Apartment Love and Rose Gold

Ok, so I'm super busy moving, and organizing and cleaning the old apartment, and also working and being a mom, but... work ended early tonight, so... here I am!


We rented a truck on Saturday, and had 2 lovely gentlemen from our ward come help us load it up and unload it at the new location.

I feel so bad for them. They worked so freakin' hard, and then they wouldn't let us buy them lunch.  If only more people had shown up, they all would have been less exhausted.  They did an excellent job though. And they stayed positive.  SUCH great men.

Thank you, Jake and Neil!


I hired a cleaning lady from Homejoy to come deep clean my bathrooms and kitchen.  She did alright.  She didn't move the fridge or oven though, so I had to move those, sweep and mop behind there and then re-mop the rest of the floor.  But hey, she did a great job, and it saved me time that I would have had to spend cleaning those items.


I really need to consistently deep clean my house, then it won't be so much hard work all at once.


Has anyone tried the fabric softener trick that I've seen on Pinterest?  Does it really work?


Anyway, things are good.


We get our Internet and cable through Bright House.  Bright House couldn't come switch over our connections until Wednesday.

So, today being Monday, guess where I am?


I'm in my old empty apartment.  On a card table.  With my laptop, a keyboard, a screen, a calculator, a mouse, a printer, a pen, and a notepad.

I have all the essentials.

And honestly, this isn't much different from what it's like when I work in a hotel.  Except I don't take my big nice screen to hotels with me.  Or my printer.

But yeah.  So I have to drive home after work now.


But the alone time and the quiet is amazing.


But, I have an office to look forward to on Wednesday!!  Hooray!  I haven't had an office since we left Provo a year and a half ago.



Our new bedroom is bigger than our old one, however, I do have one very huge issue with this room.


The toilet and shower are in their own room, but the sink is in the same room as everything else.  Like, there's no door between my bed and my bathroom sink.  That really bothers me. Especially when Lance gets up at 5:30 and spits in the sink and puts on contacts and brushes his teeth.  Yes, in that order.

So, item number one to purchase specifically for this apartment was a giant tension rod and some blackout curtains.  I already have them both up.  It won't block out the noise, but at least it will block out the bright freakin' lights that are above the sink.

Where is the sense in that anyway?  Why put a wall and  door between the sink and the toilet and tub?  Why not include them all on the other side of a door?

Whatever.



Lily's room is enormous!  We buy Lily a lot of crap. I'm sorry, we do.  She has a playhouse that was kind of awkward in her old room (good deal on Black Friday!), but in her new room there is a this nook that fits the house perfectly.  I'm so in love!  Her old closet was a walk-in, but this one is wider, just not as deep. And not a walk-in.  It fits things nicely, but I haven't organized all her stuff yet.



My office is tiny, but it will be perfect.  I have a desk in there, a futon, and a microwave.  All I need now is a mini fridge and then I can literally live in there for the duration of the cycle.  Yep, there is a bathroom connected to it.  Hopefully it will not come to living my office though, as this cycle isn't supposed to be as busy as the 2012 cycle.



Umm... I haven't tried organizing my kitchen yet.  It appears to have the same amount of cupboard space as the old kitchen.  Maybe 1/2 cupboard more in the new one.  More counter space though, so that will be nice.  The dishwasher is great and actually holds more than one baking sheet.  And the sinks!  They are deeper and can actually fit a pan in there!



The windows, I think, face east. And today was I was hanging out, I LOVED how much natural sunlight we got, but no DIRECT sunlight.  Our old apartment had constant sunshine blazing through the windows. Basically we lived in an oven.


Oh and we now have ceiling fans in every room.  Wonderful!


Alright, so I like my new apartment. I will stop gushing about it.  It really isn't the greatest, it's just SO much better than what we had previously.  I can't wait to get settled and get back to normal life.


I'm going to drive home now.


Oh wait, I took a picture today and I like it!

I didn't really style my hair today.  Trying the wash and go look.  It looks alright.  But I'm really starting to like my hair.  It only took about 2 weeks!  :)  I guess I needed that 1/8th inch of hair growth to make me happy.

I also bought an eye shadow I've been wanting.  L'Oreal Infallible eye shadow in Amber Rush.  It's kind of a shimmery golden rose color.  Rose gold-ish? But definitely more gold, less rose.  Normally I don't like gold on me.  But this one wins.

New Development

So many posts in so little time! What is going on?

I just feel chatty.  And I need to do something so I can be productive while procrastinating.

Yeup.


So... something interesting happened the other day.


Lance and I were supposed to get the keys to our new apartment on Wednesday.  On Tuesday, the day before, we were supposed to be able to walk through our apartment.  We also were supposed to get some documents to electronically sign, but we never got them.  Lance called them and finally was able to talk to someone.  And there was a problem.

A very big problem.


The people who were in our apartment were refusing to leave and hand the keys over until the end of the month.


Can people do that?  I guess there's nothing the complex can do. Maybe it ruins those renters' credit, or maybe they'll have a hard time getting approved for a future apartment. Who knows.

Anyway, big problem, right?


We had 2 options.


A. Move into our apartment The second week of August.

Um, no.  Then we'd have to screw over our current apartment complex. Not cool.


B. Rent a different apartment in the complex that happens to be $120 more per month than the one we were planning on.



Gross, right?



The apartment complex felt really bad, and so they "split the difference" of the more expensive apartment. They told us if we were willing to pay $60 more per month, we could get the nicer apartment and still move in on the day we were planning.


So, we agreed.


This really works out in our favor because this apartment is way better than the one we were going to have.

The old apartment was 2nd floor, this one is 1st floor.

The old apartment had a teeny tiny kitchen, and no microwave included.  This apartment has a bigger kitchen  with upgraded (black!) appliances, and a built in microwave. (Even more counter space, yay!)

Brand new carpet.

Faces east, which is nice so we don't get the heat in the evenings.


Overall, it's a sweet deal.  For now.  I'm sure once our 1-year lease is up, we'll have to go back up to the original price, plus whatever more they want to change.


Please bless we don't have to move in another year.


If they charge us too much, I'm going to say eff it and move to Celebration.



*Dance break*
CELLLLLLEBRATION
Let's celebrate, it's alright. We're gonna have a good time tonight.



Anyway, we walked through our new and upgraded apartment yesterday, got the keys today, and Lance has already started doing laundry.

Hallelujah!

Flying

By the way, I went to Utah for a few days for a work meeting.

I had every intention on taking pictures with my long lost family members.

But that didn't happen.

These are the pictures I took:

Flying over the gulf, towards the sun made the water look like liquid gold. The picture did not translate, but it was really quite lovely.

It was a lovely day, and the clouds looked so fluffy and soft. I would love to wrap up in a cloud and take a nap right now...

"Hey Lily, is it nap time?"

"I need dis. Eeeeh. Da da Stuck! *cries*

"Is it time for a nap?"

"Eh. I like the colors." (Showing me her toy from Arby's.)  "Bee Gee Gee Gee" (pointing at the letters on my keyboard)

I guess it's not time for a nap yet.

Anyway. I enjoy flying. Flying is relaxing.  At least, it's relaxing when I'm flying by myself.

Contents Under Pressure

I don't deal well with stress.

I shut down.


For example, I got to sleep at about 5am this morning. Lance's alarm went off a little bit after I got done reading scriptures.

Side note: I've started reading the bible. I'm in Genesis chapter 20-something. I just read about Joseph and Potipher's wife.


And also, yes, I realize I should read scriptures earlier in the day, but after work is when I have the most quiet, uninterrupted time to myself.  Who better to dedicate that time to than God?


I just can't get through a blog post without religion, can I?



I got up with Lily at 9:30am.  Lily had been awake since about 9:00.

I fed Lily breakfast, and then just sobbed at the state that our house is in. With the mess from Lily and Daddy's party last night, and the mess I hadn't cleaned up before that, boxes and crap everywhere.... Yeah, instead of actually doing anything about it, I just sobbed.

I wondered to myself: How am I going to make it through this entire day, and a full 8 hour shift of work tonight?


So I turned on Caillou for Lily, and laid down in my bed, thinking about all the things that need to be done.


Lily came in and out, talking to me about random stuff. At one point she climbed up on my bed and got under the covers with me, but that lasted about 5 seconds then she was off again.

After her Caillou was over, she asked for another show. So I dragged my butt out of bed, turned on Super Why, and then decided to get into the shower.

And then I decided to pack up as much of the bathroom as I could before I showered.  Basically, I grabbed what I needed for my shower, and a few items that I know Lance will need for the next few days, and then threw everything else in a box.  Pretty efficient, I guess.

Our bathroom fans aren't working, and we're going to put in a work order before we move out.  My bathroom was really gross and messy so I decided this would also be a good time to scrub the toilet and sink.  I'd hate for a maintenance guy to see a gross bathroom.

So after all this, Super Why was over, so I started another Caillou episode.  Then I got in the shower.  After my shower, I sprayed the shower with some bathroom mildew killer stuff and let that sit while I got dressed.  Then I went back into the shower and scrubbed down the walls and tub.  It doesn't really look better, but at least I feel better about it.


So then I fed Lily a snack, and I sat my butt down on my computer chair.  It's 11:20am at this point.  And in two hours I've accomplished very little.

I am much more efficient and effective at my job than I am at this mother thing.

I really like the idea of Lance being a stay at home dad.


Next on my to do list is to finish up the bathroom packing, and pack up the kitchen.


I will probably accomplish neither, and just sit by Lily and watch Finding Nemo (which I just walked away from the computer to turn on for Lily).



And also, Monday is going to be so bad.  I will have to think of a way to keep Lily entertained while I and the stranger from Homejoy clean....  Any ideas?  We'll already be moved out, but I can leave some toys here, and maybe my Nook?

PS:

Accidental Pixie

I think my title says it all, don't you?

I dyed my hair dark brown myself. I was sick of re-bleaching my regrowth. But, this made me look like a drowned rat.

I was ready for something drastic.

This was the picture I sent Lance, right after it happened.

I wanted to prepare him for what he was about to see when I walked in the house.

The haircut I asked for was similar, but it was longer. Jaw length... shaggier. I suppose this has the potential to get there in a couple of months.  But you can definitely see the self consciousness on my face!

I went to a hair school. And in doing so, I did tell them a length that I wanted, which was longer than what I really wanted.  They missed.  But, this haircut is better than the haircut I got back in February... We do not speak of that haircut and color.

There is something about cutting hair that is very emotional.  I don't know why.  I mean, I'm usually really open to change and experimenting with my hair.  But if you take away the hair that frames my face, I feel like I'm just a nose and pointy chin, that happens to have eyes.

This is what I posted on Facebook

After I got home I played with my hair a little. I flattened it out and straightened bits of it.  I felt a little better, but, I'm still unsure at this point.

I put on some red lipstick and went to lunch.

The red lipstick helped.

The next day I saw a TON of people I hadn't seen in a very long time.

I don't like the spotlight.  I want to be seen, but not necessarily be the center of attention.  So, walking into a meeting with a bunch of co-workers that you haven't seen in months, and in some cases, over a year, was really scary for me. I had really bad anxiety.  I would have had anxiety no matter what I looked like.  But having a hair crisis didn't help.

But, they were all nice. I got a lot of nice compliments, and thankfully those who didn't like it didn't say anything. Because, come on, not everyone likes my hair. Let's just be honest.

Ultimately, I still feel like I look like a boy.  My hair reminds me of Justin Bieber, and that is not a good thing.



Two years ago, as I was sitting in Kellyanne's chair getting a haircut, I was discussing my inner desires to have a pixie cut.  I promised her that I would let her cut a pixie on me if I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight.

It does not escape me that this hair mishap happened right after I reached that weight.

Go figure.

Moving... Again.

God answers prayers.

He may not give you exactly the answer you want or when you want it, but His answer will always be exactly what you need, and it will be given when you need it.



The past year of my life has proven this to me, time and time again. And I find it funny that I still panic when things aren't going my way.



My little family did not get the beautiful condo I had my heart set on.

I cried. I was angry. I questioned why.

I was texting my sister, Emilee, and she said simply, "God will provide."

Emilee is wise.



We were scrambling around trying to figure out where were were going to live and what we were going to do.  It seemed impossible.  All apartment complexes are booked two to three months out.  As in, if you call them asking about an apartment, they tell you they will have an opening in September or October.

Considering that we had to be out of our current place by July 30th, that wasn't going to work.

I wasn't feeling hopeful about trying to rent a private residence again, since we had such a horrible experience with the previous one.

I prayed about staying where we are, and felt literally sick to my stomach. I got up from the prayer and was dizzy and had nausea.  I went to the front office at the complex here anyway, and asked about staying in our current apartment.  At least that gave me some peace, knowing we could stay here if it came to it. But it didn't really give me peace, because the feelings that we're supposed to leave were very strong.

I was ready to give up and just stay here anyway.

Such conflicting feelings!


Lance wasn't convinced. He said we should give it a week.

I told him, "Well, I'm overwhelmed, and I don't want to look for places anymore. Nothing is working out.  If you look for places, I will call them. Is that fair?"

He agreed.

A couple days later, Lance was trying to get up for work at his usual 5:00am, but he was feeling really sick.  So he called sick into work and went back to bed.  He got up 5 hours later, and was feeling much better.  He got on the computer to look for places to live and found an ad from an apartment complex that had been posted an hour earlier.  He gave them a call, and one thing led to another and that's where we are going to be living.

It's not exactly what I want, but it is exactly what we need.  It has 3 bedrooms. It has 2 bathrooms, one of which is NOT included through the bedroom (a big issue I have with our current place). It has slightly more counter space in the kitchen, but a lot more cupboard space. It has a laundry room with a washer and a dryer included.

It's about 4 blocks away from here.

It's not the greatest, but, it will be better than what we have right now.  We plan to stay there for at least two years, and then see where we're sent next.  (Please bless it's a house of our own.) (Or in Celebration!)

I've paid for a cleaning lady to come help me deep clean this place next Monday.  I wanted Saturday but they were already booked up.  So I thought, "Well, I don't work Sunday so I can get up early Monday and take Lance to work and then drive over to our old apartment."

DERP

We're moving this Saturday, so I asked to work Sunday instead. I forgot about this until after booking the cleaning.  So yeah. that will be wonderful.  I'll get to bed at 4am, and get up at 5:15am.  Hooray!  I'll drive Lance to work, getting him there by 6am, then I guess I'll go back to our new apartment and hang out from 6:30 until 7:45.  Maybe I'll sleep for that hour and 15 minutes, if Lily will, that is.  Then I'll come back here to our old apartment to clean for 5 hours with a stranger. And then I'll take Lily to get some lunch, and then we'll take a nap.  I hope Lily will nap. She hasn't been wanting to lately.

And then the apartment complex will probably charge us $200 anyway because they're butt holes like that.  (That's what San Moritz did to us when we left Utah.)


I don't want to end on a sour note like that.  I'm at a really happy place right now, I'm just a little stressed out thinking about how next Monday will go.  I'm sure everything will be fine.

Still No Answer

I just paid our last rent payment to our current apartment.  I should be really excited, but we still have nowhere to live. And I'm feeling really pressed for time.

Yesterday I emailed the realtor person that we were dealing with. She ignored me.

I called the office today, and they said they hadn't heard back from the HOA yet on whether or not we're approved. They said they should know on Monday.

Wrong! You should have known yesterday.

Why the blankety blank would an HOA take 9 days, and counting, to know if we're criminals or not?

I'm so angry right now.

What if in the meantime, they approve someone else?  So then we don't get the condo, and we're back at square one.  We can't just sit around and wait for two weeks every time we apply somewhere.  This is ridiculous.  I feel powerless. There is nothing I can do.  I'm regretting giving them our time and money.



At least I have a cute family.

She put on my shirt and my black slip and ran around saying "MAGNET MAN" (It's from Caillou)

She likes sending my sisters Snapchats.

Lance is so cute.

He and Lily love CiCi's Pizza.

We took Lily to Chuck E Cheese. She's said something about it every day since then... I think she liked it! This is her staring at Chuck E Cheese.

Stress!

We found what I thought was a great place to live.

It's in a gated community, and it's in a new part of town, near a brand new "mall" they just built.  I honestly don't think of it like a mall. It's more of an outdoor shopping center.  There are lots of stores and restaurants, but it's like a strip mall, I guess.  We do go over there a lot to eat. Plus, they have an Ulta over there, so... maybe this isn't the greatest place to move. :-)

Anyway, I was really excited about it.  I called and set up an appointment for a showing.


TWO other couples were there to see the same condo.

Awkward!

But I felt very competitive and driven.  I've called about 5 different condos in this same complex, and they were all either already rented or someone had turned in their application already.  I did not want to let this one slip away!


I'm in love with the kitchen.  Yes, it's still pretty small. But they make really good use of their space.  I would describe it as a triangle shape.  It has granite counter tops, and very nice hardwood cabinets. The appliances are white, which I'm not a huge fan of, however they appear to be in a really good condition.  (I'm also not a fan of the stainless steel that most people go crazy for.  I'm a black appliance lover.) There is a pantry that is larger than any pantry I've ever had, and it has some awesome shelving included on the door.  The kitchen also has an undermount sink, which, I tend to geek over.  It just makes sense to not have a lip around the sink. Right? Right. Not to mention, it's a large, deep sink.  The sink I have now is the most shallow sink I've ever seen in my life.

The living and dining area is small, but it will work.  I can see us having people over for dinner and games.  We have a nice screened patio.  No bugs, yay!  This condo is on the third level, so we do have a view of a currently empty field.

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.  The master bedroom is small, but bigger than what we're working with now. The master bath is great. It has 2 sinks, and a space for a chair so I can sit and do my pretties.  The closet is located through the master bath, and it's a really good size, with some really great shelving in there.

The other 2 bedrooms are small, but they will work.

There is a laundry room with a washer and dryer included.  I'm excited to have laundry in our apartment, and on the same level as us.  Hooray!

Overall it's small, but I think we can be comfortable there for a couple of years.

We talked to the realtor, after the other couples left, and told her we wanted to apply. She told us what we needed, and we were on our way. We thought we needed to go home to get my social, but, for some strange reason, it was already in my wallet.

So yeah, we've applied. Apparently it takes a week to hear back on whether or not you qualify.

I'm not worried about qualifying.  I'm worried about them taking multiple applications and not telling people.


And then yesterday Lance told me he doesn't really like the place. He doesn't like the building. He doesn't like that it's on the third level, and he doesn't like the monthly rent.

Um, ok?  Then why did we apply for it?  I don't recall being the one who drove to the office to apply. I don't recall twisting your arm.

I do recall freaking out at him about how much our budget should be, because the only things we were finding in our old budget were either just as crappy as our current place, or they were income restricted.  So maybe he was afraid to bring up his concerns.  But apparently it's a good time to bring up your concerns after you've already paid $120 for background checks and application fees.

Whatever.

I don't like the saying, "Happy wife, happy life."  I like working together with Lance to find a solution we are both comfortable with.  So the fact that he's not happy with this condo really upsets me.  I'm not upset that he doesn't like it, I'm upset that he didn't say anything until yesterday. A week after we applied.

Ya know what. It's only $170 more than we paying now.  And we'll have a washer and dryer, no extra pet rent, no extra HOA, and it's gated.  Oh, and the neighborhood is nicer. Oh, and we'd still be in the same ward. Oh, and we have a third bedroom. I think it's worth it.

Am I crazy?  Should we go live in some other shady area of town? Should we switch wards and be the new people all over again?  Should we risk moving into a tiny branch where I'll be Primary President (most likely)?

Now I'm just being dramatic.

But yeah.


Honestly, I'm hoping eventually we can BUY a condo in this complex and rent it out.  It's an up and coming area, it's 5 minutes from Disney World (if you take the $2 toll road).  And holy crap, it was hard finding an available condo!

I dunno.  We'll see what happens.  We won't know if we will get it until tomorrow or Thursday.


I want to show you the link to the exact unit, but, I don't want any stalkers. :-)  So, here are a couple of units that have a similar layout:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3001-Greystone-Loop-Unit-106_Kissimmee_FL_34741_M59850-75519?row=13

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Kissimmee_FL_34741_M59809-72197?row=20


We'll see what happens. If we don't get it, it's back to the drawing board.



Um, oh, by the way. I'm really stressed out because we have to be out of this apartment by July 30th.

We're leaving town to celebrate our anniversary this weekend.

I'll be in Utah July 17-20.

We only have one car.

We work opposite schedules.


I get to bed at 4am. Lance leaves for work at 5:30am.


If we move, how do I come back and clean this place?  Can only do it on Saturday or Sunday.

We have 2 weekends available to get this done.  One to move, one to clean.

We haven't started packing.

We technically don't have anywhere to move.

Stress.  Just, stress.