43 days

mornings like i experienced today make it seem like we are still light years away from moving. we finally found a place to live IN DALLAS and scheduled with the movers yesterday! march 24th. 43 days away. in 43 days we will be residents of dallas. in 43 days i will no longer fight traffic or wonder whether my drive will take 45 minutes or an hour and 45 minutes. in 43 days i will be a mere 17 miles from my job. i.am.stoked.

we found some pretty nice apartments on cedar springs with a huge dog park. we're about a mile away from the katy trail and close to some really nice parks. it's a two-bedroom, two-bath with a separate dining room and a huge corner balcony! more than anything though, i am excited because our soon-to-be-married friends, carli & braden, are moving in to the same complex! they also have a rather large dog and we are so excited for our furr-babies to play together. 

it will also be nice to have such a good friend so close during the summer while stan is away so much. in june, he has two weeks of camps in tyler, tx and will be home for a mere 7 days and then leaves again to washington, d.c. for a youth choir tour. he gets home and a week and a half later is off to a college retreat and then 4 days after that is the student ministry all nighter. and somewhere in between all of that, they still have a senior trip to plan and execute during the summer months. i'm not even sure when they will find time to schedule it. last year i had some flexibility and was able to attend some of the functions, but between our trip to italy in may and needing to save as much vacation/overtime for maternity leave i need to be stingy with time taken off. not to mention the fact that i will have a basketball growing from my midsection.

as much as i have LOVED living near downtown fort worth and exploring a new city--i am thrilled to be coming home. i have always lived in the dallas area, but never IN DALLAS so this will still be a new adventure. the only sad thing to be leaving behind is our old place. stan's dad lived with us for 9 months and once he moved out we took over the third bedroom. it's going to be sad to be giving that space up and challenging to fit everything we have PLUS a baby (and all the things that come with it) into just two bedrooms. however, i am confident that we can make it happen. stan's desk will live against a wall behind the couch in the living room and all of my sewing/craft stuff will be organized in the baby's closet--ya know, since their clothes will only hang about 2 feet down and all. i love woodworking and building things (like stan's desk) and i am hoping we can fit the must-have-handy tools in the storage off the patio and still have some space to work since it is so large. of course this all works out in my head, but it's quite different when you are actually putting everything away so we'll see. i AM excited about downsizing and simplifying. i only want things i LOVE in the new place and i want everything to have it's place. so if i don't have anywhere to put it--it's outta here! someone please keep me accountable to that! haha. and i am COMMITTED to actually FINISHING bedrooms here. i'll give you five dollars for every time you come over and i haven't decorated a room yet. well, after tax season ends anyway...