Moving across town...

Now granted, moving across town doesn't necessarily count as "moving" (at least not for me as a military brat), but it was enough to satisfy my craving to move somewhere. My mother and I have this rather curious disease--every 6 months (at minimum) we have this strange and overwhelming desire/necessity to start packing a box. Any box will do--big or small, square or rectangle. As long as we have A box to pack SOMETHING into we're quite happy and perfectly content. For those who may be concerned that our sole reason for moving was my wanting to pack a box, let me relieve you of such fears.

The Lord has blessed Daniel and I over and beyond anything we could ask or think by providing an amazing private piano teaching position for me at Christ Church Episcopal. Not only will I be working Monday-Friday 8-3pm, but I will have all holidays off in addition to a generous number of breaks for Fall, Christmas, Spring, Easter and summer--perfect in allowing Daniel and I to still spend a good deal of time together despite my working full time. The only negative aspect to my job--we were faced with needing to purchase another car...not something either of us were really wanting to do since we're looking at moving in a couple years. However, in searching for a car for me, we came across some apartment listings. Long story short, after some discussion, evaluating and visiting several apartment complexes, we decided it would be the wisest thing for us to look into finding another apartment closer to our jobs and staying with the one car--We were able to find one that is so close to where Daniel and I both work not only would we not have to purchase another vehicle, but Daniel could literally walk or bike to work if need be. Once again, the Lord  provided in such an rich and abundant way.

So much fun!!!

The move came up faster that I thought it would--but I was loving every minute of filling all my wonderful boxes. Sorting, wrapping, labeling...ah, such bliss! ;) Granted, on the night before the move when I was up until 2am the bliss was becoming a little blurry...but nonetheless, moving is just lots of fun. :D The next morning some friends of ours came and helped us move  all my delightful boxes to our new apartment. One of the ironic things--while they were working on one of the hottest days of the summer I was sitting in an air conditioned room for a 2 1/2 hr. school meeting...that wasn't planned, it just happened...though that part did work out well for me. ;)

Living Room-first floor sighting ;)

 Because of the amazing help of wonderful friends, we were able to get everything moved out so we could permanently move to the new apartment without having to go back and forth between the old and new apartments. Thanks to all who helped--it was much appreciated!!! Next came the unpacking...even more exciting than the packing! :D Boxes were everywhere--stacked in mountains in some areas--the race to unpack was now on...

Boxes can always double as temporary bookshelves ;)

 The one thing that struck me unpacking (and this is not the first time) is how incredibly many books I have managed to collect. Collect is a much better word than accumulate--you accumulate stuff, but you collect books...Overall, there's a lot of storage in the apartment. Not so much in the kitchen, but since the majority of people don't cook anymore, I can understand that...I guess...but still...it's a kitchen and I like to cook...A LOT! Moving in you always see things that you didn't see before when you were surveying the apartment (The completely furnished, show room apartment of course). I realized once we moved in that there wasn't any overhead lighting in the living room or the bedroom--not a problem until about 6pm...easily remedied however. I can deal with having to buy a lamp. ;) Loving the additional space, the fireplace, the balcony/porch, the pool, tennis court and gym...so many other great things that far outweigh the couple smaller challenging things. We're both extremely happy with everything.

Now, after such a verbose, lengthy, extended, prolonged, wordy, drawn-out and long-winded introduction...the main purpose of this blog post. Many people have been requesting pictures of our new apartment now that it's decorated. It's essentially completed, though I'm still making adjustments and haven't done anything with the dining room yet. However, lest any of these people should think I've completely forgotten to post pictures--You can now peruse the following pictures to your heart's content. :)

(Inside the bedroom door):  In the bedroom I added a crimson red to add a little more color and life...love the beautiful window! I was really ecstatic to find out my stenciled letters were truly transferable! :)

 (Facing the bedroom door): I get to show off  my brother's amazing photography. :) It's so nice having great pictures of our special day. It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year ago already! My desk has made it through several trips now...it has a history all it's own. Not many pieces of furniture can say they've been to AK and across the states more than once...and remained in one piece. ;)

 (Bathroom): Brown and turquoise-I'm enjoying having a large-size bathroom with sink counter space. The bathroom in our old apartment was a little short in that department...trying to balance your makeup bag on the sink edge without knocking it off in the process of leaning in closer to use the mirror...have you ever knocked over an open container of loose powder blush?...not a pretty sight, not a pretty sight at all....

(Living Room): The door on the left leads to the balcony area--quite lovely in the mornings and evenings. As you can see, we now have  a fireplace! Looking forward to sitting in front of a fire, drinking hot chocolate and reading a good book...I really enjoyed putting the living room together and seeing all my ideas turn out like I pictured them. :) I themed it around the objects on the wall shelves--a collection of mementos from past travels. It brings back memories to see things from Alaska, Kuwait, Egypt, etc...

(Living Room): I've filled up this bookcase as well...and there's books in the main storage closet...and in the walk-in closet...and under the bed...there's literally books everywhere. :) The Lord was very good to us again in helping us find all the furniture for our apartment for amazing deals. Moving from a furnished to an unfurnished apartment was a big change! Our God is always and forever good to us--He truly is a good God all the time!

(Kitchen): The kitchen, while not large, is still a functional size. I still have my red and black...and I haven't grown tired of it yet! Julius is still with us, despite our adding a cat to our family. ;) I'm hoping that Denali will continue to ignore him...it would be tragic for him to be eaten...but then, I guess it would be a romantic way to go...for a beta fish... (for all those Anne of Green Gables lovers ;)

(Dining Room): As you can see, I haven't had the time yet to tackle the dining room...I'm waiting for my complete decoration inspiration to come yet...at the moment it's only pieces and parts...the puzzle has yet to be put together. :)

And so, we have come to the end of the annotated tour of our new apartment. We are greatly rejoicing in God's amazing provision and continued direction in our lives. This next phase of our life is certainly bringing many changes for us, but we're excited to be in the center of God's will, for truly there's no place that is more secure, more satisfying or more joyful than being exactly where God wants you to be at any given point in your life.