Getting there

Well, still no after pictures to post. We are still getting it together. We we had a very successful day at Ikea, a brand new very fancy Superstore and Zellers. Got the essentials like a step lid garbage can, mat for the front and balcony door, microwave and picture frame. Ikea did not deliver as we had expected. We thought one stop shopping. No such luck.
But I finally frame one of our 16x20 wedding pictures and got a very reasonable quote on the other. Once it is ready we can start hanging!

We are moved in.

We are into our new place now and almost completely unpacked. There is just one box left and it has all of our decorative things like pictures and stuff. We are pretty happy with ourselves. We figured it would take us until the end of the week to empty the million boxes. But with Logan's pushing we finished up. And today we had our phone and internet hooked up so I can give a full update.

Friday after work we went straight to the new place to get keys and see our place for only the second time. It was very exciting.

Into the kitchen.

A view from the front door.

Full sized oven (no more leaning cooking sheets!) And full sized fridge.

Walk in closet in the bedroom.

Saturday the fun began. Stef came over and we drove the van I am using for the Quest Tour I am on to Uncle Bryce's shop to empty the set, props and costumes out of it. He also lent us his truck and trailer. Back to the apartment to finish the last bits of packing and then we were joined by Chris, Jason and Craig. And the move began.

We loaded up all three moving vessels (van, truck and trailer) to the exploding point and made the short drive to the new place. We unloaded the first batch and the first line change was made. Chris and Jason went off to work and Jen joined us. At this point we also took a small meal break when Auntie Shelley and Uncle Gord brought us Chili (and like the thinkers they are plastic plates, cups and utensils).

Back to the apartment for load two. We thought that we were pretty close to done. But we filled all three vehicles again! (Who knew that two people could collect so much stuff in two years).

Almost as soon as every last piece was in the apartment the crew were ready to help us unpack. You know you have good friends when they want to stick around after the pizza and beers to help settle you in. Jason returned from work and declared that "we would be completely unpacked by midnight." This was not the case but I like his positive attitude. By the end of Saturday night it looked a little like this:

A mess - but if you notice the living room area is clear and arranged. We played with that for a while. And Jen and Craig washed a bunch of dishes and started filling cupboards.

On Sunday it was back to the old place. With Stef in tow we cleaned for hours. We started before 11 and called "the lady" at 4:30 to say we were ready to go. We scrubbed every inch and were rewarded with our full damage deposit and the compliment that we had done an exceptional job.

Sunday night we came home and did a little more unpacking but Monday it was off to work for the both of us. Monday was again dedicated to unpacking and we made some good progress. In the old place we had a storage closet and a large bedroom closet. We made very good use of those two places as well as our camping stuff lived on the balcony. This new place just has the walk in bedroom closet (and they don't want anything stored on the slightly smaller glass walled balcony.) So the above picture of an empty closet is no more. All the cupboards got filled but we seemed to have found a place for everything.

The only casualty - one wine glass. But at this point there are a couple items I can't find - my blow dryer, electric razor and bed skirt.

I will post pictures of the end result very soon. We will hang some pictures and then we are done!

A trip down memory lane...

Two More Sleeps.

Two more sleeps and we move into a new place. Away from our first home. A little sad, but also happy. New beginnings, etc, and to be away from the b#@&% below us. Here is a little photo look back on our little place we call home.

Oct 2004. We made a trip to Calgary to go apartment hunting.

The outside of our building.

Our Front Door.

Our Kitchen. (we were told that as soon as the old green oven broke we would get a new one. I made short order of that.)

A very empty nook which is now our 'office'

A view from the corner where our TV now sits. How spacious it was before we filled it with stuff.

Nov 2004. Moving Day. 1 Uhaul, 2 sets of parents and 9 helpers.

The dads moving a couch up the stairs. I look forward to doing that again... uh... watching that again.

The beautiful night skyline of downtown Calgary. Located only a block and half away is a hill that is said to have the best view of the city. It is certainly used in enough commercial and new clips for me to believe it.

Dec 2004. Decorated for its first Christmas. Please note how empty the place is, the white couches and the grandpa made coffee table.

The first project I made for our first place. A shower curtain.

March 2005. The second project. Bedroom curtains. I was very pleased to match the colour perfectly to the bedding that we had registered for but not yet received.

Janet and Logan play darts with a nerf gun in a slowly filling apartment. You will see behind the kitchen table and chairs that started the Ikea collection. A Christmas present.

Our first wedding present. A china cabinet to match the table and chairs.

Logan says good bye to his truck in front of that same great view as above.

July 2005. Coming home after the weddintg with all the wedding gifts sure made short order of filling up the small space. But appreciated. Logan had been living with nothing in the kitchen.

Dec 2005. Our first Christmas together as a married couple. Much fuller looking than the last picture shot at this angle. I am wearing all black because I had just come home from work on Christmas Carol.

Feb 2005. Premier Ralph sent everyone some Ralph bucks and we bought ourselves a projector! 110" screen.

Aug 2006. This place saw a lot of enjoyment, entertainment and drinking. Ken and Nicole visit.

Sept 2006. More visitors. More drinks around the coffee table.
Derek, Jesse, Josh are in town for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Dec 2006. We host Christmas with the Kotlars. New couch, more decorations, now a comfortable home.

And now it looks like this.

We had some good times, but now it is time to move on. This will probably be my last blog for about a week. Tomorrow I plan to pack up everything but our toothbrushes and a few clothes, 'Cause Friday night we get the new place and will start cleaning and moving the very breakable things like the computer. Saturday is the big move. Sunday is clean the old place. And then we don't get our internet hooked up until Wed.

So until Wed - wish us luck!

The move is approaching quickly

I can't say that we have really done anything more since our bit pack on Sat. We defrosted our most amazing stand up freezer and I cleaned it up. But besides that, all of the things that go together are packed. Boxes of books or the dishes from the China cabinet or the cooking dishes. The rest either didn't fit in their appropriate box, or they don't fit into a neat little group. It really is just a mess.

Wish us luck! 3 days.

Moving is no fun.

Well, we are one week from our move. And the one thing that I have learned is that packing everything you have into boxes is no fun at all.
We spent all day yesterday packing. I think that we did a good job as the place is really starting to look cleaned out. But there is still so much that you use every day. I guess it just has to sit there until Thursday or Friday when we can pack up the pots and clothes and stuff.
My next thought goes to cleaning.

We got a huge list of things to do. I knew that we would have to clean the place - but vacuum the back of the fridge? I suppose it is not that bad really, it is just a daunting task. Something that is hanging over our heads for next weekend. To smoosh the happiness of our cool new place.
And we are loosing helpers. We had lined up friends Jen, her boyfriend Chris, Jason and Craig, and Logan, Stef and I. Well both Jen and Chris work. We will make due. We have the huge 15 seater extended cab van from Quest Theatre and Uncle Bryce is lending us his pick up truck and trailer. So as soon as we load all the stuff out of this place and down four flights of stairs it shouldn't be that bad. I think that 5 of us can handle that.

On Sunday we were eating lunch on the patio!

Today it is winter again - must have been a foot of snow!

It was a huge job to dig out my big bus from under all this snow.

**********

Oh yeah,

I forgot to mention that while we were in Canmore we saw Colin Mockery.

Just out in the mountains with his family.

We made pretty big fools out of ourselves when Chris says "that guy looks like Colin Mockery". We all look. Obviously he heard his name and looked at us looking at him. "It is Colin Mockery" and now we are all smiling at each other. It was funny - but very cool. Celebrity sighting!

Ah the mountains

One of the best parts about Calgary is how close the mountains are. It is also great when you have friends who have a family cabin in the mountains. The Haughey Brothers have a cabin in Canmore and on Friday we all decided that it would be a great idea to go out there for the weekend. So after Jen finished work on Sat Jen and her boyfriend Chris, and Logan and I drove out to Canmore to join Jason, Tyler and Craig. After hitting up the local liquor store we watched the Flames lose in overtime, then watched the movie Borat and hit the sack.

In the morning we walked downtown for brunch,

played games while it rained

and then BBQed.

We had a great time.

Happy Birthday Logan Earl!

Yesterday was Logan's 25th birthday. 25 is a big number. A quarter of a century!

He marked the day with a class to learn about Lateral Neck Restraints - a move that ranges in three stages from getting control over a subject to cutting off the blood flow to the brain so the person could potentially pass out.

Then home for supper with my sister, Auntie Shelley, Uncle Gord and me. I made a roast with mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, and grandma's pea salad. Stef brought over a cake, chocolate with caramel and skor bits with a Dream Whip frosting.

Logan is wearing the pants that I made for him. Soccer print feety pajamas.

Happy Birthday Logan!

I scanned this picture from the brochure we were given about the apartments. This is the mirror image of our apartment.

On the previous entry I had listed one web site - there is also the main page with a little more detail. Most people won't care - but I had a request.

Real Star Property Management

Rouleau Premium Apartments

Our little world just jumped up a few rungs!

We found a place. It is not one that I have mentioned before. It is next door to the Mansion and AMAZING! It is called The Rouleau and is Premium Apartments. And Premium it is. The building is owned by the same people as the Mansion (the one bedroom they showed us was on the main floor and had no balcony - so no BBQ - no good for us!). So I asked about the other buildings. They had a couple one bedrooms and were willing to show us. We opened the door and our jaws dropped!!!! The building is 18 months old so everything is brand new. The floor plan is great -

It is about 100 sq ft bigger than ours. Ceramic tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, beautifully painted walls and big windows! We were already in love with the open style when he told me about the walk in closet. And then the dishwasher. And then, wait for it - the in-suite washer and dryer. That is huge! It is on the 12th floor facing south. We are high enough to see over the close by buildings and are facing the street - not some dirty back alley.

It is so secure to! You need a key pass to enter the building or use the elevator or any other room. When you are buzzed in, the guest needs to get to the elevator and press a button in 90 seconds. Your key pass will get you into the building and only onto the floor you live on. There is also a gym full of equipment and an entertainment room. This room has a pool table and 62" TV and couches. You can use the room anytime - or book it for a party!

The location is amazing to. The Bow River curves around to the east of it and then south at the next block south. We googled the location vs our current location. From here to Theatre Calgary is 2.2km - the new place - also 2.2 km. Walking to work still works!

We are so excited that I think we won't stop smiling for a week!

Check out the web site. The 1st picture in the series is what our suite looks like. I think the other pictures are just of other peoples furniture. (And we don't have a fireplace.)

The Rouleau Premium Apartments

We are having great luck! (Knock on wood)

The first place that I mentioned on the last blog turned out to be great! The location is not the best, but it certainly isn't bad - just compared to our current place that is just blocks from downtown. But it was beautiful! The kitchen was all brand new - great hardwood, new fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen. Very nice. Not huge, but big enough. And the balcony faces south, away from downtown, not a great view into the back alley- except that there are huge pine trees blocking the crappy view! So it is very private and great. See the details here.

The other place, The Mansion, we see tomorrow at 1:00pm. Still a huge contender as the location is superior.

In all of the calls I have made over the last few days I have made many appointments to view. At the last minute last night we saw that I had made another viewing. I knew nothing about it off the top of my head, and no time to look it up. So we went in blind (not an easy thing for me.) It was also great! The two are so different. The pros and cons list is so close and back and forth. If we could put them together they would be the ultimate place. See those details ... oh wait... I just clicked over to the listing so I could link it an it now says rented - I guess he didn't choose us! Oh well, that is the market here. But is was a surprise entry. I guess we are back to two.

The link to The Mansion

New place

I thank you for the support out there in blog land (and by phone). The manager is abusing her power and we know it, we have called the management company but it doesn't take away from the fact that she is crazy. If she moved we would stay in our perfect little place - but as long as she is here we don't wanna be.

We looked at two places last night. Both were a bust. We were quite excited about the one place. Great location - a block from 17th ave, two bedroom, 720 sq ft and a 250 sq ft balcony - and laundry hook-ups. But it was the worst layout ever. The master bedroom was huge! The second bedroom was more of a den - fine. But the living room barely fit the couch, coffee table and entertainment center that the current tenant had in there. And the second was just a block from us but was dirty, gross and had shag carpet, avocado green appliances and harvest gold tub, toilet and sink. Gross.

But we are quite excited about two places. We haven't seen them but have driven by, seen pictures and talked to the people. Either will work - unless their there are major surprises.

This place is on 14th St and 26th Ave, is a one bedroom with 720 sq ft. It looks very nice and the guy is nice too. He owns the condo and is renting it out - which seems really appealing.

The other is called The Mansion. It is right on the river and next to two very high end apartment buildings behind and beside. Very nice - they just called.

We have been approved by both places - I think Logan being a cop really helps the application process. So we just have to see them both - the first tonight and the second on Sat - and then make a decision!