feel an ocean breathing waves, feel them licking at my face

Well, I promised in the next update that I would talk a bit more about our move to Phoenix and our new apartment and all that uber exciting stuff. I'm not one to disappoint, so here goes!

We ended up signing a lease with Trillium Residential apartments, a "modern, luxury apartment complex" that we had been eying for quite a bit of time beforehand.

We were sold on the sense of community and all the perks associated with living there. In addition to a sweet pool and workout facility (goodbye $25 gym bill!!), they have various activities planned for residents there.

For example, there's a weekly spin class (totally partaking), spa, coffee bar and various community tournaments, grill outs, pool parties and hiking expeditions. There's even things like book clubs and studio dining where you watch a chef learn how to make a meal (that you also get to eat)! I think I sound like I'm selling this place to you. :) Really, though, we are very pumped. We wanted to be able to meet people easily, and this place seems conducive to that.

Here are some sneak peak pics. I'm sure I'll have a ton more for you once we move. Speaking of which, the official move IN date is August 1st. We leave Indiana July 28 to drive the 25 hours. :P

We're obviously pretty excited! To prepare, we've gone through a bunch of our belongings to sort out what to keep/leave behind. Let me just tell you, we had an entire basement full of stuff. Some things which haven't seen the light of day in (I'm embarrassed to say it) a good 4 years. Why I continued to move boxes around with me without ever opening, I'll never know! Anyway, we went through every single last thing and have an astounding pile of items that we'll attempt to sell at a garage sale mid-July.

We've also decided to say buh-bye to our furniture and a few other "major things." We'll end up saving over $1000 if we leave it behind, plus I plan on spending that money on redesigning our new apartment. I've been soaking up design blogs and catalogs like an eager puppy these days! :)

Clearly, things are all moving toward the big move. I can't believe it's all happening so fast! Still, though, we're soaking up our remaining month or so in pretty naptown. This past weekend we had a grill out with some friends and our lovely neighbors. Also, we accomplished a few more things on our 2010 bucket list. Look here:

• go strawberry pickin' (PICTURES BELOW!)
• buy a $20 lottery ticket (Goodbye, $20. It was nice knowin' ya)
• go a week without air conditioning in the summer (never again)

We did have an appointment to shadow a beekeeper today, but the storms last night were torrential and continued throughout the morning. Plans were foiled by mother nature! We'll reschedule for next week, probably. :)

Pictures of our strawberry picking adventures. We went to Spencer Farm in Noblesville and also picked some black raspberries and blueberries. YUM!

Found a heart. :)




What a dainty berry!











I devoured the blueberries that very night, nibbled on the raspberries and then we made cupcakes in icecream cones and topped them with (from scratch) strawberry whipped cream frosting. It was amazing!

Maybe next time I'll have pictures of us in bee gear. :)

Choose positivity,
Wendy