All moved in...for the most part

Well, it's been a little over a week and one could say we are pretty settled in to our home. Most everything is put away with the exception of hanging pictures on the wall and setting out knick-knacks to collect dust. I like it here, which is a good thing! Moving was hard work though. It didn't help that the night before moving day, we were at the house cleaning and working until about 10. Then the next day, Mike and I loaded the entire truck ourselves, from our second-floor apartment. That night, we unpacked and made our bed--that's it-- but we slept in our house for the very first time. The next morning after a final trip to the apartment, Payal, Ben, Jen, and John came and helped us unload, and what a difference it made. The truck that took Mike and I four to five hours to load was empty in an hour. The boys went back to the apartment and got the treadmill (I was too much of a weenie to be any help with that beast) and were able to get it up the stairs. The girls helped me unpack the kitchen. Regardless, we were both exhausted on Saturday night. I think we were in bed by nine.

The backyard needs a lot of love, and I keep reminding myself that we have lots of time to do things--like redo the backyard. The dogs like it and are getting used to being out there on their own. Molly likes to roll around in the dirt. Nani likes to sit at the back door and look in.

My dad and uncle have spent the last two Sundays here helping with stuff. The first was spent hanging ceiling fans (3). Mike got acquainted with the neighbors while searching for a ladder that was tall enough (though they ended up having to rent one from Home Depot), and I got to take advantage of my spacious kitchen and cook dinner for everyone. Yesterday, they spent the day hanging the garage door opener, and Mike and Mark installed the microwave...ah modern-day conveniences.

I was worried about keeping the house clean, so I am trying to stay on top of it, specifically the floors and probably dusting (there seems to be a lot of it up here--did I mention it's kind of rural??). There's a lot more space to cover than our apartment, and I know it will be awful to try and clean it all at once, so bits and pieces at a time. Thanks to mom, we started with a spic and span house, so all the mess to clean up is ours. I sweep the kitchen every night after dinner (the dogs track in a lot of dirt and dead grass) and I've been vaccuuming about every three days. And for once, I've been doing the laundry (usually Mike's forte).

My commute to and from work is about twice as long, which sometimes makes for a long day. Especially since work is super busy and I am there until 5. But I still like taking the bus because then I'm not the one dealing with the traffic. However, last week when I had to come home and wait for the cable guy, I learned that they do not run express busses in the middle of the day which translates to almost an hour-long ride. Which kind of sucks. AND the busses don't run as often. Just a different schedule to get used to, I suppose.

We are going back to clean our apartment this weekend and clean out the garage. Then, after a walk through, we are officially finished with apartment life. YEAH! I was hoping to have photos to show (the new paint looks AWESOME--like an entirely new house!) but we haven't gotten around to taking the 'after' shots yet. (I came down with a nasty, nasty cold last week and we have out of town guests until Wednesday) But I promise to post some soon...maybe after I get all the pictures hung up.