Before & After

It is now November and Trin and I have been here almost two months. Crazy! It's certainly been an adventure, one that we won't forget. But more than that, there is a dreamlike quality to it, as if I am going to wake up back in Baker City. But no such thing will happen.

The first couple of weeks were spent living in our travel trailer and it became clear that winter would be a miserable experience with two young children. One thing led to another and we had decided on an apartment to rent. We'd been on and off Craiglist and the local classifieds for weeks but hadn't really committed to a budget or location. I had checked out elementary schools in hopes that would help me decide location (Teagan will be attending public school here, where enrollment is shaped by geography).  With Autumn's help I contacted several people about places to stay and eventually set up times to see two different apartments.

The first was a basement apartment in a downtown neighborhood, the second was a condo on the western edge of town, both south of main street. I'd been using the library to work, so I had become partial to downtown and all the close amenities. It also feels a bit like downtown Baker City, which was also appealing. I visited the basement apartment first.

Note: I was going to go into a detailed description of the apartments. That was a week ago when I started this post. Surprise! I changed my mind! Haha! However, I will summarize!

It came down to this: one was a small, cramped apartment in a great neighborhood. The other was an open, light and airy condo with a garage and new hickory floors. One was twice the cost of the other. One was twice the adventure. Hmm...

I know you're holding your breath, just wondering which I chose. Actually I think you already know. If was to choose the comfy condo with lots of space, it really wouldn't make that great of a story, would it? So yeah, I chose the basement apartment, which has a ceiling height of 82" at it's highest. The floor isn't even flat, it has waves. But that's the one we now call home. Trin and I moved in on the first of October. We really didn't bring much with us initially since we were living in the travel trailer, so when we moved in, it was pretty sparse! Here is our living room, day 1:

A couple of weeks into the our first month in the apartment, we packed up and went back to Baker to get our household moved into storage. After we accomplished that (and what a week it was!) Trin and I returned to Bozeman with a U-haul trailer full of furniture. Good thing it was only a trailer, we just don't have that much room! Here's part of one room:

Then I spend a week spinning in circles, trying to get things organized. Then my wife visits and in one day makes it all better:

I'd like to say I had a point to all of this. Wait, I think I remember. Maybe it was this: things don't happen overnight (except when they do). Or maybe it's this: my wife is way better at organizing than me! Or maybe it's this: everything is in a state of transition, so don't get to worried if everything isn't perfect today. There's always tomorrow. Or maybe it's this: small apartments make for WAY better stories. Except for this one, this one wasn't better than anything.

To make up for the lame post. I have thrown in a few cute picture of my kids (you're welcome!)