Apartment Hunting

We arrived in Kansas around 4pm on Thursday, August 26th, 2010. We checked into our hotel and then went to look at a few apartments.

The couple weeks we had prior to our move we did research online and came up with a list of places that we wanted to look at in person. We had about 10 apartments on our list and hoped we would be able to find something that we could move into within a week. In calling around a few days before we arrived, it didn't look promising. Most places didn't have availability until October.

We were able to look at two different complexes the first night we were in town. Both were on our list and both were fairly disappointing; we were NOT impressed. The appliances seemed like they were from the 70's and the interior cabinets were also older. We knew we had been spoiled in Utah with the beautiful condo that we were living in, but we wanted something that seemed a little newer.

We went to dinner that night and I was feeling discouraged. I was exhausted from the 2-day road trip and feeling overwhelmed at trying to find something we would love. The next morning we went to the Post Office in downtown Olathe. I will have to share with you this story some other time,  but this was a bad start to what we thought would be a long day. We had about an hour or so before our first appointment of the day. 


We ended up stopping by a complex that was NOT on our list. In fact, it was the first apartment complex we had seen online that we loved. When Matthew was out in Kansas for his onsite interview he came to the complex and drove around it, but somehow it never got on our list. We walked in the office and they we soooo nice. They asked us what we were looking for- I personally wanted a 2-bedroom, but Matthew wanted to try to save more money and go with a 1-bedroom. We had been debating about this for a few days. We also needed an apartment with washer/dryer hook-ups.

They took us to an apartment that was currently available. We walked in and were very impressed with the layout, although it was very small. Our condo in Utah was a 3-bedroom, 2-bath and it was about 1200 sq. feet. The apartment we looked at was 1-bedroom, 1-bath and about 633 sq. feet. They were willing to show us their other model apartments, but this 1-bedroom was the only one they had available.

We thought about leaving, going to check out our other apartments and then coming back in the afternoon to make a decision. Matthew asked how quickly they go and the lady told us that they had signed 3 leases the day before. Matthew looked at me and said, "I feel good about this. I think we should take it."


I felt uneasy to say the least. We still had a whole list of apartments we were going to look at and I didn't want to rush into this decision. What was really appealing is that we could move in that day and be done with hotels. We finally decided to pay the deposit and see if we could get approved. We headed off to Einstein Bagel down the street for some lunch.


They called about 20 minutes later to say that we had been approved and we could come sign our lease. We got the 1-bedroom/1-bath and a detached garage which has been so great! We moved in our boxes that day and stayed in the hotel one more night. We were able to unpack everything and get all organized before Matthew started his job on Monday, August 30th. 


It took about a month to get all of our furniture and everything purchased and set up. I took a video of our place and have lots of photos to show you! :D We love our place!!!! I wasn't sure at first, but its grown on me so much. I love the area that we live in and our ward is incredible!!!


Enjoy the video and please don't take too much notice of my crazy hair!! Also, sorry I turned the camera a few times, I'm not sure what I was thinking.

The Kitchen

 Other side of Kitchen

 Kitchen Decor

 Wall Art above Kitchen Sink

Wall Art on Wall next to Washer and Dryer

Living Room

Wall Art in Living Room

Bathroom

Walk-in Closet inside the Bathroom

 Another Bathroom View

 Better view of the chair in our Living Room that I love!! My nephew Austin loves it too! :)

The Adventure Begins...

WARNING: LONG DETAILED POST AHEAD!!! Read at your own risk! :)

It's been nearly a month since we left our home in Orem, UT. I can't believe we've already been here that long!!! I feel like I'm just getting settled and feeling comfortable in our surroundings and realizing I don't have to get up and go to work in the morning (the best part by far)!!! As most of you know, I'd been counting down the months/weeks/days to when we would finally get our new start/adventure. Now that it's happened I'm wishing I'd enjoyed my time a little more. I miss our home; our friends; and what's comfortable to us, but I am so very grateful for the opportunities we have been given.


Tuesday, August 24th, 2010: My last day of work at Novell. I remember feeling weird as I placed my computer and badge on my boss' desk. I walked out of those doors and left my security badge behind and I felt naked! It was something I had taken to work with me every day for the last 4 years. I headed home and we started cleaning and packing the truck. I was in a daze and still clueless as to what we were doing.

I consider myself a very organized person. We had everything all boxed and ready to go and it took less than an hour to pack our truck- I was SHOCKED!! We had a ton of guys helping us and before I knew it we were standing in a mostly empty condo. The ladies helped clean and we seriously couldn't have done it without everyone's help.

photo op after packing and cleaning-my besties!

Us with our hubbies!

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010: We slept on the living room floor that night and woke up early to start our long day. We had a lot more stuff still in the condo than we hoped, so it took about two hours to finish packing and get on the road. Matthew drove the rental truck with our Passat in tow and I drove our 1998, 180,000 mile, Honda Accord and followed him most of the way.

We drove up through Heber and hopped on I-80 and by 10:30am we made our first stop at Little America in Wyoming. Allphin family tradition is to get a 50 cent ice cream cone at the restaurant when you're passing through. We of course had to document the occasion as it was my first experience at Little America.

 At the boutique- we've only gone a couple hours and I'm already done...

Aside from Matthew running over some wood on the road and nearly hitting my windshield and his contact popping out of his eye on the middle of the freeway it was an uneventful drive. There were spots of construction it seemed every 50 miles or so all along I-80, that became more of an annoyance than anything else.

Day 1 was the longest day! We spent about 11 and 1/2 hours on the road and we stopped in North Platte, NE for the night. We ate Taco Bell for dinner and went to bed early. 


Thursday, August 26th, 2010: We slept in and got on the road around 9:30 am. We had a short 6 and 1/2 hour drive to Kansas, but it was still a LONG day. The drive wasn't as boring as most people told me it would be and I rather enjoyed cranking up my music and singing at the top of my lungs. (Thanks Jennerbirdie for the sweet mixed CDs- You saved my LIFE).

We made it to Olathe, KS just after 4pm and were able to check-in to our hotel and go and look at a couple of apartments before they closed for the day.

This was my view most of the trip:

And this is us on day 1 as we stopped for gas:

We had our walkie talkies with us the whole way to communicate and make sure we weren't falling asleep. Each one came with an ear piece which was handy and helped especially when my music was blasting!


We were happy to be done driving and looking forward to finding a place to live. 

**Coming Up: The apartment hunt begins!

Circle of Life

I woke up the morning of August 20th with my sweet husband by my side. We had been neck deep in packing and moving details for a few days when he turned to me lovingly said, "I need you to be ready tonight at 5pm. We're going out for out last date night in Utah". 

I was rather perplexed and a little annoyed that he would ask me to drop everything and go on a date with him. I had my sister-in-law coming over that evening to help me pack the kitchen and my mother-in-law coming over Saturday morning to help with the rest of the packing, how do we possibly have time for a date night?? Before I could argue he said, "I've already made plans and reservations, so you need to be ready and not ask questions, okay?" 

I agreed and told him it was his responsibility to call my sister-in-law and explain why we would have to cut our packing date short.

I went about the day with little thought of where I was going that night. I had a lot on my mind as it was, so it was easy to think about other things. I came home from work around 3pm and my sister-in-law was already at our condo packing up the kitchen. 

We worked until 4:30 and then she left...I felt like we had just gotten going and so I was annoyed again that I had to stop the momentum and get ready for our date.

I got ready and we left the house later than Matthew had anticipated. We got in the car and had an empty tank, so we had to stop off at the gas station. By this point I felt really bad since it was a quarter to 6 and we had a reservation somewhere at 6pm in Salt Lake City.

We had dinner on the patio at PF Chang's. It was a beautiful evening and by this point I was happy to get away from the moving chaos. 

After dinner, we went for a walk and to my surprise we ended up at:

And we walked in the theater and up to Will Call where we were given our two tickets for The Lion King!!!

I couldn't believe it!!! I had mentioned to Matthew back in February that this was a show I would love to go see. At the time we didn't know where we would be in August.

This movie has always had a special place in my heart. It was one of my dad's favorite Disney movies; he would watch it with us often when we were kids. It was actually one of the last movies I ever saw with my dad. And the story hits close to home for me and my family. 

As we were sitting in the theater waiting for the show to start Matthew made me promise that I would only cry at the sad parts. I agreed, but I didn't know how difficult that would be.

They opened the show with "The Circle of Life" and I got all misty-eyed. The entire show was beautiful and has such amazing symbolism. It also has some amazing songs that aren't in the movie.

If you have an opportunity to go see this show-DO IT!!! It is worth every penny!

It is definitely a date night I will never forget. I'm so grateful for a husband who is mindful of me and knows what I need even when I don't. It was the perfect way to relax and spend time together before the big move!

Road Trip

Today is my last day of work...in a few short hours I will be turning in my badge and walking out of Building B at the Novell campus for the last time as an employee.

I haven't had much time to process anything that has happened over the past few weeks. I'm sure that will happen on the road or a few weeks from now once we've had a chance to get settled. What I do know is that I will miss my Novell family.

I'm feeling good; we're mostly packed and we start loading the truck tonight, but I'm also feeling a little nervous and anxious. This is an exciting adventure, but I'm sure it will take some time before it all sinks in. Sleeping has been a bit lacking lately as its a bit more difficult to shut my mind off at night, hopefully this will get better soon!

We pack up the truck tonight and we head for Kansas tomorrow morning. Matthew will be driving the truck and towing our Passat behind him and I'll be in our Honda. We'll have our walkie talkies to keep each other awake and alert. And hopefully lots of caffeine and snacks to help with the long drive.

We've decided to go through Wyoming and Oklahoma, so we'll be headed toward I-80 in the morning, bound for this new and exciting adventure!!! We'll stop in Oklahoma tomorrow night and then drive the rest of the way on Thursday.

We don't have a place to live yet, so it may be crazy for the next few weeks, I'll post we I get a chance.

adventure

We're moving to Kansas!!!

We have been so blessed throughout this entire process!! After much thought and prayer, we have decided to take a job with a little company called:

He'll be working as an Embedded Systems Engineer for the Fitness Department which means he'll be working on cool products like this:

We are so excited for this opportunity!! And feel so incredibly blessed (I can't say it enough)!

My last day of work is next Tuesday, August 24th!! We leave on Wednesday, August 25th and head for Denver. Thursday, August 26th we'll drive the rest of the way to Olathe, KS, home of Garmin International headquarters. We'll frantically be looking for a place to live Friday-Sunday and then Matthew starts his new job on Monday, August 30th.

This whole process has moved fast. We just formally excepted the offer late Friday afternoon and started packing up almost immediately! With a little more than two weeks to do everything I have been a bit overwhelmed, but I'm feeling so excited to start this new chapter!!

Thank you again for all of your love and support!! I know I say that often, but I really feel the good vibes you're sending our way! Thank you a million times over!!

There is happiness.

I read a quote several weeks ago that I loved: 

Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel.

 “Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”

Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘An High Priest of Good Things to Come’,” Ensign, Nov 1999.

 I have thought a lot about that quote over the past month. I've had it on my desktop at work for weeks and whenever I would get discouraged about the job hunt, or working, or not knowing when and where, and if we were going to go anywhere, I would read that quote and I found comfort, if only for a moment.

I finally decided to take Elder Holland's council a couple weeks ago and "Trust God and believe in good things to come". I was sitting at work worrying, like I always do. I'm really great at it! :D I was worrying about when we would get a job and when I could quit my job and when we could move, etc. I sat at my desk overwhelmed with hopelessness and I decided I wasn't going to worry any more; I couldn't it was exhausting and it was effecting my job, my marriage, my relationships, and so many other things. I decided that I would put my trust in the Lord and have faith in the future and I did.

Personally, I think the Lord has humor and I think he laughs a lot because it wasn't six hours later that Matthew received his first call about a company that was interested in interviewing him- and I chuckled to myself and then I felt bad I hadn't trusted him sooner.

We have been blessed immensely since that night and although the future is still uncertain I continue to put my trust in the Lord and know that he will guide and direct us where we need to be and there IS happiness in that.

Adorable

This sweet video tugs at my heart strings...

Love you dad!