Overwhelming yet....

May 4th, 2010

This weekend, AJ and I decided to make a rather impromptu trip to Council Bluffs and Oakland. We discovered the Riverside High School spring music concert was on Monday night and AJ wanted to get a feel for the program. So, we took off work on Monday and Sunday after we had lunch with Amanda and Mitch, we headed west.

We were able to stop in Des Moines and see a college friend we hadn't seen in a really long time and it was great catching up! Then we continued west to Council Bluffs. On our way we were able to drive through Oakland and Carson and AJ showed me where the High School and Middle Schools were.

Once we got to Council Bluffs, we stayed at the Springhill Suites right next to the Mid American Center. We spent most of the night watching Glee on our laptop since we had just bought the first volume to season one. :)

The next day, after we took our time waking up, we went and looked at an apartment complex in Council Bluffs. It was a nice place and it seemed like it was in a good location, but we're not sure yet if it's the place we want to live. Then we explored the downtown area of CB which was sadly vacant and not very exciting.

At this point, AJ and I were both starting to feel fairly overwhelmed. We had continue to look through an apartment rental magazine and nothing was looking like it was in a good location or at a price we could afford. Plus, we were disappointed by the downtown area. I personally started to wonder if I was going to enjoy moving west. Were we making the right decision? It became really discouraging.

After eating a late lunch, we headed back east to Carson to get a tour of the Middle School since AJ hadn't seen inside yet. Once we got there, we were introduced to some of the staff and they were extremely friendly and welcoming. It was great to see AJ interact with his future co-workers. We spent some more time talking with the staff and the principle getting some helpful tips about places to live and possible job opportunities.

Later, AJ and I attended the school board meeting where AJ's contract was made official with a unanimous vote from the board. :) After the meeting, we attended the High School music concert. AJ got a good feel for the talent and skill of the choir and is excited to start picking out some music for this fall.

After that, we headed back home. It was a good trip - even if we were overwhelmed at times. It was great to get a sense for the school district's community. You can tell they are a close nit community and very supported of their school. Everyone was so nice to us as well. It was after we visited the school and drove around the town of Oakland that I really started to remember why we're moving out west. AJ made a great decision in accepting this position and has a great opportunity ahead of him. Luckily we still have a lot of time to make all the other decisions but we were reassured of things this weekend. All in all, it was a great time.