Well, after 2 years and a whole hell of a lot of waiting, we finally made it to Maryland!! :)
It feels amazing to finally be here after all of the delays. The next chapter is finally starting..
We've been here about two weeks after driving out from the Midwest. I have to admit that even though I drove alone (we did have walkie talkies to communicate along the way...dweebs I know..) 16 hours is a lot better than the 32 to California.
Once we got here, though, the stress began... We had to go into temp housing since we didn't have housing set up before we arrived. Pheobe, however, was not allowed so we had to get her into a kennel which required her to get all of her shots updated beforehand. I hated her having to go into a kennel knowing how miserable she would be. I felt like such a bad mother...
While the temporary housing wasn't horrible, it was definitely not a home and we were ready to be out by the next day. Thus began the intense whirlwind of house hunting. We scoured the internet for places to rent nearby, within our BAH budget, and that allowed dogs. I swear that I literally called over 20 places (only half of which returned my call...professional much?) and we saw about 6 or so. We liked a few of them, but they all required first month's rent, security deposit which is the same as rent, and an enormous pet fee up front. Considering we were paying for temporary housing and Pheobe being in a kennel everyday, we were currently hemorrhaging money. We were starting to get worried that we were going to be in temporary housing forever and were going to be completely broke and without a home when we stumbled upon and amazing townhouse. It was 2000 square feet, three levels, three bedrooms and an office, tons of storage space, on the end so plenty of yard space, a fireplace, an enormous master bath, and a huge deck. We fell in love with it. It was a lot more space than we would ever need, but it was for the same rent as a few much smaller places. We were worried about the up front costs, but miraculously the property manager said that he would wave the first month's rent until the first of the month when we get paid. So we rented! We were out of temporary housing, with Pheobe, and in our new home the next day.
We've been in our home for over a week. We had all of our housing goods delivered really quickly which is a blessing in the military. Of course with this big, beautiful new space, I want all new things. Unfortunately they'll have to wait until we're in the money again. But my decorating urge is in full swing.
It's so nice to be in our own place again. Just the two of us. As much as I enjoyed spending time with my family and being back "home", I missed having my own space. I missed it just being us on this adventure.
We've gradually been exploring the area. Mostly the nearby malls. We're a stone's throw (ish) away from D.C. but haven't made it there yet. There's so much around us I don't know how we could ever be bored. I'm so anxious to explore and go on adventures along the coast and see the oldest part of the country (history buff much?).
I haven't started work yet since Ty has been off and I'd rather spend time with him. I'm a little nervous about starting over at work, but I've done it before. I'm hoping to find something full time soon and put my associate's degree to work. But what can you really do with an associates??
So far, we're enjoying ourselves. I cannot wait to see what this chapter holds for us and all the experiences ahead of us. If it's anything like the last chapter, it's going to be pretty amazing.
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| First night in our new home... |
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| Not a bad view... |
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| Look what came with our goods... |
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| We were told to save this for when we had something to celebrate...does not being in temp housing count? |
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| Me attempting to curl my hair for the first time in forever... |
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| Finally figured out how to turn this on.. |
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| First homemade pizza in MD... |
