Our Big Move to Salt Lake City!

We have been so busy and I fell behind on blogging again. Sorry! This has been a busy two weeks(as usual). The girls left for Arizona on the 12th, and Bryan started packing shortly after that.

Saturday, the 18th was our moving day. We planned on leaving Ephraim no later than 12pm. Check out of the Ephraim apartment took longer than we planned. The landlord was way more nit-picky than we expected. By the time we got to our new apartment it was just before 4pm. Well, apparently when we told and verified our moving date as the 18th with the complex, they failed to look at a calendar and inform us that they are not open on Saturdays! So here we are with a full moving truck, friends to help us unload, and no keys to get in.

After doing enough asking around, we were able to find out who our Resident Assistant was for our building, and she was able to get special permission to give us our keys! (sigh of relief) Thank heaven for on-campus housing, and the grand idea of RAs.

By the time we got our keys, it was after 4pm, and everyone who was planning on helping us unload had to go by 5pm at the latest! So, in a rush to unload the truck we were massively blessed! Random people from our court(each tripod of buildings with their playground in the middle is called a court) started offering their help unloading. We were being helped by complete strangers! What a great first impression, and we knew we were going to like it here. We found out later that the ward we would be attending for church is made up of only the people in our court. 30 families! Everyday when we go outside, it's like there is a church gathering in our front yard. Last night we went out and all ate homemade ice cream. What fun!

Once we got everything *in* the apartment, the next challenge was to get everything to fit. The front room was completely packed with stuff, and it was then time to get everything in it's place. After a lot of trial and error we found a perfect setup for the front room, and everything actually fits! I should probably mention, that includes the kitchen and all the appliances that were once in my china hutch in Ephraim, now completely fit in my kitchen!

Unlike Ephraim, the girls actually have tons of room in their room, and since they weren't home, we were able to get rid of a ton of unimportant stuff. Plus, we also made a huge box of toys and books to send home with Russell when he brought them back home. We got them new matching comforter sets courtesy of Target, and partly paid for with two year old, wedding gift cards from my previous wedding. (I found them when I switched out my old purse for a new one) We went to one Target across the valley, and they only had one, but I fell in love with it, so thanks to Russ calling and asking to take them out to dinner before bringing them home, we rushed to another Target and hoped they would have two! They did! We were even able to get it all done before the girls got home. So the girls now have new comforters with butterflies! (Not to mention how excited I was to actually get to go to Target and pick these out, and I didn't have to settle for Ephraim's mini WalMart and it's selection) Oh and another bonus to new bedsets, we were able to get Laci excited enough about her new bed, that she is now completely off her baby blanket!

I was so nervous to move here at first. Actually, I was petrified! The first time I came to the complex and was shown an empty apartment, I left in tears. The doorways were so narrow, the bathroom tiny and the kitchen cupboards I could barely reach. As time went on, I began and get over it and have faith, and hope Heavenly Father would work it out. We were blessed to see when we first came in, that everything in this apartment is in pristine condition. The carpet brand new, and very taken care of! We also found out that ALL our utilities (water, electric, trash, phone, internet, cable) is included in our monthly rent amount. That will truly help us out, and with everything we get(the community, maintenence, campus affilation) it is such a steal of a deal! Oh, and not to mention, the doors here are actually wider than the unit I first saw, and I am able to get around and function perfectly fine!

As hard as it was to leave Ephraim, we truly love it here, and feel as though we have been put here for a reason. Bryan and I have enjoyed putting together our first apartment together, and it truly feels like home!