Loco. Pure LOCO.

Just in case you forgot how much fun it is to move, I'll remind you. First you have to go through EVERYTHING you own and somehow make it fit in a box. When you're doing a big move (cross-country) you have to pack extra well and make sure everything that's worth anything is not only in a box, but also wrapped so it won't get destroyed. Dishes, books, decorations, clothes, shoes . . . the list goes on. Boxes, tape, and brown paper take over your life for the duration of the packing phase. If you're a man, you get to move heavy things (including a piano in this case). Then, when it's time to unload everything you get the fun job of opening each box, finding a place for everything inside the box, then getting rid of the box. And let's not talk about the number it does on your hands - multiple cuts from the scissors from trying to get boxes open in a hurry (and handling all that cardboard is NOT good on the hands - cracked and bleeding is a guarantee). Does this sound fun yet? Glad you all remember what it's like.

Saturday afternoon, Dan went off to help someone in the ward move. While I was gone I tackled the disgusting stove. Pretty sure it hadn't been cleaned in my lifetime. 2 hours later it no longer smelled like a mixture of vomit & urine, AND it shined like the top of the Chrysler building. :) Dan walked in the door just as I was finishing the cleaning and promptly said, "So, how would you feel about moving next week?" Yes, my jaw dropped and he actually made me speechless (that doesn't happen very often). The guy who Dan helped move just moved into a newly renovated duplex of sorts - they're in the bottom apartment, and the top apartment which will be finished in a couple days is open and just about ready for renters. Guess who owns the duplex? Another guy from the ward who ALSO happens to manage the apartment we currently live in.

Dan told me all about the place - it hasn't yet been lived in since it was remodeled (no cleaning someone else's grime!), wood floors, double-paned windows (wahoo!) big kitchen, granite counter tops, new appliances, WASHER & DRIER (we currently get to use the laundry mat - took us 14 loads to wash all the blankets/towels that we used to wrap around our furniture in the move), backyard (Dan's real excited about the fire pit back there), large porch, and people who we'll actually know not be afraid of as neighbors. Oh - and here's the real kicker - it's $150 LESS each month. We decided we would talk to our landlord to see if he would let us out of our current lease if we moved into the new place. Guess who walked into church during the opening song and sat on the bench right in front of us? Our landlord. Totally a sign.

So after I got a good look at the place (love it!) we decided - Yep, we're moving! We've been in this apartment for 9 days now. Just long enough that it was starting to feel like home and I wasn't having to use the GPS every time I went out. (On a side-note, the fact that Dan's roommate hadn't been able to move all of his stuff out yet turned into a blessing. I still have boxes that are sealed and packed, as I was waiting for the 2nd bedroom to open up. No better time to move than the time when you still have some packed boxes, right?)

How's THAT for an adventure?

I was waiting to post pics of this place until it was officially cleaned and didn't look like a tornado had hit it, but since we're moving, that will never happen. Here's a pic of our 9-day home. Thank you, 5592 Pershing #31 for getting me through my first couple weeks of married life.

ps - anyone who came to help us with move #1, will NOT be notified of move #2. We.Are.CRAZY. :)

Stay-At-Home Wife

My friend told me I needed to be a better facebooker when I moved away. Blah. My sister said I needed to start a blog. Hmm. Don't get me wrong - I love reading other blogs, but I've always thought, "Who am I to think people like me enough that they want to read about my boring life?" Well, boring or not, here it is. And I won't even be offended if you don't read. And I'm telling you now that I probably won't be good at posting regularly.

Leading up to the marriage and the move, I told Dan I didn't need to find a job . . . I could just be a stay-at-home wife!! Seemed like a great idea at the time. Well, we made it to St. Louis late Friday night. Enjoyed lots of time together Saturday & Sunday, and then Monday morning he was gone and off to school like a good little boy. After about 2 hours without my man, I was bored and wondering what in the world I was going to do with my time until I found a job. Oh dear. I didn't think that would happen for at least a couple of weeks. Dan let me make him dinner that night to give me something to do. Isn't he nice! :) Now that all our stuff is here (I have a LOT of stuff!) I am plenty busy getting this place organized. Special thanks to Dan for letting me take over the big closet and move him to the small one. He's the best.

Speaking of finding a job . . . after getting almost-conned on Craigslist (don't EVER look for jobs there - they're all phony) and spending hours on Monster Jobs (not getting conned), I've come to a conclusion that I did everything wrong in life. For all those women who could possibly at some time in the future be following a man somewhere and need to find full or part time employment, let me give you some advice: be a nurse or a truck driver. Both get paid well, and both are in high demand, even amidst this "economic crisis."

Ok - it's 11:00 in the morning and other than applying for a few jobs, making Dan breakfast and lunch (wow - he really got the good end of the deal in this!) and writing this post, I haven't done anything productive. Don't tell anyone I'm still in my pajamas (including slippers and Skyline hoody because it's FREEZING here!). Yes, it snows in St. Louis, and I never knew that someone could have an appreciation for double-paned windows, but I do. Not having them is quite tragical. And cold.

And for all you visual learners out there (yep, deep down I'm still a teacher) here is a picture of what it looks like outside my window right now.