.
I am so thrilled to finally use our wedding gifts (except for the formal china and crystal vases/bowls - saving for our permanent place to prevent breaks). Needless to say, we tried to get rid of as much as possible to make room in our new condo in St. Louis. That meant selling our bedroom set and couches to my brother and his sweet gal, Ashley – at a low family price ;-) It also meant giving away our beautiful casual white dish set to Andrea so her and Chris can have a full set of dishes for nice dinners (Andrea is an AWESOME chef and LOVES to cook for everyone – so dishes were much needed!). Of course, there were other things we sold – washer/dryer, vacuum cleaner and giving away smaller items.
.
As we’re cleaning out…we managed to purchase additional items that will be needed in St. Louis – a desk with bookshelf, and guest bed (3 pieces of furniture on our list). I happened to find them at a GREAT price on our work bulletin board (like an employee craigslist). The challenge…was getting it to our apartment! Thank goodness for family…Andrew’s aunt and uncle who ironically lived close by the sellers, had a truck and offered to let us use it. Although, Andrew wanted to wait and pick it up the day we move, I convinced him to use their truck that way we can load it all at once. They did warn us that it barely works but does the job :)
We barely survived that day…what I mean by “barely” –the truck stalled on us while making a U-turn and we made it all in one piece without getting divorce!!!! In addition, Memphis has some serious pot holes we had to dodge to prevent furniture flying and banging. So, I had to keep telling Andrew to slow down (even though he said he was “only” going 40mph in a 40mph speed limit zone!!!) Oh, and while it’s 90 degrees and smoldering, the truck has no air conditioning…something Andrew’s used to since the air conditioning in his car went out!!! So if you could only imagine 2 young and married ones bickering, sweating, Andrew yelling out he needs Xanax and says “I didn’t even want to do this today!” and I’m worried about my heart for the next few weeks! To top it off, Andrew being a guy, got frustrated while unloading the furniture by ourselves in our streets with me telling him how to carry it through the door (all while people are watching from their balconies and the restaurant), and said some not so G-rated words. In the midst of the physical and mental heat…we did what we usually do – burst into laughter and talk about how we should have a reality show!
And…that’s not all…here are some other highlights of our hectic lives so far:
.
1. Taking 2 days to find an apartment in St. Louis…it was a nasty, cool 2 days. While we were about to strangle each other in the midst of running around, we finally had to stop and pray that Sunday night before we left. Thankfully we did, because we were so relieved to seal a deal on a condo an hour later!!
Let me explain...here I'm trying not to go ballistics, or strangle my hubby. Below, Andrew crashes in between appointments. So yes, it was a crazy 2 days!!
2. Me driving home 6 hours to load up the trailer with furniture at our Louisville condo, unload in Brandenburg (in my parents basement) and load from my parents basement stuff going to St. Louis. Clayton, my awesome brother, drives him, Ashley, and Tilden 6 hours to Memphis with trailer and all (behind me). Hired movers to unload and load their furniture to drive back home.
Someone yelled while crossing the street..."Wow...I've never seen anyone fit their entire dining set in their car!!"
3. Living in-between and out of boxes (literally) – I’ve been packing for a month and organized EVERYTHING and made it VERY easy for Andrew to find his clothes (including labeling boxes with the items inside) and he still goes through my boxes of clothes thinking he’s going to find his boxers!!
Poor Andrew, he just wanted to get some CD's out so he could fix a professor's computer! He had to wait for me to get home so I could climb the mountain of boxes to get to them - good thing I labeled the boxes!!!.
4. I decided to run one last race before we left Memphis and ran my personal best time…26:04!!!!! Andrew has been my biggest fan!! Standing out in the heat to cheer me on!!
5. Planning the final details of our LA trip before our honeymoon…Andrew putting off renting a convertible just so he can find the “best” deal (so annoying cause he does some HEAVY research), and me being so indecisive in booking a place!.
6. Getting ready for a family vacation a week before our big move – that means playing hide-n-go-seek with our clothes.
.
7. Andrew’s “Green Dragon” (aka ’95 Mercury Cougar) is on its last few months…battery loses connection (he fixed it once by placing a penny between the connection), windows don’t work, air conditioning doesn’t work, and door is about to fall off!! In fact, there was a day I volunteered to drive his car since my work is literally 2 minutes away. I had to park in the garage (of all the days) and made a mistake to park it sideways on a ramp. This day, I wore a pencil skirt, cute heels, and scrambled out the door all while trying to hold it back from swinging against the next car (for those that do not know…’95 cougars have huge, heavy doors). I knew I had to slam the door with all my might so it would close, only it decided to bounce off and I practically shuffled quickly to attempt to save the door from hitting the car next door – and…I didn’t make it in time - oops!!
.
.
8. My last day at St. Jude is June 11 :(
.
9. My grandparents decided to have some health problems even though Andrew and I have been praying for them to have a healthy, fulfilled retirement!!
.
.
10. The night we return from the family vacay, is Andrew’s graduation dinner.
.
.
11. The following day...we pick up a Uhaul and load, then party that night…it’s Father’s Day!
.
12. Two days later, my parents and I move out to St. Louis to meet up with our movers (they unload for us at the condo). Meanwhile, Andrew sleeps on an air mattress and stays in the empty nest until June 30th.
.
After all this, our honeymoon in Tahiti and Bora Bora…will be MUCH needed!!!
After all this, our honeymoon in Tahiti and Bora Bora…will be MUCH needed!!!
.
