Big News!

Brandon and I are headed to DC next week...for good! We've decided to pack up our apartment and head back to my hometown. We'll be looking for jobs and then finding an apartment. I'm just a little stressed. Notice the lack of blog posts? I still have a few more Midwest stories to tell, so hang in there!

Murdale Water District

Our water was finally turned on Monday morning. The water co. made a mistake by not turning in on last Saturday but apologized. Our landlord was actually in the office when I came in. Nice to know he cares.

Things have been nice at the new place. We are still unpacking -- slowly but surely. We had cable installed on Tuesday with Direct TV. We are definitely enjoying all our shows again and loving the HD picture. Unfortunately, we are still waiting on internet. Verizon is mailing us a modem and router that we will install ourselves when it gets here.

I'm feeling more and more like a resident now. I got my Sallie Logan Library card and a bank account set up with the Bank of Carbondale. I've also been to two Murphysboro Kiwanis meetings and am fitting right in. There is a K family event tonight that Brandon and I are going to check out at Thai Taste. I hope they have good pad thai!

Dr. Donuts

After church yesterday I decided to try Doctor Donuts. The store was new and modern with quite a bit of seating. When I walked in around 11:30am there was just one family inside. I was unimpressed with the selection of donuts, there were probably 7 choices of donuts in the case and only a few of each in stock. I ended up ordering an iced coffee a raspberry-filled donut for Brandon and a chocolate-frosted french cruller for me. We agreed the donuts were tasty but my coffee wasn't great. I just looked at their website and it is really awful! Their slogan is "No fat donuts to low fat donuts." Apparently, the "Doctor" is Dr. Srinivas Gaddam who has his hand in all sorts of different business plans. He owns the adjacent hotel which frequently  hosts doctors for medical conferences. If his angle is nutrition then I couldn't tell from my visit.

Brandon and I spent the afternoon unpacking and rebuilding our furniture. The apartment is almost ready to move into!

Big kitchen. Very happy! I guess I can introduce you to the place:

This is the back, obviously. But since we park back here we will be entering through the sliding doors most of the time. And this is the front:

A big thank you to Jamie and Jared who helped us move. Across the street from us is Murdale Gardens which is a cemetery. We can see Jamie's grandma from our living room :)

I live here!

We made it to Murphysboro early Monday morning.

Brandon and I are staying at his parents house until we find a place of our own. We're pretty close to finding an apartment - I'll keep you updated. (Spoiler alert: it's across from a cemetery)

The drive out here was tortuous! It was a 14 hour drive that was preceded by a 5 hour packing spree because we underestimated the amount of crap in our apartment. While we are in waiting for an apartment, we have unloaded everything in the basement and garage. It's a mess!

On Monday, we eventually woke up and headed to campus. Brandon bought some textbooks and it brought back memories of college days for me :)

 

We both jumped into work and school right away so our days have been busy. Although the forecast for tomorrow is snow - maybe we'll get a snow day?

Roadtrip!

Wise Words

“When you miss me, look directly east” -- Mom

This will be my last night alone in the Virginia apartment. Headed west on Sunday!
 

Saying Goodbye

I'm tried of saying goodbye... it's hard! On Sunday I had my last Sunday school class with my 11-13 year olds. They surprised me with a donation of over $350 to help AIDS orphans in Tanzania. On Tuesday, I resigned as Kiwanis Club President. Unfortunately, our meeting was canceled due to snow. Kind of a let down. And yesterday was my last day of work. I went out to lunch with my co-workers. Then in the evening I had dinner with my sister who went back to Boston this morning.

Today, I used as an opportunity to sleep-in, get my car inspected and registered at the DMV. I even posted some furniture on craigslist. Brandon and his parents will be here Saturday night and moving day is Sunday. Busy busy!!

Moving Day

Packing up the apartment in Virginia is underway. Actually, I'm going to be living here in transition for a few more weeks. Brandon left just before Christmas with a car full of stuff. He and his dad were back yesterday with a big van that they rented to haul our bigger furniture. Leaving me with very little!

Check out my bed. It's an air mattress ...

Need boxes for moving? Turns out the grocery store is a great place to get free boxes.