Moving On In

It's official -- yesterday the Best Husband Ever and I closed on our very first home. That means we now own a house. Wow! It's still hard for me to believe. After a quick treat-ish lunch at Bernice's Bakery for Scrabble (caramel roll for him, herb croissant with cheese for me), we continued our packing frenzy. Then, having filled up my car with boxes of books and bags stuffed with clothing as well as some more breakable items like picture frames and plants, we headed over to our brand new home for the first time as its owners and residents.

That made the whole adventure a lot more real! Of course the reality check actually started on Thursday afternoon, when we made our final walk-through inspection with our fabulous realtor. But yesterday was our first time there alone, starting to bring in our belongings. I set up a few framed photographs, found a sunny corner for my plants in the kitchen, and wandered around in awe. The Best Husband Ever tested our rather extensive set of keys. We're hoping to get the locks changed today or tomorrow. I also took some "before" pictures of the place to document our move. Unfortunately the photos don't do the place justice -- it's hard for me to get good pictures of empty rooms! Still, I have it my best shot (no pun intended . . . well, not really) and can present a photo tour of our new home, pre-stuff.

Today is moving day. The Best Husband Ever picks up the rental truck in about two and a half hours, and a co-worker friend of his is once again turning out to assist (he also helped with our last move, and was a champ and quite the asset -- we would never have been to do it without him). We've also "hired" three rent-a-students from the University's chapter of Intervarsity to help with the cleaning. They are fundraising for chapter camp, and I am more than happy to pay them vast sums of money if they clean my floors, fridge, and shower. Plus it supports a very good thing, which is never bad.

Between all of that help as well as our own sweat, the Best Husband Ever and I will hopefully be sleeping in our new home tonight, leaving apartment life behind us. I'll be a little sad -- I really like our current residence, neighbors, and landlords. But our new digs are more private, more spacious, and better for our long-yardless dogs. I can't wait! And now, without further waffling, here's a little photo tour of our home, pre-move.