Friday, July 29, 2011

July is almost over!

Today is the "We've been married for 2-months" day! Wow, time has certainly gone by quickly. I cannot believe that July is almost over. We have so many things yet to do, people to see, places to visit! This may sound kind of depressing, but we have kind of created a "bucket list" of things to do before we move.

See Family in WI
See Family in IA
Go to a Twins Game in MN
Go to a Brewers Game in WI
Fly to Seattle to see Dave Matthews Band in Concert
Visit my sister in Washington state
Go to Wisconsin Dells
Make a headboard for our bed
Go to the MN State Fair
Visit Friends in Cook one more time
Visit a dozen other friends we will miss a TON

Not to mention all of the necessary things that have to get done before we leave:

Apply for a visa
Arrange a contract with the movers
Close cell phone account
Cancel internet (and other) services
Sell two cars
Forward our mail
Clean and store my wedding gown

... and we leave in less than two months! I am not overwhelmed (yet) but just looking at the long list of things, and I know this is not exhaustive, does make me a bit sad. A trip to the Dells and a DIY headboard is probably not going to happen.

We continue to have fun and take each day as it comes. Tonight we utilized a free appetizer from Buca di Beppo for joining their eClub! We got the cheesy bread florentine which normally costs $12.95 and we also received a free lunch-sized slice of lasagna for National Lasagna Day! All of that with the small pasta dish means TONS of leftovers for the next two meals, as Bryant showcased here:


In other news, the ceiling in the sunroom is all fixed! The painter was in last week and fixed her right up:

 

The weather is still really warm and we are excited to see my little sister this weekend! Garage Sale shopping? Mall of America? Como Zoo? So many possibilities (that aren't even on the bucket list!)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Excitement of Apartment Life (part two).

Well folks, just when you thought all the drama of a plaster ceiling would subside, you get another surprise.

To stay cool tonight we had Sebastian Joe's ice cream with our pals Jared & Skyler! It was so nice to go into an air conditioned ice cream parlor and enjoy a delicious time with friends. When we got home, I sat on the couch to look at the mail when Bryant said, "Hannah, you have to come over here. I am not happy." He was in the sunroom and it didn't take long for me to realize that something was going on with our favorite ceiling corner--you can read about the ceiling in "The Excitement of Apartment Life (part one)" here, although at the time we didn't think that story would be the first part of a duology at the time.

I really haven't had much to complain about with the humidity today. I spent a grand total of 12 minutes outdoors and the rest of the day was spent in air conditioned buildings. Our apartment was not handling the weather well, though, and the integrity of the sunroom's plaster was rapidly diminishing...

The updated ceiling:
The remains:


The saddest part is the damage those chunks did to our day bed. There are now three nasty gouges in the wood. We would have kept the bed unmade and out from under the corner but we had a friend stay overnight at our place this weekend due to an unexpected flight delay. We can't forfeit our hospitality to a little plaster/flood problem, right?? Well, we could have offered the couch I suppose, but fortunately this didn't happen on Friday night when someone's head would have had the gouges in it instead of the bed. :-/

On another positive note, the mess isn't gross water and the crumbs and dust can be brushed off for the most part.

...But I am really hoping there isn't a part three to this saga.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

TOO DARN HOT.

You know that cute song that Ella Fitzgerald sings? I'm feeling like it is just too darn hot to do anything right now. This morning Bryant and I braved the humidity in our apartment by quickly making pancakes and bacon and then running back to our air-conditioned bedroom to eat breakfast in bed.

When we moved into this apartment is was March and boy oh boy, was it a cold March. This winter was especially long! We didn't really take into consideration the fact that our new apartment didn't have A/C until we returned from our honeymoon the first week in June. We went to Target on the first hot day just to walk around in the air conditioning and actually considered buying the only window unit they had left on the shelf (which was probably the most expensive unit and likely way too big for our window).

Fortunately, my wonderful family donated their extra A/C window unit to the cause! We have a tiny little window in our bedroom and this thing couldn't have fit any more perfectly. I am pretty sure the guy from our apartment maintenance department rolled his eyes when we asked him to install it in that window instead of a larger one. Thanks to a few screws and a little elbow grease, we've had a cool and comfortable sleeping area on these hot days!


Right now in that cruel, hot world, 99º F with 80º F dew point means it is very, very uncomfortable out there (but very nice in here!):

Stay cool, Minnesota!

The Excitement of Apartment Life.

During our engagement, Bryant had moved to the Twin Cities from Cook, MN. It was a bittersweet time of transition because we were leaving all the friends we had made up there to start our life together in the city. A couple we were close with got married last weekend and it was so great to get back up North to celebrate with them. We even got to stop by my favorite ice cream place while we were there!

Even though the weekend on the lake was relaxing and fun, we returned to our apartment and beheld a very unfortunate sight:
Water damage!

The ceiling in our sunroom had been victimized by our upstairs neighbors. We were not very happy about getting home to this mess. It's one thing to have a ceiling looking like this and it's another thing to have it leak water all over your day bed. :(

Exhibit A:

This photo is of my very sad down comforter covered in nasty ceiling water. I really should have taken photos of everything before we disrobed the bed and removed the soaked lamp and clock, but I felt that unplugging the electrical cords was probably a good first move instead. Everything was pretty nasty, though, and Bryant and I were really bummed to have to deal with such a mess after a nice vacation.

Once we removed all our prized possessions from underneath the still-dripping ceiling corner we decided to go outside, look at the 3rd floor neighbors' apartment sunroom and see if there was any clue as to what was making my day bed a really ugly brown color. There was! We looked up there and saw this: 


If you can't tell what that is, I'll tell you. It's someone's idea of a window unit air conditioner installation. [And by that I mean: The neighbors don't know how air conditioners work and thought that placing one on the window ledge and turning it on before leaving for the weekend would be a super idea.] 

We knocked on their door several times with no answer. I had considered dropping a passive agressive note under their door laying out the basic physics of air condensation for their return but Bryant wouldn't let me.

Needless to say, we did manage to clean up the mess and pay $25 to get our comforter cleaned, which is only a slightly dingier white now. The maintenance man came about an hour after we called, turned off the air conditioner and installed it (correctly) for the neighbors. We've been told the painters will be by later to solve the ceiling problem, but until mold starts growing I'm not too concerned. :)

The whole situation was a test of patience, and I think we did alright except for the choice words I drafted in my brain in the first moments of displeasure. It was a reminder of the frustrations, and relief, that come with living in a rental apartment complex. Even though it was a headache and very inconvenient at the time, it isn't our bank account or re-plastering skills being put to work to fix the issue (phew)! 

On a happier note, here is a photo of the adorable couple we saw get married last weekend. It certainly was the highlight! :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Welcome to the blogosphere.

Meet us: Bryant and Hannah, a couple of transplanted Minnesotans, one from Iowa and one from Wisconsin. We fell in love, got married, and to this day neither of us are positive what it is we really want out of life. 


Because of our recent marriage, we have a pretty exciting and packed life so far this year! We made a couple of job changes, moved to a historic apartment in the city, planned the wedding of our dreams in May and we are building our life together as a married couple. If all this wasn't enough craziness, we are moving to England in September! We were offered an opportunity near High Wycombe, UK for a three-year period and on the eve of Prince William and Kate's wedding we decided to take the plunge (fitting)!


Even though we haven't nailed down our life goals and we aren't driven by grand dreams, we love each other and we look forward to making the most of every day as it comes.

We're joining the blog bandwagon because we know that this is the trip of a lifetime and we want to log our process of getting there and share our travel experiences. If you're a friend, family member or just a blog surfer curious about our life transition from Minnesota to London, we hope you enjoy what you read and perhaps you'll be inspired to do a little traveling yourself!