Moving update

We have successfully moved to our new house. I was without internet until it got hooked up today, so now I have a lot of catching up to do.
I will start with pics of the new place. All pics expand when clicked.

Cassie's room
My mother-in-law used to be an interior decorator. Here's what she did with Cassie's room. Cassie's room is the only finished room in the house so far.


Living room
Living room and you can see the entrance to Cassie's bedroom off to the left.
We lost our entertainment center in the move and got rid of our tv, so uh, we have nothing to put in here yet except the sofa, chair, and tables.


Guest Room
We had four bedrooms and only need three so this is just a guest room in case we get visitors. For now, just a twin bed and some spare furniture.
This room is actually green.


Sasha's Room
Curtains are temporary and will be replaced soon.
Sasha's bed, armoire and her toy box/bookcase in her new bedroom


Master Bedroom
Master bedroom. We repainted it because it used to be yellow. So we painted tan and we're going to decorate with navy blue.
The french doors on the left side are the entrance to the master bedroom office. the middle door is to the master bathroom. And the white doors to the right are to the closet.


Den/Computer Room
Downstairs den. We will line the wall with our computer desks. Then Sasha will have a play area off to the right side.
There is a wood burning stove in the foreground of this first picture.
I hate the wallpaper. It has ducks and cattails. I will get rid of it someday. I don't mind the blue paint at the bottom.

A view of the den/computer room that shows Sasha's play area. This room is HUGE.
Dining Room and Kitchen
This is our new dining room. We have not finished painting. The house previously had seriously ugly wallpaper and we are getting rid of that. So ignore the walls for now as they are unfinished.
Kitchen View 1- from the dining area looking towards the kitchen
Kitchen view 2- The white door goes to the laundry room.
Kitchen view 3. You can see two stairwells here. The stairs on the left go UP to the master bedroom, and the stairs on the right go DOWN to the den/computer room.


Backyard
Sasha enjoys her new yard. It's actually bigger than it looks as the yard extends to the right quite a ways in front of and beyond the garage. Here she played with her pool on a hot summer day, but that playset behind her is a lot of fun too.

Moving Day

Deja vu, hey?
Today is moving day. We're moving to our new home. It's supposed to be a very hot afternoon so I hope we get the worst of the moving done before we get scorched.

Moving again

I know I've been slacking since we moved. We've officially been in Montana for a month now. I didn't take any pics of the house we moved in to, but it appears we will be moving again very soon. Maybe next week?
I love our apartment, but we got an amazing offer that we just couldn't refuse. Sasha has been here a while already and has made a ton of friends with the locals. One particular fan of hers is a regular at the deli (my mother in law's restauraunt), and is the president of a bank chain. Well he has a house in town here, one of several he owns. He likes to control the people he lives next to so he bought the neighboring houses and rents those out to people he likes. One day he asked my mother in law what we were paying in rent for the place we are living at now. She told him and he offered us the 4BR 2BA 2 Car garage house next door to him for an extra $25 a month. He said Sasha needs a yard and a playset to play on. (We have NO yard currently as we are above a store).
The people that live in the house currently bought a house of their own, and they had 2 children. They put a huge playset in the back yard. It's like one of those dream playset, and retails for over $2k at costco. The yard is fenced.
The house itself is amazingly nice. It has more room than I know what to do with and the kitchen is a dream. There's even a jacuzzi in the master bedroom's bathroom.
So yeah, I guess we're moving. The current residents just moved to their new home this week and the place we live at now was only a month-to-month lease so we are now free to move. The current landlord understands.

Move Complete!

We are now official residents of the beautiful state of Montana.
We rented a u-haul truck, and had movers come to help us with packing, loading the truck, and cleaning the apartment. Long story short, they sucked at all except loading. Because they did such a horrible job at packing, we had to abandon some much needed furniture to make room on the truck, and they charged us overtime because it took them so long. Their cleaning skills sucked too.
But we made it safe and sound. The drive was very long and we had to spend two overnights in hotels along the way. I am very glad we made the trip safely though.
We got the truck unpacked, thanks to the help of my mother-in-law and her husband. She also helped us unpack. She is very talented at organizing and decorating, so it's starting to look really nice here.
The apartment is bigger than I imagined. I can't believe how huge it is. One of these days I'll have to get some pictures up, but I can't do that until I find my card reader.
Anyways, just wanted to quick post an update that we are safe and busy. Internet just got hooked up about an hour ago but we don't have a computer desk anymore. My husband will have to build that, and an entertainment center for us too.

Oh, I almost forgot. Sasha was so happy to see me and I was so happy to see her too. I cried like a baby and held her in my arms when we were reunited for the first time, and she held me so hard and wouldn't let me go. She and I have been nearly inseparable since and thankfully no damage to our relationship with the 2.5 month separation. She is LOVING her new apartment and bedroom.

It's almost time

This might be my last post from Illinois! The BIG move is this weekend, and things are getting hectic, if they weren't already.
Tonight I will be reunited with my husband, and I look forward to that. I miss him terribly. But no time to relax and say hi, as we have a ton of work to do in a very short time period.
I really really hope this move goes well. That we arrive at our destination safely with all our belongings. Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. I am nervous and I know there is no rest for me for at least a week. I now look forward to the day that I can hug my family and maybe even relax in my new home.

Cassie, meanwhile, has a little last minute adjustment problems. She had a crush on a boy in her woodshop class on since October, and he finally asked her out on the last day of school. He didn't know she was moving. They've spent a little time together yesterday and the day before, and are now "in love". All along, she's looked forward to the move, but now she has a lot of hesitation. I know she will miss her friends and her new boyfriend, and I do feel for her. Alas we've already moved things forward and there's no going back anymore. I hope she will be okay. She and I have gotten very close the last few months alone together and I love her very much. I want for her to be happy. I want everyone to be happy. But I don't think there's much that can be done anymore.
We're moving forward and I have faith that the move is good for everyone in the long run. Even for Cassie.

Dad is busy!

Above is a picture of the new bed and toybox/bookshelf that my husband has built for Sasha. And here is Sasha checking her new bed out.

Everything still needs paint. The bed and toy shelf will join the armoire in Sasha's new bedroom once we get moved in. Move in date is less than two weeks away.

Meanwhile, my husband has been painting the new apartment. Here is a before and after shot, still in progress:
Before
After
I did not like the yellow and that yucky brown that it was originally.
Now it's not done, because actually my mother-in-law is going to do some rag-rolling to that blueish grey wall. That's where you take a rag and stick it in paint, then blotch it on the wall in a pattern. So the blue wall will have white rag rolling done over it and it will probably look something like this.

Less than two weeks and our family will be reunited again. These next two weeks will definitely be busy though.

Miss Fix-it

Sasha has seen her grandma, grandpa, and dad doing a lot of 'fixing' lately, and it shows. She found the nails in the window screen at her grandma's house, and promptly grabbed her toy hammer.
"Don't worry Dad, I'll fix it," she announced to her father and went to work.


And here are a few pictures of Sasha at the new apartment in Montana:


Talking to grandma.

Armoire

So I previously mentioned that Sasha is getting her own bedroom in our new apartment. Sasha's dad and grandma are busy getting the new place ready! The apartment has 2.5 bedrooms. Sasha gets the "half-bedroom", which is actually perfect for her. It's small but that's fine. It's not closet sized or anything rude like that. Previous tenants used it for an office. It cannot officially or legally be considered a bedroom because it has no windows and no closet. When I look at the floor plan, I wonder if it wasn't once a part of the master bedroom.
Anyways, it's perfect for Sasha. It will be her very first bedroom. She will want to be close to mom and dad, and the room is right there next to the master bedroom.
My mother-in-law is a very talented former interior decorator. She will be decorating and painting Sasha's room as a very special project (Yay!). The theme she has chosen is pink and green. So far she has purchased a pink and green rug, and a pink and green bed comforter. She is going to repaint the walls.
Sasha's new bedroom has no closet, so an armoire is needed. Sasha's dad and grandma decided to build one from scratch. Here is Sasha posing with her new (unfinished) armoire:
Sasha poses with her new (unfinished) armoire.
So far I think it looks great. Here is a second picture, this time look on top of the armoire. Grandma has it partially decorated. You can see the pink and green theme in the choice of decorations. The bunny in the basket even has green and pink clothes.
I believe the armoire will be painted green and pink in accordance with the theme but I could be wrong.
There are also plans in the works for grandma and dad to build Sasha's bed, a matching toy box, and also a bed for Cassie.

New Apartment!!!

Okay now this is finally starting to feel real. Through much networking, my husband and mother-in-law in Montana have found the perfect new apartment for us. They are there now, getting it ready for move in. Security deposit is paid. Moving truck and movers are scheduled. Everything is set for an official move.
The apartment
It is a two-and-a-half bedroom with a nice spacious one car garage. The half bedroom is a small bedroom attached to the master bedroom, and it has no windows, so it technically cannot be considered a real bedroom. The half bedroom also has no closet. This is perfect for Sasha's first new bedroom of her own.
Kitchen, already being tested by Sasha and Grandma.
A double sink! Oh how I have missed these seemingly normal sinks! Our current sink (inset bottom right) just has one well in it and it's so hard to properly wash dishes with only one sinkwell. I look forward to having a double sink with a sprayer again! Oh how simply amused I am. (Ignore the mess, they're painting)
Dining room. Nothing fancy.
Woot! A really big kitchen pantry!
Living room.
Master bedroom, 2 closets. I like the way the window is set out like that so I can set maybe plants or something there.
Sasha's first bedroom! Note no windows, no closet and it's a bit small. It is considered the "half bedroom" and is right off the master bedroom close to mom and dad.
Laundry room! Grandma has purchased us a washer and dryer set as a housewarming gift. I'm so happy.
Cassie's bedroom. Huge closet!
Uh, bathroom. Nothing extraordinary. Apartment has only one bathroom. It's bigger than our current bathroom and I think I'll have to put some shelves above the toilet for shelf space.

So there you have it. Home sweet home. There is no yard, but that's okay because it's Montana and there's plenty of outdoors. The apartment is actually above a store/boutique and the landlords are super nice. The apartment is a block away from the grade school, 4 blocks away from the high school. It's in walking distance of everything I could possibly need to include the grocery store, bank, and post office. I'm really excited.