The Virginia Tompkins :)

Wow, it's so great to see everyone posting on the blog! We love reading everyone's updates and hearing the latest news. Ryan and I have some news for all of you; which you all probably know by now. Ryan received a job offer, which he accepted, from FedSources. He started working with them this week, as a Market Intelligence Analyst. He was assigned to the Army division, which is one of the most important ones, which means they expect a lot from Ryan! It is really remarkable, what Ryan did: he was here in VA for only a few weeks, and managed to pull off multiple interviews and get a job offer. In this economy, that's an incredible accomplishment, and I'm very proud of him! Thank you all for your prayers as well, we definitely can see God's hand in all of this.

The job is in McLean, VA, which is not as far in as DC, but will require some commuting. Today we started experimenting with the public transportation to figure out the best way for Ryan to commute to work. Hopefully we will figure out the perfect combination of bus and metro routes so Ryan will be able to travel inexpensively while I can use the car.

Speaking of which, we also bought our first car, a 2001 Elantra. I know what you're all thinking; way too extravagant and showy. But you know me and Ryan, we are very image-conscious people and that's how we roll. We hope it will last us for a while, and allow us to have very low car payments in the meantime. We'll be sure to post pictures on the blog soon.

As for me, I had an interview with a school here in Manassas, called the Renaissance Montessori School. It went really well, and I should hear back from them this weekend. I am really hoping it works out, because it would be a big thrill for me to work in a dynamically Catholic educational environment, and get some teaching experience!

So now that Ryan's job and the car are taken care of, I've begun apartment hunting. It's been a little disheartening so far since 1 bedroom 1 bath apartments are very expensive it seems. Also, the prices go up the closer you move towards Ryan's job and the city. We are beginning to think it might be a good idea to stay in Manassas after all, especially if I end up getting the job at the school I was able to find some nice apartments at a good location for Ryan's commute, and I have been doing walk-throughs and comparing prices. We'll see how that goes.
I have not taken many pictures recently, I'm sorry to say. Here are some of the most recent; beginning with our trip to DC last week. It was a fun evening since it' was Ryan's first time there.We also got to see Babu's office at the Navy yard. Here is Babu drilling Ryan, like he drills witnesses in court.

We explored the National Museum of Natural History. Ryan was very excited to see the dinosaurs!

My favorite part of the museum was the Gem and Diamond section. Here is the Hope Diamond:

We treated ourselves to an IMAX movie, since I have never been to one. The show we were able to catch was "Sea Monsters"...when we first got in, and were handed the 3-D glasses, Ryan kept saying "What are these stupid things for? They never work! I'm not wearing this!" and then spent the whole time squealing and jumping at the 3D sea monsters that seemed to swim out of the screen into us!

Here is a very un-flattering picture of me. And no, I'm not pregnant, I promise!
Here is Ryan at the top of the Old Post Office, the 2nd tallest building in DC.
There was also an arcade inside, so we took a break to kill some bad guys.
After a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant in downtown DC, we went to a comedy club to see my cousin Vin, who was doing a stand-up routine. It was fun to watch the amateur comedians, but especially fun to cheer on my cousin Vin (it was his first time ever!). He was great.
On the weekend, we had the house to ourselves. So, while Ryan took care of some business on his lap top, I went shopping for ingredients for a special dinner. I even got wine from Walmart (just $2.57!) and made Chicken Parmesan. We wanted to celebrate the new job and the car in style. Afterwards, we watched a movie, and since it was my turn to pick, we watched West Side Story all the way through. It was great. Ryan loved it too, I'm sure :p
So, as you can see, Ryan and I are doing well in Manassas. It's been great to be at the Kaza house as we work on getting a place, they really are excellent hosts and, if you have the means, I highly recommend joining us here. We also love the fact that we've gotten such quality time with our neices and nephews, and feel very blessed. God is definitely taking care of us, in His mysterious way. Life is good!