Category: Glimpses of Life

Here are pictures of the complex called The Classic at the Preserve where we have rented a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment.

This is the side entry.  Our car is parked there instead of the heated indoor parking lot as I come and go during the day and it’s easier just to walk out the front door.

Although there is lots of snow piled around, it has not snowed in over 7 days.  They pile the snow into big mounds so they don’t melt.
Our apartment faces Southwest.  When the sun shines we get lots of warmth.

 The water pressure in Minnesota is fantastic.  I don’t believe they have low-flow shower heads.  So one could take a very quick shower.

The apartment complex is fairly similar to the one I used to manage in Seattle.

There are so many apartments here though.  Across the street from us there is another huge building with more apartments.

Although we had 7.5 inches of snow last weekend, things kept moving. People drive nice and slow or they’ll just go around me. Maybe they feel sorry for me because they see the Washington license plates.

It’s been in the 30’s mainly. People wear jackets or sweaters.

I wonder if it’s true, as some Minnesotans tell me, that the body acclimates itself to the cold.

Or are they pulling my leg?

Only time will tell but so far, the only time I’ve felt really cold is when the wind blew strongly today.

Our first full week in Minnesota has come and gone.

We have not had much luck with finding a house yet. Although there are many, they are mostly cookie cutter type houses.

We have some more possibilities to look at on Sunday.

Our apartment complex is huge. I was a little disappointed when we moved in because the cleaning person was there with a young child who was trying to distract the Cort furniture person. So the apartment was not as clean as I would expect.

The office had given me a form to fill out letting them know in what condition I found the apartment and I did not give them rave reviews.

Having worked as a property manager, I had higher expectations.

It’s nice that the complex has underground parking as when we leave in the morning, we don’t have to worry about frost on the windshield. And it’s a heated garage.

Have had no internet so have not been able to blog very often but that should change by this afternoon. Then I don’t have to wander into the coffee houses for the Internet service.

House hunting went rather well today.

We found two homes that we are interested in.  Although the one I really wanted to look at we were not able to get into because the owner said there is some kind of water damage.  It’s being rescheduled.

The first house is in North Hudson, Wisconsin.  It’s a newer home and has private access to the St. Croix River.  It is not on the river though.  The house flows rather well.  There are 3 bedrooms on the top level and one bedroom on the lower level.  The main floor has no bedrooms.

It has cherry cabinets between the living room and the dining room that seem a little more upscale than us but that’s not a major deal.  It sits on 1.5 acres.

The second house is really beautiful and was done in a Frank Lloyd Wright style.  It sits on 4.5 acres although you can see your  neighbors on both sides.  The property is wonderful.  I would so enjoy this home.  The only thing we are struggling with is that the home is very custom.

Our furniture would not fit into this home.  The owner’s have made furniture to match the woodwork in the home so we would almost have to ask them to leave their furniture or find furniture that matched it.

There is no dining room.  Only a small nook that seats 4 people although a table could be extended across — a little cramped but I’m not sure how many people are coming to visit us for very long.

For me and my husband it is perfect.  It has 3 bedrooms.  The top floor is a loft and the master bedroom suite.  It is open to the living area.

This is really a unique home on a beautiful lot.

But — we would have to change all of our furniture to match this house.  Everything would have to be sold in Seattle and we would have to start over again.

Then when we go to sell it, the new buyers would have to want to do the same thing.  It is not a family home as each of the bedrooms are on different floors.  

Hmmmm … a tough call.  Very tough indeed.  But it is beautiful.

Yesterday we had almost 7.7 inches of snow.  Not normal for this time of year.

Today we wake up and all the roads are bare and wet.  They are expecting another inch of wet snow so it probably won’t stick.

Now we’re going to look for a house.  Having an agent drive us around while we just sit back and watch things go by will be nice.  The last time we followed her.

Ventured out tonight in the first snow of the year for the St. Paul area.

Had to wear my boots which I haven’t had to wear in years.

So far, there are some things I really like about Minnesota.

I like not having low-flow shower heads.  Showers are quick because the water pressure is great.
I like that the first snow was slushy.
I like that drivers drive slow.
I like that there is more sun.
I like that people seem to be more trustworthy — the apartment complex did not ask us for identification when we filled out our application nor did the mortgage broker.

I like that there is sufficient heat in the restaurants that we’ve gone to.

Things I don’t like — my best friends are in Seattle.  Wish I could have the best of both worlds.

Our first couple of days in Minnesota were spent finding an apartment, a bank, pre-approval for a house loan and checking out some communities of potential places we can buy a house.

Finding the apartment was easy as we had checked in with a complex before we left Seattle.  The new complex takes care of renting your furniture for you also.  A nice touch.

We looked at 3 apartments.  One had recently had the carpet shampooed so I wasn’t sure if that was the hint of an odor that I smelled.  The second one definitely had had a smoker in it so was out of the running.

The third apartment, although not yet cleaned, looked very nice.  Two bedrooms, two baths facing south.  It also faced the highway but since we’re not opening our windows much in the winter here the noise shouldn’t be a factor.  Even standing on the deck, it didn’t sound too bad.

Walking to get to this apartment also smelled like someone was cooking Puerto Rican food.  Hmmm … a friendly neighbor perhaps.

Today we woke up to lots of snow on the ground.  They predicted it and it happened.  Quite different from Seattle where they predict a rainy day and we have sunshine.

The other difference is that there is lots of sunshine here.  At least so far.  We’ve been told that it is unusual for it to be this warm (in the 40’s) this time of year.

I’m so thankful to God for His watch over us as we traveled here.  And for our finding an apartment so quickly.  We would have preferred to rent a house or a townhouse but wanted to get into something right away so we wouldn’t have to worry about it.

We slept in today although we had checked for churches to attend.  Our bodies were just plumb tired and from what my mother tells me “you are not young anymore.”

Ouch!

The move has finally happened.

The drive from Seattle to Minnesota was mostly uneventful except for a few things.

When we first left Seattle, we ran into a lot of traffic on I-90.  Then lots of clouds as we went through the mountains.  But then the sun came out so beautifully as we went past Ellensburg and to Spokane.

Perfect weather.

We stopped in Missoula, Montana for the night at one of our favorite places, the Best Western.

We have stayed here in previous trips and the rooms are always extremely clean and spacious.  And, they have fresh cookies in the evening.  Always a plus.

I kept forgetting about us losing time as we headed to the Midwest.

The next morning we left a little late.  At 4 p.m. we wanted to continue driving to Bismarck, North Dakota but it started raining and got real dark with snow predicted so we got off the road to look for lodging.

Unfortunately, the 2 hotels we went to were full.  Apparently, oil has been found in Dickinson, North Dakota and although we were still in Montana (Glendive) the majority of the hotel rooms were booked by the oil people.

We managed to stay in a motel but it was less than expected.  I felt happy though that we were able to find a place to stay.

The next morning we drove to Bismarck where we took a break at Starbucks.  We received a call from our brother-in-law to see if we were going to stop in Fargo on the way to the St Paul area.

Yes for sure!  We were happy to stop in and see two smiling faces.  We made ourselves omeletttes and drank some freshly brewed Folgers (mountain grown for better flavor!).

Then I had a piece of homemade chocolate cake.

I think I need my brother-in-law to come be our chef.  🙂

After we left I decided to try to drive the rest of the way.  Unfortunately, the weirdest thing happened.  It started to rain and it got so dark.  I was not able to see.  It seemed like I had night blindness.

I had to pull off the rode and let my husband drive.  I’ll have to get my eyes checked to find out what is going on.

In reading on night blindness (if truly that’s what it is) I read that one of the causes could be a lack of Vitamin A.  It can also be caused by dry eyes which I started having as we drove across the country.

It was unbelievable to me though that it rained the whole time we left Fargo until we reached Woodbury, Minnesota.

Well, we’re here.  Safe and sitting in an Extended Stay hotel.  We move to “permanent temporary” housing on Monday.

All the goodbyes that can be said have been said with the exception of one son who will be staying behind with the house until closing.

Bags are packed.  Floors vacuumed.  Bathrooms clean.  Ready for inspection day tomorrow.

All in all, a 29 year stay in the Seattle area has gained us friends who will always remain true to the end.

Life is so unpredictable.

It wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t have people on both sides of the country who were so special to me.

But I do.  I am blessed and will continue to thank God for His goodness to me.

For a few years, I have had the privilege of knowing an older woman whose children don’t pay much attention to her.

I’ve become her durable power of attorney and about 3 or so years ago, we found an adult family home for her to live in as she was not able to care for herself safely.

When I visited her a couple weeks ago, one of the caregivers commented on how they felt bad for her as other people had family members who would come visit them and take them out but no one from our friends’ family would visit.

My friend has onset dementia and is slowly going downhill.  It will be hard to be far away and not be able to pop in and see her.  After awhile she may not recognize my voice on the phone.

I took care of all of her funeral arrangements a few years back.  But still …

It’s just not right that people should be so alone.

In talking to other people, it seems that a lot of people really live “alone” lives.

I then think of all my family and friends and how blessed I am.