So....moving :-)

Well, informing the world of both joys and woes that came from moving is a bit overdue.

First of all, let me tell you that the biggest joy was that WE MOVED INTO OUR FIRST HOUSE!  Oh glory, it is amazing.

We began this journey back in November when, one night, our realtor convinced us to take a look at just one more house.  I didn't want to go because I had seen pictures online, seen the price, and thought that we wouldn't have a prayer.  But go to see it we did and the instant I walked in, this feeling of being home washed over me.  I had never felt anything like it through all the houses we had looked through before (even with the house that we had originally made an offer on weeks beforehand - the house that had fallen through)!  With each room I went in, the feeling just grew stronger.  THIS was a house we could live in for a long time.  THIS was a house we could spread out in (we DO have a lot of stuff).  THIS was a house that could host a lot of company (I love that we always have company).  THIS was a house that we could make into a home.

SO!  I went home that night and wrote a letter to the owners and we sent that with the proposal (which was sent the next day).  This began the paperwork process.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Paper.  Work.  AHHHH!

SO MUCH PAPERWORK!  In reality, it could have been worse.  It could have taken 8 weeks (it only took us 37 days to go from submitting a proposal to getting keys).  But still, over that time there were so many meetings.  There was so much paper to collect and copy/scan/e-mail.  There was so much to listen to.  There was literally hours of signing/initialing papers.  Seriously, our last meeting was 55 straight minutes of listening to the explanation of what each paper was and then signing/initialing the bottom.  I know it's all important but I am SO glad it's over with!

ON TO THE EXCITING PART - MOVING IN!

Well, it wasn't just exciting.  It was also exhausting, dirty, unorganized at times, and I'm still not all the way unpacked (which is driving me bananas!).  But the biggest portion of moving was exciting.  :-)  Let me tell you how it went:

We had been packing our apartment up for the 2 weeks leading up to the move - most days it was from after we got home from work until 11 at night or so.  On Friday (the day before the big move), the keys were dropped off to me at work and I picked up Veronica IMMEDIATELY after work was over.  I seriously bolted FROM my SEAT in the staff meeting when that minute hand pointed straight up.  We headed to the house (MY NEW HOUSE!) and started cleaning. 

Fact: we are cute.

Now, the house wasn't gross - it just needed to have a thorough cleaning for me to feel good about moving our things in.  Until 11:00 that night, we were cleaning cupboards, appliances, bathrooms, windows, floors, and walls.  Doing battle against tile whilst on hands and knees, combating scum and grease, fending off spiders - it was quite the event.

Not an exact scale model of us fending off our spiders but close!

We only took a break to go eat dinner at the Clay Oven (newish Indian food restaurant here in the valley - DELISH!) - then it was back to cleaning.  We arose at 6 a.m. the next morning and began the process anew.  The cleaning continued for most of Saturday but that would be only for me and Veronica - the boys had to actually MOVE our stuff.  Can I say that Avery and I have collected a lot of STUFF in our short lives?!  My goodness - it just kept coming!  And surprisingly, most of it appears to belong in my scrapbooking room....

Two full Uhauls and four truck bed loads later, all of our possessions were finally moved. 

Fine, upstanding gentlemen!

I love living in a house with stairs but I (and probably and some fine, upstanding gentlemen) were not excited about the stairs while we were doing unloading.  Did you know that we had two beds, two dressers, 3 tables, 7 bookshelves and a PLETHORA of book boxes that all had to be packed upstairs?  Goodness....

So that night, our first night in the house, Frank and Vivian came to town with Avery's piano in the back of their truck!  We had quite a time unloaded it but finally got it in the house and my teapots have resided on top ever since.

So in the last 3 weeks, we've steadily been settling in, unpacking, organizing, reorganizing, and building things (like a bed frame and coat rack).  It was amazing having Avery's parents here - we would come down in the morning and they would have already been up since the wee hours (early risers!) unpacking our house and getting things cleaned - kind of like elves!  Avery and his dad spent a lot of time in the garage building, which was cool.  Also, Frank and Vivian took over the kitchen for us - cooking AND cleaning!  We've been spoiled, let me tell you.  Lots of family dinners together (in our new dining room, at the new dining room table!) with both sets of siblings over - those have been great.  It's just been a pretty darn exciting few weeks!  :-)

So to sum all this moving up, let me tell you the top five woes and joys that came from this move:

Me after doing items 1-4...every time. 

Woes
#1. Packing after work is exhausting.
#2. Unpacking after work is exhausting.
#3. Deep cleaning for hours upon hours is exhausting.
#4. Looking through my unpacked boxes to find items is exhausting.
#5. We don't live upstairs from Kayla and her adorable wee bairns anymore. :-(







Joys
#1. Beautiful hardwood floors (as opposed to carpet) instantly lifts one's spirits.
#2. Not having to worry about loud noises bothering people to the right or the left of us is fabulous (bring on the surround sound!).
#3. A walk-in closet for me is so fantastic that I can hear a hallelujah chorus whenever I walk in.
#4. A real guest room makes me feel like a great host - not a good host, but a great host.  And that makes me happy.
#5. Having a bathroom for just Avery and I - amazing!
#6. Having all of my things actually be unpackable (vs. having to let them sit in cardboard boxes in closets for years on end) is so helpful.
#7. My books are all able to be displayed proudly (and alphabetically by genre) on shelves - truly a thing of beauty.
#8. Having a piano in the house is actually a lot of fun!
#9. My big kitchen counter is big enough for all I need it to be - it's glorious.
#10. Did I mention that I have a walk-in closet?
#11..... 

Wait, was I only supposed to give 5 joys....?  :-)

Keep Calm - The Hobbit 3 Will Release in 347 Days

My ticket - a treasure

The Hobbit - a magical book written by the genius J.R.R. Tolkien.  Enjoyed for the last 75 years by readers of all ages, now The Hobbit has been brought to life on screen by none other than Peter Jackson (yet another genius).  I read the book ages and ages ago but at the time that the first Hobbit movie came out, the only thing I could remember from the story was that a younger Bilbo goes on an adventure with Gandalf and some dwarves to a mountain containing both gold and a dragon.  I did not remember anything about the journey, the dwarves, the ending - nothing.  Then I watched the first movie and I fell in love again with the story!  I was tempted to reread the book to find out what happens to everyone because, of course, I'm curious.  But I didn't - I decided to wait for the next movie.  I wanted to be able to be surprised in the theater when I saw The Desolation of Smaug.  I'm sure I could have read the book first and still enjoyed the movie but that's the decision I made.

Hannah, I know at this point you're whining, "Racheeeeeellllle, this is too long - get to the point!"  If I were there in person while you were reading this I would respond with a sharp, "Hush and keep reading."

I love taking pics in front of the posters :-)

So anyway, on the first day of 2014, I went to the theater with some family members and we got great
seats.  From the very beginning, I was captivated by the story woven on screen.  I spent 2 hours and 40 minutes alternating between being on the edge of my seat, giving audible, "YeAH!"s, smiling with delight, covering my eyes, elbowing Hannah with whispered remarks, and constantly asking myself, "WHAT is going to happen next?!".  Since I've traveled this path, let me walk you through some of that amazingness that is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

*I don't think that this review contains any spoilers but if I'm wrong and I spoil something for you, I'm sorry!

Now, Peter Jackson had some great material to work with - Tolkien's Middle Earth tales are gold.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Jackson made some alterations (they always do when they turn a book into a movie) but the story remains marvelous.  We watch a hobbit, who's never left the comfort of home before, face danger and uncertainty on a huge level over an extended period of time.  This movie takes place 1 year after the first - Bilbo and the company of dwarves/Gandalf have been walking through Middle Earth, bent on their mission of reaching the Lonely Mountain, doing battle with Orcs and the like, for A YEAR!  What perseverance!

And to think that I complain about the hardships of being on an exercise bike for 45 minutes.  I shame myself. 

It was great to get a little back story on what happened that led up to the dwarves meeting Gandalf at Bilbo's house.  Rabbit trail: I appreciated Peter Jackson's cameo in Bree - I like when I can tell that it's him (his cameo in the first Hobbit movie was too difficult - I had to look it up).  Back on the path!  We find the company closer to the lonely mountain but getting there becomes increasingly difficult.  One difficulty is a forest of disgusting, huge spiders.  Bilbo is initially the savior of the group in that instance (I just love that he actually jumps in and saves people's lives as opposed to needing someone to save him - more on that later) but even this brave, vest-wearing Watson can't battle the entire horde of spiders that comes after them so of course, cue Legolas and his band of merry elves, fighting in all their elven glory.  Indeed, throughout this entire film, there are some really cool action scenes where we see the elves (especially Legolas) perform fun feats.  It's like they're ninja gymnasts but we get to see their faces and their long hair, free from the confines of a bun, somehow remains looking smooth throughout the entire ordeal.  I would say it's a miracle but I know that they're elves - that's just how they roll.

King Thranduil - I don't like him.

Speaking of elves, I don't like Thranduil.  Look at this face!  Even without watching him on screen,
you can just sense that:

#1: He's a little nuts.
#2: He has a thing for himself and power.
#3: He's not to be trusted.

This fashionista is not cool and I'm sad that Legolas is his son.
(Interesting tidbit: did you know that Orlando Bloom is actually 2 years older than Lee Pace?!)

Moving on to Tauriel, I couldn't help but still see Kate from Lost when I looked at her face.  It wasn't necessarily bad but it is a fact.  I'm not sure yet what I think of her role in all of this.  I know that she's Jackson invented (not in Tolkien's work) and it's not a bad role - I just don't know how necessary it was to create a love triangle.  On the one hand, it's a nice break from the constant walk, run, flash swords, run, etc.  On the other hand - really?  With a dwarf that she just met?  She's willing to disobey her king, leave their forest, pursue a band of bloodthirsty orcs herself - all for a dwarf that she had exactly one conversation with?  I'm not sure it's very believable.  But oh well - it didn't bother me.  Indeed, I am intrigued to find out this little pickle gets solved in the next movie!

'OhmygoshLegolaslookOUT!' face

Speaking of elves and bloodthirsty orcs, I was impressed that the fight scenes kept me so on the edge of my seat!  Even during fighting scenes involving characters that I knew had to live because they were in Lord of the Rings, I was still worried.  For example, I caught myself saying, "OhmygoshLegolaslookOUT!".  Yes, they were that good.    I thought that a main character was going to die at one point - I was just sure we were going to have another 'Sean-Bean-arrows-in-his-chest-slow-motion-style' episode and I was going to be so mad.  My tear ducts were on standby and the fires of intense anger were being stoked...but then it didn't happen after all.  *whew* Close one.
I did have to close my eyes once or twice during fight scenes (beheadings of orcs and manual dismantling of spiders are pretty gross) but that's fine.

In the later half of the movie, we're treated to a new area of Middle Earth - Laketown.  With that,

Bard: solemn, good bowman, possibly Will Turner's older brother

comes some new characters - the most indelible of which is Bard.  Indelible why, you ask?

#1. He wears a coat that although it looks like it's seen better days, is still pretty cool.  I want one.
#2. He could TOTALLY be Will Turner's older brother and I know I'm not the only one who thinks so.
#3. He's a bigger part of this Smaug drama than what initially meets the eye.
#4. Last but certainly not least, he's a good guy.  Thorin and Co. don't want to trust him but fooey on them.  He was good to his word.  And Bard wants what's best for his family and his community.  His arguments against Thorin's plan are pretty legit - he's thinking realistically.

Also, we took a 'Which Hobbit Character Are You?' quiz and it says that I'm Bard :-)


Now, we come to Smaug, the stupendous.  I was surprised that he did so much talking - but how wonderful!  Benedict never fails to rise to the occasion.  His voicing of Smaug was brilliant - just brilliant.  Gave me goosebumps.  The exchange between Bilbo and Smaug intrigued me.  Bilbo's answer to Smaug's 'Who are you?' was marvelous - just marvelous!

Bilbo Baggins: hobbit, adventurer, cleverest and bravest of them all!

Speaking of Bilbo, can we just wrap this up with my very favorite character?!  Bilbo, with his fantastic vests and facial expressions - he is a wonder.  Here he is, on his very first adventure, actually swinging his sword, taking out wargs and orcs, being the one to save others instead of always needing to be saved.  Bilbo is courageous in a way that Frodo is not.  Bilbo gets things done in a way that Frodo can not.  Now, I like Frodo - he's a good character!  But he pales in comparison to Bilbo.  Bilbo is quick on his feet both literally and figuratively.  The responses to both Gollum (in the first movie) and Smaug i(n this one) are clever.  Bilbo is fair and just, he doesn't give up, even when everyone else does, and he sees the good in people.  What a guy.  What a hobbit.  Three cheers for Bilbo Baggins!!!

Now, I think that'll do it for now.  I would like to remind you that I have NO IDEA how the next movie will end.  I watched that cliff hanger and resolved to not read the book, look anything up online, or talk to anyone about the ending because I want to be very surprised in the theater next December.  Please do NOT give anything away to me :-D

Now, if you haven't seen The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, GO SEE IT!  :-D