Moving In

Last week was a rather insane one for us.  First our truck rental was cancelled by the truck company - they overbooked, cancelled our reservation, and failed to notify us.  Then we re-secured our reservation, but when hubby picked up the truck, the truck wouldn't start.  After awhile, the problem was fixed, we were able to pack everything uneventfully...but 30 miles down the highway, a tire blew.  We spent three hours on the side of I-64 waiting for the tire to be replaced, which meant we pulled into my parents' driveway around 3am. 

The following morning I was up early to meet our new landlord at the apartment at 7:30.  Hubby and I had viewed the apartment back around Easter...and we clearly didn't pay attention to any of the details.  The floors have busted/missing tiles, the appliances are not full size, the entire place was horrendously dirty, and we have to run a dehumidifier constantly.

But it is what it is.  I cried and cried the first day.  I felt ashamed of where we had to live.  I felt embarrassed.  I questioned every decision we had made in the last few months.  Then I realized, this is our new reality.  We are now a graduate student family - my husband is a full time student and I will only work part-time.  At the end of the day, we could have a nicer place, but that would mean I have to work more - which I am not willing to do.  We are trying to transition into this new way of life while still maintaining our strongest commitments to family and allowing myself to be at home with the kids as much as possible.

And so, without further delay, I present to you our new apartment on Day 2 of our move-in.  We spent the first day scrubbing and cleaning like never before.  I had never seen such a grimy, dirty home in all my life - the floors, the cabinets, everything.  I forgot to bring along my camera to take pictures of the first day, but I was able to catch a few (sorry for the quality) on the second day.  We spent over half of this day continuing to clean and paint. 

Our bedroom.

Another view of our room.  Hubby's brother was a great help in getting the rooms painted for us.

The corner of the floor in our room - there was evidence of a previous leak.  Three of the floor tiles are loose and when we first arrived this entire corner was black with dirt.  The landlord assured us that the leak has been fixed.  I sure hope so.

The kids' room.  We painted it a cheery, but warm, yellow.  Hubby and his other brother were in the process of setting up the beds.

The living room, full of boxes.

The big window in the living room.

The eat-in kitchen, with it's mini-sized appliances.

The other corner of the kitchen.

 

So there you go - our new home.  It's not quite like the one we left, but we will learn to love it.  This past week I realized this is a true test to practice what I preach.  I talk about how family and staying home with my children are the most important things in my life.  I talk about how I value my time with those I love over earthly possessions and things.  I realized this past week that I was standing face to face with taking the opportunity to take these ideals to heart and truly breathe life into them through our new circumstances - or I could sit around and throw a pity party over our new living arrangements.  Once I had time to process the changes, I realized where my heart is and all that lies before us is possibility.

 

We were able to unpack every single box by Friday and at 4am on Saturday morning we headed to the Outer Banks for our family beach week with hubby's family.  The kids and I took extra long naps today and we are loving the chance to kick back and relax after all the stress of moving.  When we return I will be sure to post more pictures of our fully moved-in apartment.