Welcome home

Well, the moving process is halfway over. JD and I moved all of my things out of the small apartment on Friday (with the wonderful help of three wonderful men!). We were actually all done unloading at the new place by noon on Saturday, so I got to spend most of Saturday unpacking and setting up house. JD calls it "nesting." It always amazes me how quickly unpacking goes and how slowly packing goes. Despite spending a lot of time with the JD's family over the Christmas holiday, I was able to get almost everything unpacked. The only things that remain are decorative things and my books (which, because I have to alphabetize them by author in national groupings, takes more focused and patient energy), so I'm feeling pretty well settled in.

Today we cleaned and vacated the old place, and tomorrow we drive to Charlotte to get all of JD's things and start the unpacking all over again. Hopefully we'll be celebrating the New Year in a settled and comfortable home. In the meantime, here's what the new digs look like...

Our kitchen. I love the over-cabinet space for all my pitchers and vases and whatnots. 

More of the kitchen. 

The wine rack/dining area. Pardon the mess. And the dog bowls. 

The Master closet. We are actually able to split the space!

No MB moving post would be complete without the mandatory shoe photo. 

The Master bedroom ... complete with dogs. 

My Master bath has a garden tub!

This will eventually by my dissertation writing/guest room.

The guest bath

I didn't include photos of the office or the laundry room or the living room because they are pretty much in shambles. They'll get pulled together in the next week or so, I promise. 

Even though we're still not completely settled in, it already feels like home. While I'm farther away from some dear friends than when I lived in the old place, I think this is a good move for us. The kids love the big back yard (fenced in!) and having a garage is nice, too!

Funny story ... as we were unloading the moving truck, four little neighborhood kids came over to say "hi!." They were all under the age of 8 and there were no parents in sight (which concerns me more than a little). Immediately after saying "hi!," they said, "Can we play with your dogs?!" I had no idea that they even knew we had dogs! Apparently word spreads fast in the cul-de-sac. Then, on Christmas Eve, on of the little girls knocked on the door and handed us our mail. She was very excited that it had been delivered for us. 

I'm thinking some boundaries may need to be established in the future...

But, either way, home sweet home. arou