Almost home

We flew down to Dallas and moved into our temporary furnished apartment on July 22nd. Three days later, we woke up with no A/C and a disgusting ant infestation. Disgusting. As most of you already know, Jeff quickly loaded our car in 105 degree heat, got on the phone with our relocation people, and had us moved into a new apartment building that afternoon. He's figured me out in less than 2 years of marriage! We lived in the beautiful Uptown neighborhood of Dallas for just over 3 weeks before we had to move into our "permanent" apartment. We're now in north Dallas, just a tad south of Addison. We plan to stay here for anywhere from 6 to 12 months (probably closer to 12) as we look for a house/neighborhood/town where we want to settle down. It's been quite the journey, but we both finally feel like we're (so super close to almost) home.

Our current (and third) apartment is amazing! It's built very resort-style, with a giant balcony overlooking the pool and palm trees. I love it. We don't have a ton of living space, even though it's an upgrade to a 2-bedroom from our 1-bedroom in Chicago, so we put our kitchen table and chairs on our balcony. Why the hell not? The balcony is over 100 square feet itself, and comes equipped with lights and a ceiling fan. We're taking advantage of every single inch of space here. We've already dined outside many times, listening to the fountains below, and find it quite enjoyable. So here are a few pics:

View from the front door

Second bath

Best view ever!

Dining area on the balcony

Master bedroom, with access to balcony

We've moved a lot in the past few weeks. The two items Jeff and I have been the most worried about were our money trees - law school graduation gifts from the Schuberts. Jeff hand-packed them himself in Chicago and shipped them to meet us at our apartment in Dallas. We then had to scope out a gardening store on our gps the next day to buy new potting soil and pots, since the original pots were in storage for 30 days. On the day we moved into our second apartment in sweltering heat, he lovingly packed them into our rental SUV and tried to make sure they didn't get too hot while we were homeless for about 6 hours. He's since taken to watering and caring for these little guys in our new place. They look pretty bad, but just tonight Jeff brought them over to me one by one as I sat on the couch to show me how they each have new sprouts. He's so proud. He needs a real lawn with real trees so badly. 

What's even funnier is that Jeff has always noticed that the health of our money trees is a pretty direct correlation to our financial status. Mine was d-e-a-d when we got married and I moved to Chicago with no job. He nursed it back and it's been pretty healthy since I got the position with my law firm. Jeff's was always thriving in Chicago. Then we decided to move to Dallas for Jeff's new job, and we were both out of work for a few weeks. When they arrived in Dallas, they were pathetic. Jeff cut the branches down and hoped that they would bounce back. Here's what they looked like about a week after our move:

Mine's on the right, obviously

We've both been working, and they seem to be getting adequate sunlight and water in our new place, so hopefully they make it. This isn't the last you'll see of the money trees - I'll provide routine updates as soon as the newest sprouts are visible without the zoom function on my camera. 

What's even more exciting than a long rant about money trees is that our bed for the second bedroom will be delivered this weekend - that means you can come visit us! I'll make the drinks and provide the beach towels. Jeff will grill. See you soon!