Celebrating One Year

How we spend most of the summer. Please take extra note of the super attractive knee brace I'm rocking.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday (Happy Birthday, Mom!) and after talking to her on the phone, J. and I sat down to have breakfast before going on a hike. About two bites into my bacon, J. went quiet and then asked me "is today our one year anniversary of living in Colorado?" (which yes, yes it was.) It's so crazy how time flies. A year ago, J. was getting his doctorate in pharmacy, we were saying goodbye to family and friends, and of course, were a little frazzled  trying to get everything moved/shipped/packed etc. before we hit the road bound for Denver. Funny thing was, I don't remember being scared at all. I mean, I think it's always a little unsettling to move to a place you don't really know anyone or anything (we were fortunate in the fact that I had some blogger friends here,  J was already friends with his company's Denver recruiter, and one of his classmates and her fiance' were moving out here as well) but for the most part, it was just a leap of faith. We both really believed we were supposed to move somewhere else, do we did.

Of course, that doesn't mean the move wasn't a little difficult. Making friends out of college is incredibly strange (I talked to my girlfriends back in Atlanta all the time about feeling like it was an awkward kind of dating. You know, the whole "what should I wear? When should I call again?" etc.) and it's only that much harder when you work from home. Add that to kind of being lost all of the time and there were definitely a few times I thought I might go crazy. I remember this one day where I was driving around trying to find my way to Melanie's house and thought to myself "I can't wait until the day that I won't rely on my gps for every little thing" when I realized I was going the wrong way on a one way street. A four lane one way street to be more specific. Luckily, I u-turned it before it was a big deal, but I couldn't help but laugh, thinking "where in the world am I?!" It was moments like that where I learned I just had to laugh and let go. Everything would end up working out in the end.

And it did. Amazingly, everything just seemed to fall into place. So many milestones have happened this past year (biggest=we bought a house!) but it's the little things that stick out so much to me. Cookouts with new friends, ski weekends with old friends, afternoons spent skiing or hiking, introducing our new city to our families, cheering on our college football team at Denver UGA Alumni events, garage sales that become more like parties than a way to get rid of junk, camping under the stars, concerts at Red Rocks, dinner conversations that linger long after dessert is served, book clubs, mid week lunches that turn into 4 hour gab sessions-hell, even doing yard work in our very first yard- it's all of those little things that make this city our home.

And even though we both wish we were a little closer to our family and friends over on the east coast, we really wouldn't change a thing.  (I'm so excited to see what else is in store.)

Thoughts and Tips on Moving, Home Ownership and Growing Up

photo found via bonnie tsang

Now that our internet is finally connected, I wanted to check in and wish you all a wonderful weekend. Mine will be filled with finishing up moving of course, but I hope yours is much more fun. (I especially need to finish moving the kitchen stuff. Trying to find a fork today was like searching for the holy grail. For the record, I ended up eating with my hands.)

We still have some things back at our old condo that I need to bring over, but as of yesterday we are now officially living in our new house which has been kind of surreal and crazy. Sure it's been a little tiring and we've definitely had a few moments that jolted us into the reality of home ownership (case in point, roof leak in our bathroom. Thank goodness it was warrantied!) but I wouldn't change a thing. It's ours. We've lived in 3 different places since we've been together, but this feels like our first real home. I honestly had no clue how much emotion I would feel about this.

And now, some random tips, tricks and ramblings that may or may not help you if you move.

BEFORE MOVING

-Use up your stuff. You probably don't need 4 bottles of lotion, 3 things of shampoo, and 5 tubes of hair stuff that does relatively the same thing. We all have our favorites, so use up the rest (or give it to someone who would like it) and only move what you actually love.

- Speaking of stuff, get rid of some of it. For someone who loves to live more on the minimal side, I definitely feel like a hoarder right now. I dare you to guess how many silver candlesticks I own.If you haven't used it in the past 6 months, if it doesn't have crazy sentimental value, if it's broken, or if "you'll just put it into storage," get rid of it. (A few exceptions to this- if it has a particular purpose- i.e. a portable air conditioner, seasonal equipment like bikes, skis, etc, a fondue pot for your annual fondue party, you get the picture, then keep it. Just don't keep the "maybe one day I'll take of cross stitching so I should keep these broken wooden circle things." You're not going to take it up. And if you do, I'm sorry. Go get a 50% off coupon to Michael's and go buy some more.

-As for storage, I try to keep long term "never ever going to use this again" storage to no more than two regular sized plastic boxes. This lets me keep some of my old journals, photos, baby blankets etc, but doesn't take up too much space or overwhelm me or our limited storage space.

-open a Word Document, email, whatever you prefer and put in the numbers to the cable company, your utility companies, HOA people if you have them, and any other possible number you may need. Print out and keep in your glove box. (This seems to be the only place you don't lose it.)

-Go to usps.com and forward you mail. Collect your magazines and forward all of those as well. Call your doctors, dentist, pharmacist, and anyone else you see regularly and change your address with them too.

-Call the electric, cable, and gas companies to make sure you'll have everything working by the time you move.

-Donate stuff

-If you're leasing/renting, notify your landlord as early as possible. (At least 30 days, though your lease may specify longer.)

-If you can afford it, hire movers. We did and our backs are still killing us. Not sure what we would have done (or how badly we'd feel) without them! (If you're in Denver, Stallion Movers are AMAZING.)

RIGHT BEFORE MOVING

-Pack 4 bags. Bag 1. pack like you're going out of town for the weekend. Toiletries, clothes, etc. Bag 2. Fill with common household tools (hammer, screwdrivers, measuring tape, tape, pens/pencils, screws, nails, etc.) Bag 3. Toilet paper, paper towels, light bulbs, clock, chargers for your phones, soap, shower curtain liner, sheets Bag 4. a weekends worth of food/drink, cups, glasses, utensils etc. We slacked on bag 4. This why I ate with my hands and our frig only has 2 diet cokes, an apple, champagne, and turkey for sandwiches. Oh and cheese. I bet I'm really making my Mom proud right now haha

WHILE MOVING

-drink water, eat food, and make sure your doors are unlocked (or at least don't lock behind you.) If you are one to lose your keys, clip them to you, put them on a necklace- whatever you have to do to not accidentally leave them/pack them.

-break down boxes as they are emptied and keep a walkway clear.

AFTER MOVING

-Breathe. Moving sucks. There's no way around it. You'll inevitably forget something, not want to cook, break something, or hit a bump in the road (we discovered our ENTIRE HOUSE is made of poured concrete, not plaster like we thought. While we're super safe from natural disasters, this means hanging art etc. is a pain in the ass. We had to go buy a new drill and broke 2 bits. There may have been some choice words and hysterical laughter.)

-Try not to put boxes on the street.Especially boxes that held your TV, computer, other valuable looking things. Probably not a big deal, but it's better to not let everyone walking/driving past know you own.

-Donate more stuff.

-Go get a massage. Scour living social or groupon if you have to, but it's worth the money to insure your sanity and ability to get out of bed without wincing in pain.

Any tips you guys would like to add? Or any funny stories? I'd love to hear them.

Happy (moving) weekend

via say yes to hoboken

Today is officially the last day we live in Atlanta. Our bags are packed, we're down to one car, the oven is set to self clean (which in all honesty, terrifies me. I don't like having things "cooking" when I'm not in control. I don't own a crock pot for the same reason) and we're running around doing all of our last minute errands/lunches/etc. It's kind of crazy looking back over it all. We've been here four years, made some amazing friends (many who are also moving away, but many who aren't) and had some really great memories. While I'm not the biggest Atlanta fan, it will definitely hold a place in my heart.

But now it's on to new adventures! And as terrifying as it sometimes is to do something completely different and unknown, I can't even begin to tell you all how excited we are to start this new chapter of our lives.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Oh! I'd also like to wish my mom and my mother in law the happiest of birthdays. (My mom's birthday is Sunday and my mother in law's is on Saturday.) I hope they are fantastic! Love y'all!!

From the Studio: Heading West

view from our last road trip out west via personal collection

My camera is packed so I can't show any fun "can you believe we fit this many boxes in one truck" photos, but I wanted to stop in to let you all know that 1) I haven't fallen off the edge of the world 2) I promise I'll get back to regular posting in a few days and 3) holy cow. We move THIS SATURDAY.

These past few weeks have kind of been a whirlwind, and this past week was busier than I could have ever imagined. J had his hooding ceremony last Friday (he actually won an award as well which was awesome) graduation was Saturday, his graduation/our going away party was Saturday night (beyond heart warming to see so many people there to say congrats and bye) then Mother's Day was Sunday (the in laws were in town so I made brunch among the boxes,) Monday was moving day (which went surprisingly well if you don't count J getting attacked by the loading ramp. He is now sporting a horribly 6 inch bruise/cut thing) and today was filled with locking up the truck to be picked up, lunch with friends,spackling walls and cleaning. A lot of cleaning.

Despite the craziness, we are so so so excited to be heading to Denver and can't wait to start this new adventure. It's always hard to say goodbye, but given how much our family and friends love to travel (and ski,) we're not too worried about keeping in touch. To be honest, we've already had to start writing down who is coming when just to make sure we don't "double book."

All that said, I'll be checking out until next week (minus one or two scheduled posts) to focus on visiting with family and friends, wrapping up loose ends, and taking all of this in. Thanks again for all of the encouragement and well wishes you all have sent our way- it means a lot. See you once we're in Denver!