Ohio, the saga

Dear family,
As many of you know, Lance and I survived traveling in the crazy storm. Lance drove like a champ and didn't tell me how nervous he was until after, which was probably good. :) We traveled through many states that we came to a consensus about that we never wanted to live there! (south dakota, really?) The storm of the century of whatever you want to call it was right in front and right behind us. We managed (through lots of prayer) to never hit the really bad spots. The worst was really stopping for gas (in south dakota) and it was literally -30 degrees. Just turning off the car made it so we could see our breath! Needless to say we did not feel like extending our stay in this lovely state to see Mt. Rushmore. Another time maybe! (we took pictures along the way but lucky for you they got lost, now you don't have to look at 7 identical pictures of different snowy wastelands for a state!!) We just plugged our way through the trip and saw many blessings on the way. One time we stopped a little earlier than planned because the roads were windy, icy, and it was getting dark. The next morning we saw about 12 cars and a semi off the sides of the roads on just the next exit. But despite all obstacles, we made it to Ohio weds night. We got to stay with Lance's cousin Megan that night and then in the morning we drove the 45 mins to the base and checked in. They set us up in temporary housing which was nice, except the kitchen had recently been the victim of a popcorn burning or something. We hunted for days for apartments in the area and ended up debating between base housing which would be 3 rooms, an attached garage and yard or one bedroom with a really nice kitchen and bathtub (my favorite part). We were really having a hard time weighing the pros and cons so we decided to look at 2 more apts. After quickly checking the first one off our list (it smelled like cat pee) we went to Stonefalls apartments. We didn't even leave the parking lot and had decided that this was the place for us. We have a wonderful one bedroom (square foot of a two bedroom) with a free garage (not attached but free!), a view of a little pond with two geese and occasionally some ducks, the managment is really great and the apt has the best lighting from big windows. After this we set about to find furniture. I have personally come to the conclusion that furniture salesman are not too distant cousins of car salesman. We went to a million different stores and found the perfect stuff for us. We are now the proud owners of a new couch, 2 small bookcases, a beautiful kitchen table, 2 beside tables and a new bedding set. During all this Lance was going on base to inprocess and I was trying to recover from a massive cold. Then Friday morning came, bright and early. We eagerly packed up our stuff in the temp housing and moved the 8 mins to our new place. Just as we pulled in I started to smell pickles. Pulling out the food bags, we found that a half open pickle jar was ready to spill its contents all over the front seat of our new car. So we spent the first half of the day cleaning out the car and the rest of the day with Lance muttering, "pickles! I smell pickles! I will never eat another pickle again!" Then the movers that were moving our stuff were only able to show up at about 6:30 pm. Because of this the guy didn't have any help moving our stuff in except his wife. So Lance chipped in and we ended up getting everything all done about 9:30pm. We then spent the next day picking up our newly acquired furniture with the help of Megan's father in law's truck. (did I mention that the first thing you do when you come in the apartment is go upstairs?? yeah.) Then we spent the next few days unpacking, putting up pictures and grocery shopping. (Did you know that there are NO bulk food stores here like WinCo?) Now we are settled in, everything is ready and in its place. It's just the ordinary doing laundry and dishes day to day. So things are going really well here, Lance starts work tomorrow. I use the term "work" loosely because apparently they don't even have computers and there is going to be a lot of waiting around. Their offices are being remodeled and their team is being put together from scratch so it might be a little while before he does real work. But he is eager to get going. The office he is in has some fun rumors too. It apparently used to be a train yard building where they would work on trains or something. I also heard the basement used to hold German prisoners from world war II. And most comically, like all government institutions there are the rumors of Aliens and UFO debris. (if it's true I will never know because my husband wouldn't be allowed to tell me!!) Although I can't say I don't think some of the heads of the government are going about things in an unearthly way... haha! sigh. I am funny. just kidding. Ok so here is our address, feel free to send letters, packages, and yourselves at anytime!

2437 Edgewater Drive #5
Beavercreek, OH 45431

We are going to enjoy our adventures here and are looking forward to new roads. Keep us updated on you as well. We will be sending emails with updates as things happen, so if you don't hear from us that might just mean things are going smoothly and I haven't spilled more pickle juice in the car!! Love you all, Lance and Rosie Lucero