survival.

So we are in Indiana. For the second time. We made it to Michigan and back. I was actually quite a fan of the place. The weather was SO beautiful. So much better than the 90+ and crazy humidity we have going on in Kville. Today I was even chilly and tried to convince Chris I needed a cute Michigan State hoodie (to no avail--our housing hunt was a constant reminder of just how poor we really are). Anywho . . . I will love the summers I feel. And I'll be blogging a TON in the winters because I won't be able to leave the house . . .

Or should I say townhouse. You see, I have long since outgrown the whole tiny apartment thing. We have been looking for weeks for houses to rent. We had FIVE houses lined up to go see when we got there yesterday. Want to know how many we actually saw? One. The rest had been taken or fell out in some other way. So we went and saw the first house and it was TINY and had a big yard we would have to maintain and it was old. REALLY old. So we decided, if we are going to rent, lets find a nice place [built before 1950] where we won't have to mow a massive yard or shovel mountains of snow. We began the search for townhouse communities. I was initially quite sad, desperately wanting to live in a house. But its just not worth it at this point. And you know what? We found a great townhome community that looks quite a bit like a neighborhood. The townhouse is 1100 square feet (the houses we were supposed to look at ranged from 800 to 950) not including the big ol' basement. Comes with a brand new washer and dryer. Really open and nice. We'll have a little back porch and it opens up on a big shared grass field. I'm really quite excited. It does only have two bedrooms (upstairs!), so I'm trying not to worry about a 2 1/2 year old and a baby sharing the same room (tell me its possible . . . tell me it works really well). Its house-esque, without the worries of a house. And at this point, we probably don't have the time or money to maintain a yard. And now we don't have to buy a washer & dryer, a portable dishwasher (we thought we might have to), OR a snowblower (considered a necessity to many Michiganders). So maybe, just maybe, we can get rid of the Craigslist couches we've had for 3 years and upgrade. I'm feeling excited and blessed. I'm ready to go.

I'm rambling. I took ONE picture on our trip. Its of Chris's building on campus. Did I mention how beautiful campus is? Really beautiful. Tennessee is NOT beautiful; BYU was SO beautiful. MSU reminds me of BYU.
Anyway, I'll show it to you soon, its a pretty building, but the camera cord is in the room with the sleeping baby, so it will be later.

Oh, my sleeping baby. These [almost] two days were the longest I'd been away from her. Before that I maxed out at about 3 hours. I missed the child like crazy, and it was a bit heartbreaking that she had to "get used" to me again upon my return. But I'm so very happy to be reunited with my lil' pal. She is the bomb {dot} com.

And so is my hub. It was a seriously stressful 2 days, going non-stop, looking at a million places, finding a handful that each had everything we wanted BUT one thing. Goodness, that was annoying. But we were in it together. When we found "the place", we were signing contracts, etc, and the lady asked how long we had been married. We told her 4 years and she said "Really? I wouldn't have guessed that. You still have that whole newlywed thing going on." How about that? She didn't realize we had just spent two crazy days looking for a place to live and were a little giddy about finally finding it. But I love him. He is my hero. And we survived.

Now I have a picture in my mind of our new home and I can't help but want to decorate the crap out of it. You see, I've had the same "decor" for 4 fabulous year and I'm ready for something new, hip, chic, if you will. Granted, on our meager budget that will be trixy, but I'm ready for a challenge. If anyone knows good DIY blogs or simple yet fab decor blogs, let me know.

And just because: Can I tell you how much I love this? I want to get a Tennessee one for Carly since she was born there, an Idaho one for me since I was born there, and a Michigan one for #2. I don't think Chris would go crazy over one, so I'll spare him. Next time I have $150 to spend on pillows, I guess. Ha! Maybe I'll try to copy them someday.

That is all. xoxo.