This shot was taken from our little balcony - which means that with the U-haul parked where it was, we had to traverse down our U-shaped stairs from the second floor, to the "lobby," then down the outside stairs, THEN down the sidewalk and up into the truck. Mike's sister and her husband, Jud, were troopers helping us to unload the apt. I have learned that Jud is abnormally strong and a wonderful person to help move. Though after this fiasco, Gentle Giant movers seem a better option. We did find some laughs with the term PIVOT! (Friends episode anyone??) but after 6 hours and a relatively full truck, we headed to Holliston.
Unloading
Why is it that unloading is always so much easier? Perhaps because we had had almost an hours rest (again, the roads were not fun; this is normally not that long a drive), perhaps it was because we had new folks at the other end (namely Mike's parents and older brother Bill), perhaps things didn't need to go up 30 sets of stairs. In any case, we were unloaded in a few short hours. The house was already filled with family, which was such a nice sight to see, even through the boxes and mess. Here are a few of my favorite pics from that point in the day:
the u-haul in our driveway
Bill getting a running start for the next load (also a good shot of our double-door entry)
I'll say, that although we spent a whole day packing/loading and unpacking, we STILL had at least a dozen extra trips to/from the apartment for those random items that don't easily find their way into a box...like the random stuff under the kitchen sink (who knew??) On December 29 we took our last load out and said goodbye to the city!
Christmas Eve
Skip back a few days to Christmas Eve - after unpacking and trying to organize the majority of our 4 room apartment into an 8 room house, we hit the road with Sox to Connecticut to spend the evening with Mike's sister Julie and the family. Sox learned very quickly with the many trips in the car (apartment to house and vice versa...) to quickly pass out in the car. Here's a great shot of him in the backseat. The blue rope was leftover from fastening the snowblower so it wouldn't tip over. :)
He looked so adorable all cuddled up in that rope! He had a very exciting Christmas with presents from cousins Mocha and Zeus and visiting a new home. We enjoyed a delicious fried turkey (way to go, Julie!) and fantastic Cosmos-a-la-Hilary. After gifts, we headed back home - it's so different to say that now! We had set up our tree in our formal living room which basically is the only thing in the room besides boxes. The green walls were a nice background for the tree.
Christmas Morning
What a memorable moment to wake up in your new home and open presents and stockings under the tree. We had to take advantage of a pile of boxes and attempt a family portrait:
Not a totally bad shot - but not next year's Christmas card! :)
Because this was my first Christmas away from my immediate family in Indiana, I decided to host the Donahue's for Christmas dinner. What? You think I'm crazy for hosting a holiday dinner just 5 days post U-haul? Nahh...call it motivation! We found dishes, stemware, tablecloths etc from the wedding and shower (sidenote, so exciting to open gifts for a second time!) and set the table up right. Holiday favorites such as Swedish meatballs, St. Lucia buns and rice pudding were on the menu, along with traditional Christmas ham...it was terrific! Our table was decorated with a lovely arrangement of flowers c/o our friends Steph & Rich from South Africa - a most festive and unexpected arrival.
Note these photos also show the plethora of just gorgeous wallpaper that is found throughout the house. We are full of decorating and home improvement projects!
New Year's
We spent a quiet night at home (ahhhh) for New Year's Eve after a delicious dinner of homemade filet mignon, mashed taters and broccoli. The next day we hit Lowe's (our new favorite outing...gosh we're suburban!) for our first major project - insulating the attic! After getting the material, Mike went to shovel the driveway - Sox loved the fresh flakes and had a blast tormenting Dad with his run and explore. Not so good with the "Come" command just yet, which makes for a lot of exploring on our part as well!
More pics of the house after we clean up a bit more. We're down to about a dozen boxes but still haven't found either of the irons yet (where ARE they??) At this point, unpacking is more of a scavenger hunt, but that's the fun of moving I guess. Hope all our readers are enjoying a happy and healthy 2008! May it last all year long....
1 comment:
Wow! That move in the mounds of snow looks like fun! Want to help us in a few weeks?...
Take care! Miss you guys!
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