Grandma Taylor's, honeymoon, and open house in Plantation, we started off for New Haven. In a caravan, Walker and I, Tennis Shoes among the Nephites, and Steve departed from Plantation on Tuesday morning. Tennis Shoes was the most trusty, reliable, and entertaining travel companion. Walker came in a very close second, and Jenn finished dead last. It was pretty hot, and my mood tends to flatten as the heat rises. We stayed in a hotel in North Carolina Tuesday night and resumed our travels Wednesday, ending up at Lani and Mauricio's (Lani is Audrey's sister) in Pennsylvania for the night. We really enjoyed meeting them and their cute little kids, Michael and Alexander (Mauricio Junior was in school, so we'll have to meet him next time around). On Thursday afternoon, we arrived in New Haven, having skirted any automobile problems over the 1,300-mile trek.

A trip to IKEA later, we were assembling our new bed and then took off for Modern Apizza, my very favorite pizza place, which is now an enticing 5-minute walk away. Yes, it even outstrips the likes of Sally's or Pepe's. True to form, I ordered the fresh tomato and basil on white sauce—the very pizza that sparked my affair with Modern—Steve took on the Italian bomb, and Walker bounced between the two. The next morning, Steve took off for Florida, and Walker and I engaged in the battle of the box. This past week consisted primarily of shuffling, re-shuffling, stacking and re-stacking, and in some cases, even unpacking our plethora of cardboard boxes. After a few trips to IKEA, Bad Breath and Beyond (thanks for that one, Dad), Target, and Shaw's grocery store (food supplier in our local ghetto), where we used our much-appreciated gift cards, we are now able to sustain life in our lovely new apartment. We'll post some pictures soon.

In more recent news, Walker just got a top-secret job with the FBI translating documents from Romanian to English. You might think I'm joking, but just call and ask Walker. He won't divulge his sources or mission. Believe me, I've tried to squeeze it out of him. He will, however, relate to you quite an entertaining anecdote about being admitted into the FBI building after a thorough scrutinization by the guard and under escort. I continue my lowly job search through temp agencies, and have also researched many of the private schools in Connecticut and several local colleges. Nothing yet, but hopefully something will turn up soon. Walker has been called to the position of assistant ward mission leader. He is working with the ward mission leader, who is out of town for the summer, so for a few months, Walker will be the head of operations. My calling is still under wraps (hopefully just until this Sunday), but I will give you one hint: it's not like any other calling I've had. Hehe. I'm sure that was a lot of help.

Two other tidbits of interest: I have officially graduated!!! I received my diploma in the mail as well as a letter confirming that I have, in fact, graduated, even though I wasn't at the ceremonies. Like my bachelor's diploma, my master's diploma is in Latin. Fortunately, Yale provides an English translation. However, they inform the degree holder, if one desires an official translation, one must apply in writing to so-and-so. The second tidbit: we got our wedding picture proofs! If you want to see a great preview, go to etflife.blogspot.com, and scroll down to our wedding date (May 24). Coming up soon on the blog, I hope to include a complete run-down of the events of this most perfect day of our lives. But for now, that pretty much sums up the day: perfect. We want to thank all of our family members and friends who were able to attend the events of the day or who were there in spirit. You have supported and loved us throughout our time growing up, and we are so grateful to you. We hope to stay in touch and continue to share in each other's adventures and challenges and joys in the coming years.

Geez, I'm sounding like this is my farewell letter to an old friend! Sorry about that. Really, this is just the beginning. For now, we're signing off Frahm New Haven, with love. --Jenn