Our 1st Home

In March James and I moved out of Army housing and into our 1st home together...we call it our 1st because WE got to pick it out and furnish it! We did lots of research, looked at tons of places and agreed that Colonial Tradewinds would be our home for the next year! The apartment was very spacious and had lots of storage. A few days after moving in we flew to Colorado to get all of our stuff. I was so excited to have an ample supply of kitchen utensils and gadgets to cook with...the first night I cooked Jamaican Jerk chicken (with marinate we had picked up on our honeymoon). Not even 5 minutes into baking the smoke alarm was going off...I was a bit embarrassed being a new bride and burning our meal. BUT it turned out that I had not burnt anything! After several nights of listening to the smoke alarm go off we finally called the maintenance company...they came and replaced the smoke alarm - yay! - WRONG, it continued to go off every time I cooked! The new verdict...oven needs to be replaced (something wrong with the gas flow). After waiting almost 10 days our new oven arrives -yay! - WRONG! The smoke alarm went off again :-( Maintenance at this point is on speed dial. They can't seem to figure it out, so the next night when the alarm is going off, I called the non-emergency fire department line...4 men arrive at the door (embarrassed again). They take a look at the oven and smoke alarm...vents need to be cleaned! Easy problem to be fixed until I realize the vents don't actually go outside...our oven is not hooked up to any vents, it just recirculates the air (Dad says that is normal for gas ovens). Back to square one. At this point I am rarely using the oven because it drives me CrAzY, but I can't avoid it for the next year...so I try it out again and smoke alarm goes off and I speed dial maintenance. They come...new verdict...oven has a film on it from manufacturing that needs to be burned off. So I use it 3 more times...still causing the smoke alarm to go off...GRRRR! Maintenance is supposed to be by today...

To top it all off this is not our only maintenance issue:

• kitchen sink pipes leak...maintenance replaces the U pipe! A couple of nights later the pipes are leaking AGAIN...pipes were put on wrong and need to be replaced. Maintenance comes back by and does the whole process again...we have working pipes! BUT now our sink won't drain due to the fact that the drain is no longer flesh with the sink...the water pools around the drain - do I dare call maintenance?!?!
• -toilet runs nonstop...maintenance shortens the chains! As I laid in bed last night I listened to drip...drip...drip!!!!!!!!!!

I am usually a very calm and patient person, but this apartment is driving me bonkers and James...well he is not a happy camper either to say the least ;-)

Lets try this again...

I started up a blog a few months back to keep everyone up-to-date on James and I...well you can see I didn't do such a great job. LOTS has happened since August of 2011! Here is a brief recap:

August - January 2012: James was deployed to Afghanistan. I moved in with my parents during the 5 month stint. Thanks to modern technology we were able to keep in contact from across the world!!

January 16th: James returned stateside and I officially moved to Hampton, VA.
January 19th - 22nd: We took a long weekend trip to Washington, DC...kind of like a 2nd honeymoon :-)
January 26th - 29th: Drove down to North Carolina to see James' parents for the 1st time since returning from overseas.
February 22nd - 26th: Merry Christmas!! We drove to New Jersey and then to New York to spend our "Christmas" together. During this trip I was able to meet a lot of James' family. I also had my 15 seconds of fame on the Dave Letterman show!

March 15th: Moved into our new apartment...what we like to call our "1st home" together since we were able to pick it out and furnish it ourselves (previously lived in Army housing)...still working on getting the kinks fixed...ugh!
March 19th - 24th: We took a short trip back to Colorado to see my family and load up the Santa Fe with the essentials we would need for our new apartment...my bride-brain was on overload when packing last June, apparently essentials did not include towels or sheets...oops! Friday morning we hopped in the vehicle and headed east...Saturday evening we arrived home - it was a beautiful road trip across country!
April 8th: Easter...our 1st holiday spent together as husband and wife. I tried my best to make it traditional, but a broken oven made it a bit difficult ;-)
April 14th: Surprise Birthday weekend in Williamsburg...visited the Jamestown Fort, took a food tour of Merchant Square, learned how to make wine at the Williamsburg Winery and tried to solve a 70s Murder Mystery while enjoying a 4 course meal...yep, my tummy was full by the end of the day!!

**I have more pictures on my camera, but haven't put them on my computer yet.

Life has been a whirlwind of fun and adventures since marrying the love of my life! My plan is to keep this blog more up to date...check back soon!