Milestones

Today we found an apartment. We signed a lease and closed the deal. It's a one bedroom, a bit bigger than our old place and has lots of character. Because it's a corner apartment on the third floor, there's plenty of windows with a southern exposure (which I think will come in handy during the grey Portland winters). Moving day will prove to be a bit of a challenge, though, since there is no elevator. I'm thinking we may have to hire a couple of burly college students to help us unload the crate. But the location! So nice! Just a block away from Couch Park.

The minute we stepped in, we knew this was the right place and hurried to fill out the application and put down our deposit. The clincher for me? It has a wall. The clincher for Jesse? It has rounded doorways. There is quite a bit of storage space provided by the awesome built-in cabinets and closets and I am totally in love with the black and white tile kitchen. The only downside of the apartment (besides the whole third floor walk-up bit) is that it has an electric stove. That will take a while to master. But, for the first time since we arrived last week, I feel like our move is real.

This morning was a hectic start to the day with hurried packing, viewing the apartment, and then picking up our car for the afternoon. We drove around a bit, hung out with Brian and Anna at their new house, and then made it to the Kennedy School just in time for dinner. At the moment, I am happy and full and ready to relax. Tomorrow, all we have to worry about is making it to breakfast, checking email one last time, and catching our 2:15pm train to Sacramento. Now, I can officially rest without worrying about anything for the next 3 weeks (except for having to learn to drive a stick shift). My brain is officially on vacation.

Oh, and today I officially changed my laptop homepage from the Washington Post to the Oregonian. I very well may change it back in a few days since the Post has proven to be a bit more interesting, but for now I'll give it a try.