Getting settled in

I'm back online! Phil and I finally moved into our new apartment on Sunday, and although we still have things left at the house to bring over, and lots of unpacking and settling in to do, it is nice to be back on our own again.

This apartment is so nice, first off, it is brand new, no one has ever lived in here before. The entire apartment has hardwood floors except for the bedroom, which has Berber carpet. The cabinetry is like a dark sort of cherry wood and there is black granite counter tops and brand new whirlpool appliances and Moen sinks and fixtures. It is so nice, I just love it here, and we plan to stay here for awhile, so it is going to be so nice to get settled in and know we are going anywhere for awhile.

The Walmart job is going well, they have me work my first night shift last night, from 2pm-10pm, which I didn't like because I rather get up in the morning and get work over with and have the night to myself. But I have so many stories from working there, being a greeter is a people watchers dream. I think I am going to have to start blogging some of these great stories..but alas, I must use my day off wisely and try to get settled into our new home.

The video blogs stay!

I've gotten some good responses from the video blog I did on Friday. Those who have written me about it seem to say they liked it and wish for me to continue. I even had a few people, that I have known online for awhile, say it was nice to actually hear my voice and put it to the words that I write. So for now, the video blogs will stay. I'll do a combination of both, regular blogs, and video blogs.

I hope your all having a great weekend. I was finally able to get out of the house yesterday. Phil's back door of his Jeep has not been able to go up, meaning that we haven't been able to load my chair back there. Yesterday morning he went back there with all his manly tools and somehow got it working again. So we met up with my parents to get the ramps needed to load my chair into the van, and off we went.

Today we are spending the afternoon at my mom and dad's. I haven't spent a good amount of time with them since we moved, seeing as mom had a terrible infection in one of her teeth, but is not feeling better after having the tooth extracted. It will be fun to hang out with them, and cook with mom again.

Speaking of my mom, her birthday is coming up in Thursday. Originally, I was going to spend the day over at their house, but now I invited mom and dad to come over here for lunch. It will be my first time really entertaining in my new place, and I am looking forward to it. I am going to make a lunch and also a birthday cake (lemon with vanilla frosting, at the birthday girl's request). The only thing I wish I had was a couch, so I could finally get my living room together, so people have a nice place to sit.

Well, I'm off to get started on my day. Phil is sleeping in, so I am going to take this opportunity to look up some recipes for the week, and write down things we need when we store by the store later on the way home from mom and dad's. I am really getting into the cooking, I've always loved to it, and now I can try all sorts of new recipes. Have a great weekend!!

Alone Time

When Phil and I first began apartment hunting, I knew during the work-week I would be home alone while he was out working. During our first week here, I had a lot to do during the day, from unpacking and getting everything organized and put away. I really didn't notice the alone time, it seemed like I was so busy, he would be home from work before I knew it.

Now that the unpacking is done, and we're about settled in, I don't have as much work to do around here. I wake up in the morning, shower, and attend to my little chores, such as making the bed, starting some laundry, and making sure the kitchen is clean and the birdies are cleaned up. Once I finish this, I have the rest of the day free to just do whatever.

I have to admit that I do like my alone time. I spend a lot more time online chatting with my friend Ryan, which I wasn't doing much of before, and her and I have to have our girl time. But I love being online, I don't know what I would do without it. I spend more time online then watching TV during the day, in fact my TV is usually off until Phil comes home from work. But I notice that at times, I get restless. I wish I had a car, so I could run errands or just go visit my parents or even just do a little window shopping. I look forward to when I know Phil will be home because then I have someone to talk to. But this is nice, I have to admit I enjoy having the day to do whatever I like. When Phil gets home from work I get busy cooking dinner and at night we spend time together, so this is like my time to just relax.

I have found though, that I am doing a lot more of those silly myspace bulletin surveys, to pass the time. I think there should be a survey anonymous!

Weekend Review

I hope you all had a great weekend!

I saw my parents this weekend, on Saturday, for a few hours. My mom has a terrible toothache and an infected tooth, so we didn't stay for dinner as we had planned because it was more important for her to get her rest, and I wished that I was there to take care of her, but I know my dad is doing a good job with that. Hopefully she is going to the dentist today to have the tooth pulled, because that will bring her so much relief.

Yesterday I was finally able to get my desktop computer hooked up, and also set up the cable modem. I haven't been using my desktop in months because I could never get an Internet connection to it wirelessly, and when I did, it would kick me off after a few minutes. So now I am directly connected to the cable modem and this thing is lightening fast. I am using it now, actually, while downloading music on the laptop. Ahh, how I love my technology.

Things are the apartment are really starting to take shape. My bedroom is pretty much done, except for the closet, which needs to be organized a bit better, and I have a few clothing bags I need to go through and put away. And in the living room all I need is a couch to get everything looking like an actually living room (all I have is a recliner), and then I can put my coffee table and end tables where I want them. Today I am going to finish organized the bookshelves, and unpacking all my fragile things, so I can put them around. It drives me crazy looking at things unorganized. Luckily the kitchen is all done and looking good, thanks to my grandma's coming over last week. It's starting to look like home around here, which is nice.

Kimbo the Housewife

My parents came over yesterday afternoon and it was so nice to see them, and to be able to show them around my new place. I miss them a lot, I am so used to seeing them everyday, so this is definitely an adjustment, but I have to admit, I do like being able to have space to spread out my things. I also find that I can't wait to wake up in the morning so I can putter around here. I have all the boxes unpacked, now I am just working on organizing and decorating. I'm getting into a new routine around here, waking up in the morning and showering, then making sure the kitchen is clean, maybe do some laundry, straighten up anything else from the night before, and then work on getting things put away. I'm like a little housewife, and I have to admit, this is definitely my thing. I have always been a homebody, and a nurturer, so I find being able to have a home of my own and take care of things fulfills a need I have always had.

The one thing I am enjoying is checking out all the different people that live here. I've seen people in very bizarre outfits and behaviors, and I am getting to know which people are my neighbors, even though I haven't met any. Human nature is very fascinating.

Phil should be home from work soon. He had to be at work at 3am today, working all the way our in Avondale, which is about an hour away. So he was up and out the door by 2am. I thought I would have a had time sleeping when he left, being that I am still getting used to the place, but I slept really well. I've been working hard around here, so at night I am very tired. I know that when he gets home he is going to be so tired, so he will most likely take a nap for a few hours. But he was excited to see football will be on tonight, and plans on making his guacamole for the game. Its fun to be able to do that sort of stuff together. Last night, Drum Corp World Championships was on and he watched it with me, so tonight will be football night. We make a good team, I am a very lucky girl.

OK, time to start folding the laundry and working on getting my desk put together and my desktop computer set up. Have a great day!

Settling In

After all the moving we did this weekend, yesterday was the day to tackle the next hurdle: unpacking. Phil stayed home from yesterday, he had pulled some muscles in his chest lifting boxes and furniture for three days, and being that is a carpenter, and his job consists of lifting materials, he knew he would be no good. So he spent most of the morning in our bedroom, putting things away and moving our bed to where we want it and our desk. And both my grandma's come over and helped me unpack all my kitchen boxes and helped organize my kitchen, and get some other living room boxes unpacked. When they left, we looked around and saw just how much we got done, and how much better it looked around here. And I made our first dinner here, since my kitchen was all unpacked, so that was nice.

There is still a lot to be done around here, so while Phil is at work today, I have work to do. Its good to be able to keep busy though, today is the first day I will be here alone and it is actually nice, very quiet. I get a lot of work done when I am alone, not sure why, probably because I don't have someone around to babble too lol.

So I am off now to get in my shower and then start working. Phil will be home after 3pm today, so I have plenty of time to make a dent in some of the unpacking.

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you all had a safe and happy Labor Day, and that you were one of the lucky ones to have the day off.

As for me, this weekend was spent moving into our new apartment. Saturday morning, while Phil was out dove hunting, I packed up the rest of the stuff that was out and then spent the rest of the time moving things from out of my room into the living room to make it easier to pick up things and load them in the truck. Once Phil got home I went over to Cindy's and picked up the kids and brought them back and then it was time to load the cars. It was very hot, but the kids worked hard and so did Phil. It is thirty miles from my house to my parents house, one way, and we made about 3 trips, so that was a lot of driving! Around 7pm we finished unloading the truck and stopped to pick up some dinner for the kids before taking them home. We then picked up dinner for us and came home, ate, and fell asleep.

Sunday morning, I was up early, thinking of all the things we needed to get done, and Phil was up early too, so we headed back over to my parents house to take a few more loads of stuff. This time, we didn't have the kids, so Phil was left to move everything from the house or garage, and into the truck. It was another very hot and miserable day, and after the second load, we headed over the grocery store, as we had no food whatsoever, and did some shopping for the week, and headed over to the $.99 store where we were able to pick up a lot of stuff we needed. Its amazing how much good stuff they have in a store like that. We took the truck back to my parents house and talked to them for a bit, then headed home. It was after 10pm when we got back to this side of town, so we picked up some sandwiches and again ate and went to sleep.

This morning, I was up around 8am and decided to get started on some laundry, and putting away all the groceries that we bought the night before. I was able to get everything into the pantry we have and get it organized, and also unpacked our silverware and dishes and ran them through a dishwasher cycle. Then we headed back over to my parents and took two more loads of stuff, plus stopped by his storage to get some of his kitchen things. We got the truck back around 7pm and since neither of us felt like cooking when we got home around 9pm, we had some pizza delivered. Now, we're just sitting here, relaxing. Its been a long ass weekend and we are both wiped out.

My grandma's are coming over tomorrow, they offered to help me unpack and get my kitchen organized, and I am very happy for any help that I can get. So I will be up again early, but this time I don't have to make any long trips back and forth, I can stay here and start getting this place cleaned up. There is just boxes and bags everywhere and seeing as it is just a 720 sq.ft apartment, its pretty crammed in here. But despite the size, it is actually very nice and spacious, and cozy. We really haven't had a chance to sit back and really enjoy our new place, and we haven't even been able to cook a real meal here yet, but its our place, and its so nice to have a home I can call my own.

Moving Day

When Phil came home from work yesterday, we hopped in the car and drove over to the new apartment and signed the lease and got the keys. It felt good, and it felt right that we were going to be living there. I haven't been to the complex since just the first visit, so this time I was able to look around. The whole place, once you drive in, looks like you are in the mountains, very rustic looking, very cute. The apartment is very nice, albeit on the small side, but it is just the two of us. And the whole area around us is residential, so it is very quiet.

When we got home, we ate a quick dinner, and then I decided to tackle the rest of the packing. Mostly everything is packed, but it just seems that everywhere I look, there is crap that needs to go into a box. And no matter how much stuff I put into a box, there seems to be more crap lurking somewhere else. I am at the point now where I am just throwing whatever is out in a box to deal with later, as now it is just odds and ends. My hope was to get it all done last night, but around 10pm Phil looked at me and said get in this bed and let's get some sleep.

So today is the big day, moving day. I'm showered and dressed and it isn't even 7:30am yet, although I have been up since 4am. Today is the first day of dove hunting season, something that Phil waits for all year, and he had to be at his friend's house by 5am, as they were heading down to Casa Grande. Of course, I started thinking about everything that needed to get done this morning, and couldn't go back to sleep. Frankly, I would have much rather he stayed here today and helped me finish the rest of this packing, and then pick up the boys early from Cindy's and start moving so we can avoid doing a lot of this stuff in the heat of the afternoon, seeing as they are forecasting it to be a high of 113 today. With an extra pair of hands, I wouldn't have to scramble around getting everything done. But then, if I didn't let him go today, then I would have to deal with a crabby man all day and since moving is never fun to begin with, I'd rather him be happy with me then pissed off. Plus he's been waiting for this day all year, and he can only hunt until 10am I believe, so he'll be home early enough (hopefully).

My plan this morning is to finish getting everything into the few empty boxes I have left, unplug all the computer equipment, and get a little box together of all the things we will need tonight and tomorrow morning, like our toothbrushes and shampoo and soap. Then I will go pick up the boys and once back here, load up both cars with as many boxes as we can, and head over to the apartment. Once we get back here, hopefully Phil will be home and he can start loading furniture. Phew, just thinking about everything that needs to be done today has me tired.

Speaking of which, I better get a move on. My mom came home from work not too long ago and is taking a nap, so when she gets up I want to be all ready to head out and pick up the boys. I am hoping that I will be able to pick up a WiFi signal at the apartment tonight, so I can at least come online, since we won't have cable until tomorrow afternoon. If I can't though, then I won't be back online until sometime tomorrow afternoon. So wish me luck and next time I blog to you, I'll be blogging from Chandler!

Almost ready to move!

Its been a few days since I last blogged, but I have just been so busy packing and getting ready to move this weekend. Most of my bedroom is now packed up, and yesterday my mom went through her kitchen and gave me a ton of stuff that she hasn't used forever, so she was very happy to give it to me, and I was very willing to take it, seeing as I am starting out with practically nothing. So all the kitchen stuff and dishes got packed up today. Tomorrow I will do a final go through of the house, seeing if I have anything left that I haven't packed, and get a box together for loose odds and ends.

For Saturday I was able to get my friend Cindy's two oldest boys to help Phil with moving furniture and boxes, which will make the day go a lot smoother. We first have to go sign the lease and get the keys. I have the electricity being turned on as of tomorrow, and Sunday afternoon the cable guy is coming to set up the cable, phone, and Internet, meaning unless I can pick up a wireless signal from a neighboring apartment, I won't have Internet until Sunday afternoon. So you know I will be going crazy, and as soon as the cable guy leaves and I get the modem set up, I will be up and running, ready to blog about our moving adventures.

So I am very excited about moving, even though it will be sad. But I found that last week, as sad as I was about leaving, I have come to terms with me and it is going to be such a great change for me, and it really is about time for me to be get out on my own, and for Phil and I to start our life together in our own place. So wish me luck with the move, and I will be back here on Sunday!

My first night alone...

In two months, that is....

Tomorrow is Phil's 29th birthday, and his brother invited him up to Lake Pleasant to go fishing overnight. How anyone can sit on a boat in the middle of the night and fish is beyond me, but he loves it, and since I love him, I told him to go and have a good time. Funny thing is, in the two months we have been living together, we have spent every night together, no matter what. So as much as I am going to enjoy having the entire bed to myself (although I love him, he is a bed hog), I am missing snuggling up together in bed watching TV and making each other laugh, and yes, I am even going to miss him hogging the bed. I guess we've gotten into a routine, we have dinner, watch TV together, go to bed. Tonight though, I find myself back where I was before he moved in, alone in bed, watching TV with my trusty laptop on my lap, bored. Amazing how one person can just come into your life and turn it upside down and change it for the better. I miss him terribly, and I know I am going to have a hard time sleeping without him next to me, but it will all be worth it in the morning when he comes home and we can celebrate his birthday in style.

We did start packing some this morning before he left. It was strange, though, packing up my things. I sort of always have the idea that I was going to be here forever, that I was never going to find the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. I never really thought that one day I would be moving out on my own. But the day has come and as much as I am looking forward to it and I am excited, I am also feelings a little sad, and nervous. Sad to be leaving the home I know, and moving to a home of my own, where I am in charge of everything for the first time in a long time. And nervous, hoping I do well on my own. But this is good, for us to have a place of our own, and to start our life together, just he and I.

Well, I think its time for me to put away this laptop and relax here in bed, maybe watch a movie or two that I have on the Tivo that Phil doesn't want to watch with me. I suppose it is good for us to have some time away from each other, doing our own thing, but I am hoping that morning comes soon.

Finally!!!

We got an apartment!!!!

I haven't been blogging about it, because it seemed as though every time I blogged about an apartment that I liked, we didn't get it, so I have been keeping quiet (yes, I know its silly, but hey, I am a silly girl).

Last week my parents took me out to look at a few places while Phil was at work. The first place totally lied to me over the phone as to what they had available, just to get me into the place, and from there it was off to the second place.

When you first enter into the complex, the main thing I noticed is that it is surrounded by residential homes, and is very quiet. I liked that a lot, plus the complex almost looks like it belongs in the mountains, with lots of trees and such, very quaint. The staff was super friendly, which many of the places I called were not, and the apartment, although they had no handicap-accessible units available for rent now, will suit me and my chair just fine. It is a one bedroom apartment and although it is on the smaller side (720 sq. ft.), for the two of us for the next year, that will be fine. I filled out the applications, put down the holding deposits, and have been waiting since last week to find out if we got it or not.

Today, finally, the women called and let me know that the manager signed off on everything and we are set to move in as of the 1st! I am very excited, but also nervous. It has been a long time since I last had my own apartment when I lived in Florida, and it will be hard not seeing my mom everyday, since her and I are so close, but this is a great opportunity to finally get out on my own. And my Grandma lives maybe 5-10 mins down the road, so I feel better knowing that if I even run into an emergency, there is someone who could be there to help me.

Now just comes the part I hate....packing and unpacking....

*Sigh*

Well, looks like we are still on the apartment search. Saturday we headed over to the complex that Mindy lives in, which we found has some strict qualification guidelines, the one upsetting me the most was that each of us, individually, has to make 3x the rent in income each month. Now, being on Disability, I make just enough to pay the rent, with absolutely nothing left over, yet Phil makes very good money, so we just combine our two incomes. This complex wouldn't have that though, so because I make so little each month, we're not able to get the apartment. I was upset about it, but after seeing the apartment, as much as there was a lot of room for me to get around (it was a handicap unit), there was a few things I didn't like, such as I would have to be constantly backing in and out of the kitchen to get to the stove and fridge and sink, and the bedroom was big, but narrow, and I wasn't able to get my chair into the closet.

So the search continues. It's just going to keep taking legwork to find the right place, and I am trying to be optimistic, but it just seems we keep hitting roadblocks. I guess I figured since things have come so easy to us so far, this would be easy as well. So I will be spending this week making calls and getting all the information on places, so this weekend we know which ones to look at.

Oh...people have been writing to me asking when we are headed off to Vegas. Well, looks like that trip isn't going to happen. His work seems to be wishy-washy on the whole thing, pushing the time they need to be there back, and he is under the impression it just isn't going to happen. So that's why we've decided to start looking for a place to rent, since before we weren't going to until after we got back from Vegas. As for getting married, we'll probably do something very simple here, and spend a weekend in Vegas as a honeymoon. But right now, our first priority is finding an apartment and getting settled in, and from there we'll figure out when we'll get married.

Updates

So the apartment hunt continues, after the fiasco of the place we went to last week, bringing out a huge sheet of hidden fees. I had called around places, trying to find a place that is affordable, has a handicap accessible apartment, and is in a nice neighborhood. Well, Mindy lives in a nice complex that is in the same area of the apartment complex I used to live in before we moved to Queen Creek. She went down to her leasing office and they have a 900 sq. ft one bedroom handicap accessible apartment, ready to rent now. I saw the flood plan and prices, and it is what we are looking for, so she let the leasing women know we will be in Saturday to look and possibly lease if we like it. So that would be nice, I love the neighborhood, close to the freeway for Phil to get to work, and good shopping, including a Barnes and Noble which I am so happy with, and its in Gilbert, which is a nice city. And it will be nice to be close to Mindy, if I need anything she can come over and help me, and it will be nice to see each other more often, and also I can see her little girl Kiarra, which I haven't seen since December, and she has gotten so big.

Besides that, everything has been going well. The monsoon is in full swing here and every night we have been getting dust storms and rain and thunderstorms, which is nice, but my arthritis hasn't been too happy with it. And Phil got a raise at work yesterday, which is going to help a lot, I am so proud of him. He really does work very hard, and his job is very demanding, working on these job sites in the blazing Arizona summer heat, poor thing comes home everyday covered in sweat. I hope he knows just how much I appreciate all the hard work he does to support us.

So, that's about all the news I have going on right now. I'll keep you posted on apartment news this weekend.

Frustration

Phil and I went Friday to look at the apartment we found that we really liked and also had a nice handicap accessible apartment available. Once we got there, though, the woman that I spoke to over the phone, who quoted me her move-in price, brought out a cost sheet full of other hidden deposit and administrative fees that she never told me about. To move into this place, it would require us to basically have to pay a months rent twice, plus more. And she wouldn't show us the place until we put down money for the non-refundable admin. fee and application fee. It was ridiculous. We could have ended up hating the place and been out $218 from the start. So our search continues. We spent yesterday morning calling around several different complexes, getting prices and such, and drove around yesterday while running errands seeing different places and the neighborhoods they are in. So this week my job is to call as many places as I can, get prices and all move in costs, and then from there, Saturday will be the day we visit the places we like the best, and then hopefully put in an application at the best one.

So I was pretty bummed, and frustrated, to say the least, this weekend. I really wanted to get into this place, and was upset that when I had asked the women for all the possible fees, she assured me all we had to pay to move in was $218 and then the first month and a half was free. Once we get in there, the whole story changed. It was almost as thought she just figured we were going to want the place that bad, that we'd do anything to get in, including plunking down hundreds of dollars. Of course, I am fully aware that moving into an apartment is going to cost some money, but this place was just outrageous. I have no doubt that we are going to find a place just as nice, with an affordable move in, but I was really hoping on that place, because it seemed so perfect with the handicap accessibility. But other complexes have the same thing, and I have to realize that when it comes to finding a place to live, sometimes it is going to take a lot of legwork. In the end though, once we get moved in somewhere and have a place to call our own, this will all be worth it.

A new home for Kimbo?

Phil and I found a really nice apartment in Mesa, not too far from where my parents live, that we have a hold on and will be viewing tomorrow, as well as giving them our application and seeing if we are approved. It is a two-bedroom apartment, that is also handicap-accessible. There are bars in the bathroom and wide doorways, and under the sink in the kitchen has been gutted so I can roll right up under it, which is going to make life so much easier. It is a very nice complex, pretty big, with four pools and 6 different lakes which I was told even though fishing is not allowed, they don't police it, so as long as we release what we catch, we can do it as much as we want. The rent each month is very affordable for us, in fact it is normally higher but we are getting a special deal, which is even better. So today I am filling out the application that I downloaded and printed from their website, and getting together the necessary proof of income for both of us, so we are all set tomorrow. So keep your fingers crossed!

I am looking forward to us getting our own place, even though there is a part of me that knows it is going to be hard for me to pack up from here and leave. I have only spent a short time on my own when I lived in Florida and had my own apartment, and then once we moved back here I moved back home for financial reasons, then had to go on disability, which does not make me enough to live on my own. I have become accustomed to living at home and having certain things done for me, and with my mom and I being so close, I am going to miss not seeing her on a daily basis. But it is good for me, it is time for me to be in my own home. I find that there are times I get frustrated living here, not because I don't like being with my family, but because I long to have my own space, and do things they way I want to do them. At 28, I should have been out of the house a long time ago, but life throws you curves and you have to roll with it, and being at home has been something that I have been grateful for, because at least I have a nice place to live. But it is time for me to be on my own, and Phil and I are looking forward to having a home of our own. It is just another step for us, and something I can't wait to take. I just am hoping and praying we get approved for this apartment tomorrow, although I really don't think there is going to be a problem. I suppose because I want it so much, I just worry. But I will let you all know tomorrow what the outcome is.