Found New Home in Kentucky

Melissa was very kind to volunteer to accompany me to Louisville to look for a new home for me... She came Friday after work.  Then we had dinner at Mazah Mediterranean Eatery (which is inexpensive, quick, and delicious!).  Then we made it just in time to watch Five Year Engagement which was a wonderfully cute and meaningful movie!  It reminded me how important it is not to lose yourself and give yourself up in a relationship because life would be unhappy and you'd resent the other person.

Woke up at 6-ish AM. Woke Melissa up at around 6:30 AM.  We had breakfast, got ready, repacked... I moved my roomie's car from the front of the garage (...really?) and then we hit the road at around 7:30AM.

We managed to have beauuutiful weather! it sprinkled occasionally as we practically followed the rain but it was primarily just overcast.  Good temperature, no real rain... it was a very nice drive with little traffic.  Did stop about 20 minutes out of Louisville because I was running low on fuel (thanks to my tiny ~10gallon tank, lol) and had to pee.  Very old gas-pump, even at a BP. I had trouble reading the screen as it was just a bunch of scrolling dots.

Got to Louisville at 11AM and arrived at our first apartment complex next to a mall.  From online the apartments looked like they would be beautiful and give my current complex, The Quarry, a run for its money (literally) but no... it was a hack job.  The apartment buildings had really random vinyl siding colorations.  For example... a building is supposed to be light blue but some of the siding fell off at some point perhaps... instead of replacing it with light blue it could be yellow, gray, green, cream... It's like they just threw it on at night or they are color blind.  Paint job was pretty bad.  Kitchen cabinets were ugly. Bathroom was just tolerable. And they were asking for $850 for a 1b1b. Really? It's not the cost... It's what you get for the cost.  I'd be perfectly willing to pay that much for something like the quarry... not something I could do a better job of myself. Hack job. Also, it had a really tiny pool.... smaller than our "mini" pool here at the Quarry.

Then we had lunch at the mall. We got very disoriented as there were no real patterns/logic to parking lot placement... so we had trouble figuring out where food was.  Managed to find a Qdoba.

Then we went to destination 2.  It was pretty great. The clubhouse - GORGEOUS. SO HUGE! It has nice pool, outdoor kitchen, table tennis, pool, grand piano, nice loungy chairs, yoga/pilates room, nice workout center... overall, I have never seen such a nice leasing office/club house.  And there are two tennis courts :-D. Oh, and a car wash area!!! and no doggie size restrictions!!!   Melissa and I were impressed especially with the professional presentation of the management staff.

The apartment units themselves are ok. Definitely no Quarry but I've come to conclude that such a place does not even exist in that city... if it does, I cannot find it and I am a pretty resourceful person.  IF it does exist I am not paying like 1k for a one bedroom.  I managed to find a first floor, overlooking a courtyard, decent parking, may be able to get a car port, BAY WINDOW! SO EXCITED ABOUT BAY WINDOW ! (i have always wanted one).  The size of the apartment is decent as is the kitchen. Bedroom is smaller and the bathroom is half the size of my current one but I realize my current bathroom is just ridiculously large.  FOr the price (less than 800) I am very happy with the location and the apartment itself.  The money I save I can put towards other things! ie, shopping, cable TV, paying off things faster, eating out, fun stuff, etc.

Above is the layout of my new home.


Then we saw another apartment complex. It was very nice but I didn't love it more than the second one and they wanted $100 more.  I really wanted to love this one though.  But it wasn't as much as I had hoped in terms of what they had to offer.

The whole rental market is really saturated right now so I am pleased to at least find something I like in ONE DAY because Louisville is a bit far for me to continue visiting... especially since I primarily live in Columbus.  I am looking forward to completing the move even though I will miss Columbus, my friends, and my apartment so-so-so much...But I will get over it... just as I will eventually get over the general disregard to traffic amongst the residents of Louisville.  Driving to and from work will be quite a challenge.  My tiny car gets bullied too.  I'm gonna have to learn to be more aggressive//skilled. Oh boy.

Looking forward to making my new home home-y! I just wish my job would hurry up n finish my background check n give me my itinerary because I am getting anxious! as usual.

I found a home! there and back (3.5 hours there), 3 apartment complexes, lunch and coffee, decide and apply for new apartment... in 12 hours. I'd say that is pretty impressive.

Welcome Home, my little FIAT

Welcome home, FIAT!

This morning my whole family and Josh went to Kings FIAT to get my new car. We were there forever(HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS = 3 HOURS) because my dad wanted to haggle. Understandable... he did pay for like half of it and cars are not cheap. That and it probably made him feel good. My parents were a little apprehensive at first because of its diminutive size. But they were pleasantly surprised at how roomy it is inside. My dad may still be a little apprehensive but my mom has warmed up to it more. Such a fun little car to drive. It's got oomph!

My mom also thought the Gucci FIAT is beautiful... well of course... and it costs a lot, hehe.

After we got back to Oxford, Josh and I took the FIAT to go to Hueston Woods to take some photos with his family (his grandparents, uncle and aunt came down to visit for his grandparents 60th anniversary! SO CUTE). Then to dinner at Josh's parents house.

It's been such a fun day and evening and I love my adorable new car and Josh approves of it too, he joked about how he might not give it back to me, hehe.

Going around the curvy roads of Southwest Ohio is such a joy with this car though. Apparently the 6 speed transmission of this vehicle really does what it is meant to do because while Josh was shifting back and forth and doing whatever it is he does, he was very pleased with its performance and petted the car going, "good little transmission." It took little potholes relatively well and sometimes the car does "bounce" when zipping around but it's not a jolting bounce, it just makes you look like you are barely bobbing to music. It looked like we were dancing to music to the awesome Bose stereo system. We spent a lot of the driving smiling and giggling. Details are great, it is sturdy for its size, it is an adorable car, and it drives with energy, urgency, and joy.

Welcome home, FIAT! I will probably name you later

So Blessed and Relieved

Got the job offer! it is a good one. I almost fainted and my feet instantly fell asleep and stayed asleep for about an hour.

So overwhelmed.

Talked to Jim ("boss") before i officially accepted because mom and dad weren't answering the phone (mom was mowing and dad was teaching i think). Everybody is so excited!

I accepted and I thought I was going to burst and pass out.

Hyperventilated some.

Mom finally got a chance to call me... I was pathetic and was so overwhelmed from joy and exhaustion and the happiness from her support and kind words that I cried. Maybe it was also because I was hungry because the call came during my lunch.

Had to cancel a different interview right after i accepted (whew).

I am so happy.

The only down side is my culminating.... adviser isn't too pleased because things are gonna have to change with it and it may be tricky on how we approach discussing and analyzing the results... and may have to run more programs (my nightmare). So I accepted a job that uses SAS yet right now SAS and I have a love/hate relationship where half the time I want to throw my computer out the window...

My job is going to be so interesting.

Now I'm just waiting for Josh to have time and be done with his school/group meetings to talk to me about this because I am still bursting. I keep on wanting to just lie down because I feel so light headed and floaty.

Still Waiting

Still waiting on the official offer from the job I want. Verbal "offer is coming" does not put me at ease. I want something concrete. Something in my hands. Stress*stress*

No wonder this is Stress Awareness Month because I am certainly very aware... just need to follow through and deal with it somehow.

On the other hand, this past weekend was pretty wonderful. Spent time with my family and Josh's family. It was a very busy weekend. Also I got to meet baby Daniel! Josh's new nephew. He's cute.

Josh and I introduced Luke to the first Star Wars movie, Luke liked it and was quite excited that there is a Luke in the movie. He caught that pretty quickly.

Oh, and I bought a new dress. I cannot wait to debut it in like two weeks! to celebrate three years together :) Also, I guess Josh's grandparents will be in town that weekend as well so it'll be nice to see them.

Work is dragging but I must stay as many hours as I can to make money$$$$.

New Car in near/foreseeable future.

Moving will be expensive.

Initial cost will be expensive as well such as paying for two apartments initially...and then just the usual initial apartment costs.

Ah.Future.So.Close...looming?

I am trying to keep myself preoccupied so as to not freak out about everything. i also have a phone interview thursday for a different position. Although, I don't care for it, if I don't receive that call like... TOMORROW I am going to have to follow through with it because it would be rude to just cancel within 24 hours... and I gotta be realistic and make sure I don't screw things up for myself somehow. I am just tired of this whole process, really. EEEEAAAAHHHHH...

This week is just dragging yet it is busy enough... Looking forward to hanging out with people tomorrow, friday, and saturday. Probably test driving cars Saturday as well. Wheeee...

I JUST WANT THEM TO CALL. I don't handle stress like this well.