Hauling/Buying

Well, the trip back to Austin was pretty eventful. Our flight was canceled, so we had to stay in Boston overnight--but it could have been much worse.

Anyway. We plan to load up our (that is, Andrew's) car and head out on Sunday the 12th. We'll arrive on the 14th, I think.

My Grandma P. has told me on no uncertain terms that she's paying for movers to drag our stuff across the country, as a birthday gift to me. I think it'd be less stressful and more economical to just, you know, buy new things once we get up there. The apartment is small and we won't need much: a futon, a drafting table, a desk, a bookshelf, a chair for my little indoor balcony.

(Guys, our apartment has an indoor balcony. Have I told you already? Just in case I haven't: there's an indoor balcony. I will make it mine and set it up as a little reading area. Chair, end table, lamp, bookshelf. Definitely going to be my favorite part of the apartment. Eeee.)

So, well, yes. Either we can spend a good four to five thousand hauling our stuff across the country--and risk all the problems associated with using movers, plus the expense of flying me to and from Texas to oversee the movers while Andrew's in summer school, and all the complications of me trying to get my hands on a car while I'm doing the overseeing--or spend one or two thousand at the most on some cheap inexpensive new things. Frankly, the latter sounds better to me.

. . . . . . Not to mention how much I absolutely adore furniture shopping.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I seriously love furniture shopping.

Things To Pack

I'm assuming we'll be flying back down to Texas in August to pick up our furniture and such. This is just what I plan hope to smoosh into the car when we drive up in early June. The little things--like dishes--we can pick up once we've reached Providence. (Although this is more for my benefit than yours, kindly let me know if you think we've forgotten something obvious. Because that's entirely possible.)

(Click below to read the rest of this post!)

Map!

Here's a map that shows a few important things about our new neighborhood.

(Right-click on the map and select "Open Link in New Tab" to see it in detail! Or just click on it, then press the browser's "Back" button to return to this page.)

The apartment is marked with the little "A"-in-a-pink-balloon. To the east, within the blue box, are all the cool shops/cafes/stores/etc that I listed with such excitement. (That area, which is called Wayland Square, extends beyond the map a block or two.) To the west, in the red box, is obviously the RISD campus. The smaller orange box in the bottom left corner is the RISD library.

I Am Going To Live At The Zoo

No, seriously. We visited it this weekend, and it was quite cute. Larger than the Abilene zoo, but smaller (of course) than the San Antonio zoo. Who cares about the size, though? It has both red pandas and snow leopards.

I was grinning so much my face hurt.

There were also African elephants. Do you know how hard it is to find African, rather than Asian, elephants? They're one of my favorite animals. This zoo lacks only one thing: jellyfish. I suppose we can get our jellyfish fill whenever we visit the Houston zoo, though.

Andrew was, of course, incredibly patient, and didn't mind that I stood filming the snow leopards stare at us/nothing for about fifteen minutes. He's a great guy.

Things To Be Grateful For #1-2

Obviously, none of this could have happened if Andrew's parents hadn't been so loving and generous. Without their gift, Andrew and I would have driven a car load of stuff up to Providence without ever having seen the city, and would have had to hope on all of our lucky stars that we could find an affordable place asap. They definitely deserve a thank-you call-out, and approximately a billion hugs.

Ashers' family gets call-out number two. I can't describe how wonderful they are, especially when they should be mourning a loss rather than helping us get comfortable in a new city. They have all been so helpful, offering advice and information regarding everything we could possibly want to know, and getting us in touch with Deanna. Uncle Mark and Maureen, who live in the area, even told us to come to them if we ever have any problems or need any help.

Moving across the country--in the complete opposite direction of all my family--is pretty scary. But knowing that there are such wonderful and kind people here (and back in Texas!) for us makes everything so much less frightening. I hope we never have a reason to ask Uncle Mark and Maureen for help, but it'd be lovely we to meet them for more ice cream sometime soon. =)

Fun Facts #1-10

1. The un/official state drink is Autocrat Coffee Syrup. It's exactly what it sounds like--syrup that is coffee. It comes in bottles (or giant jugs!), and you squeeze it into your milk like chocolate syrup, and mix it in. Delicious. Mom II, via Ashers, introduced me to it.

2. Obviously there are no H.E.B.s up here. Instead, there are Stop-and-Shops. They're very similar to Randalls, though perhaps a touch nicer.

3. Liquor stores are called package stores. So don't get your hopes up that the house/apartment you're looking to rent is within walking distance (or next door to) a FedEx or something.

4. Similarly, ice cream shops are called creameries. (Guess what! There's a creamery just a few blocks away from our new apartment! It was destiny.)

5. Taco Bell is as popular up here after midnight as it is in Texas.

6. The roads are wide enough for a car, but they feel uncomfortably narrow. Maybe I'm just used to roads designed for giant ranch trucks and the like, though.

7. The people here are very straightforward, and that's reflected in their humor. It's both refreshing and--depending on the situation--potentially embarrassing.

8. Sometimes the local accents are difficult to understand, but not so much that my Irrational Fear #1 can be recategorized as Rational.

9. Providence Place, the gigantic mall area, reminds me of the Galleria in Houston. For some reason. It's surrounded by spaghetti-like highways, and it itself is one giant brick edifice. It's so pretty, and full of all the stores I could hope.

10. Brick is pretty rare up here, except on the college campus. And I haven't seen anything made out of stone. It's very strange to me, and makes me miss the south already. But that's okay! Because the Victorian-ish architecture is gorgeous.

Apartment!

We signed a lease this afternoon! Celebrate!

(Click below to read the rest of the post and see pictures! Note: To view a picture in more detail, right-click it and select "Open Link in New Tab.")

Providence: Impressions

We arrived in Providence on the 18th, and I haven't written a word about it. Oops?

My first impression of the city was pretty bad, both because it took us over twelve hours of traveling and the use of every type of transportation (excepting ferry, bicycle, and donkey) to finally get to our hotel. I was exhausted and a bit grumpy and the city looked really, really scary. Of course, the train from Boston down to Providence doesn't get anywhere near the nice parts of either state, so despite all the pretty trees (there are so many pretty trees!), the only residential areas I saw looked depressing and unpleasant.

(Click below to read the rest of the post and see pictures! Note: To view a picture in more detail, right-click it and select "Open Link in New Tab.")

Irrational Fear #1

Of course they speak American English up there, but I have a growing suspicion that a New Englander's idea of American English might differ a bit from mine. I have never in my life heard a milkshake called a "cabinet." This, and my slight trouble moving beyond hey cool accent listen to those sounds I hope they say that one again to actually listening to/comprehending what the coolly-accented person is saying have brought me up to Irrational Fear #1: I will have no idea what anyone is saying to me D=

But at least I know what a milkshake is called! Really, that's probably the only thing that matters.

Adorable Bundles of Grump

Augustine is twisted into a weirdly shaped lump on the couch beside me. Sophie's sleeping in bed with Andrew--probably quite pleased to have her half of the bed back now that I'm up. They're absolutely adorable when they're asleep, especially when they have a little tiny snore going on. They are soft, cuddly, and immediately start purring when you pick them up.

And I have a feeling they're going to be absolute demons on the thirty-two-plus hour car ride to Rhode Island.

In a half hour or so of panic, I turned to the internet and looked up How To Survive A Road Trip With Two Cats Without Them Killing Each Other Or You Them. The most interesting solution I've found so far: rabbit hutch. Weird, I know, but bear with me. If I were to, say, smoosh the two cats into a single carrier, perhaps they would comfort each other--dare I even hope curl up cutely together--and thus not cry for the entire drive. They tend to bunch up together when they're afraid (as seen when Andrew had friends over and they hid together under Augustine's towel-covered end table), so perhaps sharing a carrier would be soothing to them? And rabbit hutches tend to be large enough to allow for a small litter box as well as a sleeping area.

I've found two in particular that I like so far, a large one and a larger one. Of course, what we buy (if anything) depends on which vehicle they'll be in, and what will fit within it.

If we do go the rabbit hutch route, we'll certainly keep both cats' individual carriers in the car with us; if they do have problems getting along, they can take turns having the hutch (and its litter box) to themselves.

Needless to say, I'm hoping to get my hands on some tranquilizers the next time we stop by the vet.