The Story of Us: moving

After living in my apartment for two years, by myself, the thought of sharing it for an extended length of time was not terrible appealing. The apartment was a good size for 1 person and I filled it up with my stuff. Adding Zach... and all of his things, was not going to be an easy task. Not long after we got engaged we talked about where we would live after we got married. We decided to stay in the apartment for a little while (and move in some of Zach's things), but would look for a bigger apartment or small house/condo.

Zach's uncle is a real estate agent and offered to help us in our search. We told him the price range we were looking and the area we wanted to live in and he gave us a few choices. We never actually visited anywhere, we were just seeing what was out there. Around the same time, Zach had some friends who knew we were looking for a place to live. Doug and Cindy had some neighbors who had just mentioned to them that they were going to sell their condo and asked if Doug and Cindy knew of anyone looking for a place. They mentioned Zach and I and told us about it. Our first question was how much they were asking for the place and the price was just right! We knew the area and really liked the neighborhood so we set up a time to come look at their condo.

Zach and I fell in love with it!! We pretty much knew that we wanted it from the first time we set foot in it. We let them know we were very interested. This was around September/October of 2005 and they told us they were not going to be moving until August/September of 2006. They were going to build a house and that was the time it would be ready. That worked out perfect for us!! We got married in June and lived in the apartment for a little over 2 months before we closed. The couple allowed us to come over a couple of times to measure things and get a better idea of where we wanted things before we moved. They were very easy to work with and this was a huge blessing.

One year ago today, Zach and I signed papers on our first home. We moved a few things that night, with the help of Danny and Janice, so that we could spend our first night in our new condo. Saturday was moving day. Danny, Janice, Mom, Dad, Ben, Melanie, Jessica, and the new homeowners moved everything from Clarksville, the apartment, and Danny's on Saturday. It was a long day! Then came the unpacking of all our stuff. That was fun because we got to open/use our wedding presents that were spread between three places. Even with all of that, we still didn't come close to filling up our new place.

We love our place and I have really enjoyed "nesting" and making it our own!

The cleaned out apartment....

... To the new condo!

My sweet husband opening some of our new stuff!

This weekend is move in weekend for UT and I'm guessing that next weekend will be move in weekend for MTSU. This reminds me of the many times I moved in and out of a dorm/apartment. Twice a year for about 4 years my family and I moved all of my stuff from home to the dorm/apartment or from the dorm/apartment to home. Each time I seemed to accumulate more stuff!!

Moving In: Despite the not so fun part of actually carrying all my stuff into the dorm I always enjoyed moving in. "Nesting" is my favorite part. Putting things away, organizing them, and making the place reflect a part of me is so fun. However, there's only so much you can do with a small room and bathroom down the hall to make it feel like "home". My first week at MTSU, my first time living away from home and the parentals felt more like being at camp than like being at college. It grew on me and Emily and I's little one room dorm became our home. I miss college days and will treasure the memories of being in the dorm, but I do like having my own place now!!

Moving Out: There was one time that my parents and even grandparents had come to help move me out of the dorm and I had gotten busy with end of semester stuff and had not completely packed. Actually, very little of my stuff had been packed up and my parents (especially my mom) were not too thrilled with me. But they all graciously pitched in and helped pack up my things. To this day, they have not let me forget the one time that I was not prepared.

The last move I made as a single girl was from home to Knoxville into my very own apartment just before I started graduate school at UT. I loved it!!

A few memories from moving into my very own apartment in Knoxville...