The last Kentucky trip EVER

Making me a drink for the first and last time in their garage bar.

So I think I didn't make a big enough deal about it yet, but John is moving to California!! He got a great job and he's moving to California! We're going to be on the same coast!! Every visit to see him is going to be a vacation!!!! Honestly, I was anxious about it at first that it was not Washington, but it's grown on me so much more and now I can honestly say that I can't wait!! He accepted the offer earlier this month and will be in California within a month from now. I had already booked this past trip to Kentucky, so John stayed an extra week at his old work to accommodate this trip, but that meant this was my last trip to Kentucky ever!!! Woohoo!!  I have nothing against Kentucky. It's really a beautiful state, but it's become a symbol of $400 plane tickets and nothing to do... Really, I was never going to move there and John wasn't really planning on staying there permanently, so there was no future for us there, so this move has been a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Anyway, here are pictures from my last trip to Kentucky. EVER! That feels so good to say. Actually, John asked me if I'd come back in May for a wedding... but I'm thinking no.

This is at John's coworker's apartment's pool. He actually brought John the pool key when he heard I was coming to town.

John and I at a scenic viewpoint on the way to Virginia.

Picking John up from work. He didn't take any time off  while I was there, so I had a lot of time to pass by myself. I was planning to just study for the NCLEX, but then John was so thoughtful, he bought me Sims 4 so I wouldn't get bored. [insert heart eyes emoji here]

We drove to Cincinnati one day to go to the Gap Clearance Store (uhhhh omg we spent so much money. I love gap, but I don't like gap outlet, but this store is the most beautiful thing that was ever birthed from the 2) and then waited 40 minutes for Eli's BBQ. It was BOMB. We ate until we got so sleepy that it was dangerous to drive home.

We ate at Ramsey's for the last time for a quadruple celebration- my last meal in KY, John leaving Lexington, Seahawks win in overtime and the 49ers loss this week. I think people usually get their own plates, but we made it family style, and it was so much better that way. We actually weren't sure if we should go out to eat or make dinner, but one of John's roommates got really angry and was slamming doors after the girl he was watching the game with left before the game ended and the Seahawks won. It was scary at the time, but now it's funny. 

Anyway, that's all. It's over. No more Kentucky! It's not even bittersweet, it's just exciting :)

Hiding away...

I've been hiding away... in Kentucky... for the last time... because John got a job in southern California!! I am beyond excited. He's moving next month to start a DREAM job and I'm just out here bumming around until school starts next week.

Anyway, we spent last weekend in Virginia to see all my cousins and to visit my grandma who just had her second knee replacement surgery. We stayed at my cousin's apartment at the University of Virginia, and my cousins from Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth drove over to hang out. John wore his tank tops and pastel shorts which he got crap from all my cousins for because he fit in with the frat bros. His tank top with a pocket on the chest was apparently a 'frocket' and there were a lot of young gentlemens type clothing stores. The UVA students also use 1st years, 2nd years, 3rd years, 4th years instead of freshmen, sophomores, etc; and they call school campus instead of grounds. Apparently UVA has a reputation for being snooty because Thomas Jefferson used to live there, or as my older cousin put it, they all "have sticks up their *****".

We went to the farmers market in Charlottesville and I stepped toe-deep in a muddy puddle so I was really uncomfortable, but the food made up for it. We also went to a progressive.... I'd never heard of one before, but it's where you go from certain apartments to the next and get a different drink and at the end everyone is just plastered and at one place. The police came because of FOUR noise complaints. UVA has a weird little subculture. The best part of the trip was playing Bananagrams for hours. Seriously, I love Bananagrams. John and I have been playing words with friends so I was seriously kicking butt, but I realized how much John doesn't like it... because he is just getting his butt kicked all day long.

John learned what the term NoVa meant (north Virginia) which is where actual civilization is, so he started designating everywhere we went in terms of geographical location. SoVa (south VA), WoVa (west VA)... The trip was so fun. Seeing John at my uncle's house was so weird in a good way. I visited at house at least once every other summer growing up, so it's just an environment that is so ingrained in my childhood. I'm not used to seeing John there, but it was nice. I can't think of better adjectives to describe how I felt except weird and nice, but it is a mixture of both those feelings.

Anyway, here are some fun pictures from the weekend.

This is what happened when we told John to go outside and play...

We went to this really cool brewery that we had to drive 30 minutes into the mountains for. It was beautiful and they had games that we sucked at. Nam and John challenged these 2 blondes and got their butts kicked.

We visited my grandparents at my aunt and uncle's. My grandma seemed like she was doing really well for only a couple weeks post-surgery. My grandpa was really caring and got her ice for her leg. The only thing he needed her to do was to fold the laundry... because he literally did not know how. I don't think he's ever folder a shirt in his life!! My grandma, on the other hand, folds neater than a machine. I kid you not. 

But really, they are the cutest little grandparents ever. I know everyone says that about their grandparents, but no, mine are the cutest. My grandma has been sleeping on a hospital bed (which is a single) that is currently in the study, so my grandpa sleeps on a cot next to her instead of upstairs in their room. Seventy plus years, and still not a single night apart. Besides when my grandma was hospitalized for the surgery.

My grandpa waving bye. That is how you judge a good host- they see you out.

Also, I've joined a new family. And Chase says he wants to be a Seahawk.