The Eagle Has Landed!

Well, our herd of Herzogs has officially made it to Utah and we are unpacked. Actually, we've been here since the 5th of August and have been unpacked for about 3 weeks now. I'm just now getting around to posting about it.

The epic trip out here was long, but good. We left Florida early on the 2nd of August. We drove through 10 states--Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah. Samantha was fantastic about 90% of the time. We would leave early enough that she was still asleep, but she would get pretty grumpy in the evenings, around 5:30-ish. Fortunately, all we'd have to do is stop for awhile and feed her and play awhile and then she'd go to sleep for the evening. She was such a good little girl!

I would not recommend the drive we took on a regular basis, but its fun knowing that we did it. Everything went very smoothly. A word to the wise--it takes MUCH longer to stop at a red light when pulling a 1500 lb trailer. In fact, you may end up in the middle of the intersection. Once you realize you're there, you have to try to speed away (which is not very easy with a 1500 lb trailer) before the crossing traffic can begin to move. Needless to say, we were all safe and it was very funny after the fact.

Tennessee was by far the prettiest state that we passed through. If we had the time, I would have loved to do some sight-seeing there. Lots of caving and camping and hiking. Nebraska consists of a whole lot of NOTHING. And it was one of the longest states. We woke up in Wyoming and it was in the low 40s! It was great. No more humidity for us. We were so happy to see the "Welcome to Utah" sign.

We were very extremely blessed during our trip. After we got to Utah, I happened to check the rating on our car, and we found out that we were pulling about 1000 lbs more than our car is rated to pull. We never once had a problem with our little Dodge Neon. The wind in the mountains that everyone told about seemed to vanish once we got there. No wind at all. HUGE blessing. The worst of it was a hill in Tennessee and about three or four in Wyoming where, at the bottom, we were going about 60mph but by the top we were going about 25mph. We just kept praying the the car just kept going. We are really thankful to all of our friends' and families' prayers. We could definitely feel the Lord looking out for us.

Our new apartment is great. It is wonderful to have three bedrooms and for Sam to have her own room. I will be posting more later on this week about our apartment and the unpacking and John beginning school. We are extremely grateful for all that we have and we are looking forward to our life here in Happy Valley (Provo) for the next few years!

Sam & Dad the day after arriving

The Saga Begins...

Well, I guess that the saga really began November of 2008 when John and I got married. I can't believe that we are going on two years! So much has happened. John and I have been able to travel a little bit to some film festivals where Twistee Treat was accepted. Samantha was born this past February and she has been a blessing. Already 6 months old!

Tomorrow we leave to drive across country from Orlando, Florida to Provo, Utah. We are excited, but nervous. Will our little red Dodge Neon, Sadie Mae, pull a loaded 5' x 8' trailer that far? Only time will tell. We'll get to drive through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah. Driving with a six month old will also be interesting. I hope that all will go well, but I believe that we will have some stressful moments. There have also been severe thunderstorm warnings and tornadoes across much of the midwest. Praying that we do not hit any of that.

This all will be a huge change for us. We have planned as best as we could. John left Triangle Reprographics two weeks ago, and now he is much happier. The future seems more hopeful. I know that going back to school is the right thing for John and me. I believe juggling home responsibilities, a baby and school will prove a challenge. But one that I welcome. I have lots of goals for when we are out there. One of the big ones is for me to finish my degree. I only have about three semesters left. John has three years. I'll go part-time so that we will finish about the same time. This will be a huge blessing because we will be able to configure our schedules so that someone will always be with Samantha and she will not need to go into daycare. I am so happy about that.

John is hoping to enter the Animation program at BYU. I know that he will do fantastic as he is amazingly talented. I have finally finalized on Humanities with an emphasis in English. The funny thing is that I have enough credits to graduate and then some, just not enough in any one field! There's just too much to learn! I love it. But I will be sticking to this major, as I really want to get my degree.

We just finished renting our apartment at Wymount Terrace. I think its a great location. We'll see if I still feel that way after we move in, though. We will have a three bedroom, so Sammy will have her own room (finally!) and we'll use the third as an office space. I love BYU and it will be nice to have lots of young families living close by as well. I am also looking forward to our family growing together and closer to the Lord as we continue to read scriptures together, pray and have family night.

All in all, I think we have a lot going for us. I hope to regularly update this blog so that everyone back home can keep up with the Herzogs. So make sure to check back regularly!