See these?
Those are the keys. The keys I picked up Tuesday night. The keys that will allow us to start moving our belongings from our current tiny little apartment to our soon-to-be, bigger apartment. I didn't feel secure really talking about the move until I had those, until our new landlord signed the lease and agreed to have us as tenants.
But now? Time to talk!
The apartment is the first floor of a house in the town I grew up in and was originally built in 1890 (I LOVE that detail). We specifically wanted to move back to this town for the school system, which is superior to the school systems of all the immediately neighboring towns. As an added, totally adorable bonus, because Nate and my sister's daughter, Brooke, are only six month apart in age, they're going to be in the same class when they start school. Could that be ANY cuter??? Just think of the first day of school and back to school night and holiday concerts. It's all five years away and I'm already excited about it.
Of course, they must get past this stage of their relationship first:
This was over two months ago, though; they're better now.
(And can I just add: look at that picture from mid-July and yesterday's picture post. Do babies change quickly or what?? Man.)
So, some details...
Parking
Current apartment: Street parking that we fight over with the neighbors who have driveways while we don't. For some reason, our neighbors like to park on the street instead of their own driveways. There's one particular neighbor in particular (who we fondly call "The Asshole") who likes to park his car so that it takes up two spots in front of our house. *grr grumble friggin gah* If you lived with us, you would often hear the statement, "Oh, The Asshole parked like an asshole again" as one of us came home.
New apartment: A driveway that will easily fit three cars, if not more - and that's just for us. The upstairs tenants have their own driveway parking. So we have a wide driveway all to ourselves. Guaranteed parking, every day, assholes prohibited. I cannot wait to come home without having to worry if I'll have to carry groceries/Nate/laundry/myself up half a block simply because I can't park in front of my own home.
Bedrooms
Current apartment: 2 bedrooms. One for me and the hubby, which doesn't even have enough space in it to allow us to walk around our bed. We have to walk sideways around our bedroom, like you do when you squeeze past someone in a row of seats. The second for Nate, which also houses some of the hubby's clothes in the closet, one of my shoe racks, a 7 foot high stack of plastic bins of baby clothes, and a bulky plastic shelf that holds Nate's books, toys, some random baby items, and our printer and the hubby's computer. Nate's room is a mish-mosh mess.
New apartment: 3 bedrooms! All of which have room to move freely! My and the hubby's room has a walk-in closet! We surmise the closet is about the same size as our current bedroom. (Okay, in reality it's probably about 1/4 the size of our current bedroom.) Nate will have his own closet in his room and his room has, get this, built in bunkbeds. How cool is that?? We will, of course, be putting away the ladder for that until he's old enough to handle it. (I fell off a top bunk when I was seven, so I'm guessing we'll put that ladder back when he's eight.) There's a full bathroom right next to our room.
As for that third bedroom, which is actually the master, that will be occupied by . . . my brother! Yes, my brother ("the lawyah" as my mother says) will be moving in with us. He needs wants to move out of my parents' house but can't afford his own place yet and we needed a way to subsidize our new rent, so it worked out perfectly. He will take the master bedroom, which has an attached full bathroom (with a door to it also from the hall) so he doesn't have to share a bathroom with us and a baby (much to his relief) and he even practically has his own entrance. The apartment has three entrances - one in the front, one in the back and one on the side. The side entrance is right outside my brother's room, so it's basically like he's living in a studio apartment within our apartment. It's really perfect.
That side entrance is also right next to... the laundry closet!!!!!!!!!
Laundry
Current apartment: No laundry. Every Friday I pack up Nate and two hampers of clothes and go to my parents' house and do four+ hours of laundry. This means we don't do mid-week laundry (unless it's a Nate-related emergency, like a poo disaster) and if we run out of something, we run out.
New apartment: COMES WITH a washer and dryer. They're not brand new or modern, but I couldn't care less. They're there; they work; they're ours to use. Seriously, I want to sing a hallelujah chorus over this. Not only do we now have laundry machines, we don't even need to climb any stairs to use them. I could cry with joy.
Kitchen
And then there's the kitchen, which sits in the middle of the apartment. I told my brother it's like those college suites where the common area is in the middle and the bedrooms are on the sides. On one side of the kitchen is the dining room, which leads to the living room and our and Nate's bedrooms and our bathroom. On the other side of the kitchen is the pantry, my brother's room and bathroom, and the laundry.
Current apartment: The kitchen is the largest room, but it's got a bit of an awkward layout, including a closed off fireplace that we use as a makeshift pantry with plastic bins. There's almost no counter space because the dish drainer, microwave, coffee machine, utensil holders, and spice rack take up most of the space. The stove is in the back corner, with no free space near it. I do most of our chopping and prep on the kitchen table or in sections on the available counter across the room. I then drop at least 1/4 of the prepped goods on my way to the stove. Our table seats 4-6 comfortably, more if we had room to use the leaf.
New apartment: Let's start with seating. There's an island with a counter that seats four - and the apartment comes with four comfortable bar stools (with arms and backs). Then there's a breakfast nook that will easily fit our current table, chairs, and Nate's high chair (which we are going to set up for the first time at the new place). Then there's still the dining room! And the living room! It's a seating bonanza!
But let's focus on the kitchen. So there's seating at this island I mentioned. Beyond the long counter to eat at, there's prep space and the stove. In addition to the four burner stove, there's an indoor grill and attached vent. The grill also has a griddle top that can be swapped out - so we can griddle or grill year-round, right in the middle of our kitchen! And when you're at the stove top, you're facing the dining room/living room, so you're still "with" the party if you have people over (if they're not all in the kitchen with you because, did I mention, there's tons of seating??).
The oven and microwave are built into the wall/cabinet area to the left of the island, which means we won't need our microwave anymore, which means even MORE free counter space. The oven is digital, so no more guessing if it's pre-heated.
There are tons of cabinets and tons of counter space. I will be peeling and chopping and prepping 'til my heart's complete. The refrigerator is wider than our current one and has great, deep pockets in the door.
The new kitchen is green, which I'm not so much a fan of, but I'll live with it. We can paint eventually (when we can afford paint). We're not changing anything in the apartment overall because it's in decent shape and neutral enough to live with. I simply can't wait to sit there and breathe in the space.
And now... to pack and unpack. Ugh. Anyone enjoy packing and unpacking? I do not. But there's motivation to get it done quickly and efficiently, like ripping off a Band-Aid. The faster it gets done, the faster it's over and we're simply living in a new place. Can't wait!
Monday, November 22, 2010 at 11:18AM 