Moving adventures

So we finally closed on our house at the end of April. Due to some paperwork nonsense, it ended up being a week late, but we weren't moving in until after that, so it didn't matter in the end. It was a harrowing couple of weeks, trying to get our whole apt packed up, arranging for movers, etc. It was down to the wire, but eventually we got it all together and didn't kill one another in the process.

Moving day was a bit chaotic. The movers showed up early- which I can't complain about- and we managed to get the whole apt into the truck within a few hours. Then I had a cleaning lady come take care of the dirty work, because lets face it, I'm way too big to be doing major cleaning! Then they unloaded everything into the garage at our new house. Then they went back over to Mike's parents house to empty our stuff out of the basement there. As it turned out, there was a bit more there than we remembered, so it took a lot longer than the movers expected. Then there was the awkward conversation about how much more they wanted us to pay them. Should have expected this... Anyways, Mike did some good negotiating, and I think where we ended was fair to both of us. But I do think these guys often low ball the price to get the business and then ream you at the end... At the end of the day, I was disappointed that a lot of the boxes were still in the garage (all the furniture made it in), but Mike was a trooper and got most of them in over the weekend.

We were THRILLED to be back in our OWN house, without neighbors sharing our building (not that we didn't love our neighbors... I'd just rather not hear people going up and down the stairs all the time). And Mike is excited for all of the potential fixing-up projects (which have turned out to be a lot...poor guy is slated to paint the girls bedrooms, install a banaster to the basement, install extra railings on the upstairs front porch (so Caroline doesn't fall through!), and put in a garden, never mind all of the replacing of lightbulbs, outlet covers, etc. He says this place really shows not having a handyman around (the woman we bought it from lost her husband a few years before).

We still have TONS of unpacking to do, but we're excited to get settled in our "forever home."