A year of big changes - Part 2

I wrote a post in November about Tim's job promotion and our move to Maryland. 

You can read it HERE

Continuing on with the story..............

My last day at work was November 20th. I had worked for the college for almost 10 years, and my last year and a half there, I was lucky to get to work at one of the colleges newer facilities.

The people I worked with here were amazing, and I made some really good friendships there. 

The building itself was pretty neat. I spent most of my time behind this counter greeting people, answering the phone, delivering mail around the building, helping students and staff with anything and everything.............

My co-worker caught me cleaning. On my last day at work.

I was kind of hoping to slip out quietly on my last day, but they surprised me with a goodbye party!

It was so nice. Everyone brought a breakfast item, it was yummy!

They even brought me presents!

I was really touched 

As much as I complained about having to work, I am sure going to miss that place.
When I wasn't behind my counter, I was walking miles and miles around this lobby with my fitbit on.

I probably walked a hundred miles around this lobby. Yes, I did that while I was working! I was always close enough to hear the phone, and I was there to help anyone that needed anything.
The college even gave me the fitbit for free!

As far as jobs go, it was a pretty great job.............
I'm still technically an employee of the college. I am now at temporary status and when I am in Kansas City I can fill in for other employees.


So..............the job was over (for the most part) and in 1 week, Tim would be coming into Kansas City for Thanksgiving and to take a load of my stuff back to Maryland with him.

I was ready and had everything packed when he got to town.

The bummer was, it was going to start raining. The weather report said it was going to rain pretty steadily for the last 3 days he was in town.

Now I was worried all of my stuff would be soaked by the time it got to Maryland.
Tim's idea was to buy construction grade trash bags and wrap each box like a package in the plastic.
Then he bought an extra big tarp, and wrapped the entire load in it.

We had to load the truck in the rain, but Tim's idea worked perfectly and all of my stuff stayed dry.


Tim loading the truck in the rain

All of my prized possessions were on that truck

Tim left early on a Friday morning to head back to Maryland.
It was still pouring.
He only had to drive for about an hour in the rain, and then the rest of his drive was dry.

Now that my stuff was on the way to Maryland,  it's time to go on a cruise!

WAIT, WHAT??!!

A cruise??? In the middle of a move to Maryland??
HERE is my post with the details on the cruise.........

It had been planned and paid for months before, so we made sure it was worked into the moving plan. That's why I didn't go to Maryland when Tim came for Thanksgiving.


My daughter Cody and I left for our CARNIVAL SPLENDOR cruise 1 week after Thanksgiving.
We had a blast!!!

Now that I am in Maryland and I have my computer up and running, I'm sorting through hundreds of pictures and writing my cruise review.
I'll post it as soon as possible

Cody and I were gone for 11 days. When we came back I had 3 weeks to get the Kansas house in order and be ready to move.
I needed to hit the ground running. There was SO much to do before the move.

But I came back from the cruise, and I was really really sick.



So sick

I think I had the flu. I have no idea, and it really didn't matter what it was called.

I felt like crap

My son Chris and his girlfriend Mariah, thank goodness, were able to stay with me for a few days and take care of me. I wasn't even capable of fixing myself food.


Needless to say, I did not hit the ground running. I pretty much hit the bed and stayed there.

After about 4 days I was able to get up and do a few things.


I was losing time being sick, which was stressing me out.
Tim was coming to get me (and Cody, and our 3 dogs) on January 6th and I needed to be ready.

We were still in construction of the house, so I was working around that too.

The living room looked really empty and sad when everything was packed up.

Billy, our contractor was replacing our windows.

Here is little Nik (Mariah's little boy) showing us the hole in the side of the house:

The new front window went in, and I didn't love it.
I still don't love it,but its growing on me.

Billy built a nice frame on the inside with a little shelf. This will look nice when I paint or stain it.

One of the kitchen windows being replaced:

And the replacement. I love these windows with the big glass panes.

Here is a pic of the old kitchen windows. I like the new ones much better, 

All of the windows in the house were replaced, and its nice to have that done.
Billy is still working on the house, and I'll go back to Kansas City this summer and spend a few weeks there painting and working on the inside.



I didn't quite get everything done that I wanted to before it was time to move. I did as much as I could, and again, Chris and Mariah were a HUGE help to me. I don't know what I would have done without those two.

Tim flew in to KC on his birthday and we didn't have a lot of time to celebrate. We went out to dinner and Tim went to his mom's house for a couple of hours but that was pretty much it.
I owe him a birthday celebration!

The two days he was there, we were running around doing errands and last minute things. It was pretty crazy, and guess what???

I got sick again!!!

UGH!

This time I think it was a cold, or an upper respiratory thing. Again, I don't care what it's called. It doesn't matter. I felt like crap and I really didn't have time to be sick.

I pushed through it, and on January 8th, we loaded Cody's car with a few things (not much would fit in her car) and the dogs, and we headed toward Maryland.



Three adults and three dogs in this car for 20 hours.

We went through 7 states to get to Maryland.

I managed to get pictures of 2 of the State signs.

I sat in the back with all 3 dogs. They seemed to be calmer when I was back there with them.
They all did really good on the drive. They all slept most of the way.

We finally made it to Maryland. It took a day and a half, with a hotel stop for some sleep.

Cody and I both LOVE it here! The neighborhood is very nice and we are very close to a lot of stores.
We love the apartment and we feel very comfortable here.
The dogs have settled in and they all seem to like it here too.

Unfortunately, I have to walk them now AND clean up their poo. ICK!
Its a good thing I love my dogs

Try walking 3 dogs with leashes.
I am constantly tangled in the leashes. And if I am not tangled up, the dogs are. They get them wrapped around their feet, and each other.

I spend more time getting us untangled than we do walking, but we are learning!

Usually, I take the little dog out by herself, and the other 2 go together. Its a little easier that way.


Here is one of my mishaps...............

 That is a rope burn from one of those retractable leashes.
It still hurts!!!
Yep, its a good thing I love my dogs!!

We have been here almost 2 weeks now and I'm pretty much unpacked.

Cody got a new sewing machine so we have been sewing.
We both want to make a quilt for our beds.
We decided we better start with an easier project before we dig in to quilts.

We decided on fleece pajama pants and warm fluffy robes. Perfect for winter!

Here are my pajama pants

They turned out really cute!! I love them and now I want more pajama pants!


Here is the material I picked for my robe:

 It looks like a cross between tie-dye and snowflakes

Mya is helping me hold the material

Here is my finished robe. It's floor length and really fluffy and warm.
It has pockets and a tie.

I'm working on getting into a routine. It's a whole different life here than in KC.
Its different but I like it. I also like Kansas and I miss our house there.


The hardest part about moving here is that I don't get to see this little guy anymore. I sure do miss him!
Technology is awesome though, and we get to facetime almost every day. He shows me his toys, and Chris and Mariah set the camera so I can watch him play.

Here, he is showing me his clothespin.

I'm working on a few more posts, and I'll get them up ASAP
Stay tuned...........and thanks for reading

A tour of our Maryland apartment

We all just love our cute little apartment in Maryland! (HERE is my post about our move)
Lets take a tour of the new apartment! (well, its new to me, Tim has been living here since last July)

I'll start with the floor plan, so you can see how the rooms are laid out.

Here is our living room, We have 9 ft ceilings and the walls are bare so it looks a little empty in here.
We need some side tables, lamps, and artwork.

The living room opens up into the kitchen. I love the floor plan and the way the kitchen seems to be part of the living room.
With the kitchen sink being in the middle of the apartment, you can see it from every room, so I really have to keep the dishes done or it looks messy.

The little door by the fridge goes to the laundry room.

Here is the laundry room. Its very convenient.

Standing at the sink looking into the living room.

Standing at the sink looking into the dining room. 

The dining room is now my office and craft room. 

Standing on the other side of the sink looking into the dining room:

I am using the dining room table as a temporary desk

The other side of the room has a table for sewing

And an area for my beading and jewelry making

 Speaking of jewelry making, here is a necklace I am working on:

And these are a pair of earrings I bought in Grand Turk on my last cruise. I plan to re-make these into 2 necklaces.

Ok back to the tour.
There is a little hallway next to the livingroom.
The 2 doors on the right are a bathroom, and a linen closet.
The door straight back is Cody's bedroom:

 On the other side of the living room is the master bedroom.
I'm using empty crates for a temporary night stand.
In front of the crates is Mya's bed. She doesn't usually like to sleep on the bed with us, she likes to sleep beside my bed at night. If the dog bed wasn't there, she would sleep right there on the floor. I have tried moving her dog bed to a more convenient place (like beside the night stand) but she would still sleep on the floor right beside my bed. So for Mya's comfort, the dog bed stays beside my bed.

The black cube is so Peanut Butter can get up onto the high bed. It's a pretty big jump for the little dog.

There is a little alcove in the bedroom that is perfect for Timmy's desk.

The door on the far left is the door into the living room.
The closed door is the walk in closet
The open door on the right is the bathroom.

It took me about an hour to untangle my necklaces when I unpacked them.

The picture hanging above my necklaces I bought in Puerto Rico on my last cruise. It's one of my favorite things.
The blue picture by the bathroom was hand painted. I bought that one from a lady on the sidewalk in Nassau. Another one of my favorite things. They both need frames.

I can't believe I have a master bathroom! As many times as I have moved in my life, I have only had a master bathroom one other time. That was about 27 years ago! 

I am loving having a big bathroom with room to put all my stuff out.

I can't wait to take a bath in this huge tub!! I haven't yet, I have only been here a week and a half.

I do need a new shower curtain. This one was .99 cents and it works for now.

The big glass jar was a thrift store find last weekend. It was only $8.00 and it holds all my pretty soaps.

The garage.

Its really nice to have a garage attached to our apartment. 

When I take the dogs out, we usually go through the garage. It's much easier than taking them through the front hallway.

In front of our garage, we have a designated parking space.
This has been so convenient when we have groceries or stuff to unload to take into the apartment.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of our garage.
I have also used the patio door to take the dogs out.

To the right of our garage is a walking path that winds through the buildings.
The dogs love the paths. I knew they would. So many things to smell and explore.
We haven't gone too far, because its cold out there. I can't wait till spring so we can take longer walks.
I have taken the dogs on a midnight walk a few times, and its so peaceful.

Back in the garage, here is my stash of poo bags.
I'm now a poo-picker-upper.
UGH - that part is not fun, but I have to do it!
The apartments are very dog friendly. They have little stations all over with extra poo bags and little trash cans so I don't have to carry the poo around for the entire walk.

  Thats the end of my little apartment tour!!!

Stay tuned for our Maryland adventures............