As i mentioned before, Nathan and i have grown tired of conjoined living arrangements and have decided to leave our swanky downtown loft when our lease runs out at the end of this month. Several days ago that decision left us grasping at straws, trying desperately to rummage up a rental house posting on Craigslist that wasn’t already rented (and yet NOT removed? People, take your Craigslist posts down!) or terribly far away from either or both of our jobs. At the last minute, when we were about to go crawling back to our current landlord, we stumbled upon this:
Two-car garage, washer and dryer, a quiet, nice neighborhood in Beaverdale, two bedrooms and a stone’s throw from the nearest bus stop. All for a good price. We went over to take a look last night and ended up signing the rental agreement. The only things missing from the house are a dishwasher and any semblance of taste in the bathroom. It has green tiles EVERYwhere, and the wall space is painted light blue. It also needs a good scrubbing and a new light fixture. Gross.
So we’re planning to go in in two weeks and start painting and replacing things (the bedroom is also a nice pastel pink at the moment). But what color goes with not-quite-teal green? I’ve created some palettes with the approximate hue along with black, for the color of our towels. I also have some old lavender towels from college that we don’t really use, purple hand towels and one pink bath towel. Anyway. Here are the options so far:
It’s hard to like any of them, really, but i haven’t come up with anything better yet. Any suggestions? Favorites? I’m leaning toward #2 myself, but to be honest i haven’t lived with that much color since my purple bedroom in high school. I’m a black-and-white kind of person (obviously).
A lot of people are enthusiastically shouting “good riddance!” to 2009 today, and that’s totally understandable. Our economy went to crap, everyone is up in arms over health care reform and some would-be martyr just tried to blow up another goddamn airplane. I, however, will be a little bit sorry to see it go. Two-thousand-nine was probably one of the best years of my life.
In early ’09 there was snow. And more snow. And then Nathan and i went to Chicago for Valentine’s day and stayed in a delightful little B&B for a couple of nights. I don’t know what it is about Chicago, but it’s just really fun to go there and stare up at the giant buildings and wander around lost and then stop by IKEA on the way home. Feeling romantic, we also stopped into a few stores in the Windy City’s Diamond District and ogled some sparklies while we were there. It was an indicator of things to come.
In March we moved into our lovely downtown loft. It was really awesome at first until we discovered more recently that 1200 square feet is a LOT to keep clean all the time and that being able to hear everything your neighbors yell at each other isn’t really all that fun. It’s been a nice setting for a few parties, but we don’t do that kind of thing terribly often, and even when we do it’s only a handful of people. We’re hoping to rent a house this spring, and hopefully not being able to hear our neighbors will be worth the effort required to keep the lawn mowed and the driveway shoveled.
In the spring Nathan and i started running together. It was a slow start for me again, but i eventually got back up to the three-mile marker again before deciding to take an extended break. It’s still extending, in fact. I got to a point where i could think about nothing but breathing and the pain i was in and that i needed to STOP every time i ran, and for the entire time that i was running. If i run again this year, i’m cranking my music UP and i’m not going to bother trying to breathe correctly. But, more likely, i’m going to get back into dancing instead. And Nathan will be joining me! We start in January, and hopefully it will help me to fit back into the jeans that have recently become too tight to wear. 
In the summer a cute bird couple laid their eggs in our sad little garden box, and we watched their babies quickly grow up & fly away. We took a trip to Oregon on what was probably the hottest week there, ever, and enjoyed visiting Portland and my family despite the shroud of fog out on the coast.
Shortly after we returned my job petered out, and so i signed up for a couple of programming classes at DMACC and started the job hunt, bidding working from home a tearful goodbye. Javascript proved to be very intriguing, and programming logic came pretty easily to me. I only applied for about three jobs in all. One was located right across the street from where we live and dragged out their hiring process so long that by the time they finally rejected me, i had started my new job at Spindustry through Robert Half Technology. I learned recently that I ended up getting A’s in both of my DMACC classes (for whatever good that will do me) and that i get to keep my job at Spindustry! Beginning January 18th, i will no longer be a contractor through RHT, i will be a full-time Spindustry employee, and i couldn’t be happier.
This fall we got engaged, and i’m learning what it’s like to have a heart that is both peaceful and elated at the same time. I bought a 2004 Honda CR-V, and it is getting us safely through the mass amounts of snow that are falling upon Iowa this winter. I’m looking forward to starting to plan our wedding in the coming year (well, i’ve kinda started) and meeting the challenge of becoming even healthier. I have everything to be thankful for and everything to look forward to, and i’m sure 2010 is going to be a great adventure.
This is the first real fruit from our little window box garden, although we’ve already taken a few leaves from the lettuce and basil plants for various meals. We’re pretty proud—we call the plants our babies.
Cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, thyme, parsley, oregano and basil.
Nathan built the window box and i chose the paint color. We planted the babies together and water them on days that nature doesn’t do so for us. We don’t have a proper watering can, so we use our cups instead.
I noticed today that our basil plant is blossoming. So pretty.
Without further ado, i give you an abbreviated tour of the new loft. To see more photos, click on any one of them and you’ll be taken to my flickr photo stream. Enjoy!
This is what you see when you first step inside. Immediately to your right is the guest bathroom:
Nathan laid claim to this bathroom immediately, dubbing it the Man Space. Since it’s also the guest bathroom, i’m actually the only person who’s not allowed to use it. 
Down the hall a bit and on the right we have the washer & dryer:
This is one of my favorite things about living here. No quarters, no waiting for neighbors to move their shit, no embarrassment when i accidentally leave underwear in one of the machines. Our own washer & dryer – hallelujah!
Keep going down the small hallway opposite the w&d, and you’ll see the walk-in closet, the bedroom and the wash room & second bathroom.
The closet is nice and big, but a trifle messy.
Here you can see how the rooms flow together – and my Oregon rainbow.
The sink here has its own separate room, which i call the wash room
Exiting the bedroom area and continuing down the main hallway, we come upon the common area:
Which consists of the dining area, the kitchen, a small built-in granite desk just to the right of the view in the above photo, and these two sitting areas:
Then we head outside to the terrace:
We need some outdoor furniture. And maybe a few more plants.
We spent a lot of time cleaning the place up yesterday, and now just have a few things to hang on the walls before we will have completely put it together. I feel so much more at ease now – more so than i have in a good month or two, i’d say. Despite how lovely it is, though, the best thing about this place by far is that i’m here with the love of my life and get to share the space and my time with him.
Words that are one word:
meantime
earful
Words that are two words:
every day
Unless, that is, you’re using the word “everyday,” which is an adjective used to describe a daily activity/thing.
Examples:
For Steph, dry skin is an everyday problem.
She has to put lotion on her hands every day.
I’ve been calling people i don’t know EVERY DAY for the past week and a half trying to get this thing and that thing all figured out and hooked up and re-checked and working properly. The weird-flushing toilet. The non-operational door keys. The new cell phone line. Oh my god, the new cell phone line. The wireless internet. Everything is finally working, i think. We just need our window shades and couches to be delivered now. And we need to hang things on the walls.
One EVERYDAY annoyance is the fact that there’s some clattery noise coming from the radiator or the windows or something, which drives me NUTS. I’m about to start wearing headphones constantly. Sleeping is especially difficult, no thanks to the light pouring in through the window above our front door from the brilliant beams out in the hallway. Whose awesome idea was THAT?
The stress will fade away soon, and i’ll start bragging about what an amazing place i live in now. I promise.