I've been slacking on the blogging front the past week, but when it comes to setting up shop in California, I feel like a rock star. :)
Jess helped me move most of the boxes out of the storage unit. I quickly remembered how helpful it always was to have a truck around. We fit everything into the car (in multiple trips of course), but some of the things barely fit in the back seat.
Then Thursday rolled around . . . the official end of the Trip and the day Jess had to fly back home. :( We spent the morning and early afternoon in San Diego, enjoying the heat (over 90 degrees!) and exploring the waterfront.
We had our final FRG meeting Thursday night as well, the first one that I was actually in town to attend. The meeting centered around the boys' homecoming and it served to make us a million times more excited!
As of Saturday the house has furniture, thanks to two of Bryce's friends that are back in California. They were lifesavers, considering I certainly couldn't have lifted most of the furniture, let alone drive the moving truck or put the bed or dressers back together again.
So why do I feel like a rock star you ask? Is it because when I sing and dance around I remind my neighbors (and all passersby) of a superstar? Well, as true as that may be, nope. In addition to furniture, in the past week I have unpacked the entire house, rented a washer and dryer, set up wireless internet and hooked up the cable TV. I ordered a dining room table, and have put together the chairs (still waiting on the table and bench to be delivered). Curtains are up on the windows and frames are on the wall. The house is almost completely decorated and the kitchen is pretty well stocked with groceries. The freezer is filled with muffins, rolls and cookies. Oh, and the DVDs are in alphabetical order... :)
Now all that's left to do is wait. Actually, that's a lie, there is lots more to do, but for tonight I'm going to just imagine that I am all done. :)
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
California Baby
Well the trip is technically over, but Jess is still with me in California so the vacation continues on. :)
Bryce called at 5:00 this morning, just in time to wake me up. We were able to talk for a while, which was amazing, if frustrating. I left Kyla’s early to head into Camp Pendleton to get new tabs for the car (hello traffic), which of course I couldn’t get. On the bright side, I did get a temporary pass, which means that getting new base stickers are now Bryce’s responsibility (thanks hun. :) ). Then it was off to two different housing offices to get the place set up. At the first I was helped by a woman who was almost from the same hometown. Upon recognizing the area code of my phone number as Washington, she asked where. My vague answer of Vancouver is usually enough to confuse people not from the area, but she asked again where, and it turns out we were town-neighbors. She was helpful and apologetic when it came to explaining why it was taking so long for me to move in, and soon sent me on my way to the next housing office. There, I spent an hour signing my name (and Bryce’s via POA) on our lease agreement. Then, just like that, she gave me the keys and I headed over to check out our new home.
I LOVE IT! The house was renovated in January, new carpets, cabinets, everything. When you walk in the front door, there is a laundry room immediately to your right, with a door to help silence the (currently non-existent) washer and dryer. Next are stairs, and a bathroom on the other side of the hall. If you continue on, you reach a dining / living room, and a doorway to the (big!) kitchen. From the kitchen you can either exit through the garage (also big!) or go out to the patio.
Taking a left at the top of the stairs puts you in the extra bedroom, which I am thinking about finding a desk for so that we have a place to put the printer and wireless router. Next to that is a door to the full bath, which also leads into a back door of the main bedroom. That door leads to two closets, with the bedroom on the other side. From there you can exit out to the main hallway/stairwell. Oh, there is also this random room upstairs. It looks like it could have been a laundry room, except there aren’t any hookups. Unless anyone has any better ideas, I’m thinking of commandeering it as my closet. Bryce can have the other two for uniforms and civilian clothes. :)
After I made my rounds of the house, I began the lovely process of unloading all of the stuff from the car. It’s weird to finally see the backseat again and have an empty trunk.
Jess and Kyla (and Ben!) finally made it over to the house, and we hung out for a bit before heading out to Vista to pick up some stuff from the storage unit. We unloaded the car back at the house, and Jess watched Ben while Kyla ran a quick errand. Once she came back and picked him up, Jess and I made another trip out to the storage unit. The boxes were heavy and awkward, but we managed to fit a few in the car and bring them home. I hope to have all of the small stuff out of the unit by Friday afternoon (we’re taking tomorrow off to have some fun :) ), and then one of Bryce’s friends is going to help me bring the furniture out.
On our way back from the storage unit, we stopped at the Commissary to pick up some groceries. Kyla met us back at the house and Jess cooked up some Mac & Cheese and grilled some chicken on the barbecue. Jess convinced me that it was okay to set the barbecue on the (plastic) table. I’m sure you can see where this is heading…Fortunately nothing caught on fire, but the table is pretty much done for. We also met the some of the neighbors tonight. The wife, Cathy gave the three of us mini pumpkin pies. :) I have a feeling her and I are going to get along well.
With that, it was time to head to bed. I have been trying to organize things all day (which, I might add, is very difficult to do when you don’t have places to put things, like bookshelves or dressers), so the house doesn’t look too bad. I can’t wait until I can get the furniture in here and have a place to put everything. I think I will spend an entire day just putting pictures on the wall.
Bryce called at 5:00 this morning, just in time to wake me up. We were able to talk for a while, which was amazing, if frustrating. I left Kyla’s early to head into Camp Pendleton to get new tabs for the car (hello traffic), which of course I couldn’t get. On the bright side, I did get a temporary pass, which means that getting new base stickers are now Bryce’s responsibility (thanks hun. :) ). Then it was off to two different housing offices to get the place set up. At the first I was helped by a woman who was almost from the same hometown. Upon recognizing the area code of my phone number as Washington, she asked where. My vague answer of Vancouver is usually enough to confuse people not from the area, but she asked again where, and it turns out we were town-neighbors. She was helpful and apologetic when it came to explaining why it was taking so long for me to move in, and soon sent me on my way to the next housing office. There, I spent an hour signing my name (and Bryce’s via POA) on our lease agreement. Then, just like that, she gave me the keys and I headed over to check out our new home.
I LOVE IT! The house was renovated in January, new carpets, cabinets, everything. When you walk in the front door, there is a laundry room immediately to your right, with a door to help silence the (currently non-existent) washer and dryer. Next are stairs, and a bathroom on the other side of the hall. If you continue on, you reach a dining / living room, and a doorway to the (big!) kitchen. From the kitchen you can either exit through the garage (also big!) or go out to the patio.
Taking a left at the top of the stairs puts you in the extra bedroom, which I am thinking about finding a desk for so that we have a place to put the printer and wireless router. Next to that is a door to the full bath, which also leads into a back door of the main bedroom. That door leads to two closets, with the bedroom on the other side. From there you can exit out to the main hallway/stairwell. Oh, there is also this random room upstairs. It looks like it could have been a laundry room, except there aren’t any hookups. Unless anyone has any better ideas, I’m thinking of commandeering it as my closet. Bryce can have the other two for uniforms and civilian clothes. :)
After I made my rounds of the house, I began the lovely process of unloading all of the stuff from the car. It’s weird to finally see the backseat again and have an empty trunk.
Jess and Kyla (and Ben!) finally made it over to the house, and we hung out for a bit before heading out to Vista to pick up some stuff from the storage unit. We unloaded the car back at the house, and Jess watched Ben while Kyla ran a quick errand. Once she came back and picked him up, Jess and I made another trip out to the storage unit. The boxes were heavy and awkward, but we managed to fit a few in the car and bring them home. I hope to have all of the small stuff out of the unit by Friday afternoon (we’re taking tomorrow off to have some fun :) ), and then one of Bryce’s friends is going to help me bring the furniture out.
On our way back from the storage unit, we stopped at the Commissary to pick up some groceries. Kyla met us back at the house and Jess cooked up some Mac & Cheese and grilled some chicken on the barbecue. Jess convinced me that it was okay to set the barbecue on the (plastic) table. I’m sure you can see where this is heading…Fortunately nothing caught on fire, but the table is pretty much done for. We also met the some of the neighbors tonight. The wife, Cathy gave the three of us mini pumpkin pies. :) I have a feeling her and I are going to get along well.
With that, it was time to head to bed. I have been trying to organize things all day (which, I might add, is very difficult to do when you don’t have places to put things, like bookshelves or dressers), so the house doesn’t look too bad. I can’t wait until I can get the furniture in here and have a place to put everything. I think I will spend an entire day just putting pictures on the wall.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Day Twenty-Eight - Camp Pendleton, California
We made it!
Alright, we packed up and made it out of the house right on time this morning (7:45). Our first stop (after filling up the gas tank), was Cracker Barrel. Yes, again, but for the last time unfortunately. :( We were meeting Stephanie, a friend of Jessica's for breakfast before we left Phoenix. Breakfast was delicious, as always and we were all stuffed afterwards.
We got on the road by 9:30, and started the trek towards Camp Pendleton. Jess and I took turns driving, and made it "home" by 4:00. Our first stop was Kyla's, since it was on the way and I haven't seen her since I visited a few months back. It was fantastic to see her and baby Ben again. The housing office closed at 5:30, so we left shortly after 4:00 to drive through base. Which I clearly didn't think through, since there was traffic everywhere. Thirty minutes later we made it to housing, where I was told that I didn't have the right paperwork, and needed to go to a different office in a different area of base first. That office was five minutes away from closing, so they pretty much told me I was SOL for the evening (in nicer words, of course). I was royally pissed. I had originally been told that all I needed to do was call the day before I was set to move in (which was today), to schedule an appointment to sign the lease. That was it. I called, left three voicemails before finally getting ahold of someone, who told me that I didn't even need an appointment, I could just show up. I show up...nothing. I was (am) pissed. Plus I cut my finger and the woman looked at me like I was insane when I asked her for a band aid. I had blood running down my finger (TMI, but true), and she acted like she had never heard of a band aid before. Grrr. Oh, and I was reminded that the base stickers on the car are expired, so there's another thing to add to the list.
Fortunately, Kyla is amazing and has a super comfortable couch. I'll be waking up early tomorrow to head down to base to figure everything out.
Well after I became super frustrated, we called Kyla and had her and Ben meet us for dinner at Islands. We were a little mixed up on the location (ie, we ended up at two different restaurants), but we figured it out and enjoyed some delicious hamburgers. Then it was back to bunk down at Kyla's for the night. I can't wait to see the house tomorrow and get everything unpacked and set up! Yay!
Alright, we packed up and made it out of the house right on time this morning (7:45). Our first stop (after filling up the gas tank), was Cracker Barrel. Yes, again, but for the last time unfortunately. :( We were meeting Stephanie, a friend of Jessica's for breakfast before we left Phoenix. Breakfast was delicious, as always and we were all stuffed afterwards.
We got on the road by 9:30, and started the trek towards Camp Pendleton. Jess and I took turns driving, and made it "home" by 4:00. Our first stop was Kyla's, since it was on the way and I haven't seen her since I visited a few months back. It was fantastic to see her and baby Ben again. The housing office closed at 5:30, so we left shortly after 4:00 to drive through base. Which I clearly didn't think through, since there was traffic everywhere. Thirty minutes later we made it to housing, where I was told that I didn't have the right paperwork, and needed to go to a different office in a different area of base first. That office was five minutes away from closing, so they pretty much told me I was SOL for the evening (in nicer words, of course). I was royally pissed. I had originally been told that all I needed to do was call the day before I was set to move in (which was today), to schedule an appointment to sign the lease. That was it. I called, left three voicemails before finally getting ahold of someone, who told me that I didn't even need an appointment, I could just show up. I show up...nothing. I was (am) pissed. Plus I cut my finger and the woman looked at me like I was insane when I asked her for a band aid. I had blood running down my finger (TMI, but true), and she acted like she had never heard of a band aid before. Grrr. Oh, and I was reminded that the base stickers on the car are expired, so there's another thing to add to the list.
Fortunately, Kyla is amazing and has a super comfortable couch. I'll be waking up early tomorrow to head down to base to figure everything out.
Well after I became super frustrated, we called Kyla and had her and Ben meet us for dinner at Islands. We were a little mixed up on the location (ie, we ended up at two different restaurants), but we figured it out and enjoyed some delicious hamburgers. Then it was back to bunk down at Kyla's for the night. I can't wait to see the house tomorrow and get everything unpacked and set up! Yay!
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