Last week we flew to Kansas City in hopes of finding a place to live for the next couple of years. It was a bit of a struggle trying to find a place that was in a safe area, didn't smell like smoke, and that wasn't going to be extremely expensive, but the heavens opened and we found somewhere! I won't give you all the details of our emotionally exhausting trip, but to give you any idea of the stress we were feeling, the temple was the only place we had felt at peace all day. I literally almost started crying at the sight of it. My little Utah heart was dying to see a church steeple all day.
So we took those few minutes at the temple, breathed, regrouped, and continued on our journey of finding a home. We just weren't impressed with the many different places we visited, so we were feeling very discouraged. But after many prayers and two full days of looking, we found a nice place to live, and our new neighbor Esther (an elderly woman we briefly talked to outside the apartment) is very excited to have us :) It was actually a miracle that this place worked out because we were on a waiting list for it, and the complex held the apartment for us even though we weren't technically "next" because they knew we were coming a long way, and they like med students and their families. So we are extremely grateful. Take a look at the pic below! And feel free to come visit us anytime! But really.
After our apartment hunt, we decided to explore our new home town and see some of the fun adventures it has to offer! We went to visit the med school, which is actually in a very sketchy part of town :/ They have security guards at all the entrances, and a key card must be used to get into any building. So hopefully Cam is safe when he goes to school everyday!!
For dinner one night we ate at the famous Oklahoma Joe's BBQ! It actually was very good and lives up to the hype we've heard about it. We are excited to return again for many more meals :)
Exploring "The Plaza" - which is a nice area of downtown that has a bunch of shops and stores, a cool staircase, and this lovely fountain that I had Cam stand in front of.
THEN! We learned that Kansas City is home to Hallmark! Who knew?! So we went to the free visitors center they have and learned all about the beginnings of Hallmark, and made our very own gift bows! It was actually quite enjoyable, and I secretly love this fun fact about our new home.
So we survived our first KC adventure. And we feel a ton better moving far away now that we have a place to live. We are a little nervous about it all, but we will get used to the forest of trees EVERYWHERE, the humidity (that will definitely be a struggle with my natural wavy hair...), the ten thousand highways, the ghetto downtown, etc. etc. and I'm sure we will learn to love it all. We're being positive and hopeful that we can find nice friends, and have heard great things about the ward we'll be in. We definitely won't be in the bubble anymore, that's for sure :)
In OTHER news, we have a new niece!!! The FIRST grandbaby of our little Tanner family! Nathan & McKenna had their baby on Nathan's birthday of all days :) We were thrilled to celebrate Isabel Pearl's debut into the world! She is tiny tiny, but so cute. I'm so glad she was born before we left so we could meet her :)
That's about it for right now folks! We roll out in 2 weeks, so we are just packing away! If you want to see our lovely faces before we leave please call or text, and we would love the break from packing boxes :)
