Our New Place...

Also, why I have not been blogged in so long! Yes, we moved out of Jenae's basement into an apartment across the highway, just north of Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, for those of you who are familiar with the area. The apartment complex is Mayflower Harbor. I waited an extra month so we could get a ground floor apartment, and I am so glad we did! Now the kids can run and jump as much as they want and I don't have to worry about the neighbors. Speaking of, the neighbors are great as well! Very nice, and I hardly ever even hear our upstairs neighbors. I think I got lucky, as far as apartment living goes. This is going to be pretty detailed, ye be warned!

Here is the basic layout:Here is my family room (I just got the drapes up):

Eventually, probably as soon as I can afford a house, we will have a flat screen tv over the bookcase on the wall. Actually, for now I am enjoying being channel-free - no cable, no digital receiver - it is liberating.
Here is our kitchen - it looks a lot smaller than my old kitchen, but actually, due to the very large pantry, I actually feel like we have more space. I even have some empty cupboards.
Dining area and computer/craft area:
A close-up of where I am sitting right now as I type this blog. I put all the kids crafts over there - so far, it has worked out excellently.
My baker's rack. I had the sugar and flour one shelf lower, but it took Marin all of 1 day to figure out that she could reach the sugar. Not good.
The pantry and coat closet - look at the floorplan if you are confused. One door opens to the front entryway, the other door opens to the kitchen.

Laundry room - much better and larger than at my old place!
Ryan's room: It is the only room in the house that I can always count on being clean 100% of the time. I am changing his sheets today, and he has been nagging me for the last 2 hours to make his bed because his room "is a mess" if it isn't made. OCD, here we come.
I keep meaning to write about this. So far, in his life, Ryan has voluntarily spent his money on three things - the 3-D Sears Tower you see below, a Twix bar, and (at the Chicago airport) a glass Chicago skyline. Usually, he asks me for something at the store, I tell him no but he can buy it with his money if he wants, and he always decides not to - unless it has something to do with a tall building (or the one time his sweet tooth got the better of him).
The kids' bathroom:
The girls' bedroom:
I had to put up a picture of their closet, because I installed the bottom rod myself. It has good points and bad points - it is much easier for me to see what shirts they can wear, but it is much easier for them to get out their shirts. I think I have been doing more laundry because of it, but still and all I like having it out in the open instead of crammed into drawers.
My bedroom:



My bathroom:

My huge walk-in closet - I LOVE it.



The best thing about our new place? All the parks and grassy fields! Here is the city park, just across the street from our apartment.
Basically, our front yard - a toddler lot, some field (Ryan likes to ride his bike around this area), and what promises to be a good sledding hill in the winter:
Did I mention I got a new car? The van was starting to have more trouble than it was worth to fix, plus need I say more about the gas? So I got this Honda Accord - and I have to admit that I love it.