Updates And A Touch Of Random

So I just realized I never came back and did a "part 3" of our move to Austin.  I don't even remember what I was going to write about.  Oh well.

Life has been so slow and yet so fast at the same time.  On the one hand, Cohen and I are stuck here in our little apartment all day every day without a car and most days it's too hot to be outside except for to go to the pool.  It makes for some very long days.  I think poor Cohen is getting even more bored than I am.  One nice thing though, is that Preston having a normal 8:30-5:00 job and not having school makes life so much less hectic.  I'm a very non-spontaneous creature of habit so I love that we have a fairly normal, predictable schedule.  It's nice that he can come home at night and play with Cohen and we can all eat dinner together and just relax.  I think we all appreciate the amount of time we've been able to spend together since moving here.

On the other hand though the pace of life has picked up a bit because we found a house we really love and decided to buy it.  Our house in Provo should be closing any day now and we close on our house here August 18th.  We are so excited to finally be able to truly settle in and not be in limbo anymore.  No more realizing something we need is in a box buried somewhere in storage.  No more being stuck without a car all day every day (we will be living 3 minutes from Preston's work!).  No more 3rd story hikes with groceries.  And, living so close to Preston's work gives us another hour together every day!  Anyways,  I've bought a house before (plus I worked in real estate for a hundred years) so I know the drill, but for some reason this has been such a stressful process for us.  There have just been so many things here and there that we have had to deal with and fortunately for us it has all worked out beautifully, but I'm definitely ready to be done and moved in and settled.

We really love the house we are buying!  It has just about everything I could ask for in a house and plenty of room to grow for our little family.  It's a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with a huge kitchen (with an island and granite counters), a breakfast nook with huge windows, a formal dining room, a bonus room, a patio the length of the house, a nice yard, a huge master suite (with a huge walk in closet that has it's own window), and it's located on a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood with a community park and pool.  The best part about it is the extremely low price tag.  I won't tell you how much it is but I guarantee it's not as much as you're probably thinking!  :)  I love Texas housing prices.  Anyways, I have so many ideas already of what I plan to do to decorate our new house and make it ours.  Here are a couple pictures of the house.

Preston is loving his job.  He gets to work with his hands a lot and has already been put in charge of several projects.  He likes the people he works with and it makes me so happy that he enjoys going to work every day because I think that is so important.  I am so grateful for everything he does for our family!

Cohen is growing up so fast it is not even funny.  He is going to be turning ONE next week.  I can't even believe it.  It's like he's still a baby but not at the same time.  He is becoming this adorable little boy.  I will write more about him later and post some pics but let's just say I'm starting to get weepy just thinking about how fast this year has gone and how much I've taken for granted with this beautiful boy of mine.

Random side note of the day:  I've been thinking so much about Europe lately.  Preston and I love it there and decided a long time ago that some day we plan to live there for a little while. That will probably be a long ways down the road but until then I sit here pining for it.  I am obsessed with all things European.  We have a friend currently in Germany, and two more friends moving to Germany and Finland and I'm so envious!  The cobblestone streets, the sidewalk cafes, the beautiful gardens, the markets filled with fresh breads and cheeses and herbs and flowers, the charming country villages, the random castles and church steeples dotting the hillsides, the history, the architecture, everything.  Anyways, one of the things we loved about Europe was all of the different delicious cheeses they use.  Dishes that are exactly the same as what you could get here were a hundred times better just because of the different cheeses they used.  We are cheapskates and so we always used to just get the boring processed cheese at the store.  But since Europe we have decided it's worth it to splurge for the real stuff and now I'm obsessed with becoming a cheese connoisseur.  I'm going to learn all about the different kinds of cheeses and how to cook with them.  I know what you're all thinking.  "Umm, Amber, don't you have to actually learn how to cook first?".  Well, yes, that would probably help...but don't worry, I'm working on it.  :)  Who knows, maybe someday I will even turn this into a temporary "Cheese Blog" and tell you everything I've discovered about which ones are good and the yummy things you can make with them.  I know...I'm a nerd.  I've come to terms with it...so can you.  :)

And until next time, here are some pictures from our trip to Europe, just cuz I'm feeling nostalgic...

Can you see why we love it so much!?!

Moving Saga: Part 2

Ok so the move is over, all of our boxes are FINALLY unpacked (although most of our stuff is in storage still), and we are slowly getting settled in.  So, this is Austin, the city we now call home:

 

This area is in the middle of a horrible draught right now so it's a little dry but not nearly as bad as I was expecting.  There is a lot more green and there are a lot more trees than I had imagined.  I mean, it's not Colorado or anything, but on a scale of New Mexico to Colorado, it's probably like a 7. So here are a few of my observations since settling in:

• It's hot.  Like the low at night is around 82.  I sweat withing seconds of walking outside. I have never appreciated air conditioning so much.
• It's humid.  Which makes the hotness feel even hotter.  Although, I have to admit, it's not AS hot and humid as I had mentally prepared myself for, so that's good.  Also, this humidity has done wonders for my skin, and ironically, even my hair.  I don't think I'll ever have to use lotion again.  Even my chapstick addiction is slowly decreasing.
• People are super friendly.  Even the waiters and cashiers and mechanics are super cheerful and happy to strike up a friendly conversation or answer silly questions.  
• I don't know if it's because Austin is such a mix of people from everywhere but I don't hear that thick southern drawl nearly as much as I expected.  Except yesterday a lady said hi and it took me a second to realize it because it came out as Hah.  I'd like to say I will never succumb to the "ya'll" thing but it really is a handy little word and I look forward to the day when I've been here long enough to justify using it without sounding like an idiot.
• I honestly expected to see giant bugs and reptiles everywhere we go but I have yet to see even one.  I really really dread the day that I find a scorpion, snake, tarantula, or 6 inch cockroach in my home.  I will probably scream, panic a little, call Preston to have him come home, get told no because we are too far from his work, panic some more, and then leave and not come back til Preston gets home to take care of it.  You might think I'm joking but believe me, I'm pretty sure that's how it will go down.  I may enjoy power tools and changing my own oil but I don't do bugs and reptiles. Yuck.
• There are parks, pools, splashpads, and waterparks everywhere.  I've never been a big water person but I have already come to appreciate it a lot with this heat.  I just wish Cohen was old enough to enjoy it a little more. 
• Austin is a super dog-friendly city.  I bet 85% of the people in our apartment complex have a dog.  And our complex lets dogs come in the lobby where they have a water bowl and free treats, as well as a big fenced dog park where you can be off-leash and run around and play.  Tank loves it.
• Everywhere we go we pass at least ten restaurants that we decide we want to try someday.  We have already been getting lots of recommendations for awesome bbq and tex-mex places.  I'm pretty sure Texas is not going to be good for my already round waistline. 
• On the subject of food, Austin has a few restaurants that we either didn't have in Utah or were too far away to go to often.  One is Chipotle, which is one of my favorites, and we have one 4 minutes away.  Also, they have Schlotzky's here which Preston and I both love.  And there is a Cheesecake Factory down the street, which everyone knows I could eat at weekly.
• The main grocery store here is H-E-B and we LOVE it.  It has the hugest produce section I've ever seen in a store, with fruits and veggies I've never even heard of before.  The store has tons of selection for everything, really good prices, and the generic store brand is delicious.
• One of the things we always hated in Colorado was Texas drivers.  Turns out Texans don't just drive horribly in Colorado.  They drive horribly in Texas too, and always at least ten UNDER the speed limit.  It's so annoying.  
• My UT driver's license expires tomorrow but I didn't want to renew it since I was moving to TX and decided that getting a TX driver's license would have to be a priority upon arriving here so it didn't expire.  It took a WEEK because we had to get our truck inspected, get it registered with the county, switch our car insurance to a Texas policy, and fill out a bunch of paperwork just to get a stinking driver's license.  It was so ridiculous and I only got it done with one day to spare.
• The people of Texas adore our chunky red-headed baby as much as people everywhere else so they must have good taste.  :)

So we are living temporarily in a little 2 bedroom apartment while we wait for our house in UT to sell.  It is actually under contract and scheduled to close the end of this month.  We are crossing our fingers that nothing falls through.  It sold a lot faster than we were expecting and are so excited to not have to make double payments for a long time.  We will probably stay here for a few more months just to save up a little more for a down payment on a house here and then we will hopefully buy and be able to settle in for real.  I feel kind of in limbo living in this apt.  Even if we had the room for it, I wouldn't want to completely unpack and decorate just to have to pack it all up and patch up all the walls a couple of months later.  After the move here, I want the next one to be as little work as humanly possible.  Everything is currently in storage in the garage.  I have never lived in an apartment before in my life so I'm constantly paranoid that our neighbors below us are going to hate us for the screaming baby and the giant dog.  It seems pretty soundproof so far though because we would never even know we have neighbors, it's always so quiet.  It's actually a really cute apartment and pretty spacious.  It has lots of big windows and natural light, a good sized kitchen, and more closet space than our house in Provo.  The complex itself is nice too, fairly upscale with good people, a nice pool and lots of other things.  The thing I hate the most I think is that we live on the 3rd floor.  It's nice not to have people above us but hauling your groceries up 3 flights of stairs with a kid in your arms or having to take Tank out to go to the bathroom several times a day gets old real fast.  You would think between the multiple trips up and down 3 flights of stairs and all of the sweating I would have lost ten pounds by now but alas, it is not so.  Here are some pics of our apartment:

This right here is the best part of our entire apt.  I haven't had a dishwasher in ten years!!!

You can't tell from the picture but this tub is ginormous and I love it.

So that's our little apartment.  I am so anxious to be able to buy a house here and be able to really feel truly at home again!  Until then, if anyone wants to come visit, we have a nice little living room floor for you to sleep on.  :)  Part 3 of this saga coming soon....