Well we made it to Charlottesville, Virginia (the picture above is of the really cool outdoor downtown mall in C-ville, photo courtesy of some guy named Bob Travis online :)). The past few weeks have been an adventure but things have actually gone pretty smoothly so I can't complain. So once Brandon received the official job offer, they were hoping he could start in just a couple weeks so we had to get goin on making all the arrangements. I gave my job notice that I was leaving. We contacted the moving companies. We started looking for a place to live. We started packing and cleaning. It was crazy how much we had to get done in such little time. So the moving company has people that come pack up all your stuff for you and then the next day the moving truck comes and loads it all up. So it's kind of tricky coordinating all of that. I had to pack stuff in suitcases that we'd need to keep with us and load up one of our cars with all that stuff so that the movers wouldn't pack it because they will pack every last little thing in your apartment unless you tell them not to.
So the night before the movers were going to come pack up our stuff, I was up really late doing last minute packing and I'm thinking that lack of sleep on top of all the stress I was having is what made me susceptible to getting a bad cold. I woke up the next morning not feeling well. Brandon and I basically sat in our apartment while the movers packed everything up. I thought it would only take a few hours but it definitely took them all day. All I wanted to do was sleep because I felt sick but I didn't want to sleep in my house with strange men walking through all the rooms packing things up. So that was a really long day. After they left I got some blankets from the car and laid them on our bed that had no bedding anymore and slept for awhile. Then I spent that evening cleaning because the next day was our apartment check-out. I was up late again and that night was a horrible night because we forgot that pillows might be a good thing to sleep on so all we had were a few blankets to sleep with on our bed that had no bedding. After a few hours of sleep, we woke up early the next morning and the movers loaded up all of our stuff. They were done barely in time for us to vacuum right before our landlord came to do our check-out.
That morning we'd found an apartment posting online that looked really nice and they were having a really good deal but the deal was for that weekend only. So since we weren't going to get to Charlottesville until Tuesday I faxed over our rental application and a check for the security deposit so they would hold the apartment for us at that price until we got there. I prayed that we would like it so we wouldn't have to find another place to live.
After we said goodbye to a few people and grabbed one last meal at Cafe Rio, we headed out of Provo. I couldn't believe we'd gotten everything done that we needed to and we were actually leaving. It had been such a whirlwind. So we drove the rest of the day Friday and stayed the night in a hotel somewhere in Nebraska. Saturday night we made it to my family's house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was so much fun to see them for a couple days. We stayed there until Monday afternoon and then had to continue our drive. We stayed the night somewhere in Kentucky and then finally made it to Charlottesville Tuesday afternoon. The drive through West Virginia and Virginia was so gorgeous. It felt like we were driving through clouds made of trees.
The first place we went was the
apartment. We loved it so we signed the contract and moved in then and there. The guy that transported our other car arrived with our car that night and the movers brought the rest of our stuff the very next morning. So I really can't imagine what we would have done if we still had to find a place to live. Brandon started his job at UVA Wednesday morning. I unpacked the rest of the week. By Saturday I was pretty much done and I was so glad. I hate a messy house so unpacking is torture to me.
Brandon really likes his job. He loves the people he works with and he's enjoying the work he's doing. He works at the John Paul Jones Arena or the "JPJ" (photo courtesy of
College Sports Examiner online :)). I'll let him give a more detailed post about his job.
After those first few days of non-stop unpacking, I've been spending my days on the more detailed unpacking, going grocery shopping, hanging all the wall hangings, driving around Charlottesville using our GPS (the GPS has been a lifesaver!), looking for a job, making dinner, and getting to watch a few daytime shows that I haven't been able to watch since I can't even remember! (
The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, The View, and
Ellen). I've enjoyed this time off work to relax, get organized, and become familiar with C-ville but I look forward to finding a job to keep me busy. Oh and for the record, I'm STILL getting over my cold!
Well here are the pros and cons that I've noticed so far of living in C-ville: PROS- gorgeous weather, gorgeous scenery, everyone is really nice (the Southern accents are really fun to listen to too!), there are lots of Five Guys restaurants, J.Crew, Anthropologie, and Urban Outfitters are only ten minutes away. CONS- the water here tastes/smells like dirt (it's disgusting), there are no Wal-mart Supercenters or Super Targets (only the plain old Walmart and Target which are lame), the closest Forever 21 is an hour away, no Cafe Rio, and we're far away from all our family and friends.
Our apartment has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms but it also has a sun room which is a small open room next to the living room and a small office right with a built in desk (first picture below). Here are some pictures:
The kitchen is kind of really small and I kind of really hate it. I have to use the kitchen table and the stove as counter space all the time and I scream every day when I make dinner because I run out of space.
The closet looks messy but that's mainly because I hate folding clothes so I just throw all my clothes on the shelf instead of fold them nicely like Brandon does. But DO go ahead and admire that it's a
walk-in closet and I love it :)
I also love having a big bathroom with double sinks. In our previous bathroom you had to close the door to have enough room to stand in it, you had to get in a funny position to bend over enough to rinse off your face or drink out of the faucet, and there was not enough room for 2 people to brush their teeth at the same time... you had to wait your turn.
Our apartment complex has a pool,
clubhouse that has a fitness center, a small movie theater, and a conference room/computer room. We have gone to a few local restaurants to eat and we've been impressed so far. We hear that in the Fall you HAVE to hike up to Carter Mountain to pick apples and see the pretty leaves so we're excited to do that (photo courtesy of someone online :)). There are also tons of historical sites in the area that we will see as well. We'll keep you posted on our new life here in C-ville!
-Amy
Right now I'm going over those 2 racks in my head re-talking myself out of the things I said "no" to that I'm thinking I should've just bought. I will probably go back tomorrow to see if any more crazy price-killing happened after I left and also probably buy whatever is left of the racks.... Basically what I wanted to do and should've done is grab the 2 racks, drag them with me back to a dressing room and lock myself inside so no one could take anything from me and call everyone I knew to see if they'd be interested in any of it and find a home for everything. That's why I should've just bought everything and figured it out once I got home :). I get a little crazy when things get significantly marked down.... For those who know my shopaholic tendencies I hope you are proud of me for the self-control I showed today. In fact go ahead and tell me that I should NOT have bought everything because in case you can't tell I'm feeling some serious anxiety for not buying everything...
