Finally settled in

I am happy to report that we have finally settled into our new home. The only room not 100% unpacked is our joint office. And that is mainly because we have a lot of random things that just don't really have a place to go quite yet. Oddly enough, even without the room being finished, we still spend a great deal of time in there. We chat, work on the computer and say, "We should really unpack these boxes." Maybe I can work on that today. Maybe.

We are really loving Granville. I drive my car maybe once a week. Since I am still unemployed, that's a good thing. Since Mike is really the only one driving, and he only goes up to campus - we're only paying a very minimal amount in fuel per week. I walk or run pretty much anywhere I need to go. Downtown is less than a half to 3/4 a mile away. Campus is only a quarter of a mile. The grocery store is one mile. The area is great for running. There are a lot of hills, but some beautiful scenery. Go out at the right time of day, and you are sure to see lots of deer. They are in our back yard, on campus, on the trails and pretty much everywhere else.

What we can't get in Granville we can get in nearby Heath or Newark. We found a great Amish store this weekend that sells spices and dry goods in bulk for pretty low prices. Heath even has a Sonic! Saturday morning I discovered "Jolly Pirate Donuts", a 24 hour local donut shop. One word - yummo. There are about 75 local pizza places (no joke), and we started trying those out this weekend. The local pizza here is almost always thin crust and cut into squares. I like it, but I am wondering if I will start missing pan pizza soon......

Mike starts new faculty orientation today, and the first day of classes is next Monday. He has his office all set up, and the syllabuses (yes, that's proper) are almost complete. I am so excited for him. He finally gets to do what he's always wanted to do!!!

I on the other hand am still on the job hunt. After two second round interviews for some pretty cool jobs, I have yet to get an offer. But tomorrow is a big day. I have a 4.5 hour interview at Ohio State's Business school. It is a very exciting position, and I would appreciate any good vibes you have to send my way. I'll keep you posted on that.

In the meantime, here's a few photos of the house. We love it. In fact, we wake up each morning and both of us declare, "We love you house!" Really. We say that every day to the house :-) The kitties love it too - I have never seen them happier!!

WE ARE IN OHIO!

I promise....blogging will resume soon. We moved last week and have now been in our new home for exactly one week. We are residents of Granville, Ohio now! Pics and stories coming soon. Just trying to get settled!!!

Who's Buying a House? US!!!!

We found a beautiful, awesome, amazing home. And we are buying it! YAY!!!!!! Our trip to Columbus was fantastic. We saw some AMAZING homes. Truly, it was an embarrassment of riches. To be able to choose from that many great properties was a blessing. But when we walked into this home, the last one we saw, we knew it was the place we wanted to be. We decided to go ahead and live in the village of Granville where Denison University is located. The whole place is out of a storybook. Treelined streets, a beautiful little downtown, farmers market, bike and running paths, parks, hills, just amazing.

More photos to come of the area, but first - here is our house!!!!!

So much to do...

Here's the short of it - tomorrow we are going to Columbus. It's house hunting madness, neighborhood wandering, sightseeing, and on Monday morning - it's interviewing. It will be one crazy weekend. A full update will be provided once we get back.

In the meantime, something cool! A friend of ours, King, is an up and coming artist. We had always wanted to buy one of King's paintings, but not being in the "art market", we didn't really have that kind of budget. But thankfully for us, King was selling off a few pieces, and we were actually able to afford one.

This piece will hang in our home in Ohio!

"Baltimore Blues" by King Kenney

The blurry photo is from Francesca's in Durham. I didn't want to creep the ladies out by taking photos of them. But this is our painting. We already have it at home now, but we are waiting to put it on the wall of our new home!

Purgatory

It's the only word I can think to use in describing this current point in time. We're moving to Ohio - in August. We're here in Durham - for now. I've given the date of my last day of work, but it's about 60 days away. I know what we're leaving and have no idea what we are going to. There is no job for me on the horizon, nor do we have a place to live. We want to buy soon after arriving, but that will be 3-6 months after our arrival. Did I also mention that I have no job?

I'm sad to leave Durham, but I am ready to get on with the rest of my life. I'll be leaving a sweet gig at Self-Help and going to who knows what, but I am sure I will find something. Right? Will I? I'm ready to be a homeowner and maybe even have a kiddo. But we can't do that until we go and get settled. It's so close yet so far.

I love Durham, and it still seems strange that in two months, I won't live here anymore. But I feel like each day is ripping off the band-aid slowly. It has to come off, but all I'm doing is pulling out one hair at a time. One. painful. hair. at. a. time.

It's purgatory. I'm ready to move on but don't want to leave. How do I make it through the next two months?

IT'S THAT TIME

So, this weekend will complete the whole move! Last weekend, we got a ton of boxes moved over. This weekend, we move all the furniture. And that completes the transition, folks! Hopefully I will have some pictures for you on Monday of Mike and I settled into the new place. Yay!!!!!

And please keep your fingers crossed that Allie doesn't eat Buddy and Scout....