our new place

When we finally arrived in Champaign and found our little townhome, we walked into an empty, dusty, spider den. It had been vacant for almost a year and it seems the little creatures had found themselves a nice dark lair. At first I was wary. But as I walked around the place spraying the handy killing stuff this way and that, (in every corner and crack I could find), I was thinking to myself, "this place is a lot bigger than I remembered..." (our initial viewing was back in April and it was a quick in-n-out). No sooner had this thought crossed my mind, when Jonny called from downstairs, where he was filling the living room with boxes from the truck, "hey this place is bigger than I remembered!" I choked out an enthusiastic, "yeah, isn't it great?" through the fumes of bugspray... and smiled to myself.
I knew we would love it.

Now that it is spiderfree and clean, smelling fresh and full of our things...its home. Its still a two bedroom(aka 1 bedroom and 1 office/storage closet) and the "kitchen" table is still in the living room- but its a really nice upgrade from the storagespaceless, school-room-carpet, only-1-person-can-fit-in-the-bathroom-at-a-time-please apartment we came from. We feel lucky to be here.
Its a funny little place. Its an old building and the stairs are creaky, the bathroom has an interesting mix of early 90's country kitchen and a shell-shaped vintage sink with the ugliest countertop you ever did see...and the storm drain pours down right on our back porch...but we still like it! The yard is green and beautiful with lots of big trees, and the laundry shed is right outside our backdoor. It feels roomier and brighter and has plenty of storage for us.
AND
A mini-dishwasher! Its the joy of my life these days. Each time I turn it on, the low rumble and swishing sounds give me a thrill, and the steamy soap-scented air that puffs out when I open the door just speaks luxury. Amazing.

There is one thing about moving that I have yet to figure out- One usually buys the furniture to fit the home, right? Not the other way around. So it seems that each time we move to a new place there is some furniture to sell, and some to buy. We got away with selling our wardrobe/entertainment center for 100 bucks and finding this treasure at salvation army for.......$16.25! Thats what I call a smart exchange. (thank you thrift stores! love 'em)
Our new TV stand:


Also, no home is complete without a pet of some kind!
I wanted to get a live palm tree.
Unfortunately the landlords don't approve of potted plants on the carpet...something about staining or molding or whatever.
So I settled on another option-




Our new betta fish! We don't have a name for him yet- Any ideas? He looks strange in this picture (I'm pretty sure I blinded him with the flash too) but he's really pretty. An electric shiny blue and orange/red tail. (and no he's NOT dead. just swimming to the top for a food pellet)

Here are some pictures of our new place- have a look if you like. PICTURES
Or better yet...come visit and see it in real life! :)