Where in the world is.... Donny, Megan and Tyler????

So a lot of you know and some have no clue... so we thought we would update you all and let you know what is new with us. WE MOVED!!! (let me explain and sorry about all the words.)

On Wed. June 24th, Donny received an email saying he got a 6 month internship and was to report for orientation on Wed. July 1st at 9AM. In Fort Lauderdale Florida! Whoa.... WHAT???

In 2 days we packed up our home and put what we could fit into my parents van. Everything else, which was pretty much everything, has a new home in a storage unit. thanks to everyone who helped us pack and move in such short notice. There is no way we could have done it with out you all. Saturday we said our goodbyes and headed out on our LONG 4 day drive across the country.

DAY 1:

We had a later start than we thought so we only drove 6 hours on Saturday. We stopped in Rawlins, Wyoming and had delicious burritos for dinner with Donny's Uncle Roger and Aunt Cheri. We spent the night in Cheyanne, WY. After going to the 5 FULL hotels, we finally found one that was available at about midnight.

I don't know what it is about wind mills but they are so cool looking! Reminds me of the movie, "Mac and Me." (highly recommended if you've never seen it)
Doesn't Tyler look thrilled to be in the back with all the luggage. Poor kid had a long ride! He did so well though!
Day 2:

I set my alarm for 5:30 AM. It didn't go off. But thankfully I woke up at 6 and we were out of there by 6:30am. We made it to Kansas City that night, we pulled in at about 7:30. We had lost an hour, due to the time zone change. This night was fun. We got to spend the night at the home of my good friend, Cassie, from high school. Thanks Cass! She makes a fabulous taco salad. We were also able to set up a time to meet with Donny's brother, Elder Kyle Hicken, who is serving in that area. It was so good to see Kyle. He has been out for 15 months and has not seen Tyler since he was 6 mo. old. Tyler thought it was fun seeing his uncle Kyle and enjoyed calling him "Psycho Kyko"!

If you have never been to Kansas......Well here it is!!!

Day 3:

Donny thought it was smart for him to set the alarm this time. He set it for 5 o'clock, hence the 15 hour drive we had ahead of us that day. It would have been great had he set it for AM instead of PM. We finally left Cassie'e house at 7:30am. We stopped and took a picture at the arch in St. Louis. We drove to Enterprise, Alabama that night. We didn't get in until past midnight. Thankfully my cousin Julie still took us in. She had a nice blow up mattress and everything set up for us. Thanks Julie!!!

This is how we found Tyler when we woke up in the morning! Day 4:

We only had a 9 hour drive this day. We both set our alarms, and they both went off this time :)! We took our time getting ready and visiting. It is pretty sad when 9 hours seems like a short drive. but Tyler enjoyed the break and was able to play with Julies girls for a while. We booked a hotel that night and then headed on our way. When we arrived it was pouring rain and dark. It had been perfect weather until then. a nice welcome to our new home. We got to out hotel which ended up being a junker! Not at all what it looked like online. There was a huge hole in the wall with the fire alarm hanging out and the carpet was very sticky, we had to wear shoes at all times. but we arrived safely and soundly.

We got a crack out of this lovely wall hanging above our bed! The next morning Donny had orientation. He found out he would be working in the Miami office not in Fort Lauderdale. So after Donny returned home from doing paperwork, drug tests, and fingerprints, we drove down to Miami.

Some reason in my head i pictured Miami as more of a vacation area than the HUGE city it is. It was scary. People here drive like maniacs. There are homeless all over, not just on the street corners but sitting in the middle of the road. I can't tell you how many times we were honked at. it didn't help that out GPS was having a hard time getting reception between all the tall buildings and we ended up on a one way street... headed the wrong way. that could have ended up worse then it did. We made it safely back to our hotel that night and both wondered what in the world we had got ourselves into.

The next day was much better. We moved to a nicer hotel. I felt a lot more relaxed just being there. They even let us check in early with no additional charge. Donny started work in the Miami office. He works on the 10th floor. He is a little overwhelmed at everything he has to do but he is enjoying learning something new. I know he will do great! I received a phone call from Kira, the wife of the intern, Tommy, who is training Donny. Donny had told Tommy what an adjustment we were having and that we were not sure how to find a place to live. Kira was very helpful. She gave my phone number to some sisters in the ward. Also, she gave me some other suggestions that were very helpful. One sister in the ward, Jen, called me and invited us over to see their apartment. after Donny got off work we went over to Jen and Ryan's place. It was very nice. Everywhere around here has Valet parking and security everywhere. It is different but it definitely makes me feel more safe. Jen also invited over the Tingey's. (another couple in the ward that lives a couple buildings down.) Geoff Tingey is also a intern at Citigroup. He was there the last 6 months but has extended and is staying another 6 months. We are excited to get to know him and his wife, Betsey, better! They live right by the Bay and it is beautiful. Betsey says she has seen dolphins and other cool fish come into the bay lately. That sold me on living in that area right away!

This is the view from Donny's window at work. And no, the streets are not flooded. Those are rivers!

In order to rent a apartment here in Miami, the best way is to get a real estate agent. I had never heard of that for renting. We set up a few appointments and the next few days we looked around. There were some nice places but none totally stuck out to us. Rent is ridiculous here! For a 1 bedroom, you will pay anywhere from $1100 to $1400 depending if it is furnished or not.

We enjoyed the 4th of July. We had an appointment set up for that morning to look at a place that was on the 44th floor of a high rise building. I hate heights so you can imagine my relief when the agent never called us back. We again switched hotels to an extended stay hotel, which is a little cheaper. I again had a break down because we had not found a home yet. Tyler is having a hard time adjusting and doesn't enjoy switching hotels every couple days. That evening we went to dinner with Kira and Tommy. We ate at Chili's in the Bayshore mall. Again we were able to experience the strange people of Miami. As we were eating out meal, on the balcony, just over the bay. The cops came and arrested a lady, right in the restaurant. She was fighting and screaming like a crazy. She was fighting so bad she fell over and they practically had to pick her up and carry her out. It was quite hilarious actually. We were still eating when the fireworks started going off. A large barge came into the bay and shot fireworks off. it was beautiful and fun. Tyler was scared to death at first. then he got used to it and was clapping by the end.

Sunday was nice. We got to go to our new ward. It is only 30 minutes away. That still seems so weird to me. We would have been on time if the roads in Miami were anywhere close to normal but we had to do a weird U-turn to get into the parking lot. It is the only way to get in. It just took us about 15 minutes to figure it out haha. The ward was a decent size. It is made up of a lot of different ethnic cultures and ages. Very different than the young married student ward we are used to. we had a lot of people come introduce themselves to us. Don't ask me to remember names. Tyler enjoyed nursery and the leaders said he was great. Although, they didn't know his name the whole class. We were able to meet the bishop and fill out papers to transfer our records. We are excited to start new, and to serve in the ward.

Monday morning, Donny calls me from work to inform me that the agent wants us to come look at the 44th story apartment. Ugh!!! He set up a time for 8 o'clock that evening. All day I worked up my guts and finally convinced myself that it is worth the look, but that is all. When we arrived and got in the elevator, the realtor pushed floor 48! 48??? When did 44 turn to 48? Oh well i closed my eyes and up we went. It wasn't that bad really. I couldn't even tell that the elevator was moving. The apartment was GORGEOUS. Brand new. It is fully furnished, dishes and everything. It has a washer and dryer. and the most amazing view. I did go out on the balcony, not to the edge but on it none the less. it didn't look so high because I could see the roof of the building next to us, it only looked like we were 15 floors up instead of 48. I didn't look over the edge though! Well we needed to talk about it and i guess the agent took that as if we weren't interested and dropped the price $100 a month just like that! Wow, we are great negotiators!

Needless to say, we took the offer and after negotiating a few more things we got the place! I keep wondering how Donny won this fight?! I am happy to have a place though. We need to get settled so we can enjoy ourselves better and start to feel at home. We move in this weekend. We will get better pictures on here soon!!!!

This is a view of our place from a distance. Ours in the tallest one, the sort of oval shapped one!