Big Changes (no, no baby)

I keep getting asked when number two is coming, so I figured I should start out by saying that no, it's not a new baby.

We're moving! (and no, it's not an April Fool's joke. I don't like the feeling of being fooled, so I'd never do that to anyone else)

Yeah, it's a bit of a surprise for us. We're ready, though.

You can see pictures of the place we live in right now (I think they're still on the website); it will make you shocked that we actually want to leave. We're living in a huge, beautiful 150-year old farmhouse that's been renovated and modernized, but still has the charm of an old home. We live on 95 acres of woods, and there are amazing gardens around the house.

But you've heard about the cat problem. And it's gotten really old, hearing Jerry crying outside the window in the evening and all through the night, begging to be let back in.

And this place is expensive to heat. Even though we only live in two rooms, the rest of the house is set at 50 so it doesn't freeze...and though this winter was extremely mild, we still spent a lot on heat.

And it takes a lot to keep everything clean.

Most of the rooms aren't childproof, and actually pretty dangerous for Jasmine, who is rather fearless and doesn't stop to think about the fact that a closed door might be to keep her from falling down the single stair onto hard wood.

And, the beautiful gardens are a ton of upkeep. The woman who owns the house (we are technically housesitting) spent an hour a day out there last summer. We had gotten by with less since we moved in in August, but it still took a lot of time, which was very hard with Jasmine needing to be in my arms, unless I waited until Josh got home from work.

And, last but not least, we're a long ways from everything. In theory we're not that far away from civilization, but we're 20 minutes from Wegmans (our supermarket), 20 minutes from work, 1 1/2 hours from my parents, 35 minutes from church...I know that's not much to some people, but for us, who are used to having things closer, it's not easy.


So we talked to the owner of the house, and either she'll move back in, or she'll have someone else live here. We looked at two apartments on Friday (too far, and YUUUUCK!) and two on Saturday (beautiful and YUCK). Guess which one we're moving into?

It's 5 minutes from the ministry's new office (they move in over the next few weeks), 5 minutes from Wegmans and the city's big mall, 15 minutes closer to my parents, half the distance to church (15 minutes)...and it will cost just about the same as it costs us to live here. The whole apartment will be Jasmine-safe, not just one small room. Heat is included. So is cable. So I can watch all the Yankees games this season (minus the first week, since we won't be there yet).

They had a special offer going, that if we signed the application and gave the security deposit on Friday (the last day of the month) they'd split that cost in half. So we did it, and Tuesday we sign the lease. (happy birthday to me!) We move (get this!) next weekend!! (Josh's parents are already renting trucks and getting help from the guys in the youth group for moving the office furniture, so it made the most sense to piggyback on that!)

It's a 2-bedroom apartment, and it's really cute. Nice, open kitchen, good-sized closets, clean, very peaceful complex. We're on the ground floor right next to the laundry room (which is great...makes it so much easier to do with Jasmine!) There's a pool and a picnic area. But very little storage. Oh, and there aren't actually balconies on ours, since we're on the ground floor (our choice...it's cheaper this way!)

So we're hoping to put a lot of things in his parents' garage (they have a huge storage area, or will, once the office moves out of it!) until we move into a house (or a larger apartment, but I'm kinda hoping this is the last one we live in.)

We spent a few hours today going through the bins, figuring out what we have, what we need right away and what can stay stored. Hopefully we can see the model again on Tuesday so we know exactly how much cupboard space we have, and can figure out what we can have out and what we'll have to stash away. :)

Whew. Should make for an exciting week! :)