wild & wonderful

Hey there,

As most of you reading this will already know, LD, Bentley and I have set up camp this fall in Wheeling, West Virginia, a small town about an hour south of Pittsburgh. In an effort to stay connected to all of our friends and family members who are scattered (literally) across the country and world, I thought that it would be a fun new challenge to start this blog where we can update anyone interested in our lives and hopefully receive comments and messages in return. So, here we go...

After a whirlwind summer of college graduations, travel, and altogether too much fun, my mom and I arrived in West Virginia with a car full of clothes and no idea where LD and I would be living. We headed to the airport to pick up a puppy and football player off a flight from Tampa, where LD left his family to come up here and start a new season at West Liberty University. The set-up at the school was great, and we had enjoyed getting to know the head coach, Roger Waialae, and his family on previous visits. The housing situation, however, was less than ideal. This area of the country was deserted ghost town-style after the steel mills shut down and nothing new has been built here in what seems like decades. Finding a rental of any sort or an apartment was an added challenge. We finally found this little house that had been sub-divided into 3 apartments. We would occupy the first floor and have a backyard for Bentley. We signed the lease with our somewhat unorthodox landlord and moved in.

One month into living here, we feel like we are beginning to know the area a little better. I commute in  an hour and 15 min drive three times a week to work as a research coordinator for Zitelli & Brodland P.C. in Pittsburgh. LD is a student at the school and playing football obviously. We quickly discovered that a place called "Quaker Steak and Lube" is the place to see and be seen and have watched more Netflix episodes of Friday Night Lights than is healthy. So far, the so-called wild and wonderful state has been quite a wild ride and we are hoping that, on and off the field, it will live up to its name as well.