L'aventure américaine

There is just so much to be grateful for and I won't do it justice here.  Randal and I are happily home, slowly unpacking and cleaning and looking at our fabulous wedding gifts and reminiscing and missing and settling into life as husband and wife. I remember when my best friend, Mackenzie, got married and she would refer to Ivan as "my husband," all the time, instead of simply calling him by his name.  It was so annoying at the time and I remember thinking, I know who your husband is.  You can use his name!  I can understand why she did that now.  I can't get enough of, "Hello husband!"  or "Good morning, husband!"  or "You're my husband now.  Husband!"  Or just a constant state of wonderful bemusement at the fact that...  I am a wife!  It really was the best wedding ever.  We are so grateful to ALL of our family and friends. More pictures to come...

The summer of milestones continues and it is a busy one!  Randal and I went back to Indiana for a couple of weeks to complete wedding preparations and see the newest addition to the Lupov family.  Baby Avery was born on the same day that we officially closed on our house and she is a cutie!  Long dark hair and the cutest little button nose...  I had a wonderful time holding her and chatting with new-mama Mackenzie.  Babies are an adjustment, but Mama and Papa Lupov are making the transition extraordinarily well. I have since returned to Klamath Falls where my partner, Stephanie, was successfully keeping the pets and plants alive for us.  Oh, and also the small task of starting our CMS Innovation Grant.  It was good to get down to work and really pound it out.  And by that, I mean that we are still pounding it out.  We hope that the rough draft will be finished by Friday and we can take a breath. The learning curve is steep, ...

Click.  Click.  Click.  That is the sound of everything falling into place.  All of the dominoes that we have lined up this year have gradually fallen down smoothly and happily.  And so a new phase of life begins in Klamath Falls, Oregon. We continued our UHaul roadtrip with the pets riding up front with us and behaving pretty well for the most part.  While in hotels, we would feverishly respond to the emails from the man handling our mortgage, waiting to see if Randal's home in Arkansas closed and then if we were approved and then if the appraisal successfully came through.  Click.  Click.  Click.  There was a chance that we would be able to close the day after we arrived. Of course, along the way, it was important to make some stops in significant places.  Which of course, is Atlantic, Iowa.  Randal and I thoroughly enjoyed the Amana colonies and he got his photo taken with the horse that has patiently stood by for years...

My traveling companions. Randal and I are right outside of Iowa City tonight after a late start today.  I am pleased that we didn't go further than this though as he will get his first dose of the Amana Colonies tomorrow morning, which was a yearly tradition for the Jochims when we would visit Iowa.  I tried to explain them to him: "It was a colony like the Shakers or the Amish.  They make great textiles like my green blanket.  And refrigerators.  We eat breakfast there!  There's a waterpark in the hotel!  There are metal horses outside where you have to take your pictures."  His comment: "Are any of the parts of that true?  I don't know if you're completely lying or if this is just a really weird truth." Weird truth, it is!  Wikipedia confirmed it! We continue on our journey west, getting closer to secondary pitch day in Klamath Falls (June 17th) and house closing (next week?).  Maizie and Bogey are still extra well-behave...

The fun never ends with the Jochim/Pope clan.   How many times have I posted this in the past few years:  In lieu of packing, I'll write a blogpost! Yep.  It is that time again when I load up all of my junk and think, Why do I have so much stuff?? before schlepping it across the country.  Except that in previous instances when I have stated that I am moving across the country, I really meant that I was crossing only about five states.  This time, it's a literal statement as I go from the East Coast to the West Coast.  But, before I start to panic about that, let's recap our last few weeks. Stephanie and my pitch to the VP of Medical Affairs in Klamath Falls went so well that nerve-wracking Tuesday.  A few changes need to be made, but we have an excited crew waiting for us in Klamath Falls.  They will bring us out sometime in June to pitch to the senior administrative team, the entire board of trustees of the hospital, and to th...

I know that I have discussed some important issues in this blog and I always have an issue that is of the utmost importance.  (Have you signed our petition at www.refuelourfuture.org ?) But, this is the biggest travesty yet. Shoulder pads are back in style. How did this happen?  Even when asking the sales clerks at the 18 stores in the mall that I went to, I came up with no answer except, "The 80s are back."  What a *&$@# disappointment. You see, next week, I have one of the more important meetings of my career, in which we will make our first pitch to a member of the board of trustees.  I had dreams of a chic skirt, fitted top, and blazer over the outfit, to cap it off.  After the pitch, when we go out to dinner, I could casually take it off and throw it over my shoulder or drape it on the chair.  It would complete the outfit...  complete the pitch...  complete me!  So, I confidently trotted to the mall, ready to spend some mone...

I suppose that it's time to announce the next destination for the Pope-Jochim clan...  So, get those pencil erasers ready to erase "Baltimore" and add...  "Klamath Falls, Oregon!"  Randal and I will visit Klamath Falls next weekend with a classmate of mine, Stephanie Van Dyke, to check out this city that we plan to make our home for the next few years.  Stephanie, Randal and I have all worked on the divestment campaign and Stephanie and I have been in some classes together, continually finding that we work very well together.  She is a physician who finished her residency in Klamath Falls last year and is originally from Portland, OR.  She asked me a few months ago, over a beer or two, if I was interested in joining her in this venture that she wanted to undertake. Randal and I discussed it, researched the town, talked about careers and goals and life plans...  Eventually, we both decided that it would be an amazing opportunity for the two of us...