Guess what?!!

 The title of this post is meant to be read in a high-pitched sing-songy voice, fyi.

I have a bad habit of waiting to post good news.  I don't know why.  I think I'm saving it up or something, like for a special day.  Well, that's stupid, and this morning I just felt like shouting it to the cyber world, because, well, it's super exciting...

We. Are. Moving!!!

Yep, moving up in the world.  We will be saying goodbye to our pathetic 500 square foot apartment that we have been squeezing into for the last {almost} 4 years and will be saying hello to a glorious 3 bedroom apartment.  I wish I knew the square footage, but don't worry, I will probably measure it when I get there, in less than 2 weeks!  Honestly I wish it were tomorrow.  I would gladly pull an all-night-er packing if it meant that I could get out of this hell hole.  Yeah, that's a little dramatic, I know, but that is honestly how I feel right now.  Our apartment looks like this

We can barely walk in our front door.  I did finally get rid of that huge box, though.]

We're grateful for all of the free boxes our friends gave us, but it is ridiculous how much space they take up!

This actually doesn't look that bad.  It usually looks worse.

It's more than a little bit ridiculous.  We can't get into the desk or closet in our bedroom and we have to move things to get into bed at night.  I want to start packing right this second, but am worried about where we are going to put all the boxes.  There is honestly not a single ounce of extra space.  Maybe once I get things a little more cleaned up it won't be so bad, but it's overwhelming to think about cleaning when there is just no where to put anything.  I think I'm going to start today though, just because I know packing always takes way longer than I think it will, and plus, I think it will help make the next week and a half go by a little quicker if I'm actually working towards my goal.  

So for those of you who don't know, Nate got a job here in the city.  He is working with the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, as kind of a project manager, I guess.  They are working on getting a text book out on the history of rock and roll.  Pretty cool.  The project is supposed to be about 2 years, so we {I} are hoping to time the ending of this job with the finishing of his dissertation perfectly. :)  We had been back and forth about leaving the city this summer to live in UT for the duration of Nate's dissertation writing, but then a few job opportunities popped up and we started to feel like leaving the city wasn't the right thing to do.  But our apartment has been just awful for awhile now, and I was feeling like I couldn't take it anymore {which was one of the reasons we were thinking about moving to UT}.  Our building is closing down next summer for renovations {which are badly needed} so we were going to move into a different apartment in the building- which would give us a change of scenery and a little more open-ness- for a year and then figure out where to go after that.  But one day a few weeks ago, I felt like I should go apply for the waiting list to a building that a few families in our ward live in.  They called me back shortly after to say that they couldn't give us a two bedroom because we had too many people and the waiting list was 2-3 years long, but, they had a 3 bedroom that they could offer us at a discounted rate, due to our income.  Um... ok?!  It all fell into place really quickly, we went and looked at it an hour later and said we wanted it right on the spot.  I couldn't believe how nice it was... real hardwood floors, lots of light, a normal layout, renovated bathrooms {1 1/2 baths!} and kitchen {with the fridge IN the kitchen!!!!}, 2 {2!!!} walk-in closets!  That is pretty hard {impossible} to come by in the city, at least when you're looking in our price range.  There are also closets in the hallway and in all the bedrooms.  We were still a little nervous about taking the apartment, as it is more expensive, and things are going to be tight, but we feel good about the decision and are hoping and praying that things will continue to work out.

Honestly, part of me still can't believe that we are going to have all these things in just a short time.  Living in a tiny, cluttered apartment with a teensy kitchen makes you a different kind of mother.  At least it has made me a different mother than I thought I would be.  I realize that subconsciously, I made a choice to let some of those things go, because it was just easier, but still, the fact remains that the space we live in makes things harder, especially when you have 3 crazy {seriously, they're crazy} boys right under your feet all the time.  I am really looking forward to having the space to be organized and uncluttered, and a kitchen that will help me be inspired to cook, instead of inducing anxiety every time I think about cooking a meal in there.  We will have space to put our nice new table along with chairs and a bench so that our entire family can sit down together for a meal at the same time.  I can count on both my hands the number of times we have had a family meal together, just because we don't have the space for it.  It makes me sad.  I know that things are not going to change over night, but I do know that it is going to help inspire me to be better.  I'm not really going to have any excuses anymore, so now is the time to start making changes and building habits that will hopefully last a long time. 

So yeah.  Just wanted to share that exciting news!!