Home Sweet Home.

We’re in!

I know I haven’t updated in forever and I apologize. Our internet isn’t working at the house right now, so I’m updating over my lunch break.

However, that’s not to say the past 2 weeks have been uneventful. They have been very eventful. So full of events, in fact, that I am just now updating my blog.

Newsworthy item #1 – WE’RE LIVING IN OUR HOUSE!!!!! In the end the inspector decided not to come back when I called to tell him we had completed everything he asked us to do. He said he would mail out the occupancy certificate and we were “good to go.” My heart stopped for half a beat and I had to ask him again. He said yup, we were finally allowed to move into our house. So I called Nick (in Chicago) and told him these crazy months were over and it was actually ours.

And then I started packing.

For several weeks leading up to this point I had been torn between needing to pack and needing to finish the house so we had a reason to pack. I ended up doing the majority of the “packing” in about 24 hours, which was not fun. At all. Did I mention Nick was in Chicago? My sister was amazing and spent all day Thursday helping stressed-out me pack. It was a mess, but we made it. I had wonderful volunteers of the male species with significantly more muscles than I have who helped transport everything to the house. Thursday night my in-laws offered Julia’s room so I wouldn’t have to spend “our” first night in the new house alone, but it took me so long to find my toothbrush and an outfit for work the next morning that I just crashed on our bare mattress with a blanket and pillow off the couch.

And then I got sick. Really really sick.

My entire body just shut down. Just like college, when I got sick over every break! I really thought it was just allergies, but by the time I left the office on Friday I was absolutely miserable and worn out. I called my mom to work out some details for Saturday and ended up bawling. My mom felt awful and called both of my sisters to see if one of them could come up to the house to make sure I was ok. They were both off in the far corners of the cities as well, but both called “just to say hi.” Uh-huh. I was really fine, just needed to sleep. So I conked out on said bare mattress until Nick showed up around 9 that night.

Saturday we needed to get down to Cannon Falls for Sam & Marlea’s long-awaited wedding, so my parents offered to clean the duplex so we could meet our Sunday move-out deadline. How incredible is that? My mom scoured every centimeter of the house while my dad took apart Nick’s 8 foot work bench in the basement. They also removed all the remaining random stuff from the duplex. And then, Nick’s parents showed up and cleaned the carpets (necessary after potty-training a bunny in that house!). We felt so amazingly blessed by our wonderful and giving parents.

Sunday we spent the entire day with our families and relaxed. Actually, truly, relaxed. For the first time in months I didn’t have to-do lists running through my head, we didn’t have to leave early to hit up Home Depot before they closed, and best of all – we didn’t have a 45 minute drive back to Minneapolis that night!

We deliberately and decidedly took time off from the never-ending project list over the past week to reconnect with each other and enjoy a social life again. We spontaneously walked the 4 miles around Lake Phalen, had a couple dinner dates, toured our soon-to-be-neighbors (beautiful!) new home, and went grocery shopping. Yes, actually going for a complete grocery shopping trip is newsworthy in our lives right now.

We’re slowly starting to get unpacked. Slowly. Small projects are getting finished up. For example, I have a bathroom door, shower curtain (went 5 days without a real shower. Sorry if that’s TMI), fully functional dishwasher, several sinks, toilet, and, as of last night, garbage disposal. The construction clutter is cleared out of the kitchen, and the living room (half) looks like a living room instead of a storage facility.

We’re home. Finally home.