Whew! Time flies when you're having fun. Or moving. Our lives have been a whirlwind of making decisions and plans, then changing our minds and heading in a different direction. Some of you may have heard (directly from us, no less) that we were moving to Virginia. And that was true - for a few weeks. But then a much better opportunity presented itself and we jumped on it. Within two weeks time Will accepted a job in St. Louis, we packed our belongings, Will drove out to find us a place to live, flew back to Atlanta where we promptly loaded the moving truck (with the help of MANY friends - THANK YOU!) and off we drove to the Gateway to the West. We've been here for a full week and it is AWESOME. We are excited to be here and for this new chapter in our lives.
So now for a few details. Will's new employer:
Our new metropolitan city:
We are totally excited about St. Louis. It's smaller than Atlanta (by about 200,000 people) and has a small-town feel, but with all the perks of a big city (restaurants, library system, parks, cultural arts, etc.). We already have a list of things to do: the Arch, a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium, the Zoo (free!), the Science Museum, and the Children's Museum - to name a few. We're in a great city just outside of downtown and we've discovered (in the whole week that we've been here) that's it's incredibly convenient to everything. Yes!
The kids have adjusted pretty well. They still ask everyday to see their family and friends back in Atlanta, but when I tell them that those people live too far away, they quickly agree and start in on the, "We live far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far away from them." Imagine that conversation about 20 times a day and that's about how our week has gone. Thank goodness for cell phones and Skype!
We live next door to a family with four kids and a great backyard and Everett and Juliana love it. Plus, we went to our ward's (congregation's) playgroup on Thursday and there were tons of kids there too. Tomorrow's our first time at church and we're excited to meet people and start to make new friends.
As for the house, it's an older home, a 3/2 ranch with a basement. It very quaint and cozy and so far, it's been nice to settle into it. For those who have asked (mostly family), here's our new place. But first, some gratuitous pictures of the big kids. Giselle was already in bed by the time I took these. I'll try to snap some of her tomorrow.
Juliana being a "ballerina". She does this several times a day and it includes one of two things. 1) Putting her hands above her head or 2) Sticking one leg out and up very awkwardly and holding it for 5-10 seconds.
Juliana sitting on our office chair - we can't quite find the screws for the rolly part underneath.
Everett saw all the fun Juliana was having that he had to jump on the ballerina bandwagon too. In a few years he's going to love that I documented this.
As for the house, here's the back driveway, patio and yard:
The garage and this time, our car actually fits!
This will be the last room to situate. We need some bookshelves and another chair in here and it's just a mess at this point. This house doesn't have as many closets/storage as our old place, so trying to figure out where to put everything has been challenging.
The kitchen table and family room. See that HUGE window with no blinds or curtains? Yeah, that's fun. Especially at night. Or whenever the sun's setting.
Another view:
Yet another view of the same two rooms, this time from the front door. Apparently I got a little trigger happy photographing these two rooms.
That's one huge window. Good thing I don't watch scary movies or I'd be completely freaked out by it.
The kitchen, where I churn out one gourmet meal after another.
The stairs to the basement, 2nd bathroom, storage rooms and laundry room. There was some flooding down there several months ago, so the tile was ripped up, the flooding taken care of, and there will be carpet down there soon. Whenever that happens, the basement will become the kids playroom. Yea for their toys being in the basement!
The three bedrooms. All right next to each other with the master in the middle.
The upstairs bathroom
And the piece de resistance: a laundry shoot straight to the laundry room below. This little contraption has changed my life!
Ahh, and here's the best part. Somehow we misplaced ALL OF THE SCREWS for the kids' bunk beds. They were all together in a big Ziplock bag, but we've unpacked just about everything (only the kids toys are left) and we can't find that bag anywhere. Luckily, the kids think sleeping on a mattress on the floor is the best thing since sliced bread. As a result of not putting their beds together, it's been hard to organize their room at all. Fun times!
