New, new, new.

So, as I said before . . . new state, new town. Lots of new things. One thing I love about living in a new place (happens a lot throughout the college years! I have moved every year for the last 4 years! It's nice to plan to settle in this apartment for probably 2 years) is having a clean slate. With my lack of organizational skills (though I am trying to improve) and my inability to get rid of things (I'm very sentimental, even with silly things), it's nice to have a chance to really clean up and go through things before you move, and then find a specific place for them when you move. Of course, our little apartment doesn't seem to be yielding to Brent and I's need to put things in its place. We still have things that have no place yet. But, the point is, I like that feeling of deciding where things will go, what will work best, where will I use it, what will look cute, etc, etc. That's what makes it home! We added to that "cozy" feeling today when we did some painting! We painted accent walls in our bedroom (dark green) and the dining room (rusty red) and I love it! It makes it so much more personal.

I especially love our kitchen. It is the least stark room in the apartment and it seems to be the most full of things that I love.  Here are my 3 favorite things in the kitchen (besides when Brent is in there cooking with me, of course!):

1. My KitchenAid mixer! This is what it looked like before I used it for the first time tonight and made chocolate chip cookies . . .

Aaaand . . . this is after. Ahaha. I don't usually make this much of a mess but I accidentally spilled some flour and it was all downhill from there. Don't worry, though. The cookies were delicious! :)

My next favorite thing in the kitchen . . .

2. Photo that Dad took when he and Mom went to the east coast last fall. This is a real restaurant (even though the name is spelled wrong! ;) and the picture is just cool. The colors are vivid and I love the "welcome home" feel to it. So, it's framed in our kitchen. Thanks, Dad!

And the last . . .

3. My Colts apron that Brent got me for Valentine's Day! I also have a matching chef's hat. :) For my birthday, he got us tickets for a Colts game in DC . . . don't worry, you'll be hearing lots about that!

On a completely different subject, I have a 2nd interview with a school tomorrow! I had the first interview last Friday, and they called me today and asked if I could come back in tomorrow morning. I will give more details about the job later, if I get it! The whole situation surrounding this job has completely been in God's hands, which is just another reason why He is just so awesome. I first interviewed with another school district but could not make the 2nd interview due to us not moving until now. They weren't willing to wait or work with me, so that didn't work out. The surrounding public schools are on hiring freezes. I randomly searched private schools here in Columbia, and sent out resumes to the 2 schools. One school wasn't hiring, but I got a phone call from this school. They were able to set up an interview with me for when we moved, but couldn't guarantee they would still have the position available by then. But when I arrived and called to confirm, they still wanted to interview me. Brent and I looked up directions and were amazed to see that the school is less than 5 minutes from our apartment (quite a change from my 45 minute drive last year!) and that Brent's work is only 5 minutes past that! Considering we are having to share a car for awhile, we had been worrying about how that would work out. So, God has definitely had a hand in all of this, as He always does! And if it doesn't work out at my interview tomorrow, I know He has something else in mind for me! So, if you think of it . . . say a prayer for me at noon eastern/11 central time tomorrow! :)

I suppose I shall end there for today. I promise not all the posts will be this long. But, like I said . . . so much new stuff is going on, it's hard to share it all! Thanks for following along.

[love&hugs]--Allison