Tuesday, May 11, 2010

moving in

in case you're just joining the saga now, here's a little recap. we're in denver for only three and a half months so b can do his summer internship. said company so far is fantastic and gives us all the processed food we can handle. they also put us up in lovely furnished housing for our stay, so all we had to bring with us basically were our clothes and all the baby crap. that makes moving in a lot easier, in case you were wondering.

b didn't start work until yesterday, so we spent last week enjoying a little vacation. we're not taking a "babymoon," per se, as anticipated...the whole new car / move / expensive baby thing screwed that up. for now, anyway. but we're still living it up these last few months of non-baby so i'm not feeling too sad about it. and our first week in denver is just part of that. we slept in, went shopping, saw iron man 2, ate out, read books, etc.

last friday we went to the denver temple, which is just a few miles from our apartment. the temple is also just another few miles from columbine high school, so we went there too. is that morbid of me that i wanted to see it? i remember being really riveted to all the tv coverage of that whole thing. it's still a functioning high school but it has a rebuilt library. school was getting out as we drove by, which made it a little more surreal.





rebuilt library below...other than that, i recognized the rest of the school from news coverage:



oh, and i also got my TOMS last week. they are comfy and i love them. even though i can barely see my feet these days.



so anyway. this is where we live:





there's a clubhouse here that gives FREE cookies. i love it. they also have a nice pool, workout room, free tanning beds [which i refuse to use, but i guess they're nice to have], sand volleyball court, and massage chairs. that's b's favorite part.







my favorite part is the free gym, because i froze my 24 hour membership a while back. nice to work out without feeling like a fugitive :)

and now onto the apartment. feel free to scroll through...these are mostly for my fam, who have been demanding photos.

so, this place is by far the nicest apartment we've lived in -- it has a fireplace! -- which isn't saying much, i guess. after living either in LA or on a student budget for the past four years, we have always tried to be a little frugal in our choice of housing. that is, unless someone else is paying for it :)

here's a little tour. as mentioned, all the furniture, decorations, etc. have been provided for us. that includes everything in the kitchen [we have exactly four of everything...four place settings, four glasses, four spoons, etc.] and all of our linens, which are sterile white. most of the time i feel like we are on vacation in a timeshare.

front room:



dining room, again with room for only four. this is where i spend most of my days as a newly self-employed woman:



kitchen:



oh, hello. i am super pregnant:



bathroom -- note the all-white towels, shower curtain, etc. and welcome to my hotel-style life:



bedroom, which also features a giant walk-in closet [i think that space will become baby wells' bedroom] and a tv. i've never had a tv in my room before. we've only used it twice.



maybe this is the longest post ever. oh well. hope you enjoyed the little tour.

and in case you need more incentive to come visit us than the free tanning beds, keep in mind that we literally live down the street from that fantastic super target and all the shopping / restaurants you could ever imagine [except trader joe's or h&m, sadly]. there is also this fantastic mall that i think might overtake south coast plaza as my new favorite mall on the planet. i guess i have plenty to keep me busy because for now work certainly isn't doing it.

15 comments:

becca said...

i went to denver in may 2007, and was in littleton, so i really wanted to go to columbine. everyone thought i was weird. i didn't only take a look from the outside though, i walked around the halls. so if you're morbid i'm even more so.

Brandon and Erica said...

Wow! You guys have only been there for one week and I think you've already done everything I tried to cross off of my bucket list for the whole 18 years I was there :)

Glad you have gotten around so far....I would be lying if I didn't say I am a little jealous of your SWEET digs. Seriously, even your bedding is fabulous.

Things are just working out for you, and you are more than deserving.

xoxo

Jennifer Simmons said...

Columbine was a crazy time to live in Colorado, especially as a high schooler. I'm glad to hear you're getting out and enjoying the surroundings. I didn't mention this in my email, but you're also close to the outlet malls in Castle Rock. (Hop on 1-25 south for about 10 minutes) It is similar to the Park City Outlets and they have some baby stores.

Angela and Mike said...

Wow, your place and the complex looks amazing. What a nice place for baby dub to live in! Do they come and clean it too? Very nice. I love the 3 long windows, cool design. I'm glad you have so many great things nearby too.

Creepy about Columbine! I totally wouldn't want my kids to go to that high school haha.

Danielle said...

I love the house....and the preg pic. I am glad things are going well out there. I totally miss seeing ya though...best of luck with the work from home venture.

La La Land said...

Nice update! Love the pad, and the prego pic. You need to check out the Castle Rock outlets and the Cherry Creek mall. My uncle lives right by Columbine, so I went there about a month after the tragedy. Creepy!

Rebecs said...

I want the record to show I am so jealous! I would love to move to Denver! We have spent many a nights there. My dad's family is all in Kansas so we've passed through Denver quite a bit. Park Meadows is truly my favorite mall on the planet too. And your apartment complex looks really nice. Enjoy!

Mary Martha said...

so nice!! don't worry. I went there for a work trip before and stoped by the memorial. did you walk up the hill to the memorial with the explanation of each victim's life? so sad!

dietcokegrrl said...

LOVE the preggo pic!! So sorry I won't be seeing you on Saturday. Looks like a great summer adventure for you guys...and nice all the amenities at the new digs!

Ashley said...

Are you still coming to CA? If so, when?

dana said...

oh you are so cute!
Love the turquoise striped shirt. I want one!
Great little apartamento for the summer!

Amy said...

I am so glad that you are getting settled in! It looks like you guys have a pretty sweet set up! It is such a great city! Be sure to check out Boulder! I have a cousin that went to Columbine during the shootings. She has a really interesting/terrifying/spiritual story about it. I'll share it with you sometime to make it all even more morbid!

2x2momma said...

I want tomove to Denver!!

Danny and Kristen Woodbury said...

I love your apartment! I think it's beautiful and all of your furniture and decorations look very nice! Your apartment looks like the Ritz compared to ours! By the way, third trimester is FULL of anxiety for everyone... plus the friendly reminder dreams that "if you don't take care of this child IT WILL DIE!!" It doesn't stop with the second one either... I've already had a dream where Jackson dies and one where I die and Jackson might have, but I woke up before it could happen! Yeah, not fun. Good luck with the last few months! At least you're not sweating it out in the desert of St. George! Enjoy the cookies!

Sarah Turpin said...

sounds like you guys are loving Denver. It's always hard when your living in a place for a short time. You really start to miss all your stuff. That was crazy about your visitors who crashed your baby shower. :) So strange I haven't seen them in years. It seems like a different life time. About traveling with babies. It should be good because he'll only be 6 weeks so she'll probably sleep most of the way. I just brought a pump and would pump BEFORE she got hungry. That way we didn't have to make any stops and I was ready when she did wake up and get hungry. and when you stop to feed yourselves you can get him out to stretch and change her diaper. It worked for us. I hope everything so great for you! Life still goes on with a baby it just more fun and little more challenging.