Life coming at me

Well, we’re at least partly in the new house and loving it so far!

Bobby and I signed our papers Friday morning bright and early, and I was lucky enough to get the day off work, so we quickly set about moving our bed and some of the boxes we’d packed up. Over the course of last weekend we managed to get nearly all our kitchen supplies and food, about half our clothes and most of the small stuff (photo albums, books, DVDs, etc.) from the living room.

The moving was tedious with just the two of us doing the first stretch (we have people coming to help with furniture and everything else that’s left this weekend), but I was proud of all we got done. We unpacked most of what we could and are looking forward to getting completely moved in.

On Sunday friends from our church small group came and helped us paint! We had picked out our colors Friday and picked them up at Wal-Mart on Sunday right after church. We went with “casual blue” for the living room, “almond” something-or-other for the hallway and “citrus spice” for the spare bedroom. We left all the other rooms the same.

Funnily enough, I think the most drastic improvement was in the hallway, which Stephen and Susanna took primary responsibility for. They seriously went all out and did two coats over the old wall, which was a drab off-white/gray color with these odd box-shaped designs. The difference makes the hallway look much lighter and bigger.

Ashley, Benji, Megan, Ryan, Bobby and I tackled the living room and knocked it out pretty quickly. It’s a bright, calm blue, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I think it’ll look even better once we get our couches in. It also lightens the room up a bit, whereas the previous off-white color was just pretty boring and uninviting.

Everyone except Megan and Ryan had to leave as the afternoon wore on, but they were able to hang around and help us finish up the bedroom. The citrus spice color is a really nice yellow with some orange-y tones; it’s a happy color and a nice fit for this bedroom. We’re planning to use it as an office/library, and I’m actually looking forward to spending time in there because the color makes me feel good and warm.

I really can’t express how much Bobby and I appreciated having that much help with painting, because we know it would have probably taken us AT LEAST three times as long to do it by ourselves. We felt so loved and cared for because these folks took their Sunday afternoon (a time when most people are napping) and spent it helping us just because we needed help and they’re our friends. It’s a nice feeling.

Now we’ve been in the house for almost a week, and we are all starting to get used to it. Ranger and Rosie love the backyard, and they’re completely exhausted (but also very stinky, unfortunately) when we bring them in at night. Nom Nom likes having more space to explore. After a few days of not sleeping well thanks to the new surroundings, Bobby and I are setting in, too.

Some friends are also coming this weekend to help us get our furniture moved in, as I mentioned previously. I’m really happy to have the help and excited to grill out afterward! I picked up some baked beans, chips, dip, brownies and sodas to share and am also planning to buy a watermelon. It’ll make for a fun first Memorial Day weekend in the new house, and I’d imagine the combination of visiting friends, grilled food, laughter, sunshine (hopefully) and finally having all our stuff moved will really make it feel like home.

Here are a couple of pics from painting. The first is Megan painting in the living room, and the second is Bobby and me making our first roll in the hallway. You can sort of see the before and after effect there. I don't have pictures of the bedroom/study yet, but I'll take some soon!