We're not moving this year!

Yay! Liz and I last night officially informed our landlord that we wanted to renew our lease and stay on at the current apartment. I'm happy we did, because for a while there I felt like I was living the life of a nomad. In a 13-month period I moved from Australia to Liz' mother's place, to Apartment 1, to Apartment 2, then to Apartment 3 (the current apartment). That's around 7 moves right there! (I realize it is only 4)

This move (or lack thereof) should help us get more out of summer. The past 2 years we have been moving, cleaning, unpacking and finding places for things, so you start to miss out on a few weekends, or find yourself doing stuff after work to get yourself settled. But not this year! No painting and cleaning before dashing out of the apartment to get to the 4th July fireworks; no missing out on a day outside because we have boxes to unpack.

On top of all of that, we both really like the current apartment. It is close to places we ordinarily go and the apartment itself is better than any we have had before. There is a garage for the car, the deck for the barbecue and table, and there's all kinds of stuff around the backyard (namely birds, squirrels, and the occasional/one-time raccoons and possums).

Only downside is that I won't get to drive a big truck for the foreseeable future, but I guess I can live without the aura of "I'm driving a big truck..." For some reason I found driving the moving van to be awesome. But packing it stunk.