The Apartment

My father suggested that I keep a journal of my experiences the first year with Kalen. So, I'm attempting to keep a blog and update when I can.

The Time Line Jan 20th through 30th

• Friday Jan 20th-Amber's friends threw a murder mystery potluck going away party
• Saturday Jan 21st-we rented a car from National and started the drive from Huntsville to Murfressboro AR and spent the night at the Diamond Oaks Inn B&B that we got engaged at. LOVE this B&B and if we go diamond hunting again we are so staying here. Its the main reason we took the route through AR to spend the night here.
• Sunday Jan 22nd-we started the drive from AR to Mineola, TX to visit Dave and Judi, from there we went to Dallas, TX to visit Don, Donna, and Gary; that night we drove to Austin.
• Monday Jan 23rd
• Tuesday Jan 24th- we signed for our first apartment and wrote a list of items that took 1hr to write up that needed to be fixed in the apartment. The apartment wasn't as was expected from the website or the 'show apartment' but we were going to make do.
• Wednesday Jan 25th-Amber spent two hours bleaching the very disgusting apartment, that evening we discovered an infestation of bed bugs.
• Thursday Jan 26th-we signed for a different apartment on the 3rd floor, two patios, +120sqft extra for $10 more a month. It was much cleaner than the last apartment and had much more natural lighting.
• Friday Jan 27th-the pod arrived and we started to unpack
• Saturday Jan 28th- Amber watched the boys while Conor helped Kalen unpack the heavier items out of the pod
• Sunday Jan 29th-Conor, Eric, and Pratik helped Kalen move stuff from his old apartment and the last item out of the pod. Kalen's couch was the hardest item to try to fit through the door, the boys ended up suspending it over the railing.

It took about 3 weeks to unpack and put the majority of everything away into the apartment. Though the two days during the move when we moved in and out of the first apartment, we didn't sleep so well due to the semantic feeling of bugs crawling on us in bed. Luckily we feel after spending 5 hours going through all of our stuff before removing it from the last apartment, we didn't bring any with us. So far its been almost a month from the time we signed for the other apartment and no bugs. I was told that we would laugh about this later. Though the thought of bugs is still lingering that we might have brought one with us.

Luckily, we also got a new dishwasher out of the deal though, my hands suffered for half a week washing dishes in very hard water conditions. My nails are still not right.

We also recycled old calendars to put in the drawers and cabinets instead of wall paper. And used the old packing tap off the plastic tubs that we close shut in the move.

On a funnier note, we cleaned house before Don and Donna came to visit last weekend. And about 20minutes before they showed up the long light bulbs in the kitchen ceiling went out. So we improvised with a lamp we weren't sure what to do with and stuck up on top of the fridge. At least its an energy efficient bulb. We actually have removed half of the bulbs out of the dining room and the bathrooms to reduce the amount of energy that is used in each room. We also have night lights that have on and off switches to use instead of the over head lights during the day time.

Kalen also built me a cedar box planter for the front patio. We put bulbs in so far and have a rosemary plant. I hope to put more in before I leave to go back home for the wedding.

And just in case you can't tell, we have a visitor :) I hope he stays so he can eat all those stupid flies that keep getting into the house

Kalen also built me a compost box (not pictured) its not much to look at. We got a Lowe's bucket that holes were drilled in the top. We got this because for a price point, it was a heck of a lot cheaper than apartment compost bins that range from $20 and $100. I think we ended up spending around $5 with tax for the bucket and the lid (sold separately). It holds about 5gallons and has a very sturdy handle. tub

Mom also sent some compost excellerant. So, hopefully it will decompose quick and wont start smelling too bad.