Fall is Here!

We've been having some really beautiful weather lately! I remember that last October was like this, too, and I was warned that it was unusual for this area. I'll take two years in a row of unusually beautiful weather! Fall is definitely here. The temperatures have been much cooler...only in the upper 50s for the highs. But the leaves are finally starting to change, and the sun has been out!

We have a few trees in our backyard. One...I have no clue what it is. I'll need to look it up eventually. Another one is gigantic! I can't get the entire thing in a picture. It's some kind of large maple, and we're guessing that it was originally about 10 separate trees planted close together, and now they've morphed into one giant tree. I'll do my best to get pics of it soon. And then we have another fairly small maple. Its leaves have started changing, and it's really pretty! I took this picture this morning, when there was still some fog hanging around.

We've been busy this week trying to get things unpacked and put away. We've still got a looonngg ways to go, but I'll try to do an update post in the next day or two, showing off the finished kitchen. Our plans this weekend involve more work on/in the house, and then we're taking Sunday "off" to enjoy the fact that it's actually ours! And hopefully we'll do a little more neighborhood exploring, too. :)

We've Moved!

Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately...but we've moved! (We just got internet access at the house today, so I'm definitely going to use that as part of my excuse, in addition to just being downright busy!) So here's a quick recap of the last 5 or 6 days.

First of all...my list from the last post. Pack - Check! Paint - partial check. Clean carpets - nope, didn't happen. Put outlet and switch covers back on - Check! Purchase and install shower curtain rods - check! Purchase and put down shelf paper in bathrooms - check! Power wash and stain deck - nope, definitely didn't happen.

So let's see...that last post was on Thursday. On Friday, Shawn took the day off from work and we spent the entire day at the house. We really spent most of our time painting (and taping...oh my goodness do I hate the taping!). Check out the video posted here to see what happens when I've been doing lots of painting in a poorly ventilated space. :-) Once we got tired, we went back to the apartment and packed until about 1:00am. On Saturday, we went back to the house, where we finished the painting with the help of our awesome friends, Tim and Thuy. Seriously, Thuy (pronounced "Twee," in case you're wondering) is a trim painting goddess! There are seven doors in our main hallway. She painted the trim around six of them in the time it took me to do one. I'm not kidding. At some point, we had to admit that the carpet just wasn't going to get cleaned before moving in. That's now our #1 priority for this weekend...it'll just involve the rearranging of furniture in order to do it completely.

We did take a brief break from house stuff on Saturday, and we went to the Mariners game Saturday night. We had actually gotten the tickets as part of the "Date Night Package" that Shawn bought at an auction in June, so we didn't want them to go to waste. It was actually really nice! We enjoyed the game (which the Mariners won), and it was fairly short, which was a nice bonus. Plus, we scored a free parking spot (you just have to know where to look for them around Safeco)! Once we got home, we kept packing until about 2:00am.

Sunday...we were up by 6:00am! When Shawn left to pick up the moving truck at 9:00, I stayed back and kept packing. Five of our friends (and a baby) showed up around 10:30, and we all managed to get everything from the apartment and into the house in just over five hours! It was pretty impressive, and we're incredibly grateful for our friends' willingness to help! We couldn't have done it without them.

A Few Details

I don't have a lot of time to blog today, but I wanted to post a few things. Shawn and I were able to get quite a bit done yesterday, but I still have some things to do today before going to get my parents at the airport. For some bizarre reason, I bought a graham cracker pie crust yesterday instead of a "regular" one, so I'll need to go back to the store to get a crust for the chocolate pecan pie I plan on making sometime today. And I guess I'll have to make a cheesecake sometime soon! Oh darn. :) There are still a couple things that I'd like to get at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (still using leftover wedding gift cards!) for the kitchen. I realized I'm short a saucepan for the meal I'm planning on making Thursday, and I don't own a meat thermometer. I have a little bit of cleaning left to do, but other than that, the apartment is ready for Mom and Dad! Oh...and we're planning on finally going to get our license plates today. Nothing like waiting until a busy day to do that. :)

But on to the things I wanted to post. First of all, the official Thanksgiving cooking has begun! Shawn and I aren't big cranberry fans, but my dad wanted cranberry sauce. He would've been content with pre-made stuff, but my friend Abby sent me a recipe for it. Since the cranberry sauce can be made up to a week ahead of time, I made it last night! It was super easy, and although I haven't tried it yet, it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself!We also put the finishing touches on our 2nd bedroom last night. I made up the "bed" (futon), we put an extra floor lamp in, and Shawn hung a few pictures on the wall. It is still a bit of a storage area, but now it's just a bookshelf (crammed with all our books...not counting the ones in boxes in storage) and another shelf with all of Shawn's outdoor gear (organized in plastic crates).

So that you can fully understand what we've accomplished, here are some before and after shots. This is what the bedroom looked like the day we moved in:And this is what the bedroom looks like this morning:

Finally a few photos

We've spent a lot of time over the last week getting ourselves settled into the apartment. Here are a few photos that I took last weekend when our things were first loaded into the apartment. This should give you an idea of what we were dealing with! This first picture is our living room.

This picture is our dining room and the kitchen.

And this is our 2nd bedroom. What you can't see from this picture is that there's another row of boxes behind this one, and the huge closet is also packed floor to ceiling with boxes.
At this point, we've gotten most of the boxes unpacked and most of the furniture arranged. Shawn set up the fish tank today, so we'll finally put the fish back into their permanent home tomorrow. Since the weather was actually really nice today, after church we went downtown and spent some time at the Pike Market. We bought some fruit at one of the produce stands, and we also got ourselves two mini cheesecakes. The one on the left is Quadruple Chocolate, and the one on the right is Peanut Butter Chocolate. These are sold at a place called The Confectional. So good!

And finally, Shawn bought me a beautiful bouquet of fall flowers to "spruce up" the apartment a little bit. Most things you buy at the Pike Market really aren't very cheap, because it is a bit of a tourist trap. But this gorgeous bunch of flowers was only $5!

Getting Settled

Last night, we spent our first night together in our new apartment! On Saturday morning, the movers were at the apartment by 9:00 to start unloading all of our things. Shawn and I headed over there, but Shawn left at 9:30 to go play rugby. I did my best to stay out of the way of the movers, and they had everything in the apartment by noon. Once they left, I took a few pictures of the full apartment, and then I started unpacking boxes.

Once Shawn got home, he helped me out. We managed to get all of the furniture more or less arranged the way we think it's going to stay. We also decided that we'd kind of like to get rid of the overstuffed loveseat (that matches the couch and that I bought 7 years ago). Our furniture is just too big to fit well in our living room. We think we'd like to replace the loveseat with two smaller chairs. We found a chair that we like at Cost Plus World Market, but we're going to keep our eyes open for something a bit less expensive.

Yesterday, after going to church, we officially checked out of the hotel, and then we went on a little shopping spree! We bought a new, sleeker desk for the computer (since it's going to sit in the dining room...and since we were using my childhood desk that I've had since I was in 3rd grade!). We also bought a new stainless steel trash can, some small things for the kitchen, a shower organizer, and a welcome mat. The best thing is that everything but the computer desk was paid for using gift cards we got for the wedding but never spent!

I'm currently at the public library, since our internet won't be installed at home until Wednesday morning. From here, I'm going to go grocery shopping, and then I'll head back home to do more unpacking and hopefully make our first dinner in the new place!

I have to admit...I feel a little like our honeymoon has just started. When we got married, Shawn just moved into my place. This is the first time that we have moved into an apartment together. It's been nice putting out our things and helping each other decide where things should go. And for the first time in close to 3 years...I'll get to see Shawn on a Wednesday, even though he'll be working that day!