Here We Go!

Real life has officially started in Fairfax, which is probably the best thing that could have happened. I can't do anymore goodbyes! It was hard to see Mom leave on Friday, but I was able to stay distracted with all of the things Kori and I had planned to do and work on in the apartment. We ran exhausting errands all day that day, including dragging a giant area rug through Target, into the pouring rain, and into the car. It barely fit once we laid the passenger seat completely flat and scooted my seat all the way forward. By the time we got all of our other shopping bags from the car to the apartment and were, once again, dragging that rug up the stairs, "IT'S ALMOST OVER!!" became the mantra for survival.
But we were wrong. It was not almost over.
We both threw out our backs after that because (#1) we are obviously old and decrepit, and (#2) we moved all my living room furniture completely out and back to fit the rug.
...And then had to lift up the couch about 700 times to adjust the crooked rug.
But I must say, I am LOVING the end result! I have wanted an area rug for so long!

Still need to get something to go on the wall behind the couch, and I need to finish unpacking so I can re-fill all the shelves of that shelf. For now, my laptop lives there.
I spent most of Saturday (before and after Kori left) trying not to cry. Thinking too much about being so far away from Mom and Kori evokes those same feelings as if I'm 10 years old and homesick during my first days at summer camp. That night Andrew and I had dinner together and saw Water for Elephants (in a super nice theater within walking distance, PS), and after we got home my day-long efforts bottomed out a little bit. I'm lucky and grateful that he understands (and expected) that this is hard for me even though, on the whole, I am obviously glad to be here.

Oh - side note - I loved the movie. I plan to buy the book this week.

Easter Sunday brought absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather. Andrew went out and bought a few plants and flowers to put on our balcony, and he got me a little cactus to remind me of home. We're going to look for a Texas pot of sorts to put it in!

On that note, the view from our balcony/living room window is really great. We have a screen door, and Juno is loving watching and listening to all the birds and other noises. She never got to do that living up high in Austin, which I hadn't even thought about until Andrew pointed it out. She's splits her time about 50/50 - either by the window/screen, or asleep in the middle of my bed. I think I'd choose those spots, too.

Something I had been planning for weeks was to cook something for Easter dinner on our first official day together, and indeed I did. Pot roast (The Pioneer Woman's recipe), mashed potatoes, and browned butter asparagus (from the Cooking Light magazine the last tenant never picked up from her mailbox - woot!). The whole meal was labor-intensive - I had to type out my plan on a Word document so I wouldn't forget to do something - but it has been so much fun cooking for someone else!

Andrew took the leftovers to work, and my inner-homemaker has officially been satisfied :P

More pictures to come on facebook. The two bedrooms and the dining room aren't set up very much at all, but I took a few pictures of the other rooms for now. If I wait until it's completely done to show y'all pictures then there will probably be snow on the ground.

In conclusion, call me. There are only so many errands I can run to keep me busy while Andrew is at work this week. I'm still in the middle of my job search, but that's a headache to discuss on another day!

Big hugs. Miss you all!