tuckie for life

our trip to hanover was a whirlwind. but a successful one. we truly enjoyed ourselves and are now more excited than ever to make this giant leap to the east coast for two years. our days were jam packed. we took the red eye thursday night and arrived {after a sleepless night} at 5:30am east coast time...so really, 2:30 in the morning as far as we were concerned. we hopped in our rental car and made our way two hours up the 93 and the 89 to hanover. we stopped for an hour at a rest stop to sleep and then got something to eat before we went the rest of the way. when mr. garmin told us we were 5 minutes away, i told ryan he must be kidding. we were in the middle of nowhere and there was no way we would be at our destination in 5 minutes. garmin wasn't lying. hanover really is in the middle of nowhere! 

we stayed at a student's apartment just off campus and she was gracious enough to move out for two nights so we'd have room! we checked in at noon and the butterflies began. so many people we didn't know. such a different life. and then michelle came up and hugged me. we'd only met online, but i really felt like we were already friends. throughout the next two days, we all went to panels and lunches and speaker sessions and tuck 'tails {um, happy hour}, dinners at students' houses, dinners at restaurants around town {there are probably 20 - way more than i thought!}, trivia nights {with more drinking}, tours of campus, recreational activities, dessert receptions and dance parties. it was honestly non-stop. and there was a lot of drinking. 

we met lots of wonderful people - including three other LDS couples who will be joining us in hanover next year! i'm afraid the 8 of us might be the official designated drivers. but i'm certain these ladies will make moving 3,100 miles away from what we have called "home" for the last 4.5 years much more bearable.

ryan learned all about life as a student and i learned all about two years of life without my student. insurance, housing, family life, activities, and more. 

the weather was...different. it snowed a tiny bit and hailed some. it was gloomy most of the time and...cold. i'm afraid i have become that california girl who shutters at the thought of 50 degrees. actually, it got much colder than that, but i can't say i was comfortable with the high. 

we took a tour through the administration building where ryan introduced himself to mr. tuck {i think sometimes ryan regrets acting on his instincts the day he laid eyes on me. the things i make him do...}

we also saw pictures of each graduating class at tuck. 1904 must have been a lonely year.

the first day, i wore these shoes. 

i was cold. 

so the next day i wore these shoes. 

much better. 

i donned a yellow jacket the entire weekend. you couldn't miss me. 

especially when we went out to "the green" and called a few family members to take a look on the live webcam to see us. thanks for the pictures, kelli!

and when it rained i layered it with my floral rain coat. 

i love this rain coat. ryan said i looked like his grandma. and, because i think both of his grandmas are super cool, i will readily take that as a compliment. and i know this picture suggests otherwise, but i am not 8 months pregnant.

hanover is a quiet, quaint town with a darling main street.

and i have a feeling i will be frequenting its only non-dartmouth clothing store quite a bit while we're there.

we ended our stay with a sunday morning hot chocolate at the dirt cowboy with a family who has a 19 year old special needs daughter. they gave us some great tips and contacts as we start all over with little miss leah. {insert huge sigh of relief.}

the flight home was delayed a few hours, and was the worst flight ever {the only way it could have been worse is if leah was with us...seriously}, but with a little help from harry potter 6 and a $25 credit to the airline for having to check my carry on because there was no room, we made it. 

leah was in good hands while we were gone. a huge thanks to the katzs and thomanders for feeding her, dressing her and otherwise entertaining her while we were away.