Thursday, April 25, 2013

Lots to report

A lot has happened in the last week--new city, new home, new job--and there is so much to share! I'm hoping that I will have some time this weekend to do some writing, and also catch up on emails and phone calls! Stay tuned for updates from Nevada!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

T-1 Day Until Moving Day

Moving day is tomorrow! The movers are coming bright and early in the morning to pack and load my stuff into the big moving truck. I'm pretty excited to see how this whole process works, since I've never moved like this before...Moving to Corvallis was actually my first big move. My family never moved while I was growing up, and I took basically only what I could fit into duffel bags with me to college. When I moved to Corvallis, my mom and brother drove a U-Haul down with me, so we did all the packing, loading, unloading, and unpacking.

Today I spent a good portion of the day wandering around my house trying to decide what to take with me in my car and what to send with the movers. The moving truck could take up to a week to arrive in Carson City, so I want to make sure I have everything I need with me to survive for a week without most of my stuff. I also tried to find things that have sentimental value, or would be a headache to replace if something happened to them. So far I have a decent-sized pile of important papers, toiletries clothes, things for Jasper, and random other things that I will pack into my car in the morning.

I also took a trip to the landfill today! This might not seem that exciting to most people, but I got pretty excited by the engineering and efficiency of it all. A steady stream of trucks, machinery, and people were moving in and out with loads of trash. I checked in at the scales and was given a card with prices. For household trash, there were enormous dumpsters placed at the bottom of a hill. A curved road led up to a large flat area above the dumpsters and there were low walls around the edge. I backed my car up to the wall, unloaded my trash, and tossed it over the wall and into the dumpster. Then I drove back out to the scales, paid the fee, and was out of there in less than 10 minutes.

The landfill was also a good reminder of how much stuff people produce and throw away. I try not to accumulate more than I need, I donate things I am no longer using, and I recycle when I can, but sometimes its easy to forget that things don't really disappear when you throw them away in the garbage can.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Moving has started

My move to Carson City has gotten underway in the last few days. I've been sorting through clothes and papers and closets, getting rid of stuff I don't need. My house is kind of torn apart, but I can't really pack anything because the moving company is doing that. So I have lots of piles of stuff. All the pictures are off the walls and on the floor. I've been trying to figure out which stuff to take with me and which stuff to send with the movers. Not much fun, but I am getting really excited to move!

I also had a really nice gathering with a bunch of good friends on Thursday. It was really nice to see the wonderful people I have met during my time in Corvallis, but tough to say goodbye. I will miss them for sure!

This is a picture of Peggy right before the party started. Brownies and angel food cake--yum!



Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Found a place to live!

I flew to Carson city today to look for a place to live, and found a place by noon! 

It was a pretty stressful morning because my flight got delayed so I had to make some last minute changes. The apartment hunting itself was also stressful because it affects my life for the next few months. I'm still not 100% sold on Carson, but I think it will be fine, and I'm starting to get more excited.There weren't too many options, so the process was pretty quick. I'll be living in a 2 bedroom townhouse close enough to my new office to walk to work. It faces a large field and is an end unit, so it should be nice and quiet. Andy flew down from Washington to help, which was really nice. He had to do a lot of sitting and waiting, and I kept promising him that someday we will go on a fun vacation. 

First we looked at three different apartment complexes. I pretty much knew which one I wanted, but we spent some time sitting in a McDonalds parking lot so I could make a decision. Then I had to figure out how to get a cashiers check because I forgot my checkbook. This involved finding a credit union affiliated with my credit union in Corvallis, and giving them my account information. Once they accessed my account it was exactly like being at home--so nice! Got the cashiers check, headed back to the apartment office, got the rental application turned in, apartment hunt complete!

Then we headed to Tahoe. We wanted to get to the waterfront, but ended up wandering around the  Heavenly Village because all the beaches seemed to be private. I was also completely exhausted, and all I really wanted to do was sleep. It was pretty cool to see the ski lifts going straight up from the resort! There were little girls running around in bathing suits and skiers dressed up in winter coats! It is really beautiful, and so cool that it is so close to Carson!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Jasper Runs

 
This is a video I took of Jasper in my backyard in Corvallis on March 31st, 2013. Every time I let him out he runs back and forth along the fence. My landlord's dogs are usually over on the other side, and he really wants to go play.  This was the first time since October that I've let him out without his leash, so he got really excited. He ran basically until he collapsed on the floor next to his water. He was panting so hard I threw him in the shower for a couple seconds to cool him off. Still took him ~20 minutes to calm down...So much energy!


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