Our Newest Adventure

As many of you may know we moved to the east coast to Edison, NJ. Aaron is starting PA school on Monday August 13th at Rutgers. He is really excited and attended orientation today and is ready to start. The first thing he said to me when he got home was "Kristin, you are never going to see me." Its kinda sad that I am not going to see him as much but it will all be worth it in the end.

We moved here about a week ago and the culture is something else. I have never lived on the east coast and am very used to my west coast friendliness and southern hospitality. Everyone here is always in a hurry and kinda gives you the cold shoulder. You have to earn their trust before they will open up and talk to you.

My parents (thank goodness for them) helped us drive up here with our Penske truck (with Aaron's car on the back) and my car. It took 2 days (because the truck went pretty slow) but we had a fun adventure. We arrived to an apartment we had never stepped foot in and were thoroughly surprised. Its 1280 sq feet but like most east coast apartments is very expensive. We didn't have an opportunity to travel to come look for places so we figure we scored. I was a bit overwhelmed when we arrived by my parents and Aaron made me feel better about everything. We unloaded the boxes from the truck and then had 3 guys from our new ward help with the furniture (oh we live on the 3rd floor so that was a workout for them). We all worked for the next 2 days to get everything setup before my parents flew out. My mom took me grocery shopping and shopping for the little things we needed in the apartment. Thanks to my parents for all their help and not just leaving me high and dry. They worked their butts off.

So my parents left and I got my first ride on the New Jersey Turnpike. I can't believe how expensive it is just to drive here and how many people there are. We dropped them off at the Newark airport (which isn't too far) and that was pretty hard. I cried for a little bit but figured I would see them soon. I saw New York City from the Turnpike which was pretty cool too.

In our first week we had a lot of firsts.
1. Our first jug handle. In NJ at major intersections they don't allow you to turn left (its a safety thing). So, you veer to the right and loop around and go straight (which takes you to the spot where you would have turned left). Its weird at first and not all intersections have it so you have to pay attention. I am just glad the GPS recognizes it.
2. Someone else pumped our gas. In NJ and OR are the 2 states that pump your gas for you. Its all because of unions and other stuff. Its weird to hand your card to someone else and have them do it. People out here say that they don't even know how to do it themselves if they had to.
3. We got our first "welcome to Jersey shout." The guy that pumped our gas noticed we had UT plates and asked what we were doing out here. He finished pumping our gas and yelled, "WELCOME TO JERSEY- ENJOY!"
4. Toll roads. I have never lived in a state where you had to pay to go on the roads. The garden state parkway is pretty cheap, only $1.50 but the Turnpike can get expensive. When we took my parents it was about 9 bucks roundtrip.
5. The jersey shore. Aaron and I met someone from his program while at the parking and ID office. Kittrick and his wife Jess from Washington State had gotten married 2 weeks prior and drove 5 days to get out here. They were heading to the jersey shore on Wed and invited us a long so we said why not. We got there and were very surprised when we had to PAY $7 per person and $7 per vehicle. YOU HAVE TO PAY TO GO TO THE BEACH! Don't get me wrong- they are nice beaches and have lifeguards, but still. We sat on the beach for about 3 hours and talked. It was good to get to know them and talk about past experiences that led them here. We also got really burned. It was only about 80 out and the humidity was pretty low (even though Jess was burning up- but she is from Washington). I got home and my face, chest and arms were bright red. It went away the next day but hurt that first night.

I am sure we will have many more firsts including heading to New York City this weekend to celebrate an early anniversary before Aaron starts school. I have never been to the city, ridden a train, or a subway. I will be sure to post pictures of it all. All in all things have been mostly good. I have had my days where all I want to do is cry but I am told by other wives that have moved here that they had their bad days too. They told Aaron to give me about 3 months and I should be good. They all love it here so I am hoping to adjust to the life out here.