The move in bullets:

• I love that the word “moving” can mean many different things.
• Six vehicles and six adults make for quick work – everything was moved in an hour and a half (especially when you add in two capable boys).  Love that my church family loves me (and I love them!).
• Most of that work was not done by me or my roommate (and yes, she’d readily admit that).
• I was so tired Sunday (after having a bad night of sleep before the move and then all of the moving/unpacking) that I tried putting on a shirt that was still on the hanger.
• The highlight of my weekend was learning that my reading chair in fact does fit comfortably in my bedroom (as illustrated below).
• I LOVE my pretty blue room!

The move in pictures (okay, just my new  bedroom and bathroom):

The view as you enter my room:

Those our blackout curtains behind the fluffy pretty ones:

My reading chair!:

The rest of my flower pictures:

And my bathroom (which my roommate decorated, but I really like!).  I love how it downplays that yellow…the same yellow that was in my bedroom before we agreed to paint it the pretty blue:

Kissing apartment life goodbye…for good?

1.  What are you dreading?

Hauling boxes up the stairs (my bedroom’s on the 2nd floor).

2.  How many times have you moved?

My family moved twice while I was growing up (the first time was too early for me to remember).  In college, I moved 9 times from one temporary place to another.  Since then, I’ve moved 4 times (this weekend will be my 5th).  I’m hoping my next move will be into somewhere more permanent.

3.  How many roommates have you had?

10 plus 7.  10 “permanent” roommates and 7 others short-term (4-8 weeks).  And then now Jen.  All were good experiences except the first which was mutually displeasing (culminating in her moving out before Halloween).

4.  Where was your favorite place to live?

I think the apartment that I’m leaving.  There have been awesome roommates past, present, and future, but the apartment itself was my favorite.  I had a large bedroom with a reading chair for the first time.  I had a bathroom of my own for the first time, that was also connected to the room.  It was a quite complex in a good location.  Great neighbors.  Yes, I’ll miss it.

5.  How would you describe your decorating style?

I’ve often made my choices based on what’s easy and definitely based on what’s cheap.  I don’t like clutter, including knick knacks.  Actually, I plan to have very little decorating my new room.  I’ll have curtains, a pretty comforter, and my flower pictures.  I have altered my flower collection to include a couple that have deeper meaning (they remind me of Kansas, NC, or family).  Will show those when I get them all figured out.

As far as colors, I love brighter colors (except red and orange, obv) and pastels.  Periwinkle and lilac never leave my favorite decorating colors (though neither will be featured in my new room, interestingly).  Brown’s a favorite as well.

Tonight will be my last night to sleep in my apartment.

While the big move is happening on Saturday morning, I’m taking advantage of my future roommate’s hospitality by not staying the night in my already-packed apartment.  I love the flexibility in this move (I’ve been bringing little stuff over for weeks).

As of this weekend, I’ll no longer be an apartment-dweller.

It feels like this move has been a long time coming.  I suppose that’s because I’ve known the whens and wheres of the move since last August.

As sad as it is to leave my roommate of 3 years, I’m ready for the change.  Living with Jen will be different, for sure.  It will take some adjusting for both of us.  It will force me to be less of a hermitess.

But yay for new beginnings!

Socialize, Pack, Cook, Pack, Clean, Pack

Cleaning and Packing: Where to Start?

See the boxes waiting so patiently for a cabinet to go into?

As much as I wasn’t liking the task before me at work a few weeks ago, I’m loving what I’m doing right now.  Organizing, shopping, dreaming…right up my alley.  I’m afraid though, that this work move as zapped me of both time and energy to blog.  Give me a few days before I’m back on top of things!

Now that I’m in the new office, I’ve been able to see that the colors I picked out were fine, but I wish I had picked something a little lighter for the walls, since this building seems naturally a bit dark.  I hadn’t been inside this building before I picked out, so I was a bit handicapped.  Oh well…they certainly aren’t bad.

I’m still working on getting some non-florescent lighting into my office (yet another one of my pet peeves) since mine doesn’t have a window.  No, it does have a window, but the window is just out into the lobby (which I’m very glad to have…nothing can get past me without my knowing it).  I think having a lamp in here will help make the walls look more warm, rather than just dark.

My window to the world, I mean, lobby.

I think this is definitely the oldest building I’ve lived, worked, or schooled in (well, with the possible exception of a couple of buildings on OU’s campus I may have had a class or two in).  I’m guessing it was built in the 50s or 60s, but I don’t really know.  The bathroom tells it’s age the best, I’ll have to get a picture of that, too.  At least our suite looks pretty snazzy with it’s fresh coat of paint and new carpet.

So anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to when I’ve not been around here.  Hope to be back to my bloggy self soon!

What have you been up to?

Today’s our last full day in our old office.  We’ve been here 2 1/2 years, which seems both short and long.  The mere fact that I’ve been with this company for over 4 years amazes me…I had no idea I’d stick around this long, especially with no plans to leave for some time.

Since we’re leaving, I thought I’d reflect on what I’ll miss and not miss about this old place!

What I’ll miss about the old office:

The people. The office (there’s many different companies in these corporate suites) is overwhelmingly male, but I have had the opportunity to make friendships with a few women.  I’ll miss them.

Having someone to answer the phone. Likely, this will be my new/old responsibility at the new place (I was originally hired as a secretary, and way back when that was my sole responsibility).

Proximity to some good restaurants. I’ll definitely miss the Chinese place nearby, which has some of the best fast food Chinese I’ve had.  I also like having Chick-fil-a and Sonic handy, but it’ll probably be a good thing not to have them.  At the new place the Cheesecake Factory is close by, so I could develop some new fatty/expensive tastes…

What I won’t miss about the old office:

The longer commute! I’ll have 2 1/2 days a year that I can do something else other than sit in traffic.  And $300/year (at today’s gas prices) to spend on more exotic traveling.

Being cramped like sardines. As convenient as it is to ask a question by simply turning one’s head, I’ll like the more private offices.  Though mine will still be the central location, no one else (until our volunteers come in January) will be regularly working out of that space.

The clutter. Since my office will be mine, I set the rules on how much clutter will be allowed.  It won’t be much!

So, it seems like this is definitely a good thing.  I’m excited for tomorrow!

These boxes are just a few of the ones that I’ve already packed in anticipation of next week.  (And yes, I’ve taken it upon myself to do most of the packing because I don’t want us hauling a bunch of junk to the new place!)

Right now, probably the thing I’m most excited for is our organization’s move next week.  One week from today, I’ll be enjoying (or at least as much as anyone can) a commute cut by 5-10 minutes.

I haven’t seen the new place, but I know that I’m going to like it better.  Not only is it a shorter commute, I’ll have an office the size of the one I’m in now (that I share with 2 others) to myself.  Well, and our tax volunteers, come tax season.  I think that the new place will be better suited to our needs.

Sorry for the boring post, but this is what I’ve been thinking about lately!

Excited to help a friend move!

Some people have expressed surprise that I’m excited to help out my friend.  Jen’s a good friend, and I feel like I’ve taken this stressful journey to homeownership with her (though it’s admittedly less stressful in my seat!) as I looked at houses on paper with her, talked through whether this was a feasible option, sat next to her as she made an offer and as she closed.  Now I get to help her move and organize (my speciality, not hers)  as she sets up this place as her own.  God is good!

Bonus: Barring hell or high water (or marriage), it’ll be my home too come May!  Now, if I can just convince her to paint the buttercup upstairs blue…