The Cleveland Chapter

Dear Cleveland,

Can you believe it? We have lived in you for a year now.

One year ago, shortly after midnight, we were pulling into a city near you, getting some shut-eye after the longest road trip of our lives. After a too-short sleep, we'd pull ourselves out of bed and see you, the real you, for the first time. We'd drive down the street where we now live, past our house, because we didn't recognize it (oops), and unlock the door to our new home and new life. 

At first, we weren't sure what we thought of you. Our first impression was admittedly rather bad. We chose the wrong street to go down as we progressed toward that first view of our new home... a road that was more pot-holey than the rest, and that's saying a lot. We endured a short bout of warm weather, the tail-end of summertime, without any friends and without a real sense of what the city had to offer. You seemed interesting, but we weren't sure how to enjoy you. 

And then winter began and... well, I hated you. Carson loves cold weather, so he was fine, but I detested the chill brought on by the humidity from your stupid lake, the unplowed streets, the dark early mornings and dark early evenings. Every mean thing I've heard about Cleveland (and there are a lot) rang true in my heart, just because it was cold and gray and ugly outside. I hated the promise of warmth in March and the dashing of my dreams over and over again as snow continued to fall well into April. I started to like you... and then it hovered around 40 degrees and 40 degrees might as well be -40, because it's still too cold to do anything. 

But then... May. May had a few days of chill, but many more of sunshine and warmth. The coldness of my heart toward you, Cleveland, thawed out, bit by bit. I began to think that maybe there was a little charm in your pothole-studded streets. Trees began to bloom, flowers finally appeared and I saw what other people saw. I heard about concerts and days with food trucks and arts festivals. I visited the Metroparks, the zoo, a Tribe game and heard about all sorts of wonderful things that happen in you when it's warm. I explored a little more. 

And then, Cleveland, then what did I say? 

I said that I liked living here. That's right, you won me over. Oh, it's no Spokane (sorry!) and it's not the South (sorry again), but something about this place is certainly rather captivating. The lake, while not my saltwater ocean, certainly looks rather like one, since you can't see to the other side. And the zoo, well, we didn't have one in Spokane and that's kind of neat. And you're a city with a lot of parks, which Spokane has too, and I love that. There are thunderstorms, which Carson can't get enough of, warm summer nights, which I like, community events, which feel sort of homey and now we know people. And Cleveland, that's really what makes you so special. Because we moved here a year ago, we met so many people that we love. We've made good friends, gone on fun outings, hosted community group, and planned trips with people we didn't know a year ago. 

There are parts of you that I will not miss, when the time comes: mostly winter, but that's the way it's going to be. But there are parts about you, people who live here, things to see and do, that I will most certainly look back on, fondly, at whatever time the Cleveland Chapter closes. 

Looking forward to at least another, but please be easy on me with the soon-impending winter! 

Our street, day one.

Home Is Wherever I'm With You

I was going through pictures of the days surrounding our move and made this video. 

Carson thought it would be fun to share it, so here you go!

Included:
the few weeks before we moved, the endless packing, the goodbyes, the final adventures and sights in Spokane, the road trip, some commentary on the drive, and pictures of when we first moved in!
Enjoy.

Progress

In a flurry of emotion, the fact that we just moved 2,000 miles hit me last night. Before that, I knew, of course, that we'd traveled across all of those states. But last night, for whatever reason, I started crying, thinking of the people we've left behind and may or may not see in the future.

When I left Beaufort, I was sad, but I knew that most of my friends there were people I'd reconnect with because they were from there as well. Our paths would likely cross again. Spokane is a little different. There are friends with whom I'm sure I'll connect again. Two of my very good friends have parents that live less than an hour away in both directions and I'm excited to see them around Christmastime or whenever they can make it. There are others, though, who will stay in Spokane for a short time before going on to the mission field, or "back home", which isn't in the mid west. These are people whom I love, but may not ever see again. I guess that reality just struck me for some reason. It wasn't a pleasant realization. 

That said, today I've made it my goal to put things on the walls and to make this place seem a little more like a home. It's been two weeks since we walked in the front door, which makes me think that it's about time that it should look like it's ours. We've put up bookshelves in the upstairs hallway, bought a dresser, a bed, a table for the breakfast nook (it's really quite small, but so cute), were given some coffee tables and chairs for the table. I don't have those things on the walls just yet, but I'm planning to do so and I'll take pictures then! 

In the meantime, here's some progress from the beginning of the week: 

The breakfast nook is the room that's the most "done", simply because it's the smallest, and because of the built-in shelves, it was the easiest to decorate and finish. The flowers on the table have gone now, but they were my bridesmaid's bouquet from Erica's wedding, which I need to get on the blog. 

The living room looks mostly like this. I really like the room and can't wait until it's a comfortable, cozy place! We thought we had a couch coming yesterday or today (via Craigslist), but the seller and his wife didn't communicate well, and she gave it to a co-worker. I'd like something neutral in here, though we did find a really pretty red fabric sectional on Craigslist that we'd like. We'd most like a sectional. If you're wondering, those windows face the fireplace (which does work, for those of you who asked! It's a gas fireplace.)

We lucked out at Target. They had all kinds of things we needed that were on sale because of back-to-dorm sales. Our most notable purchases were these two bookshelves which we put upstairs in the little nook right before our room. In the future, Carson would like to put a chair up here for reading.

Carson found a ton of furniture at a 50% of sale at a local thrift store, which is where this dresser was purchased. It has some "heat stains" (he says), which are gummy marks on the top. Any ideas on how to remove them?

The view from the door isn't spectacular. I'd like drapes on that window and something to go on either side.

Most of all, I'd love to figure out what to put over the bed. We had a window behind our bed at the apartment, but it looks so lonely with nothing there right now. I've been brainstorming and welcome all suggestions.

And I'd considered something like this... put three hooks in and get some fabric that matches the room (I'm holding up a scarf). I can't tell from my picture if it's a good idea or a little bit tacky. Help?!

Boxes

No words are really needed besides yeah, it really was that bad. 

Here's what the packing, cleaning and moving process looked like in Spokane.

The Day We Moved In

On Thursday morning, we woke up earlier than we wanted to in order to pick up the keys at a certain time. Once they were secured, we set out for our new home. We like the area that we live in. We have a really pretty street!

We’d seen our house on Google Maps and in a few phone shots our landlord was kind enough to take for us, but even so, we were excited to see it from the car, in person. 

We drove up to the back of the house, came up to the side door, and entered through the kitchen. These are the nice pictures I got before we ruined the house with boxes and bags.

The first few nights, we’ve been sleeping on this borrowed air mattress in the guest bedroom. We purchased a mattress, but it won’t be delivered until the weekend. In the time since we moved in, we’ve picked up our boxes from the train, all of which arrived on this end, although we did have a few broken things.

Furniture is being picked up here and there but we’re hoping to have certain things soon, so it feels like a home and so that we can put things where they belong. Carson located a great thrift store with lots of 50% off furniture, so that was exciting.

In the meantime, this is what our house is looking like right now – definitely starting to feel more like a home, which is great, since we’ve only been here a few days. 

Look closely at this one

guest bedroom

kitchen

 dining room shelves

living room

back entry/hallway

messy linen closet

bathroom

guest bedroom

 our closets

kitchen

Our Move, Day Three

Iowa was our destination for day two because of two reasons: Kristine and Ryan. While planning our drive, I decided to see how out of the way it would be to make a stop in the famed town of Storm Lake and to my great joy, it didn’t take out any time at all and would provide the perfect spot for a short visit with the Brandenbergers. 

Because of our stops in South Dakota, we made it to Iowa later than planned, but still with enough time for a walk around Storm Lake with Alexio, their puppy. We got to see where Kristine works, where they live, and share a small taste of life in Storm Lake.

One regret of our time there is that we didn’t take pictures the first day. For whatever reason, we left the cameras behind and didn’t pull them out once. Kristine taught me a thing or two about the manual setting on my camera, so I did get this great shot ;)

The next morning, after staying up way too late catching up, we enjoyed an amazing breakfast, which Kristine had ready by 5:30. We grabbed a few shots then, as Carson was loading the car and as we said our goodbyes. 

I did take a few pictures of the famed lake on the drive out. 

During our time there, we were offered Diet Mountain Dew numerous times, which for some reason, we kept refusing. So Kristine packed these things for our drive. Kristine, thank you! The Mountain Dew kept Carson awake!

Iowa as a whole was exactly what we expected in a state. There were fields upon fields, pastures full of smelly livestock, trucks full of stinky pigs. We enjoyed Storm Lake, because it held special people, but as a whole, we weren’t that impressed.

We crossed the Mississippi River in a somewhat less dramatic way than I recall the Wilder family making that same cross in Little House on the Prairie. 

Then we crossed another state line. Illinois brought us one state closer to our goal. It was there that we discovered the “joy” of toll roads for the first time. Suddenly, we were being corralled into lines with other cars of various shapes and sizes, with no warning other than “$1.10, have cash ready”. We didn’t have cash on hand, because it would have gotten lost in the already stuffed car. Somehow, thankfully, I turned my head and noticed the “Rainy Day fund” jar behind me. There were a few dollar bills in the neck that I was able to pull out with a straw. That jar saved us big time (at least we think so – we’ve heard that the fines can be rather hefty).

You might remember that earlier this year, we were really hoping that Carson would attend Notre Dame. So once we crossed the Indiana line, we headed for South Bend. The school was impressive, and Carson still wants to be there one day. Finding a gas station took quite some time, and we were in the city for longer than planned.

Ohio brought even more toll roads, which didn’t give us the best first impression. We watched another sunset in Ohio and saw the state from the freeway, providing us with an inaccurate view. We don’t have a picture of the moment that we arrived to our destination, because it wasn’t our house. It was too late to pick up the keys that night, so we stayed with my friend Rachel’s parents. We arrived a little after midnight (since we’d accidentally stayed almost 2 hours in South Bend), exhausted but finally in Ohio.