My new place

Here are a few pictures from my new place:


My biggest complaint is the height of the ceilings. While it makes all the room feel nice and big, there are several burned out lightbulbs that I won't be able to reach without a 6 or 8 foot ladder. The location is great, the room is great, and my roommates are great (although one I thought was a poltergeist for the first week since I only heard her.)

So close

I am so close to having the walls done in my new place. The second layer of wallpaper is down and now I have to wash the final little bits of glue and paper off the walls. I tried to finish it on Wednesday but my arms were killing me. Last night I packed up more of my room and went to bed at a decent hour. Tonight I am packing up the rest of my room. In about an hour I will probably go over and work on the walls some more. This means that my room won't be very pretty when I move into tomorrow, but such is life. Here are some more pictures from my "work in progress" room.

I hope to paint my room later this month or some time during the first of January.

Wallpaper

My new room has wallpaper, or at least it will for the next two days. Last night I went over and started peeling it off (with permission from my landlord.) I also met all my roommates (Emily, Whitney, and Marne.) They all seem really nice. Here are some pictures of what the wallpaper looks like (the room has different wallpaper on two walls with a flower border all the way around):

And here it is with half of the top layer down. (I will be spraying and scrubbing off some of it tonight and finishing on Wednesday night.)

"Music?" she said in a sweet, questioning voice.

On Thursday I was able to take off early from work (my main boss had a flight to Texas earlier that day.) I drove to Salt Lake to Jen and John's house. Lauren and I looked at books, danced to The Sound of Music, and generally drove her mother crazy as she tried to cook. We had an excellent dinner. I especially enjoyed the flavored rice, and then Jen, John, Mom, and Dad went to see Noises Off at Pioneer Theater. Lauren and I danced, played, and read. After dancing, I would pause the music so we could play with some toys. After five minutes, she would look up into my face and say "music?" I would then turn on the music and we would sing and dance. I always think it is so cute to see a two-year-old dance. She also sang along with the "Do Re Me" song. We played until a little after 8, when I changed her into her pajamas and we read some books. Her eyes were getting droopy and she had yawned twice so I knew it was time the bedtime. We read two more books, sang two songs, and said our prayers. She went down quietly and I settled down in front of the tv. By 9pm, I realized that there was nothing on tv and I was growing drowsy. I decided to make myself useful and empty the clean dishes from the dishwasher and attempted to load the dirty dishes. I found the problem of doing dishes in someone else's house is that you are never sure what goes into the dishwasher. Such is life. Jen and John came home, we spoke for a few minutes, and then I was off to drive home. I got home late and spent a few minutes talking to Sarah before going to bed. I was pretty tired on Friday but I still managed to get a lot done.

I have officially found a new place to live. It is in a house less than a 1/3 of a mile away from where I currently live. I have put down a deposit and paid December's rent. I hope to move in the first or second weekend in December. Before I move in, I want to tear down some wallpaper (which I have the permission of my landlord to do.) Depending how long it takes me to do it will set my moving date. I have already started to look for boxes to pack. It will be hard moving away from Sarah but I had to find a place to live before Sarah leaves for France. I am hoping that she will let me buy some of her spare dishes and pans at a small discount since I don't have many of my own. I will have at least two roommates, whom I have met once.

The next big event in my life is looking for a new car. I haven't really had time to test drive cars although I've done research into cars for gas mileage, dependability, and other important factors. I will admit that I am pretty nervous since I've never made a purchase so large. I haven't the slightest idea how to proceed when it comes to financing or bargaining. Oh well, I guess that's what parents and siblings are for. I will have to ask a lot of questions to try to figure it all out.

First day in Orem

This was my first day in Orem. It was strange to wake up in a new bedroom. I slept well though. Nine hours of sleep for me is a little strange but I managed it. It must have been walking up all those stairs with boxes. My room is about 2/3 of the way unpacked. Today I helped clean the apartment, make dinner, and met some of the girls from the ward when they came over for a Relief Society lesson and pie. All in all, a good day. Tomorrow I plan to start looking for a job. Later this week I will give a longer update with pictures. I miss Kaysville but I know this is where I should be right now. Camille and Sarah are great roommates so far.