Moving Day!

Well, it took a lot of time, grief and jobs we hated but we finally found a place to live.  It took a few months of searching, not liking a lot of them, more searching, more research on what area we wanted to live and landing a place that we liked and would do for the time being.  It was within reason to work, it wasn’t too far from my parent’s and grandparent’s house and it wasn’t too far from I-5 to go see Ben’s mom in Bonney Lake.  We plan on staying here at least two years or so.

We started the process of this place we found in Lacey over by the Amtrac Train Station off of Yelm Highway via Zillow.  Ben got a hold of a girl named Shelby, which later I found out was the same girl who worked at the casino and had a crush on Ben, who helped us get this place.  She basically put it on hold for us.  Ben walked through it a few weeks ago and then reported his opinions on it while I was in Yakima visiting some friends on my days off.  I’ve only seen the outside of the place so far.

We both filled out their online application and added the $35 fee.  We better get this place or we’re both out $35 bucks and wasted time.  We were approved a few days later and our final walk through was scheduled for Wednesday, July 6^th at 3:30. 

I went to work and Ben had the day off.  We met at noonish at Buffalo Wild Wings for some lunch.  We both had never been here for lunch before so our meals were cheaper…which was great!  Afterwards, we stopped by the Remax in Tumwater to pay our rent, deposit, pet fee and to turn in our renter’s insurance.  We hung out at Tumwater Falls and walked the loop, stopped by Lowe’s to see which washer and dryer we would like to purchase, all to waste some time before we went to the house.  We got there early and waited on the stoop. 

A guy named Lee showed up about 45 min late, but he did inform us he would be late, introduced himself and then we started our final walk through.  The house definitely smelled like rental house (I know this because my family has had a rental house for 20 years, wow it’s already been 20 years?!) the living room was huge, the kitchen had a ton of room, we looked at the three bedrooms, the two bathrooms, the garage and the small but functional back yard with a shed.  We can make this work, look and smell good.

We received the keys, he went over the paperwork with us and he overheard Ben and I having a small side bar conversation about washers and dryers.  He asked us if we were going to purchase one.  We told him yeah, we were thinking of doing it during the weekend.  He said if we do it now, we could use his military discount.  He had to go pick up the new stove anyway…might as well get those and haul them at the same time.  We said sure and off we went.  The washer and dryer only cost us $800 with the $100 discount.  It was sweet.  He even installed them for us.  We thanked him and I headed home to gather and bring over more of my stuff.  When I got back and unloaded, we jumped into Ben’s car and headed down to Rochester to pick up some of his stuff.  We got back late; I immediately got into bed because I had to get up at 5 to go to work. 

The next day I was miserable.  I was so tired I could barely see straight but I stayed awake.  I had an informational interview of the Department of Health to see if I even wanted to work there or not (I had an interview on Friday for a permanent/full time position.  She basically told me to quit my job with the state, go back to school and become a teacher and a coach…easier said than done.  I needed to keep bringing money in because we just moved out into our own place.  I told myself, one thing at a time.  If I stay at L&I for a year (my year anniversary is in September) and become permanent they will pay for my education.  I headed back towards Rainier to get more stuff and shove it in the Escape.  I got back late again and put some stuff away.  Ben got home from his meeting that lasted until about 8 and then we got cleaned up and went to bed as soon as possible, tomorrow was going to be another long day.

I got up around 5 again, got ready for work and did my thing down in the mail room.  At 10:30 I had my one on one with my supervisor and basically I am doing everything right for only being three months in.  She asked me a series of questions on how she could help me be better, if I was challenged enough, my time off, my upcoming training, the status with Kathy and other various topics.  We walked back to the mail room and I basically got ready to leave.  I bypassed the gym and went home to get ready for my interview with the Department of Health.  I ate some food, took a short nap and then put my interview clothes on, did my hair and put a small amount of makeup on.  It was set for 2:30.  I thought it went well but you never know what they are actually looking for.

I headed home and packed up more of my stuff into the Escape.  I still had a lot to do.

Saturday morning we rented a truck from Budget to pick up the couch from Federal Way, get the big heavy stuff from Bonney Lake and finish up getting some of the heavy stuff from my house and grandma’s house…well at least that was the plan.

We picked up the couch first and it took up most of the truck like we thought it would.  We drove out to Bonney Lake, Trish was on her girls’ weekend and Amy was chillin at home.  None of Ben’s stuff was packed so we spent a lot of time there.  We made lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese and got back to work soon after.  We took Ben’s bed apart, grabbed the speakers, the TV, the leaning dresser of Pisa and other various things we could get packed up quickly and stuffed in the truck. 

We headed out to Rainier to grab my giant things including my dresser, my king sized bed, some boxes of stuff and anything else we thought we could put in there so I didn’t have to put it in the Escape later.  It was getting late so we attempted to go to grandma’s house to get the mini fridge and the BBQ and for some reason my key would not fit into the gate lock.  We were frustrated and tired so we headed back to the house to unload.  Mom and dad met us there to help us unload.

It took us a while to unload everything.  In the meantime I mopped the floor so we could put the couch in the living room right away.  It was starting to look like an actual house on the inside.  I helped Ben bring in the really heavy stuff so we didn’t have to make mom and dad do that stuff.  We unloaded my king sized mattress into the master bedroom, his mattress into the guest bedroom and the couch pieces into the living room.  I was so exhausted and hungry.  We thanked them for helping us. 

On Sunday since we got everything sorta put away for now, it was time to bring Calvin home and I knew he was going to be weird for at least a week with the new change.  He was.  He hid under the blankets in the bed, did not eat for at least five days, he hid in the bathtub and just became isolated to everyone.  By the end of the week he was getting back to normal.

We made a few meals together including Scooby Doo waffles, chicken and rice dishes, spaghetti, chicken tacos, a couple breakfasts including eggs, sausage, cereal and bananas, sandwiches and homemade chicken teriyaki.  As you can tell we like our chicken huh?

Ben ordered a king sized bed frame off of Woot for $350 and it arrived in three pieces on a Sunday and Monday.  Monday night we started putting it together and it took us over 4 hours with some stuff we had to redo.  We didn't get to bed until after midnight and I have to get up at 5....

Tuesday we did the drawers and it took us about 2 hours and we still went to bed later than I wanted to.

On Thursday I started sanding our dining room table.

Our family and friends have donated various items and we even received a few house warming gifts.  We plan on having an actual open house type house warming party eventually and going to host game night in September.

We still have a lot left to do and go through until this feels like a normal home.

Next Adventure:  Eatonville:  Little Mashel River Falls and Lower Falls Hike