Updates From My New Home: Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

You read that right. I now live in Wisconsin. Ben got a job in West Bend, WI and we moved up here on Oct. 15th. I am still telecommuting to my job with the University of Cincinnati while they seek my replacement and I seek to replace them. And that's where we are.

So, how did the move go, you ask? Well, it wasn't so bad. Once we figured out HOW we were going to move, the process was relatively seamless.  We had about a month's worth of warning. So, we did a lot of packing on the weekends and on the Friday of our move, we hired two fabulous, professional movers to load all of our stuff into a storage bin that was dropped off the day before. My suspicion at the time was that we had way more crap than would fit into at 16 foot storage container and that we were kinda screwed since I'd only ordered one. To my amazement, however, the movers were descendants of Houdini (I can only assume) and they magically fit everything we had in the container, with a full 3.5 feet left over for the odds and ends we hadn't packed yet and/or actually might still need. It was awesome-- the best $400 I ever spent. It also made me feel slightly guilty and incredibly aware of the hack job of packing we had attempted to do when having helped other ward members move in the past. Oh well. The bright side -- we did not charge for it.

The news of our fast and expedited packing was not pleasing to all. The ward missionaries came over later that afternoon to help us move and were dismayed to see we had very little for them to do. Fear not! We found a way to make them useful and had them help us vacuum, dust windows & closets, etc. They were awesome. Then we had the mutually beneficial exchange of dumping all of our perishables on them that we would have otherwise had to throw away, and bequeathed them an old, beat-up office chair that we were about to send to DI. Happy scripture studying on that!!! :) And thanks for your help. It was great to see you before we left.

Saturday -- we just had to finish our cleaning, pack up the last few things and then we were out of there! We thought we were going to be out of there early. Boy were we wrong!!! I underestimated the time it takes to deep clean a kitchen. :) We started working on things at around 8am and didn't get out the door until 4pm -- a full day's work. But it got done, and it was just fine since we weren't really on a schedule. We locked up the container, left it there, and then proceeded to caravan up to Wisconsin, with me in the Subaru and Ben driving the Jeep right behind me. We drove up halfway to our final destination and stayed overnight in a hotel off the highway just north of Gary, Indiana after 6 hours of driving. The gym at the hotel was rather pathetic -- a broken treadmill and an elliptical machine in desperate need of some DW40. But it was otherwise delightful.

Sunday -- we finished our drive and arrived safely in Germantown, Wisconsin. Since we were weary travelers in a new place, and incredibly hungry, we broke the Sabbath and ate at a nearby Cracker Barrel (yum!) before we met the landlord of our short-term furnished rental. We were delighted to find that Germantown is a pretty populated place and the condo we would be staying in was surrounded by shops, restaurants and other handy amenities. The landlord met us right on time, gave us keys and we've felt right at home every since.

So, you see, easy peasy. Of course, our stuff is still in storage (at least everything that didn't fit in our cars). And we're in the depths of house hunting, which has been a fair amount of torture over the last few weeks. But it does keep us busy and entertained -- no small feat for being in Wisconsin in the beginning of winter, where we have no friends (yet).

Bright spots--

Chicago is only 2 hours away and I already can't wait for a Saturday trip into town! MK's, I will be making a reservation for truffle fries & cream and your lush desserts post haste! :)

I hear there's a cool little vintage shop area called Brady St. in Milwaukee (20 min's from here). I have some exploring to do.

Found a fun cafe to eat at on my b-day. The restaurant scene is not completely absent

I think we may have found a house. And if we get it, please be aware that my Four Seasons accommodation promise will be more than fulfilled and we will be accepting guest reservations year-round.

Here's to adventures, new friends and a new chapter! We've waited for this for a long time. I'm glad it's finally here.