Craft it Forward

So my lovely and talented sister-in-law Allison, also known as allybuilt, is starting a Craft if Forward project. 

Essentially she is sending out five handmade projects to crafty people she knows and I am one of them!!  Allison is so talented and I feel so inspired to be considered.  :) Once I get her handmade treasure I will post a picture of it and in return for her generosity I will send a handmade gift to the first five people who post on my blog post.  Continue to chain...

If you want to play this super fun game with us, let me know!!

What a Weekend!!

As I mentioned in the last post I spent all of Thursday applying for jobs.  I applied to everything I could find that was even remotely related.  Of course I got a call for an interview at a furniture/home goods retailer (pottery barn-ish).  I am over qualified for the job but thought I would go and interview for the experience.  It was weird.  For one, I am not sure why the store manager would schedule an interview on a Saturday when they are having a sale.  I got there and it was so busy that she thought it would be better to interview me by the register at one of the display dining room tables.  About half-way through she left to man the register and her assistant manager (who may have been younger than me) took over the interview.  She had no idea what she was doing, so we just started talking about outlet shopping...???  Finally the manager hollered over from the register and said it was just too busy to continue and that she would call.  I think they knew I wasn't going to take it. 

The funny thing is that Thursday night, when Nick and I were talking about what I needed to get ready for the interview I realized I didn't have anything to wear because it was all packed on the truck with everything else.  But Friday we got a call from the mover saying he would be there at 9:30 or 10 the next morning to drop off our stuff!  I didn't want to chance it with the clothes so I went and got something to wear at the mall, but figured there was plenty of time for the movers to get stuff in before I had to leave so I didn't buy shoes.  Surely they would have unloaded all the boxes by then.  Well, 10 o'clock comes and the movers aren't there yet.  They call and say they'll be there in 45 minutes which means I only have 2 and a half hours before I have to leave.  By 1 o'clock they have moved in a ton of stuff and only one box.  My box of shoes.  Phew!

It so was wonderful not having to move anything.  Nick was in charge of inventory.  Everything, and I mean everything, was marked with a numbered sticker and Nick checked them off the list as it was brought inside.  Now we've been unpacking and it's not fun.  Why is it that it always takes so much longer than you think it is going to??  There are boxes and shreds of packing paper everywhere.  Plus the kitchen looks as if all of our boxes of dishes have exploded everywhere. It's been weird unpacking into this house though.  Nick and I combined have moved countless times and wehave always had a transient mind-set.  We never imagined ourselves in a place longer than a year.  But here is different.  This is where we will be until we buy a house.  It feels more permanent and its nice. 

Sunday afternoon we were invited to our next door neighbors house who are an older retired couple.  Sam and Inge.  Sam is Slovic and Inge is German.  They are hilarious, extremely well traveled, and I think she was a professional skiier.  They met while he was stationed in Germany with the Army.  They have been living here in their house for 40 years and they love it.  Every year they throw an Okoberfest party complete with costumes, an acordian player, and homemade German food (pretzels, brats, and desserts)!  Oh yeah and beer, lots of beer.  We had a really great time getting to know all of their friends and neighbors.  I think we were the youngest people (not including the neighborhood kids) and it was a blast.  I got contact information from 3 people, one of which is hiring me to do some freelance work in her house.  Sa-weet!

Also, my birthday is in ten days and we are having our first visitors!  Malory and Philip are coming and we are going to watch the Braves play the Nationals here in DC!  I cannot wait.

One week down, a whole lot more to go

Ta-Da!  See below...

Well, our first week came and went.  Nick loves his job and will be getting involved in one of the projects pretty soon.  I have had mostly ups and some downs this week.  It was much harder coping than I had anticipated and I got really homesick this weekend.  Its been hard not knowing anyone!  Nick made me feel better with a trip to Home Depot for new paint for the dining room!  We also found a really great place to watch the football game Saturday (let's not go there though...) and enjoyed exploring around Alexandria.  Also, a trip to REI to take advantage of the sales and our dividend was good to both of us!

Before

Too bad Verizon came and uglied up my new favorite space before I really got to enjoy it.  Apparently all that is, is a battery back-up for the internet??  Funny, you would think they would ask where I wanted all that equipment before they screwed it in to my walls.  Don't worry, they are coming out to fix the mess. ;)

UGH.

Well, its been raining (or, rather, pouring) for three days straight.  Juno is getting stir-crazy and to be honest, so am I.  I just want to sit on my patio!  It is probably a good thing that I can't waste my days day-dreaming any more now that we are connected to the outside world.  The job hunting must now begin!  I started my day today with a promising voicemail in regards to a resume I submitted last week.  Lets hope it is fruitful.


Man oh man, I cannot wait to have my bed back.  Seven days (and six nights) to go until we get our stuff!  Nick is hoping it will come sooner, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  First thing I am going to do when we get unpacked:  make a pot of coffee and drink it in bed!  Okay, lets face it, I'm not going to wait to get all the way unpacked to do that.  It'll happen when the bed is made and I find that dang coffee maker.

Cute picture of Juno, just because.

Home Sweet Home?

Our living room / bedroom

So here we are, in Virginia.  The move up here moved very slow and very fast at the same time, if that's possible.  Timing ended up being just about perfect with our move.  Hurricane Irene helped a little.  Nick was going to head up on Saturday, to give him some time to settle in at his friend Chris' before he started work on Monday.  However, the hurricane was moving so slowly that if he left Saturday he would have driven straight through it just to wait for it to hit Alexandria. Waiting until Sunday to leave ended up being a great idea.  Bill and Carol let us take the futon to sleep on and Nick was able to bring it up in the truck because all the rain had moved north.  Our landlord was also able to meet Nick right when he got there that evening to hand over the keys! Nick got to sleep in our house that night!

Juno and I stayed at my grandparents Sunday night.  It was really nice to get to spend some quality time with them.  All this week I have been trying to keep myself busy with figuring out how to become official Virginians and prepping the house for our stuff to arrive. On that note, they have come and re-packed it all and is ready for the truck, which is coming on Tuesday.  When it will be brought to us is still unknown, but we have been told the 14th is approximate.  As long as it is here by my birthday at the end of the month, I will be happy.  A word the the wise, though:  if you ever find yourself in a situation like this, DO NOT pack your coffee maker, whatever you do.  Instant coffee sucks. ;-)

Our dining room :)

Mini bottle of champagne from our new neighbor

Our lives are much simpler for the time being - which is nice, for now.  I'll need to find a job soon or I'll go nuts and run out of things to buy at the two-story Target (yes, I said two stories!). We have been taking some really nice walks to the neighborhood park / lake / hiking trails.  I'll post pictures if I ever remember to take the camera on our next walk.  I feel very safe there as there are always people (and girls) running, walking dogs, and mountain biking on the trails.  I like seeing the little bike gangs of kids goofing off.  Juno seems to like her patio too.  :)