Welcome to Cincinnati, Population 364,040 + 2

We're here! After the longest day in the history of days on Saturday and only several small glitches in our plans, we arrived at our little house on Amazon Avenue by 1am local time and got everything unloaded, into the house, and our bodies into "bed" by 3:00am. No neighbors have come over to complain yet, so I'm hoping we didn't wake anyone. This is the biggest move either of us have ever made in our adult lives and we're so grateful for everyone who graciously volunteered to help us. Emily and Betsy gave up their entire Friday afternoon and evening to help pack, clean, and load the truck. What great friends! Betsy even made us a delicious lunch. Kristin stopped by after a long day at work to help load too and Anne even came all the way from Fergus Falls to lend a hand. And then there is Brad and Kelly… not only did they haul down a trailer for us from Fergus Falls, they helped load, frantic last minute cleaned, drove all the way to Ohio, helped unload in the middle of the night, and then cheerfully got up early the next morning to make the long drive all the way back home. Who does that?! Only the most amazing people in the world, I’m pretty sure. Anyway, thank you everyone for helping us make this move… we really couldn't have done it without you!

And now a little bit about our new house. We discovered some of the quirks of this cute house right from the get-go. The house was very cold when we arrived, so we turned up the thermostat. But to no avail as the furnace went out in the night and our already short night was made even shorter by all the shivering. Our landlord, Lou, stopped by the next day and made some calls to get the issue figured out, but the furnace guy said he could only temporarily fix it because he needed to order a part that he wouldn't be able to install until Monday. Mark, the furnace guy, said on his way out that he had it fixed enough to get us through the night, but not 10 minutes after he left, it went out again. And so we spent our second freezing night in our new home. But I'm happy to report that he got it running yesterday (Monday) and it's still working today. Hooray! I will never take heat for granted again.

Other quirks of our house include skeleton keys that work only sporadically for the front and back doors. I took Baxter for a walk yesterday and spent 10 minutes trying to get back into the house because I couldn't get the door unlocked. I think it just takes a special touch that we haven't developed yet. Our one bathroom is also rather unusual as the shower seems to be fashioned somewhat in the style of the European showers that are just a shower in the middle of an open room. It's different, but we are grateful to have a hot shower at all. Lou said the house was built in the 1890's, so that is why there aren't many closets. I noticed the closet space was limited when we moved in, but now that I’m unpacking and putting things away, the scarcity of closets is really becoming evident. We are going to have to come up with some creative storage solutions! Another trip to Ikea will probably help with that :-)
The positives of this house are that it is beautiful! Every room has hard wood floors that were recently re-finished. I'm paranoid about scratching them, but am enjoying their beauty. We have more livingroom space than we know what to do with and are exited at the prospect of being able to get a real couch rather than just our loveseat. We also have a separate formal dining room. The kitchen was recently remodeled too and is so wonderful! I’m almost done unpacking in there, so will post some pictures once it's cleaned up. And just yesterday, a gigantic deck was finished on the back of the house, overlooking the wooded lot behind us. We are so excited to get some use out of it before winter comes!

If you're still with me through this long posting, I'll just mention that Scott started both his new job and class at Xavier yesterday. He left before 8:00am and didn't get home until almost 10:00pm… ick. But it sounds like he had a good day overall. We're thankful that his class only meets once a week! He discovered that parking downtown Cincinnati is a dream compared to Minneapolis. He parked in a ramp right across the street from his building since it was his first day and he wanted to be on time. When he went to leave, he handed the cashier a $20 bill, not expecting much back in change. But it turned out he only owed $4 for the entire day! Good deal. It's hardly even worth taking the bus at that price. My job hunt is just beginning, but I haven't really found any exciting prospects yet. It's a bit difficult without the internet at home, so hopefully we can get that set up shortly.
I have so much more I could write about our charming neighborhood, but I'll save some for later since this is getting long. Thank you everyone for all your prayers and thoughts as we make this transition - we truly appreciate every one of you!
~Emily

Amazon Ave.