Well, it's been a crazy past 2 days. After being told over and over that our stuff wouldn't be arriving until Wednesday the 11th, we got a call Thursday afternoon with news that the moving van would be in front of our house at 8 AM the next day. Ahh! This was very good - it meant we could get the bulk of the unpacking down before we fly back to Chicago for graduation, which was the whole point of moving down here right after finals, but we were still in Houston at my parent's house and not expecting to drive over to Austin until this morning. Our stuff was everywhere and we had plans to cancel, but we managed to throw everything in our two cars and head towards the capital. We pulled into our driveway (we have a driveway!! and a garage!!!) around 11:30 PM to unload some of the stuff and drop off Lilly the cat. Walking around I was amazed at how beautiful the house was - so much better, and more perfect, than I even remembered. Usually I build things up in my head and am disappointed when I see them again, but that definitely didn't happen this time. After mourning Chicago for the past week, I was overcome with excitement for our house and our new city. Austin always surprises me with its beauty when I've been away for a while - especially the southwest area where we are. It's the start of the Texas Hillcountry and it's gorgeous.
The firm provides three nights in a hotel so we headed over to the Intercontinental where we were upgraded to a King Master Suite that was ridiculous- three rooms and such luxury. We got about 5.5 hours of sleep before we had to be back at the house for the movers. That went pretty well - the hardest part was figuring out where to put things. We're coming from a two bedroom apartment that had a kitchen/living room/study all in one. Now we have four bedrooms, a big study, dining room, casual eating area, and a huge game room upstairs. A few of those rooms are going to be completely empty for a while. Landon likes that, though. He also got to try out the playscape in the backyard - he loved the swing.
When the movers left and Landon went down for his nap, JP and I collapsed on our unmade bed for a nap ourselves. We finally went to lunch (now dinner) at 5, stopped at a few furniture stores only to discover we can't afford what we want and don't want what we can afford, and then drove back to the hotel to put Landon down, watch TV, and order room service desserts. It was a good day. The unpacking is somewhat overwhelming, but it's much easier when you have a lot of space to hide boxes until after the Bar.
Speaking of the Bar, that is getting stressful for me. I haven't listened to a single lecture in the past three days because things ended up getting so busy. I'm now eight behind - that's a solid 24 hours of iPod time. Ahhh! And with the trip to Chicago next weekend for graduation it's going to be difficult to catch up any time soon. I know that I will, I just already resent the fact that every time I have thirty minutes to sit or read or go through the pictures I've taken over the past several days, I have to use it to learn about property or contracts. I hate that feeling of having a constant weight on your shoulders; graduation won't really mean anything until that exam is over with. I'm giving myself today off to get as much done in the house as possible and then it's going to be two lectures a day for a while.
But, oh my house. It is so very pretty :)
Love the pic of Landon in a box! Always gotta have a pic of the baby in the box when you're in the middle of a move. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah! I am so glad your stuff arrived no problem. Early is better than late. Our movers were a nightmare and we moved across town. It took us awhile to get our furniture all in too. Wait for sales like at 4th of July then pick up some stuff. Thats what we did. I am so excited for you.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds wonderful! The hotel part sounds especially nice! Room service....mmmm. Good luck with all the studying and traveling you have coming up.
ReplyDeleteyayyyy you are home!
ReplyDeleteListen, and I say this as someone who studied 12 hours a day for the bar, if I knew then what I knew know I wouldn't have studied as hard. yes, you need to study, but it is the only test in the world where you just have to get a D. Get a D, that's it. You don't have to be #1 b/c it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteIs the Texas bar still 3 days? That totally sucks.
I wish I could give you some encouragement on the two-a-day lectures but I had to do the same thing. I moved my stuff to NC, flew back to Austin for the weekend for graduation, then skipped the first week and a half of Barbri to get married back in NC. I had to actually attend the makeup classes though, so at least you can do it when your schedule permits. It sucks, sucks, sucks, but Barbri is a dreaded right of passage. Plus, you'll probably get so tired you'll skip a couple of lectures anyway!
ReplyDeleteCan you listen to the lectures and unpack at the same time? I've no experience with Bar Bri, coming from a different jurisdiction, but if you have any elements of kinaesthetic learning then moving and listening at the same time can be good anyway! Bar bri and making dinner?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the new house! Our movers showed up several days early too, so maybe it's the new trend.
ReplyDeleteI'm hella jealous. If only I can shed my current albatross and begin to think about owning a REAL house with a SWINGSET and a plethora of bed and bathrooms from which I can choose!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on moving into the house! It's such a wonderful feeling!
ReplyDeleteWhew, that whole bar studying thing is crazy with your school year ending so late. I'm sure you'll do great though. You have a nice big house to go hide from the family and study!
Yipeee for you! The pic of Landon in the box is so sweet.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!! Texas is definitely glad you have you back. I love the picture on Landon in a box. He is so cute!!
ReplyDeleteHooray!! Congratulations on the new house and on settling in faster than expected. We have that exact same swing set (except ours has two regular swings instead of the baby seat). Hope the rest of the weekend goes smoothly and that you can get started on the Bar study soon.
ReplyDeleteHave you checked out craigslist for furniture? People list a huge variety of stuff there, from total junk to really really nice. For me it's a lot easier to hop online and browse the furniture listings for five minutes than just about anything else. It's my new best friend.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Don't want to jinx it, but life seems to be going so much smoother as Texans.
ReplyDeleteAs for the furniture, here's a little secret that my mom let me in on which has saved me thousands... Check out the unclaimed furniture stores and factory direct stores. They'll have all the same styles from the same makers as the nice stores, but are generally 60% cheaper. I saved $2500 on my sofa.