hie these iz Kirby's 1st Blug {POST

Look at me! I'm posting a blog! Yee-hee!

The Drive-In

It was fun! We thought we'd try it out to see how we liked it. After all, it meant we could get out on a date WITH Emily! She was asleep on the floor for a good chunk of the movie. 

My favorite part? The pictures. :)

Emily still doesn't quite get the concept of self-portraits...

We figure the earlier we teach her how to drive the easier it will be when she's a teenager, right?

Not sure how that tiny little body contains all that joy... :)

Reason she's flying out of the frame? Oh... because she was bouncing around like a crazy baby. She was so excited about all this...

Obviously...

Aw... That's my cutie pie!

Darling. Simply Darling.

It was nap time. Put the Emster down, came back to check on her later and I couldn't quite figure out where she was, or rather how she was oriented. 

She had disappeared!

Pretty sure I wouldn't have ever found her if her arm hadn't been stickin' out... :)

Emily wore her swimsuit for the first time today! :) 

So. Stinkin. Cute.

Seriously.

And just because she can balance by herself...

Look at those LEGS!!

The Tour

So, this is mostly for me, and for my sister, who shares my love of all things interior. :) But for anyone else who's interested in seeing what it looks like to move across the country with only what fits in your car and then rely solely on the ward members to supply any furniture, read on! :)

This is our main room. LOVE the windows. There is so much natural light in this place. Yes, Emily sleeps in the living room. We only have one bedroom...

View from the other side of the living room... Please note that I am squished up in the corners in order to get the widest angle as possible... One of my favorite parts of the apartment--outlets GALORE! No extension cords needed. Ever.

Here's the story of the furniture. The only piece of "furniture" we had when we got to Florida was Emily's pack 'n' play. We were literally sitting on a bare hardwood floor for two days--not so great on the back, by the way. Our landlord (who is fabulous, by the way) loaned us their queen air mattress until we could get a mattress... We got our place Friday afternoon. On Sunday at church when we introduced ourselves in Relief Society and Priesthood, we just let everyone know we had no furniture. Just kind of threw it out there, hoping someone would have a spare mattress we could borrow while we were here, and maybe a couch. Or camp chairs. Or ANYTHING better than the bare floor... 

Within an hour of church ending, we had a couch, lazy boy, king sized mattress, and a baby gate. The following day we got a card table and folding chairs, towels, and various kitchenwares. 

Here is our fabulous watercolor couch.

We were in need of a desk, but don't really have the space, so I had the idea to adjust the shelving by the fireplace so I could use it as a desk! :)

Here's our teensy weensy cute-as-a-button kitchen.

This stove is darling. And tiny. But perfect for us. Plus--it's a gas stove! I've never used a gas stove before... Love it. It probably has more to do with the fact that I'm a pyro, and I get to light fire whenever I use one, but you know... And how cute is that little window! I know you are all wondering--yes, it works. I opened it up today. Got hit with a wall of muggy heat when I did, and invited a little eight-legged friend in, too, but it opens! So cute.

The bedroom is right off the living room. Obviously. Where else would it be? It's a one bedroom apartment! :) Look spacious? Don't be fooled... The king mattress literally touches three walls!

See? We have to stand on the bed to get to half of our closet... And we have to walk over it to get to the bathroom. But it sure beats sleeping on the floor! :)

Moving right along into the bathroom...

Small, but functional. Zero counterspace, but I make it work. 

Cause let's be real--I'm the only one who actually "needs" it...

Hey! Who's that crazy wearing long sleeves in Florida!?

It's my pajama shirt (aka go-to covered in baby puke and snot shirt.) Glamorous, I know.

So, our apartment is a "carriage house" of sorts. Basically means it's above a garage. So the living room, kitchen, and bedroom are all upstairs. This is our front door and laundry room/mud room. Right behind the camera is the staircase to the rest of the house. I love all the counterspace and shelving in here! I don't use half of it since we have zero stuff here, but I just love HAVING it!

So there you have it! That's our small, but oh so comfy and fabulous apartment in Lakeland's historic district. We love it. Absolutely love it. The central air isn't bad, either. So much better than a window unit. Phew! If anyone comes to visit we can put you up in the laundry room (or should I say put you down... ?? Oh man, I am so hilarious.) :)

Lake Hollingsworth

Lakeland, Florida.

Our new home!

We live half a block from Lake Hollingsworth, right by Florida Southern College. The lake is fabulous. Exactly three miles around (there is a convenient two-way path around it, too). Kirby and I were originally planning to take a walk around it every evening, but Emily and I have been stricken with a nasty virus the last couple days, so we've stayed in. 

The first time we walked the lake, though, I took my camera along. It's a good thing I had it, too, because it helped distract me from the muggy heat. Kirby and I were both full on sweating (not nasty, wet-spots-all-over-the-clothes sweaty) by the time we got back to our apartment. We will never do that at 1 in the afternoon again! :)

Here's a glimpse at the lake through my lens...

(Yes... there's something like 20 pictures, so brace yourselves!)

There was a little boardwalk thingy that juts out into the lake. Looks peaceful, yeah? Don't be deceived. That's exactly what the mosquitoes want you to think!

When I first took this shot it was because I thought the lines were cool, jutting up into the sky like that. When I got it home and opened it in photoshop I realized the leaves are covered in bugs! Welcome to Florida. :)

I could spend all day taking pictures of palm trees. 

Seriously.

Texture. Yum.

For some reason, some of the fire hydrant heads are blue. Dunno why.

I feel like I'm walking into a Lord of the Rings set every time I see these trees. This hanging stuff is everywhere, and I love it!

Mmmmm... Texture...

This was Emily's first day with a sippy cup. I don't think she really gets it, yet, but she loved holding it. I just love how indifferent she looks... :)

Our apartment is in the historic district, which means are streets are made up of these...

My favorite kind of palm tree. I refer to them as "the firework palm."

I love when the trees grow out sideways. Add a pleasant little walkway underneath, and some hanging stuff, and voila! Awesomeness!

This is a "short lil' dude" palm.

This was funny. Kirby squatted down to look at this mother duck and her ducklings who came waddling towards us. As soon as he squatted, birds from EVERYWHERE flocked to us! Ha. They thought we had bread. So then Kirby held his hand like he had some and MORE came. They would run towards spots if he pretended to throw bread, too... Well, at least we know they are well trained. And well fed, for that matter!

This is "the Dr. Seuss" palm. Complete with the kink in the trunk.

This is the "big ugly hairy-chested man" palm. Not much to look at.

And my favorite shot of the day. Yum. :)

She Loves Her Daddy...

Yes she does. :)

Survival

We finally made it.
It took a bit longer than expected, but we made it.

Remember that timing belt that caused all our problems?

See how those ridges are missing? Bad news. 

Wednesday was a roller coaster day. When I wrote the post that day, the coaster was only beginning its ascent...  
(How's that for a dramatic beginning!?)

To make a long (as in, hours of waiting and phone calls and fretting) story short, they originally told us everything should be just fine because the belt didn't actually break. So that was where I left you. We got another call saying they got a new belt on and tried to start the car and couldn't, which meant that there must have been engine damage after all. The repairs would probably cost upwards of $1500. 

O.U.C.H.

So then Kirby and I were trying to decide if we wanted to make the repair (basically replacing half the engine block) or maybe use that money we would spend as a down payment for a different, newer car? Just as we got into the thick of that conversation, we got another phone call from the mechanic telling us not to give up hope just yet. Turns out when they install a new timing belt they have to reset the timing mechanism, and a different mechanic had over-rotated some pin thingy by 360 degrees. This didn't mean our car was okay after all, but it meant that there was still a chance. He told us he'd call us back after they re-reset the timing and all that.

We were back in waiting, not-knowing land. Yuck. 

Meanwhile, the super sweet ladies at the hotel let us stay in our room until 2pm (checkout is normally 11), which meant that Emily was actually able to get a REAL nap. 2pm came, though, so for the next hour and a half we were hanging out in the lobby with the funny receptionist lady. She LOVED Emily (okay, let's be honest. Everyone here does...), and her love of babies offset her chronic grumpiness. :)

We finally got a call back and learned that our car was going to be just fine after all, and the guy was going to come and pick Kirby up at the hotel. HUZZAH! Suddenly the $600-somethin' it was going to cost seemed much less serious. But let's be honest--still a huge hit to the savings account! GRRR...

So we finally got on the road around 3:30 or 6:00--not exactly the 10am we'd been hoping for! We drove a couple hours and found a hotel for the night, planning to finish off the hours Thursday.



Which we did.

We got to Lakeland, FL around 2 or 3 in the afternoon and checked in to the Comfort Inn and Suites. This hotel was like heaven compared to the other 3 we had stayed in... Emily's knees weren't filthy after 10 minutes of crawling around on the carpet, and there wasn't mysterious yellow stuff on the floor of the bathroom. Hah. Emily had a great time exploring!

Who knew how much fun a plain ol' phone book could be? :)

So yeah. We're here. I'll get posting about "HERE" soon! :)