Our "New" Home

Most people have known for a little while that we were going to make a temporary move. As part of the schedule, Jeff has two 4-month rotations during his 3^rd & 4^th year working at a veteran’s hospital. We had a couple of options. We could have kept our same apartment, and I could have stayed while Jeff commuted; but it would have meant that Jeff would commute up (2.5 hours away) to the hospital at the beginning of the week, and would have spent the entire week up there, and come home on the weekend. That would have left me pretty much on my own all week for four months. Not only that, but Jeff would have been commuting during the winter time and the area gets a lot of snow. After a little discussion we decided to all move up together. The good thing is that the hospital provides the housing for the residents. So we’ll be able to be together during the rotation, and won’t have to pay rent or utilities. The only downfall is that it’s a small 1-bedroom apartment. So it’ll be a little crazy- we’ll be pretty cozy for a few months. But given the other option of being apart, we wouldn’t have it any other way- we’d much rather be together! Plus we’ll save some money. It’ll definitely be an adventure, but I think we’ll have fun. This also isn’t a one-time happening, we’ll have to do this again during he last 4 months of his 4^th year. We haven’t yet decided whether we’ll stay in the 1-bedroom provided housing again or rent something else. But we’ll definitely be able to look back on some funny times during our 8+ years of med school & residency.

At this point, all I can say is that I’m glad it’s Monday and we’re finished with our move. (There is still a lot of unpacking that needs to happen, but I’m not too worried…) Saturday morning I got back from a 13-mile run, and running a few errands at 9:30. Jeff had the boys all fed and dressed and was working on packing. Jeff and I have done a lot of moving over the years, and I can honestly say that it only gets harder every time. We don’t have tons of things, but you do accumulate things over the years, especially children’s things. We had a couple friends over at 11 to help Jeff load the trailer, make trips to the storage unit, and carry down the heavier furniture. (Thanks Colby & Crosses’-we couldn’t have done it without you!)

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. Lots and lots of packing, organizing, cleaning, lots of DVD movies for the boys- it definitely was not the greatest “mother” day on Saturday…, I’m just glad it’s done. We ended up pulling an all-nighter and left early (8am) Sunday morning. We were bummed that we missed church in our new town (it started at 9:30), but we were both tired enough that we had to stop for a while on the drive up.

I was so excited to see our new little place. Our new city is a beautiful, quiet little place. There are only about 34,000 people and it’s right in the beautiful mountains that are just full of color with all the fall leaves..

Our apartment is a little small- just 1 bedroom, but I would guess that it’s very similar to the size of our old apartment. So we have one less bedroom, but that means that the living room, bedroom, and kitchen are all bigger. I love the layout and design, and I think that we’ll really enjoy being here for the next four months.

The apartment complex we live in is just a 7 minute walk from Jeff’s work, so we can see his hospital and he walks to work every morning. It’s a very quiet, clean, nice area, and we’ve seen a few kids around. We have the bottom, corner apartment-it’s nice to have a break from stairs for a little while. You walk right into the living room that also has a decent sized storage closet. The dining room is also right next to the living room & there is a big sliding door/window that leads to a little patio right out the back. While we don’t have a fenced yard, there is a big grassy area between buildings that the boys love to run around and play on, as well as a little playground in the complex that is about a 3 minute walk away. The kitchen has less counter space, but it’s good sized & has a dishwasher & disposal. The bathroom is a little small, but it’s cute & very blue. The bedroom is good sized, plenty of room for a queen bed & about 3 dressers. And the walk-in-closet is plenty big for clothes and Matthew’s pack-n-play. There are really only 2 downfalls: 1- is that there isn’t a washer & dryer 2- there isn't really a place to run, which makes it a little difficult since my marathon is just over a week away.

It really is a great little place and we're excited to be here. I’ll take pictures and post them once I get our new place more in order & unpack our card reader. Right now I’m enjoying getting settled and not having much else to worry about. I’m excited to spend time enjoying and having fun with my kids.