Elgin apartment

The move has officially happened!  I am mostly unpacked and settled into the dorm at Fox River (FRCDS).  I'm living in two rooms off the resident director's apartment - but I have full use of the kitchen in that apartment, so it's pretty much a regular apartment.  Except that it's in the downstairs of a middle school dorm.

Cindy and Aaron (mom and brother) graciously flew out to help with the move this past weekend, and I am eternally grateful to them.  A 10' truck seems like it would be plenty of room for one person to move, but it was tight!  Picture a life-size 3D jigsaw puzzle, and you will have a good picture of what it was like loading up that truck.  We were successful, though, and we smoothly made the six-hour drive to Elgin.

Here's a taste of the unloading process:

      

Karen, my new boss, drove me around the area on Sunday to introduce me to the Elgin/Dundee area.  She felt badly that there isn't a grocery store "close;" there are three in the area, but they are each about 15 minutes away.  15 minutes?  I could only laugh.  After spending the past six years in Elsah, where the closest anything is 20 minutes away, I feel like everything here is right around the corner.  Grocery store, Panera, train station, library, park, mall, Dunkin' Donuts, climbing wall, IKEA - all within a 15 minute drive!

OK, now to the real reason you all are reading this: PICTURES.  Here's the new place!

Living room - 

This alcove is meant to be a closet (since the room is technically a bedroom), but I turned it into an office area - 

the cozy desk area :) -

closet/shelves in between the living room and bedroom (and the door on the left is to the bathroom) - 

bedroom - 

view from the door leading into the kitchen - 

the kitchen (the room on the other side of the cabinets is the dorm director's living room) - 

I got the idea for the frames from a friend at Principia... simple, but better than a blank wall!

I'm also excited about the entertainment set-up

there, where I have both my stereo set up and 

extra speakers that can connect to my laptop for

watching movies while I cook  :)