First Week...

I've finished two first weeks as of today.  I finished my first week of work at 5pm today.  So far, so good.  I've learned a lot about the library and my job there, and I'm not banging my head against the wall yet!

This also marks the end of my first week of living with Amanda (kind of).  Last Friday when we made it to Grande Prairie (me at 1am Saturday morning, Amanda a little bit earlier), it marked the beginning of my life in Grande Prairie.  Since then, we've only spent one night in Tumbler Ridge, and it was just so that we could get an early start on packing and moving the rest of my things.

Speaking of which, tomorrow will be our final day of moving.  Amanda, her parents, and I are leaving GP at 8am tomorrow to pick up the remaining things from my condo.  By 1ish (GP time) hopefully I'll be completely moved out of my condo in Tumbler Ridge.  Then my realtor will be all set -- there will be a new stove in place and none of my stuff in the way of showing it!

Moved In! (sort of...)

Hi everyone!

I'm moved into Amanda's place!  ...well, sort of.  We've moved five carloads of my stuff over, and the remaining stuff in my condo has been packed into a very small space so that the place can be shown by my realtor.

Next Saturday we'll be heading out to get the rest, along with my large stuff (bookshelves, computer desk, etc.)

So as of July 22, 2012 I'm living with Amanda.

The only problem is that Amanda's living room looks like it has (in her joking way) "esploded."  I've got boxes upon boxes everywhere.  But it will get better.  I've already unpacked four boxes (mostly kitchen/food related things) and a few of my clothes (enough for work this week), and once my bookshelves are in here, about half of the boxes will be emptied into the shelves.

Now that my place has been listed and I've got most of my stuff moved over, I can start worrying about something else -- my new job that starts tomorrow.  Actually, I'm mostly looking forward to it.  The Grande Prairie Public Library seems pretty neat from a patron's standpoint, so hopefully it'll be just as good from a staff member's!

Brief Update

I'm in Grande Prairie.  I arrived here at 1am last night (GP time) with a carload of stuff that Amanda helped me unload before we went to bed.  Sadly, it's not the end of moving my stuff to Grande Prairie.  We've moved most of it, but there's still probably a few hours of packing to do at Tumbler Ridge and at least another carload of stuff to bring to Grande Prairie.

So the two of us will probably be heading back to Tumbler Ridge either tonight after the golf tournament or tomorrow morning to finish up.  Please be patient with us folks -- we'll be finished moving me soon and then updates will be on a more regular basis again.

Organized Chaos

Can you tell I'm in the process of moving?

 

Even though I'm moving out of the condo I've owned for over three years, it feels a little like it always did when I was moving out of my university dorm room every April for a few years in a row.

It's a mess right now, but I publically promise Amanda right now that it will not be this big a mess (or bigger) once it's sharing space in her apartment.  :-)

Moving Man

As I mentioned in a previous post or two, I spent most of the day Saturday helping a friend move.  As a result, I only had to make the most of the time I got to spent with Amanda around the moving.


After a morning of moving, I announced I was taking a lunch break, texted Amanda, and asked her if she wanted to meet me at Subway in 10 minutes.  I drove up from my friend's house to see Amanda about to cross the road to Subway.  There was no easy way to stop and pick her up (and it wouldn't have saved her any time), so I turned into the parking lot, then met her.


We said hi, kissed, and I said that we'd better take a photo while we had the chance.  Here's the result:

I look a little grubby (moving was hot and sweaty work), but Amanda looks incredibly cute.  The only problem is that I didn't want to transfer all the sweat and dirt from my clothes to hers, so I couldn't hold her very close while we took this photo.  At any rate, it turned out great, and lunch with her was the best way I could've spent my break from moving!

Timing is Everything

I've been counting down to myself for a few days now.  There are only 18 more days until I start my new job at the Grande Prairie Public Library.


In that time, I have to

• play tour guide for my future-in-laws (Friday)
• help my boss move (Saturday)
• enjoy a final Sunday in Tumbler Ridge with Amanda (Sunday)
• work (5 more days)
• attend Amanda's niece's birthday party
• drive south and visit family on a *very* brief vacation
• pack up and move to Grande Prairie
• list my condo
• finish many other smaller tasks

It seems like a lot, especially considering I'm just moving to a new place three hours away, and my current place is not incredibly large.


So what's the plan?


Well, I'll play tour guide and mover the next few days.  I'll pack what I can so that Amanda can take it back to Grande Prairie with her when she leaves on Sunday.


Then I'll do my best to enjoy Sunday with Amanda to its fullest.  It'll be the last one we'll have here together.


After that, I'll pack what I can through the week so I can take it to Amanda's on the way to her niece's party.  We'll be heading on holidays after that, and then it'll be crunch time.  I think we'll probably have three frantic days of packing and driving before (hopefully) having Sunday entirely off to rest up before heading back to work.


It's going to be a busy few weeks, but they certainly shouldn't be boring!

Blowing in to Grande Prairie

This was the final photo Amanda and I took together on the weekend of June 23-24.  It has nothing to do with tonight's blog post other than having the word "air" which sort of relates to this post's title.

I have some big news for blog readers.


I'm coming to Grande Prairie.  Not for a weekend.  Not for a vacation.  For good.


About a month ago, I applied for a job posted at the Grande Prairie Public Library.  It sounded like a neat job, a good opportunity, and a possible way to let Amanda and I live in the same city.  I didn't expect anything to come of it.  I assumed that the library would be overwhelmed with applicants and that the posting would be filled internally by a current employee of the library.


I was wrong.  Two weeks ago when I returned from Grande Prairie, my cell phone rang as I was turning onto the street I live on.  I ignored the call.  I assumed it was probably my parents, that they'd leave a message, and that it really wasn't worth me pulling over two minutes from home just to answer the phone.


When I dropped my suitcase on my bed and listened to my voicemail message, I learned how wrong I was.  The phone call had been from a staff member at the Grande Prairie Public Library who wanted to schedule an interview.  I looked at my watch, thought about the fact that I'd been in Grande Prairie three hours before, sighed, and then called back.


We scheduled my interview for the following Monday.  As a result, Amanda and my weekend plans changed slightly, and I went back to Grande Prairie on Saturday night after work.  My interview was on Monday morning and it seemed to go well.  Then I returned to Tumbler Ridge and went back to work on my normal schedule.


...until Thursday.


On Thursday night there was a voicemail on my phone asking me to call the Grande Prairie Public Library.  It was already after 8, so I waited for the next morning, played a brief game of phone tag, and then got the news.  They wanted to hire me for the job.


I start in a few short weeks.  So over the next two weeks I'll be wrapping stuff up in Tumbler Ridge, then taking a (very) short vacation with Amanda before spending the remainder of my week of vacation moving to Grande Prairie.


Updates might be a little sporadic during the next three weeks, so I humbly ask for your patience starting now.  Once I've moved to Grande Prairie and gotten settled in, things should return to a normal schedule.  As an extra benefit, because Amanda and I won't be limited to seeing each other on weekends when the weather cooperates and we're both healthy, I shouldn't have too many photo shortages in the future.


So that's the big news.  The Kissing Couple of Grande Prairie will *both* be living in Grande Prairie.


Exciting, isn't it?  :-)