Although I am STILL sorting through all the little things from making a big move. This definitely has been a monumental moment in my life, one to ask about and talk about for a long time coming yet. There are so many things I took for granted back in WI that I never even thought about having to secure here in a whole new place, like...
-Finding a new hair stylist
-Finding where I can buy postage stamps and WHERE the outgoing mailboxes are in my neighborhood
-Buying home furnishings (rugs + wall hangings)
-Opening new bank accounts
-Closing WI bank accounts
-Logging into any and every account I've ever had to change my billing address....AND time zone so it properly reads ET instead of CST
-Formally signing up for a USPS forwarding address
-Signing up for a Honda travel bank account
-Selecting my benefits and 401k options through Honda
-Selecting my health insurance coverage options
-Putting an order in for my prescription card/CVS Caremark drugstore card through Honda
-Ordering polo shirts for work (Acura + Honda branding)
-Calling back to WI to check up on unfinished business (i.e. collecting my physical, printed college diploma, going through 'exit counseling' on my college loans and consequentially, signing up for a payment plan for those loans)
The list goes on, but I recognize at this point that I am more using this blog post to help me think out loud, rather than entertain you all.... :)
Anyway, I LOVE where I am living - it feels like home already and I actually own it all! I love the neighborhood, I love how the drive feels to pull back into my apartment complex, I love how the sun shines through juuuuust the right windows in the mid-day, I love how quiet and country it feels....and to be dorky, I love the white cabinetry and crown moulding throughout the apartment - I've secretly always been a sucker for white woodwork and have always wanted to try it in my own place, because I am drawn to how light and airy it makes the rooms look. Now I have it and I love it!!
I even love how at 11 PM I can hear the late-night train blast through about a half-mile away. The best thing: I love the new-house smell! I live in a new-construction apartment and whenever I first enter the apartment and take a whiff, it smells like fresh lumber, paint, and carpeting. Mmmmm!
Take a look at a few pictures....but I'll hint, it's even better in person. ;) So, come visit!!!
My apartment building!
Front profile of my apartment - my unit is on the 2nd story brick-front fascia!
Zoomed-in on my apartment - my bedroom has the two second-story windows here on the brick-front fascia.
Starting the walk up to my apartment - my door is the one on the right!
My apartment at night - I love how classy the lights make it look! So nice and lit up, I feel like a queen walking into the foyer, hee hee.
Walking into the foyer towards my door.
The view you get once you open my front door!
The view you get once you get to the top of those steps and look to your right....
Standing in the other corner of my living room, looking into it! (Love the panoramic views, huh?) :)
Updated picture: I bought matching red shag rugs from Home Depot and put this one under my dining room table to match the red one shown at my entry door, thus this is what my dining room currently looks like. :)
The panoramic view from my very own balcony - while it is a winter wonderland right now, I fully plan to sit out on it during my summer nights to read my Motortrend magazine subscriptions! There's a mounted light out there and everything. Yay!!!
Back to the interior....my kitchen.... :)
Side view of my kitchen. All new appliances and I'm spoiled again with a dishwasher!!! CONTEST: can you pick the picture out of you on my collage hanging on the wall shown in this photo? It's my way of bringing each of you here with me - check yourselves out!! (As always, click on the photo for a bigger view.)
Turning around and looking the other way....my laundry closet. My own in-unit, NON-COIN laundry!! Yayayayayay, this is such a triumphant amenity for me, you have no idea! No more rusted out, small dorm-living washing machines! :)
Feast your eyes on le washer and dryer, here. :)
Clean, clean bathroom....pretty self-explanatory.
Moving along from the bathroom....a panoramic view of one half of my bedroom! Click on the picture for a larger image.
The other side of my bedroom....notice walk-in closet, built-in desk nook, and my UWM engineering awards hanging. ;)
Walk-in-closet....*insert happy sigh here* :)
I wanted to make sure to put this pic up of my Mac workstation/built-in nook....check out the cool shelving apparatus my buddy Zach thought of for me!! Laptop, printer, and ancient TV are all smartly, crisply stacked in one tiny little space. That is sturdy shelving - a kit you usually get for storing things in a garage. And yes, my Beetle models are out and representin', too. :)
The last wall of my bedroom - with a matching utility shelf-thing. (Home Depot rules!) These two windows are the ones that face out over the front brick part of the apartment.
The panoramic view when walking up to those two windows and peeking out. Garages!
Out in front of the apartment again looking to the left....oooooh but what is THIS I see? A little red Beetle? In a new Bug House?? Let's walk closer for another shot....
Excitement!! The Beetle in her new home!
There she is - look at all of that space!! We are doing just fine out here, that's my girl! I am with her every day and we are bonding so much now that our long-distance relationship during my college years (her being in Green Bay, me in Milwaukee) is finally over with. I love her!
Living up the fact that I have my own garage to putt-putt and personalize now: my two 'Beetle Parking Only' street signs hanging on the back wall! :P
Leftovers for some more amusement....what it looked like out the backside of my apartment during the snow day I had in my first week of work at Honda.
Another view looking out to the back and left of my apartment - snow day January 2008!Thanks for taking a look - you all are welcome to come and visit anytime, just contact me for details and we can set something up. No, seriously! I love hosting, and I am LOVING being so independent. :) I can do what I want, when I want, and all of the pride and freedom and 'I'm a big girl now' feelings I curled into over the summertime while doing this in Mississippi, have come flooding back. Grocery shopping, doing my own laundry, cleaning my own place, decorating - all of this to really make a home for myself and completely represent me. And you guys, it is so cool. I like this maternal feeling, this being a gentle, domesticated person, so that if any one of you were to walk in to my place without me actually being there for a moment, you could at least still sense that I was there. I'd like for you to feel comfortable coming into my home, and notice how caring of a 'head of household' I'm framing myself up to be.
(By the way, it is REALLY foreign to have filed as a 'head of household' on my tax forms for this year!!!!)
I'm definitely a grown-up now. No turning back! But I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
(By the way, it is REALLY foreign to have filed as a 'head of household' on my tax forms for this year!!!!)
I'm definitely a grown-up now. No turning back! But I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
2 comments:
my ashley is such a big girl now... only yesterday it seems... we were in history together... oh the days! - amber
Hey Ashley - just a heads up, you can only file as "head of household" for your taxes if you have a dependent child or relative that you provide support for. If you're living on your own, providing your own support but not supporting any one else, you generally need to file as single. It makes a difference for your standard deduction, so I would double check :)
Glad to hear all is well by you at your new place!
-Colin
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