Our New Place!

We are finally getting settled into our new place! We registered the van, got NC driver's licences, unpacked most of the boxes, and hung the pictures.




Here is a picture of the outside of our new place. It is a townhouse style duplex and we love the space we have. Benjamin loves having stairs (as does Seth though he hasn't really figured out how to safely go down). We have a front door and a back door (onto our deck) with two doorbells too! It has two bedrooms with one full bath and two half baths--one downstairs and one off the master bedroom.



This is in the boys room. I painted these letters months ago in Iowa but never got around to getting them on the wall. Seth loves to look up at the letters and picture to point and jabber (it entertains him at the end of a nap since it is over his crib).

Here is our living room with all our family pictures up on the wall. The coffee table is "new". The Culmers, our neighbors in Iowa, found it by the dumpster and pulled it out for us. It is solid wood and in good condition--all it really needs is to be refinished. Seth loves to use it to pull up and use as a walking aid. He doesn't want to try walking without support (crawling is so much faster) but does well with furniture or Mom's hands.

Here's another view of the living room. We have lots of large windows in this place that let in a lot of light (since we only have one lamp in the living room and no ceiling light, this is great!).

This is our big eat-in kitchen. I love the space (the boys can be playing in there with me while I'm fixing dinner and not get in my way) and the cabinet room is great for all my kitchen stuff and food. I especially enjoy the seven drawers I have.

It is great to have so much light coming into the kitchen. We actually get direct sunlight in the mornings (though it filters through the trees so it doesn't heat the house up). My plant is loving it and flourishing. It is also nice to be able to have the table in the kitchen (and not on carpet). I don't have to worry about spills, and it is easier for Benjamin to set the table. The doors on the right of this photo are to the laundry area. However, since we don't have a washer and dryer, it makes a great pantry!

We love our new place, especially since there is a yard area as well as a park that is only a three minute walk away complete with swings, slides, and an play excavator with sand (as well as a pond and ducks)! It is at the end of a cul-de-sac in a very quiet neighborhood but the interstate is only two minutes away. We can get to church in 7-8 minutes, and the university is close too! If anyone wants our address, just send me an email!

Justin's Graduation Photos!

Here are the professional photos taken at Justin's graduation. The first one is his favorite because it is in front of the Old Capital--which symbolizes Iowa City/UIowa to Justin. (It also helps that the building over his left shoulder is the Jessup which is where he had all his classes.)

I love you, Justin!! Congratulations!!!!

The Move to North Carolina!

We've moved to North Carolina!! While I have a lot of pictures to catch up with (especially Justin's graduation photos--CONGRATULATIONS JUSTIN!), I figured I had to start somewhere until I get the graduation photos developed (yes, we forgot our camera and had to buy a disposable one).

Here we are at a rest area in Indiana (above and below). I was meaning to document the whole trip with photos, but I missed Iowa and Illinois. Though I took the above photo (it only took three tries), I couldn't get a photo with us and the Indiana sign. Luckily a man offered to take a photo of us in front of the sign.

Here is a picture of Justin in the moving truck--considering I took the photo while driving, I think it is pretty good (I held the camera out at arm's length, hazarded one quick glance at the LCD screen and clicked).

This picture Benjamin took of us in our hotel room in Lexington, KY, where we stopped for the night. He did a great job! He was also a big help to me as we traveled the thousand miles to NC. He handed Seth toys and snacks--even when Benjamin was hungry too, I would hand him two crackers, tell him to give one to Seth, and he would! We even sang songs together to help Seth calm down the couple of times he screamed (really can you blame him--newly mobile, stuck in a car seat all day, and overtired too?!). We made it though and stayed with my sister Marianne until we found a place to live -- Thanks so much Marianne and Eric!!

Here is another picture I took of one of the mountain tunnels we went through. I tried to get a picture to capture the size of the mountain that you look like you are about to barrel into but... it didn't really work. It takes close to a minute to drive through it though. Hope you enjoy the pictures--I have lots of fun ones of Benjamin's birthday that are coming soon!!