OKC to ABQ

On April 18-19, 2012 Albert took the last three tests for his FAA training.  They were really tough and seven out of 18 people in his class didn't make it.  Luckily Albert wasn't one of those and ended up in the top three of his class.  I think it was a mixture of prayer, diligence, and just natural ability.  He was really sad that one of his friends in the class who was also in our ward at church didn't make it after he studied so hard so it was a very happy and very sad couple of days.  

We ate a celebratory meal at Abel's in Warr Acres, OK (we highly recommend it) and packed pretty much everything Thursday night.  Friday morning Albert put the rest of our belongings into the little U-Haul trailer and we were on our way to our new home in Albuquerque.  This moving experience was much more pleasant that the last two since we have about a third of our total belongings with us (the rest is still in storage in Virginia waiting until we find a permanent residence) and we didn't have to clean the apartment.

The last week in Oklahoma we kept getting tornado and hail storm warnings, but luckily we were able to get out of town without any major natural disasters (we had enough last year with the earth quake and hurricane).  

These are some pictures from the road. Pretty farmland sights in Oklahoma.  I wanted some photos of the green since we won't be seeing that anymore.

Now you can see how the climate has started to change as we headed west through Texas and onto New Mexico.   

Quentin didn't really sleep much on our trip, much to my dismay, so we had to take some breaks where we just got out of the car seat for a bit.  He had fun pretending to drive with Dada.  Aren't my boys the cutest?!  You can definitely tell they're related.

And finally we hit the "Land of Enchantment."  We've been getting used to the new climate (dry and almost always pleasant).  I am terribly allergic to sagebrush (not good growing up in Wyoming) so I have been downing lots of allergy medicine since we got here.  One day I'll have to make an appointment with an allergy specialist and probably start taking shots.  Good thing Albert did well putting in IVs during his military training.

We were able to do a late check-in at our apartment complex on Friday night.  Our furnished two bedroom apartment is pretty nice inside.  I'm loving all the extra space from our tiny one bedroom in Oklahoma, but it sure is loud.  The walls are paper thin and we hear the traffic on the fairy busy road out front (lots of people riding motorcycles around here) and every move our upstairs neighbors make.  Luckily, we've all started to get used to the extra noise and it doesn't bother us as much anymore.  I'm having fun trying out new recipes again since I have to cook now and we finally went to our new ward this last Sunday and everyone was super friendly and joking around a lot.  I've never laughed so much in Relief Society.

So far we really like it here in "Duke City."  The people are very nice for the most part and the weather...they weren't joking about the weather...it's beautiful.  I love the big blue sky and the mountains are very pretty.  I'm going to have to learn some Spanish in order to properly pronounce all the road names.  As of Monday, April 23, Albert is in training at his facility and is liking it.  

People here are much more health conscious and there are lots of natural food stores with gluten-free food and bike lanes and trails.  People are outside walking, jogging, skate boarding, and biking, which is a big change from Oklahoma where they don't even have sidewalks.  They also have skiing on the other side of the mountain (it's no Park City or Jackson Hole, but it's nearby) so Albert is really excited to take up his favorite sport again.  

It seems a little soon to say I'm falling in love, but it's sure getting serious.  This state could be the ONE for life, or the next 20-30 years.   Now if they only had H&M, Maggiano's, and IKEA we'd be set.  Good thing we have friends in Denver :)