Mostly Moved In (But Not Unpacked)

Yesterday we headed over to my sister's storage unit, loaded up her car with my boxes, and then followed her down to the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary.  It was the first day that anyone could move into on campus housing, and I expected it to be packed.

Instead, the parking lot was empty, and the buildings were locked.  We called the number for the RA and explained why we were here.  He came out with a box of keys, showed us how to unlock the doors, took us to the apartment, and then, after he left, we strategized about the best way to unload.

We kept the apartment door propped open, but there were still 2 doors between the apartment and the car.  I took a smaller box with each trip, unlocked the door, held it for my spouse and sister, and then zipped to the next door to unlock and hold.  It was a surprisingly smooth process.

In part, it was smooth because of the location of the apartment--we didn't have to go up stairs.  Even though it's on the first/ground floor, there's a floor beneath, which means that none of the windows are on a ground level because of how the building sits on/in a hill.  

After we unloaded the cars, we strategized and decided to go to a nearby Target.  On our way out, we saw 2 deer munching on greenery on the campus grounds, as if they weren't in an urban setting:

Here's a closer shot.  Look at those antlers!

I wanted to price ready made bookcases or shelving units, but Target had none.   We got some of the supplies I'll need, like a small trashcan for the bathroom, some cleaning supplies, and a mat for the front door.

At the Container store, we hit the jackpot:

The shelves are solid wood and because they flip and fold, no assembly was required.  They could be stacked on top of each other, but they felt more secure side by side.

We didn't do much unpacking, but my spouse and sister were invaluable when it came to rearranging the furniture.  If it had been up to me, I'd have left it where it was, but they made it much more inviting:

You can see the kitchen in the background, and that's about the extent of it.  There's a sink and a work space to the right, and nice refrigerator.  There's minimal countertop space, but I can make it work.  My spouse loves cleared off countertops, so happily, I'm used to not having all the appliances out on the counters.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the housing.  We think the carpeting is brand new, and the mattresses are fine (that had been a big concern I had).  The wooden surfaces are scarred, but workable.  I am happy that I brought a variety of placemats with me to cover the dining room table, which has really seen better days:

I'm also glad to have a separate desk, although I won't be surprised if I sometimes migrate to the table to get work done:

I'll post more pictures as I get unpacked in the coming weeks and create a cozy nest.

Before we headed home, we showed my spouse the campus.  The library was open, so we wandered through the stacks.  He was impressed with the Philosophy section, and he is almost never impressed with the Philosophy section of bookstores or libraries--hurrah!

I thought of my discovery a year ago that the library would ship books free of charge to students.  I was thrilled, but I never actually utilized the service.  I look forward to exploring the library in person.  I'm more a browse in the stacks than a browse the online card catalog person.

There's so much I look forward to discovering.  It's going to be a good year.