...Hello Madison!

And so we left Columbus, OH for the last time with our whole life packed into a 14' Uhaul and my cats in the car. We drugged them which probably explains why they were surprisingly calm for the 8+ hour drive. We spent the night in a hotel in Janesville, WI, which is about an hour outside of Madison.

Goodbye, Ohio!

The next morning we were fortunate (or cursed?) with 80 degree temps and no rain (although Jordan insisted it was going to start any minute!). The humidity was not ideal for unloading a truck but we we managed to get it all done within a few hours, with a break in the middle for Gatorade.

Gorgeous Madison clouds greeted us on our way into town!

 After we finally got the truck unloaded, we were faced with this mess...

It took us a few days but we got most things organized and stored. One big difference between this apartment and our last is the openness of everything. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are all basically one big area with a bedroom and a bathroom on each side of the apartment. The vaulted ceilings make everything seem even bigger. We were only in our new place for a couple days before Jordan had his first day of work!

First day!

Since we only have one car right now, this left me lots of time to stay at home hanging up pictures, continually organizing, and generally making our new place feel like home. Most of the big things are done so it's time for a tour!!

This is the front of our building, one of about twenty in the entire complex. There is a parking garage under each building and lots of surface parking. Plus, there's the rental office that has a pool and gym (both of which we haven't used yet.)

When you enter the building you see our mailbox #304, going up the stairs to the third floor. Living on the top floor is great since you don't have anyone making noise above you. However, it is not great to carry a couch up the stairs. Next time we're hiring movers. Notice our fancy new Welcome mat from Target.

This is the view when you walk in the front door. Notice the closet at the far end of the apartment, there is something amazing behind those doors that we'll get to in just a minute. Also, notice my string art project that I made a few months ago. I finally screwed in the brackets and got them up on a wall. Just to the right when you walk in is our first (yes, first! We have TWO!) bathroom...

This is the guest bathroom, also known as 'Jordan's bathroom.' When I saw our new place had a full master bathroom plus a full guest bathroom, I subtly suggested to Jordan that maybe I could have the master bathroom as my own. I mean, it was really for his benefit... I have so many bottles in the shower... and my perfumes and lotions and hair dryer on the counter that take up so much space... and I take so long to get ready... that really it would be more convenient for him to have his own bathroom for his stuff. My plan worked! And I think we're both happier having our own space in the morning. Across the hall is the guest room...

Just like when we moved into our apartment in Columbus, this has become a Room of Requirement that is serving as a 'staging area' for things that don't have a home yet. Notice all the boxes under the window. Those are all full of books. The crazy thing is that Jordan and I both got rid of a significant amount of our books before leaving Ohio, and yet we still managed to bring over a dozen boxes of them. What can I say? We're readers. If (when?!) you come visit us, this will be your place to sleep and I promise, it will look a lot better than it does here. We just bought some bookshelves today and started emptying out those boxes! Let's head into the main area of the apartment...

To the left is the living room area, and to the right is the dining room (with one sad chair) and our giant kitchen. Here are a couple more views of the living room and kitchen...

It's actually kind of a challenge to arrange furniture is such a large space. We definitely have a lot more room than we did before. On our (ever-growing) list of things to buy, we need a new dining room set and I'd like a big comfy reading chair in the living room under the clock. For now, we're just happy to have a nice place and a lovely kitchen. Our old kitchen had very little counter space and it was hard to be in there together without getting in each other's way. Our new kitchen has a ton of storage and a nice open layout, plus I love the island. And now it's time to reveal what's in the closet at the far end of the apartment...

A washer and dryer of our very own!! They're not huge or fancy but they do the job and we can literally throw our clothes out of the dryer and into our bedroom. If you've ever known the pain of driving to the laundromat, lugging in a million full baskets since you let all your dirty clothes pile up, then waiting two hours to get it all down and folded and back home, then you know why this is such a big deal. And just next to the kitchen and magic washer/dryer closet is our bedroom.

It's not as big as our old bedroom, but it works for us. I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond when we first got here and I managed to find a pair of black nightstands for $10 each. You can't see them very well in these pictures, but they are awesome and were a great deal. And just around the corner in our bedroom is a hallway...

And in that hallway are two closets. Mine is the one that is visible on the left, Jordan's is across the hall, out of sight in this picture. And at the end of that hallway is my favorite place in our apartment...

 

Maybe it is weird to admit that I really like the bathroom, but I do. I put these nice hanging baskets on the wall for storage and I bought fluffy bathmats and I can spread out all my junk on the counter and make a big ol' mess. But here... here is my favorite thing about the bathroom...

 

Giant whirlpool bathtub! If you know me, you know I'm not a tiny girl. Being 5'11" means you will always have cold knees and shoulders if you take a bath in a regular tub. This giant-sized tub means I am fully immersed! I can practically swim laps! And it even has these lovely jets that make it almost like a mini hottub! I've already taken one bath and have plans for lots more. I think my life may be changed by this tub. That is probably something I shouldn't admit on the internet, oh well, moving on... 

 Back to the main room, and this is the view facing the front door to the apartment. Notice the ledge on the top right, when we moved in we thought, what will we put up there?? And then we had a good idea...

Uplighting! We just threw our Christmas lights up there (they lay flat, so you can't see them- this isn't a dorm room!) and when we're watching a movie at night, it's a good way to have some soft light in the living room. And speaking of light, here's our lovely balcony which faces west so we get some nice evening light coming in.

There isn't a ton of storage in the apartment but there is this great storage area just off the balcony which is currently holding a lot of empty plastic tubs and our Christmas decorations. One of the only bad things about our location is the proximity to a fairly busy road. This means noise from the passing traffic if the balcony door or the windows are open, but it's not too bad.

Jack and Meg are pretty happy with the new place too.