Homeless No More

So, I've been chastised by several people (mostly my siblings) about not updating the blog in a long time. I've kind of had a lot going on, duh. And I don't have internet at my house yet.
But today's your lucky day!
I have a few things to say about our adventure packing/cleaning/driving out here, but I'll save that for another post.
For now, I will regale you with the tale of how we came to live in a nice house.
When we first found out about Joel's new job, we immediately started an online house hunt, and my sister and mom helped us out by looking at places in person for us.
We found a place that I still think was good, but it was just left in a mess. So we tried to get them to give us reduced rent to make up for the fixing up we'd have to do, but they chose to just let us out of the contract instead. So, it was a good thing to not have to live in a place that would require a lot of work, but then we were homeless.
So, we ended up staying at my parents' house for over three weeks, and they were gracious, generous hosts. In the meantime, a friend told us about some people who weren't having any luck selling their house and were considering renting. After some negotiation, we ended up coming to an agreement and renting their house for a steal!

Check out our place!

Pretty, no?
Some of the biggest selling points:
A big master bathroom with a walk-in shower, BIG walk-in closet, and TWO sinks!

Two sinks are pretty awesome. I mean, it's definitely a luxury and not a necessity, but it's so nice to be able to be washing my face at the same time Joel is brushing his teeth instead of having to wait around for him to finish or feeling rushed because he's waiting for me to finish. Two sinks!
Also, for the record, I don't know how to take good interior shots to give you the right impression of the bathroom's spaciousness. In that second picture, you can see the walk-in shower on the left and a little of the tub behind it. Maybe. It's really not a great picture.

Also, the kitchen!

The kitchen's not huge or anything, but it has enough cabinet space that I am wondering what to do with it all--a problem I have never before had in my adult life. And there's a designated dining area (as opposed to the cramped, cabinet-blocking place where we had to put our table at our last house). And, there's a pantry! It's always been my dream to have a pantry. This one is little, and I totally forgot to take a picture of it, but it has a pantry!
Also, a nice, open living room right off the kitchen:


Some of the less attractive points:

There is so much pink. The exterior bricks are pink. The carpet is pink. The little specks in the countertop in the bathroom are pink. This bedroom is pink. Insanely pink. It is so pink that I, in all seriousness, worried that it would literally drive the baby crazy. I read about that once in a psychology class, insanity inducing pink. So, we painted it white. Much less crazy, if pedestrian. And I figure that action alone will help the owners sell the house in the future. But I thought you'd like to see it. My dad compared the carpet to Raspberry Zingers and the walls to Pepto Bismol. I think you'll see the resemblance.

Also, the sink was completely plugged. With grease. Blech. But, my plucky, handy husband got it all taken care of:

Heehee!

Firsts for us in this house:
Two full baths
A laundry room
A garage
A fully fenced in yard (where a rabbit visits us every day!)
Two sinks!
A pantry!
Being in a single-family home
Two living areas
Vaulted ceilings

I am very happy with it.
We're only going to live there for a year because the owners want to get the house back on the market. But in the meantime, I think it will be a great place for us. It is only 3 miles from my parents' house, and about 45 minutes from my sisters. Close to shopping, and there is a neighborhood park and pool. Also, I think the owners will be happy they rented to us since we've already made some improvements to the property. They apparently didn't put much effort into sprucing the place up to sell it; even ignoring the pink room, there were several other things that may have turned off potential buyers, and we've already fixed them! So, swish for both parties. Making these improvements help me feel less guilty about getting such a good deal on the rent.
So, stay tuned for more updates as I continue getting the house all put together and presentable. It's kind of funny how I half expected our stuff to look nicer now that we're in a real house instead of an apartment/duplex. But no. Still our regular, ugly stuff. But it works.

To conclude, here is Dane showing off his new, mirrored closet:

And his photography skills, featuring his whale mommy:

Speaking of being a whale, I was at the mall yesterday and a lady asked me if the baby's coming any minute.
"Um, no, six more weeks."
I wasn't offended or anything. Really, I was validated that I really do look huge and it's not just in my head.
Speaking of baby, things are going well, from what I can tell. Joel's new, amazing benefits kicked in today, so I will be seeing a doctor next week, and I'll have more to report then. But baby's moving around like crazy, and I feel good, so I think all is well.
I have many more posts up my sleeve. We arranged to get the internet at our house, but they won't be able to get it up and running until July 21st, but I'll do my best to post before then.