We went to play trivia at a local pub tonight. I felt more home tonight than I have since we've been here. We used to play trivia at least once a week in LaGrange. We didn't even come close to winning, but we did enjoy playing (btw, Jaroth the Goblin King was our team name for the night. 2 points for you if you know the reference).
Tomorrow I'll have my first full day of work at the Church where I'm going to start working out the plan for starting a college ministry. I'm so excited to start planning and designing and searching out God's will for GWU and The United Church.
Derek has an introductory interview today for an internship. He interviewed with the intern coordinator today and he'll be recommended to different department heads based on his skills and he'll have a second interview sometime soon. He's so ready to get this internship set up.
In other news, our new toilet is being installed right now (praise God!) and I am typing this post on my brand new netbook. It's so tiny and cute! I'm still getting used to the smaller keyboard, but it's going to be great for lugging around the city since it's only 2.5 lbs! This and the new Sharpie pens I bought made me super excited for school.
Thanks for all your support with the whole apartment issue. It's nice to have a place to vent to everyone I'd probably tell anyway without having to repeat it a million times.
Well, it's off to play with the new computer some more and think of a super awesome 2 word team name for trivia next week (there's a prize for the best one). Suggestions are welcome!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Crash and Burn
Sorry if you've called and I haven't called you back. Or if you've wished me well on Facebook or Twitter and I haven't responded. I've been a bit preoccupied. I think the best way you could describe our move, the move I was sooooo excited about, is nightmare.
I promise you, this is the short version of the story:
We were supposed to move into our basement apartment last Saturday. 3 hours before we were supposed to pull up to our new house, we got a call from the homeowners saying it wasn't ready yet. So, we gave them another day and assumed everything would be ready when we arrived on Sunday. We spent money on a hotel. We stressed out our dogs. It wasn't ready Sunday either, but we moved in anyway. None of the baseboards were down, switches and outlets weren't covered, the stove didn't work, we had no cable or internet (even though they had it upstairs)the closet wasn't finished, there were holes in the ceiling, etc, etc, etc. Since moving in, we've found out that the washer and dryer were faulty, the plumbing was all screwed up and consequently our bathroom and kitchen flooded, the stove finally got hooked up only to find out that the reason it had been unhooked in the first place is that one of the burners is stuck to "on" and could kill us at any moment. One week after moving in, the stove still doesn't work, some of the baseboards still aren't down, there's now water under the floor in our kitchen, and right this moment we don't have a toilet. The toilet problem should be fixed tonight though.
It's been rough. If we had anywhere else to go we probably would have. I've cried quite a bit and it's certainly been stressful. Things are starting to improve but we're already counting down the months until we can move.
The only thing that has been really good is that I started work this Wednesday at The United Church, where I am the Minister to College Students and Young Adults. I get to build a college ministry from scratch which is both exciting and daunting. But the church has been incredible in the few days I've been working there. They've really embraced Derek and I and we're glad to have that connection here in this big, strange city.
We like life in DC so far though. There's so much to do and see which is always exciting. We know if we can get all of the issues with our apartment taken care of, we'll really enjoy living here.
I'll be in contact quite a bit more from now on... at least I'll try. Don't forget about me far away friends.
I promise you, this is the short version of the story:
We were supposed to move into our basement apartment last Saturday. 3 hours before we were supposed to pull up to our new house, we got a call from the homeowners saying it wasn't ready yet. So, we gave them another day and assumed everything would be ready when we arrived on Sunday. We spent money on a hotel. We stressed out our dogs. It wasn't ready Sunday either, but we moved in anyway. None of the baseboards were down, switches and outlets weren't covered, the stove didn't work, we had no cable or internet (even though they had it upstairs)the closet wasn't finished, there were holes in the ceiling, etc, etc, etc. Since moving in, we've found out that the washer and dryer were faulty, the plumbing was all screwed up and consequently our bathroom and kitchen flooded, the stove finally got hooked up only to find out that the reason it had been unhooked in the first place is that one of the burners is stuck to "on" and could kill us at any moment. One week after moving in, the stove still doesn't work, some of the baseboards still aren't down, there's now water under the floor in our kitchen, and right this moment we don't have a toilet. The toilet problem should be fixed tonight though.
It's been rough. If we had anywhere else to go we probably would have. I've cried quite a bit and it's certainly been stressful. Things are starting to improve but we're already counting down the months until we can move.
The only thing that has been really good is that I started work this Wednesday at The United Church, where I am the Minister to College Students and Young Adults. I get to build a college ministry from scratch which is both exciting and daunting. But the church has been incredible in the few days I've been working there. They've really embraced Derek and I and we're glad to have that connection here in this big, strange city.
We like life in DC so far though. There's so much to do and see which is always exciting. We know if we can get all of the issues with our apartment taken care of, we'll really enjoy living here.
I'll be in contact quite a bit more from now on... at least I'll try. Don't forget about me far away friends.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Imminent
Friday morning we will load everything we own into a U-Haul trailer. By Friday evening we'll be more than half way to our new home. Dogs in tow, Derek, my mom, my step-dad and I will start the drive that starts the new chapter in our lives.
This whole thing is a little hard to process. I'm excited, but I'm also so nervous. I'm a little scared. I am very anxious. On one hand, I get to do so many things I've always wanted to. I get to live in a city with a million things to do and see! I get to ride the Metro everyday. I get to live in a city that is full of cultural diversity. I get to go back to school and get a Master's degree. But I'll also be 12 hours away from everything and everyone that I'm familiar with. I'll probably get lost a lot. I'm scared we won't have any friends.
The next few days will be an emotional roller coaster for me. My natural instinct is to avoid situations like this. Normally, I just wouldn't think about the fact that this is the last time I'll see some people for quite some time. But I want to remember this. I want people to know how much I love and appreciate them. I'm not good at letting people know those things but I'm trying to be conscious of it this time.
So, if I haven't told you already, I'll miss you and I love you and I hope we keep in touch. Visit me. I want people to visit. Unless I don't know you and you're some stranger who reads my blog, in which case thank you for reading but please don't come to my house :)
This whole thing is a little hard to process. I'm excited, but I'm also so nervous. I'm a little scared. I am very anxious. On one hand, I get to do so many things I've always wanted to. I get to live in a city with a million things to do and see! I get to ride the Metro everyday. I get to live in a city that is full of cultural diversity. I get to go back to school and get a Master's degree. But I'll also be 12 hours away from everything and everyone that I'm familiar with. I'll probably get lost a lot. I'm scared we won't have any friends.
The next few days will be an emotional roller coaster for me. My natural instinct is to avoid situations like this. Normally, I just wouldn't think about the fact that this is the last time I'll see some people for quite some time. But I want to remember this. I want people to know how much I love and appreciate them. I'm not good at letting people know those things but I'm trying to be conscious of it this time.
So, if I haven't told you already, I'll miss you and I love you and I hope we keep in touch. Visit me. I want people to visit. Unless I don't know you and you're some stranger who reads my blog, in which case thank you for reading but please don't come to my house :)
Monday, July 19, 2010
Let it begin.
I officially packed the first boxes last night. We had our yard sale this weekend and got rid of pretty much everything we weren't planning to take with us. Then the packing had to begin.
People keep asking if I've started counting down the days. I hadn't until this morning. 19. In 19 days I will no longer live in Georgia. I'm excited, and nervous and a little sad. Moving day will be here before I know it.
People keep asking if I've started counting down the days. I hadn't until this morning. 19. In 19 days I will no longer live in Georgia. I'm excited, and nervous and a little sad. Moving day will be here before I know it.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Apartment!
Hi there. Remember me? I blog here sometimes. No, you don't remember? Well it is pretty infrequent, so I don't blame you. What's this blog all about you ask? It's supposed to be about my and my husband moving to DC. Which by the way happens in less than a month. Holy crap.
We traveled to DC last week to look for an apartment. It was interesting. We were supposed to tour four places. Before we even left our hotel to start the search two of them cancelled on us. The apartments had been taken. We were kind of freaking out. Mostly I was freaking out. Derek was ridiculously calm. We toured the smallest and most expensive of the apartments that we had planned to look at. It was $1175 per month for 486 sq. ft. It had a blue bath tub and toilet. But it was also two blocks from the waterfront, and you could see the Washington Monument from the balcony. The Smithsonian was blocks away. We LOVED the neighborhood. But there was no way we could justify spending that much money. Unless we had to, which at that point seemed like it might be the case.
That was Tuesday afternoon, and we weren't seeing the other place until Wednesday night and we were leaving Thursday morning. It was a basement apartment just across the Maryland border in Silver Spring. The homeowner offered to pick us up at our hotel. She brought one of her adorable dogs with her. She kept warning us that they were still renovating since they'd still bought the house so we'd have to use our imagination. I was still not prepared. The apartment had no floor or ceiling and few walls. I am not a person who has good concepts of space. Holy crap. But she walked us through and talked about all the plans. It had a big fenced in back yard for our dogs. It was incredibly affordable. It had more that 486 sq. ft. And an actual bedroom. We couldn't pass it up. Before we left that night we signed the lease.
We can't wait! The homeowners are incredibly friendly and are event letting us pick out some of the paint colors before they paint the walls (which by the way, now exist). It's going to be such a different experience. We're close to the metro, and shopping, and a real city with awesome stuff to do. We're moving up August 6th so come visit us anytime after that. I mean that. We'd love to have you! Unless I don't actually know you and then that would be weird.
We traveled to DC last week to look for an apartment. It was interesting. We were supposed to tour four places. Before we even left our hotel to start the search two of them cancelled on us. The apartments had been taken. We were kind of freaking out. Mostly I was freaking out. Derek was ridiculously calm. We toured the smallest and most expensive of the apartments that we had planned to look at. It was $1175 per month for 486 sq. ft. It had a blue bath tub and toilet. But it was also two blocks from the waterfront, and you could see the Washington Monument from the balcony. The Smithsonian was blocks away. We LOVED the neighborhood. But there was no way we could justify spending that much money. Unless we had to, which at that point seemed like it might be the case.
That was Tuesday afternoon, and we weren't seeing the other place until Wednesday night and we were leaving Thursday morning. It was a basement apartment just across the Maryland border in Silver Spring. The homeowner offered to pick us up at our hotel. She brought one of her adorable dogs with her. She kept warning us that they were still renovating since they'd still bought the house so we'd have to use our imagination. I was still not prepared. The apartment had no floor or ceiling and few walls. I am not a person who has good concepts of space. Holy crap. But she walked us through and talked about all the plans. It had a big fenced in back yard for our dogs. It was incredibly affordable. It had more that 486 sq. ft. And an actual bedroom. We couldn't pass it up. Before we left that night we signed the lease.
We can't wait! The homeowners are incredibly friendly and are event letting us pick out some of the paint colors before they paint the walls (which by the way, now exist). It's going to be such a different experience. We're close to the metro, and shopping, and a real city with awesome stuff to do. We're moving up August 6th so come visit us anytime after that. I mean that. We'd love to have you! Unless I don't actually know you and then that would be weird.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Official Endorsements
There are two things that I think you need to know about: and Mini sax: 
I need one of each. Just leave a comment if you want to buy me these and I'll happily accept. Thanks.
2. This blog because oh my gosh this women is so funny that I have literally almost peed my pants several times from reading her blog. She never disappoints in being really crude, completely honest, and hilarious. I love her.
One thing I'm not endorsing today is Michael Buble. For some reason Pandora thinks that I want to hear multiple songs by him. I don't. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what band I said I like that made Pandora think I would want to listen to Michael Buble. Or Savage Garden. Or Bon Jovi. I'm not interested in any of that. But I may have listened to the Justin Beiber song it played earlier. That kid is like crack for my ears.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Spaghetti Brain
I keep meaning to post, then you know, I get distracted by something shiny. But I'll be doing things and suddenly I'll think, "I should blog about that!" but then I usually fall asleep or find myself playing Plants v. Zombies for like, 6 hours instead. (I wish I were kidding about that, but I'm not. This game is like crack.)
Anyway, what's been going on in the life of the Baldridge's lately you ask? Well, my first instinct is to say not much. Does that happen to you? People ask you what's been going on and you just respond, not much, even if that's not true and you've had 1 million things happening lately. So weird.
Several things have actually been happening lately. I've been working for the Census, and boy-oh-boy are there some stories to tell from that. Yesterday alone I saw a man kill a 4.5 foot snake, an Osama Bin Laden doll nailed to someone's front door and a man in nothing but his very form fitting underwear. Can you tell I'm working in the country?! As weird as it may be sometimes, I think it's definitely worth the extra money.
Derek's been in charge of the TV station where he works for the past week as well. One of his assignments was to get the station running a live web stream of their programming. They've been working on this for a while, and he finally got it done (cause he's awesome and all you know). So that's right, you can now watch Exercise with Emily at 9:30 am and 1:00 pm every weekday just by clicking here and clicking play. You're welcome former LaGrangians.
We also have a roommate! Our fabulous friend McKendrick is going to live with us for the summer, and we're super excited about it. The dogs still freak out every time he comes in the door, but they do that for everyone.
As far as DC goes, Derek's been offered 1 internship already and we're sure there are more to come. We have no place to live, but I'm looking and emailing people quite regularly. But we are less than 3 full months away from moving and soooooo excited!
So what's going on with you?
Anyway, what's been going on in the life of the Baldridge's lately you ask? Well, my first instinct is to say not much. Does that happen to you? People ask you what's been going on and you just respond, not much, even if that's not true and you've had 1 million things happening lately. So weird.
Several things have actually been happening lately. I've been working for the Census, and boy-oh-boy are there some stories to tell from that. Yesterday alone I saw a man kill a 4.5 foot snake, an Osama Bin Laden doll nailed to someone's front door and a man in nothing but his very form fitting underwear. Can you tell I'm working in the country?! As weird as it may be sometimes, I think it's definitely worth the extra money.
Derek's been in charge of the TV station where he works for the past week as well. One of his assignments was to get the station running a live web stream of their programming. They've been working on this for a while, and he finally got it done (cause he's awesome and all you know). So that's right, you can now watch Exercise with Emily at 9:30 am and 1:00 pm every weekday just by clicking here and clicking play. You're welcome former LaGrangians.
We also have a roommate! Our fabulous friend McKendrick is going to live with us for the summer, and we're super excited about it. The dogs still freak out every time he comes in the door, but they do that for everyone.
As far as DC goes, Derek's been offered 1 internship already and we're sure there are more to come. We have no place to live, but I'm looking and emailing people quite regularly. But we are less than 3 full months away from moving and soooooo excited!
So what's going on with you?
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