I've always hated moving. Mainly because it always seems to occur during the heat of Texas summers and unfortunately I'm a mini hoarder.. You never know when you might need those Mardi Gras beads, or that crumbled concert ticket from an amazing Matt and Kim show, or of course all my Green Bay Packers gear, I'll never part with my cheesehead and my Brett Favre bobble-head! I'm super sentimental about objects, even if its just a handwritten note so its really hard for me to part with things. I have to emotionally say goodbye before I toss it (confession of a hoarder for real). However, I did take 3 trips to goodwill my last week in Houston and got rid of a bunch! So you can see why I hate moving, lots of stuff plus 100 degree temperatures = frustrated Stephanie. Anyways, all my moves have been exciting despite the physical labor of moving, and this one is no exception. So long Jackson Hill apartments, so many good memories from the 3 years I lived here!
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| I had 160 boxes... this is just the beginning! |
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| Goodbye Jackson Hill Apartments! |
Big news... I bought a house in Anchorage! Just adds to the stress of a new state, a new job, and now my first home purchase! The rental market in Anchorage is not very impressive. The price was 2-3 times what I pay in Houston for a major downgrade. So my realtor basically said buying is the way to go, but the market is so hot right now that new places sell within 5-7 days of being listed, sometimes before buyers even look at the property! So I had to make the biggest financial decision of my life after 2 days of looking at properties after work, yikes. But I'm super excited, its a cute little condo that is the perfect size for me. And I'll have a guest room for all the visitors I'm expecting :) Picture of the condo is below, its still under construction but will be ready to move in July 15, so more pictures to come!
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| My soon to be new abode! You can kind of see the mountains in the background |
I was warned there are not a lot of furniture options in Anchorage, so it was best to buy some of the big things in Houston before I moved up. Good idea in theory.. however, fitting furniture for a 3 bedroom townhouse into my 1 bedroom apartment in Houston was a bit of a mess. I got a new bedroom set that I'm obsessed with, its amazing reclaimed wood! However I didn't get a mattress because my shipment of goods will take 4-6 weeks to arrive to Anchorage from Houston, so I'll get a mattress for my new bed in Anchorage so that I have a place to sleep for a few weeks while waiting for my stuff to arrive. Anyways, this means that for my last 2 weeks in Houston, I was sleeping on my mattress in my living room wedged between my TV and couches as you can see below. Also, I have got an amazing new dining room table that can fit more than 2 so I can have my new friends over for some fun dinner parties! This caused some serious furniture overload in my apartment and you could barely maneuver around before the movers came.
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| Living room / where I slept for 2 weeks pre-movers.. tight squeeze! |
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| Living Room all packed up |
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| Empty living room :( |
I also got a new car! Meet Sue, my new Suburu Forester :) Hopefully she will keep my safe in the winter driving conditions up North. She is currently on a barge up to Anchorage and will hopefully arrive in about a week! This means I had to sell my first car, the good old Nissan Altima. However, its staying in the family, my brother RC bought it from me!
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| My new hot rod! |
I've also gotten to go on a few hikes during my business trips to Alaska, one being Flattop which gives an awesome view of the city, coastline, and surrounding mountains! I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings aka amazing. It took about an hour and a half to get to the top. There were three sections of "stairs" which was essentially burning like a stairmaster, I need to do this hike a couple times a month to get some buns of steel haha. The last set of stairs I just looked down at my feet telling them to keep moving, the view will be worth it. One of my co-workers cheered, "No pain, no gain" and proceeded to mention that her 5 year old son can do it. So obvi I couldn't stop if a 5 year old can do it! Ha. The last part of the hike was basically a straight uphill of big rocks that you had to manuever around to get to the flat top. It was scary when a rock came loose and I started slipping, and the fact that you could lose your balance and essentially fall down the cliff was slightly scary (my mom will probably freak reading this), but once I got to the top it was absolutely worth it! Such a beautiful place and still bright as day at 9pm. Summers are incredible here. I captured the sunset at 12:30am and then the sunrise in the airport at 3:30am! I love how long the days are, there is so much time to cram in fun activities and make the most of the beautiful summer days!
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| Breaktaking views on Flattop |
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| So pretty with patches of snow yet beautiful greenery |
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| Climbing up the rocks in the lower right to get to the top of Flattop |
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| Taking in my new turf |
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| Sunrise at 3:30am |
I'm so lucky to have such amazing people supporting me during this huge transition. Even strangers that I've talked to about moving have been so sweet and encouraging. I went to the Cole Haan shoe store (after my friends were raving about them, thanks Aubrey and Lindsey) to get a good pair of work shoes since I finally discarded about 10 pairs before I moved that were completely destroyed. I got to talking to sales lady helping me out and told her I didn't want any open toe shoes cause I was moving somwehere cold in a few days. We chatted about my move and when she checked me out she gave me a lifesaver mint and told me I was her lifesaver for inspiring her to live out her dreams and ambitions! It was super sweet.
I had a grand goodbye with all my friends and family in Texas. I got to spend a week in Florida with my family and got a great tan that will have to last me through the winter :) I got to enjoy some fabulous concerts at Free Press Summer Fest in Houston! And then I spent my last few nights in Houston saying goodbye to my amazingly sweet friends and ended on a bang by party rocking to Ke$ha and Pitbull, can't beat that!
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| Amazing Texas and Alaska themed cupcakes made by the sweet Ann Luu! |
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Total Texan... Got the Shiner, flag cookie, and Texas necklace
from my co-worker Kimberly so I can totally rock Texas even in Alaska |
It's been such a whirlwind since I found out I was moving a little over a month ago that I don't think I've really had a chance to process.
But it all kind of hit me the last 2 days before I moved and it was actually really hard and emotional to say goodbye to everyone. I
cried a few times starting with when I turned in the keys to my apartment and then had to start saying goodbye to the people who have been such a huge part of my life lately. Temporarily good-bye of course! Its just strange to think I'm so far away from home when I've never lived more than 4 hours away from the house I was born in. But my sweet best friend Becca gave me a necklace with a small compass so I can always find my way home :)
Well, I've nearly survived the big move and am thrilled to finally be starting this adventure and look forward to getting settled over the next month. The 7 hour flight is not too much fun multiple times in such a short period of time. A few more pictures below of my trip up here on Monday! Including the cockpit of my plane, the pilot totally let me fly the plane.. while on the gate of course :) The view from the plane window of the beautiful state of Alaska and the lovely polar bears that greeted me in the airport! More exciting updates and pictures to come as I finally move into my new place in the next few weeks and check out more activities in Alaska this summer!
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| Off I go, with 3 suitcases to last me 4-6 weeks until my things arrive in Anchorage! |
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| Mom helped me scramble and pack up the day I left |
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| Two of my brothers came to the airport to drop me off |
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| Piloting the plane |
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| Welcome to Alaska! |
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| Why hello there scary bear |
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| My new daily view from work |
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My precious parents sent me flowers at work when I arrived up here!
Thanks Mom and Dad :) ya'll are the best |
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