I am  happy to report that Jared and I officially have an apartment in Langley!

As many of you know, Jared and I have spent the last couple months hopping from apartment to apartment, adopting the gypsy lifestyle in an attempt to avoid signing any long term leases. Most of our possessions, including the majority of our lovely wedding gifts, are boxed up and stored at my parent's house, ready to be moved. We've basically been living with what we can fit in our car (fortunately, we have a minivan...so it's quite a bit ;) which means we have our clothes, bathroom stuff, food, a camping worthy selection of kitchen stuff and a mattress on the floor. It's been an interesting experience living with just the basics, and would be very do-able if it weren't for constant "Do you have_____?" "Yeah! Oh wait, it's packed..."

For the past two months, we've settled in a basement apartment generously rented out to us by some friends. It's really a lovely space, plenty of windows, nice carpet, finished walls--unfortunately, it doesn't have a kitchen. We have our own refrigerator, microwave, and food storage area, but no sink, stove, oven--all those things that make a kitchen lovely and useful. And I need a nice kitchen--one that is all my own (and Jared's too, since I'm pretty sure he cooks more than me :), because I don't like sharing kitchens. Even in my past apartments, sharing the kitchen was always the hardest part of living with a roommate for me. So our current situation--using someone else's kitchen, bringing our dishes up and hoping that the sink is empty of their dishes, sharing a stove and an oven at dinnertime--is driving me crazy.

But now, I'm finding some comfort in the future. Because in less than two months, we will finally have our own kitchen. We'll finally be able to use our beautiful new dishes, our spotless and lovely new pan set, our shiny red blender and beautiful, cheerful table linens and fresh, clean wash cloths and gleaming new silverware and sharp new knives.While Jared was in Langley a couple months ago, he toured several apartments and reported back to me. We decided on this one together, and are both very excited. Check out these pictures of our new apartment!

Our kitchen, complete with a dishwasher and a pantry cupboard--I've never had one before, and I'm thrilled! And we even have a window that is just begging for some curtains :)

 

Our living room area. This is kind of an odd shaped room, but we like that it isn't just a long, rectangular room. This will most likely be a challenge when it comes to setting up furniture, but I'd rather have a challenge than a bla-room.We're a little curious about the overhanging kitchen counter-- I'd love to hear ideas for how to make that a useful space in the comments section! Maybe we'll add some shelves like in my friend Amanda's kitchen?

Here you can get a little better of an idea of the shape of the living room. The futon was left over from some previous tenants, we have the option of using it if we want. We're hoping to find a nice couch once we move out there, but in the mean time this might come in handy. And who knows, with a nice cover and some throw pillows, it might be just right for the next couple years. And ideas for a quick futon cover?

 

And these are the doors to our two bedrooms, the master bedroom on the left and the spare room/ office is on the right.

We consider ourselves very lucky to have found this apartment! It has plenty of storage space (I didn't include pictures of the two big hall closets) almost new appliances and, best of all, it's ground level. In Langley, the apartment complexes we're so accustomed to in the states don't really exist. Instead, people build apartments in their homes, usually in their basements, to help them pay their mortgage. These basement suites are pretty much the only form of affordable lodging in Langley, but many are afterthoughts, poorly planned, dark, or a bit dodgy. We are lucky to have one that is so nice, with great land lords and our own private entrance.

I have to admit, I've had the song "Bicycle Race" by Queen stuck in my head since Tuesday. Why, you might ask? Well, check out my new bike!!

 

In a previous post, I mentioned how it might be a good project for Jared to fix up a cruiser bike for me. He was actually really excited about the idea, and we decided that if we find one, he could get it for me as a Christmas gift.  Since then, we've been watching for any cruiser bikes that might show up on Craigslist or anywhere else. Last week, Jared found a great bike, but by the time he called it was already sold! Then over this past weekend, we had another disappointment. I found the perfect bike at an antique mall in Howell for only $36. Full of excitement, I dragged Jared and his parents there, only to discover that I had failed to notice the 1 before that number, and it was actually $136--not quite the price we wanted to pay for a bike that would take a fair amount of fixing up. It was quite the let down. But on Tuesday, this beauty popped up on Craigslist.

 

She's a 1950 Schwinn Cadillac Women's Cruiser. You can kind of see the Cadillac logo on this head badge.  

She's been hanging out in someone's shed for probably 20 years now, gathering dust and a whole lot of rust, but she still has a sturdy frame, some awesome fenders and curves in all the right places. Needless to say, we decided to give her a new home.
Unfortunately, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done before I get to ride my bicycle. She may be a beauty, but right now she's a bit of a monster. 

Fortunately, I know just the guy to give her a little love. She'll need some work, probably a bunch of new parts (white wall tires, anyone? yay!!) and obviously a new paint job (yellow, please), but I'm so excited for my new bike! Happy Christmas to me :)

Hey there again everyone,
Here are my thoughts on some of the books I've read this week!
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
I'm proud to say that I have finally completed this book, but disappointed to say that I found it, well, disappointing. In his debut novel, David Wroblewski weaves this story of a young, mute boy who spends his childhood learning the art of breeding and training his family's infamous Sawtelle dogs. After Edgar's long lost uncle returns to help around the kennel and his father mysteriously dies, Edgar finds himself plunged into a new life of mystery, betrayal and loss. The storyline is complex, at times stark and realistic, and at other times dipping into the realm of the paranormal. With a plot that loosely follows Shakespeare's Hamlet, Wroblewski presents a creative take on the play, but the results are unfocused and forced.

I am a genius of unspeakable evil and I want to be your class president by  Josh Lieb
 This book was the perfect company for election week. In his debut novel, Josh Lieb, producer of The Simpsons and The Daily Show with John Stewart, tells the story of a young, overweight, unpopular boy who we soon discover feigns stupidity to cover up his true identity as a rich, evil genius. Narrated in the snarky voice of main character Oliver Watson, the book follows Oliver's decision to run for the president of his eighth grade class, though such a feat hardly presents a challenge for a boy who has already become the third richest person in the world, capable of running corporations and overthrowing world leaders. With subtle commentary on real life elections and  insights into life as an unpopular seventh grader who, though he won't admit it, wants nothing more than to please his father, Lieb's novel is both funny and compelling. Jon Stewart sums up the book well with his comment, "If War and Peace had a baby with The Breakfast Club and then left the baby to be raised by wolves, this book would be the result. I loved it."

Skinned by Robin Wasserman
One of my favorite genres to read, and fortunately a genre that is rising in popularity for YA fiction, is post apocalyptic/dystopian fiction. This genre presents a modern, teen twist on classics like Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and  includes books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (one of my all time favorite books), Uglies by Scott Westerfield, and even books like Lois Lowry's The Giver which I mentioned in an earlier post. These types of books are typically set in a future time in a world that can be recognized as the United States after some sort of major catastrophic event. In Skinned, author Robin Wasserman tells the story of a young girl who had it all--beauty, popularity, money (or in this world, "credits")--but awakes after a fatal accident to find that her body has died, but her mind has been downloaded into a new mechanical body. Now, main character Lia finds herself  facing a life of immortality in a society that disdains what she has become. Set in a world where names like "Chicago" and "Atlanta" are only names in history books, Skinned is a story of survival and change, of overwhelming social networking and class distinction. After discovering that the book is the first of a trilogy, I'm excited to see how this story unfolds. 


This past Friday, I attended the Youth Literature Seminar, an annual celebration of children's and young adult fiction put on by Kalamazoo Public Library. This year's focus was on international literature, with discussion on the boundaries that could be crossed by reading books written outside of the United States. I've always loved reading international books, so this was an exciting opportunity to learn new titles and suggested authors. International literature, especially books in translation, is a growing trend in the world of publishing, so this next book is me participating in a trend!
Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Well, this book is not exactly a translation, but it was originally published in Australia. It's always fun to start reading a book and slowly figure out the world I'm reading about is not the United States. Often, the clues are subtle and easy to ignore, like college referred to as "University" or a word here and there that sounds just a bit off. This book, however, is not subtle. Within the first pages, we are not only introduced to the life of a teen in Sydney, we also learn many different varieties of Australian slang. In Ten Things I Hate About Me (not to be mistaken with the 1990's movie Ten Things I Hate About You, which I love), Randa Abdel-Fattah tells the story of a young Lebanese Muslim girl who is trapped in two identities. At school, she is blonde and blue eyed Jamie, a typical Anglo Australian girl. But at home, she is Jamilah, daughter of a strict Muslim father who forbids her to go out past sunset or to participate in co-ed activities of any sort, except Arabic school. In this coming of age story, Jamilah/Jamie struggles to juggle her two worlds, and must gain the confidence to  embrace both sides of her identity.

Hello everyone!

It seems like it's been a two weeks since I last posted, but it really hasn't. As it turns out, I'm the type of blogger who updates a ton when I'm inspired to do so. My apologies if you were hoping for a more regularly updated blog :) But I'll give some brief updates of my life since my last post.

Jared and I celebrated my birthday with a lovely picnic at Milwood Park in Portage. He made me homemade cheesy potato soup, with lots of cheese and bacon to go on top. It was delicious! Later, we had homemade apple crisp with caramel and vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly. I married quite the chef, I think :)Then that Saturday, my actual birthday, we traveled to Rockford to celebrate with my family over lunch. Later that evening, I got to debut my Halloween costume at my friend Manda's bachelorette party... 

Since the party was so close to Halloween, we were all asked to wear costumes of the type one would typically see on a college campus and/or frat party :) She posted this picture on her blog Days of our Lives--this is hopefully the only photo you'll ever see of my "handiwork".Unfortunately, when I was putting on the costume I learned the importance of not buying a cheap zipper! The whole thing unraveled as soon as it was zipped up, and I ended up walking around in a costume held together by safety pins. Oh well, it's not like I would ever wear it again :) The party was a blast though, Manda's future sister-in-laws had planned some great games! I'm excited to be part of her wedding in less than two weeks!
Then on Sunday, Jared and I spent our Halloween evening passing out candy with my sister Anna and her husband Adam. It was so fun to see all the kids in their costumes! When I walked into work on Monday, I was met with a sparkling, tacky trophy for winning first place in the pumpkin carving contest. As it turns out, only three departments, including mine, had participated, so the win was fairly small, but a victory nonetheless :)