Starting to look like a home

John and I kicked ourselves in gear and finished almost with setting up the apartment. Mainly the kick in the pants came from wanting some people (Elle and Anna) to come over and have some Wii time and that meant boxes in front of the TV was out of the question. But now it's worth it. Waking up this morning to only 2 boxes in the house (books to sale to local used book store and frames to hang up) was amazing. There is still lots to organize but things are really starting to look up. I've become a huge fan of Ikea. We bought their Billy bookcases to organize all our books and cds. Neither one of us had any idea how many cds we had but after having to go back to buy more shelves to put them on we are now thinking it is a little excessive. We still need to get another shelf to finish out the look but all of the cds, records, and books are displayed. I think this is the first time we've ever been able to do that!

Downgrading to a one bedroom has made us much more aware of what we actually use and what we need. There are some things we won't get rid of but other stuff especially my huge closet of clothes is now significantly less considering John and I now share a space. I won't say I've been the most pleasant about having to get rid of so much but I'm now definitely down to a more livable amount of crap. They always say on all those organization shows on HGTV how if you really love stuff (like collectibles) that you need to pick the ones you really love and display them and not just store them in the attic. So the Piglet collection is now hopefully being enjoyed by someone else out there. I kept a few but I have no room for it and I felt bad about them just sitting in a garbage bag. Maybe this will teach me to be less of a pack rat. I definitely have gone through the toss it, donate it, keep with a fine tooth comb.

The lab is coming along pretty well. Everything is pretty much unpacked and we get balances this coming week. Still need to get the hood hooked up to gas so we can actually get some work done but it's coming along.

So far we haven't gotten to the beach yet but this weekend will be our time. Also the car, driver's licenses and the such to become California residents will be next week. It still feels pretty surreal to be living out here but it should hopefully feel more like home soon.