Living at the mall and other updates...

We've now been here in our new place for three weeks today, and we've been enjoying it much more than we expected. For those of you we haven't been good about updating about our situation here, I'll give you a little rundown...

My massage license went through just a few days after we got here, so we had just enough time to pull the household into some semblance of order before I started work on August 11th. Adjusting to my new commute time wasn't difficult in the least - it literally took me two minutes to get from our front door to the front door of the Massage Envy across the street (Some days it takes me a few minutes longer than that if the elevator or traffic light make me wait).

My boss told me to expect to be booked only about 50% for the first two weeks, but it's been more like 80-90%, and I just finished my second week. They keep me very busy and I love working there. I'm scheduled from 2-10pm Tuesday-Friday and 12-8pm on Saturdays. This schedule is about as different from our Utah schedule as we could get (the whole getting up at 4:30 in the morning thing REALLY wasn't my cup of tea, let me tell you!), but it's working well for us. Tom and I both are getting better sleep than we have in years!

Mid-day during the week we can be found at the gym downstairs enjoying the facilities and getting out our wiggles. They have really nice equipment as well as a hearty supply of freshly laundered towels and cold, filtered water. I've only accidentally stolen a towel once... but I took it back the next day. It really does feel like we live at a hotel! The pool should be finished any day now - just in time for it to close for the season, if we were still in Utah.

It's strange to be virtually living at the mall. We've walked around the shops here taking care of business and just checking things out, and it's certainly a different experience. There are always people around to observe and interesting things to see. We walked over to Lake Washington for the first time this past Monday as a day off treat. We kicked ourselves after we realized we had forgotten to bring the camera. It was a really nice day, and we felt grateful to be living here in such a beautiful place.

We got our new cell phone numbers this past week. If you would like those numbers or our new mailing address, just email me at amysgunn@gmail.com and I'd be happy to give them to you.

-Amy

Getting Comfortable 8/5/09

Well, the place is finally starting to look like a home. Our efforts at unpacking have turned the crushing mountain of boxes into inconvenient little islands of them.

Meanwhile, Amy and I have been loving where we live. I've told Amy we better plan on buying our own place next time we move. This brand new apartment is spoiling us, and I don't think we'll be able to rent another place again.

We've had the chance to try a few of the touted amenities. They have these great carts in the parking garage to help you get cargo from your car to your front door. Check it out!



The pool isn't open, but they're clearly working on it.



The gym is great! All the equipment works, the towels are fresh and plentiful, the water is cool and clean, and the sanitary wipes keep the whole experience from being disgusting.

The free Starbucks coffee is good, I'm sure, if the hot chocolate is any indication.



We rented a video from the leasing office the other day; a movie called Radio. Their selection was decent, but we're glad they're rotating it. The bottom line is we got to watch something we didn't own, and all it cost us was a trip down the hall.


Speaking of trips down the hall, taking out the garbage is a cinch. The room in the photo below is about ten feet down the hall from our front door.


I finally got my very own key fob for the elevators, making an incident like the other night less likely. The weather has finally cooled considerably, and Amy and I took a refreshing stroll last night to pick up a few things up at Target. It really is amazing how close everything is. The reality of our new pedestrian arrangement is still setting in.

The courtyard our place looks out on is very nice. Ours is the first apartment on the second floor on the building on the right. See, there's our fountain on the porch.


After much travail and struggle with Qwest tech support, I finally got the Internet up and running, which means I'm returning to work tomorrow.

Amy's received word today that everything is coming together for her massage license, so she should be working before the end of the month. What a relief!

All the puzzle pieces of our new lives here are falling into place, and the picture taking shape is looking better every day.

-Tom

Controlled Access 8/3/09

Living in a big building is certainly a new and interesting adventure. As we were moving in, my cousin Dave said the long empty hallways lined with doors reminded him of a Stanley Kubrik picture. My adventures getting lost (and worse) have made me feel like I'm in a bizarre movie myself.

The leasing office has a rotating library of DVDs which residents can check out. Not sure if the office had closed yet, I went over that way to look into it. I had to get in an elevator to get up to the office, but I soon found myself virtually trapped inside it. The office being closed, the elevator wouldn't take me up there. With access to residential areas being controlled, I couldn't get off the elevator either. I could only go down to the parking level, which was also controlled and kept me from getting to our car, or the elevator that would take me to our floor.

The parking area I ended up in has a keypad by the elevator that allows you to call a resident you're visiting to unlock elevator. The number it calls is actually my cell phone number . . . which was locked in the car.

I soon found myself outside the building, locked out, with no recourse but to ask a stranger for the use of their cell phone. I found a security guard on patrol. I explained my predicament, and borrowed his phone. It took several panicked tries, but I finally reached Amy, who has the only entry fob. She came out and rescued me.

On the bright side, we now know just how tough it is to get into this place if you don't belong here, or even if you do. Compared to our place in Midvale, it's sure a nice change, as long as I can avoid getting locked out again.

-Tom

A Moving Adventure 8/2/09

We're here!

That sentence sums up nicely how glad we are to finally have our move over with. We've been dreaming of living here in the Pacific Northwest almost since we were first married, and this last weekend, that slice of our dreams finally came true.

It felt like it would never happen. With so many hassles with Amy's massage license (which still aren't resolved), and so many other concerns and obstacles that got in our way, the whole thing sometimes felt like a pipe dream.

With faith, determination, and heroic assistance from both sides of the family, we made it.


Amy's packing superpowers combined with the brawny efforts of the Spaulding boys got our rented truck packed tighter than an Italian sausage. The drive was long and lonely as we had to go slow, and Amy had to drive the car behind me in a little convoy. Borrowed walkie-talkies helped keep us together and sane, but it was a long slog.

There's nothing like the feeling of coasting down a hill in one of those trucks with every earthly possession directly behind you, and only a thin layer of inflated vulcanized rubber between you and destruction. Mad, really, but I guess people do it every day.

We had a relaxing stop in Tri-Cities, WA to see our new niece Lorena and visit my sister Abby and her husband. Thanks to my Dad for the hotel points! That was a lifesaver.



When we arrived the next day, my brother John, my mom, and my cousins Dave and Steve all helped immensely. Seattle's been suffering record heat, but everyone pitched in to help anyway with little or no complaint. In fact, Dave and Steve had a ball pushing each other down the hallways on the furniture dolly. Not only did they help with their muscles, they lightened the mood and kept us all laughing.

Thanks to everyone for their kind support, time, and hard work in helping us get here.

-Tom