Finally some Pictures!

I still don't have pics of the rest of the house, I promise to get them up soon.

So Hayden and I officially arrived in Lansing at 1am last Thursday morning.

After delay, after delay, after crazy delay

(We were supposed to arrive around 7pm Wednesday night)

We woke up in the morning to rainy skies and our new house.

It was actually much cuter than I was anticipating.

We had so much disapointment in all the homes we looked at prior to this one,

and since we didn't actually see this one until we got here,

I was very nervous.

But it is just perfect for us.

It's a townhouse, located in the South part of Lansing, MI.

The neighborhood is really nice, and very well kept.

(Ours is the one in the middle with the white siding)

Everyone has a front lawn with a walkway up to the front door.

(Looking straight out from my front door)


(Looking to our left)

(Looking to our right)

And from the front of the house to about 5 feet out,

each owner has a flower garden area to do what they want with.

And EVERYONE in our area has thier pruned to a 10!

It is so cute to see all these flowers everywhere, surrounded by green, green grass.

The inside is really nice too.


(our living room)

They just installed new carpet a few months ago.


(our kitchen)

Our kitchen is actually bigger than at our house in Las Vegas.
So I actually have room to have up my full dining table.
(which has been in storage the last 3 years)
I LOVE having my nice table to sit at for meals.

Out our back door is AMAZING!

It is one of my favorite parts of our house.


(Taken standing on our back porch)


(Out in the yard looking back at our place)
(again, the one in the middle with the huge Maple tree blocking it.)

For about 15 feet out from our house is ours to do what we want with.

(I will probably be doing a little veggie garden next year)

but beyond that is a large (about 3 acres) common yard.

It is beautiful with little rolling hills and big trees.


(Out in our yard looking to the left)


(out in our yard looking to the right)


(looking out our big picture window above the kitchen sink/counter)

And they threw in some kids play areas.

So we literally have a park for a backyard.

Hayden is in Heaven with all this grass.

She loves to be outside in it.

Even if all she does is run around in a circle all by herself.

There are tons of kids that live in our community,

and they are always outside - so she usually has someone to play with.

It is so nostalgic to sit in my living room with the windows open:

Smelling the fresh cut grass, and the faint hint of flowers, and fresh rain.

Listening to little girls playing hopscotch, and little boys being crazy,

the melody of the ice cream truck, and the songs of the birds residing in our trees.

So far we have been here for 9 days

and of those 9 days I think that it has rained 7.

We have maybe seen 6-7 hours of sunshine.

Because even when it's not raining, it is usually

sprinkling, misting or as my little neighbor said it

"That's not rain, the sky is just leaking a little bit"

At first I felt like we could live like in Las Vegas,

and wait for the rain to let up before we go run our errands.

I quickly realized that is not how it works here is MI.

Rain, shine, snow or hail you just have to get out in it, and get your stuff done.

Then you can come home, dry off and have some hot cocoa.

So far the rain has been fun.

The temperature is in the high 60's to low 70's.

So it's not a cold rain just enough to make you feel like you can bundle up in it.

We are slowly learning our way around.

Once I realized how small Lansing is it made it a lot easier.

At first I felt isolated.

The south part of town is older and totally residential.

There is no shopping aside from Target and Sam's Club,

and absolutely nothing to do.

I noticed that all the good stuff was up the north part of town.

And I thought "oh crap, I'm going to have to drive 45 min. to get to the mall"

Nope.

It takes about 10-15 min. to get to the complete other side of town.

So now I feel much better, and

I have taken a few little shopping trips up there,

and I am starting to feel more at home.

It is so strange though leaving Las Vegas where everything is

new, commercial and aesthetically pleasing.

Here the homes, stores and everything are all old.

and I am guessing they don't put the money or the time into making them fancy

because it would all just get destroyed by the snow.

There are no "planned" communities, areas or shopping centers.

besides ghetto little stip malls here and there,

everything is just off on its own.

It is so different.

The street lights hang across the streets on cables.

The streets are narrow, cracked, broken and full of pot holes.

I have learned that old most definitely does NOT mean "charming"

Don't get me wrong,

there are plenty of super cute charming little homes,

but they are surrounded by "houses" that are falling apart.

(And to think I thought I hated HOAs)

Our ward seems really great.

It is made up of some older established members,

that have probably lived here most of thier lives.

And young families -

most of whom are in our same position:

student(s) with babies and no money.

(A few even starting law school with Ryan this fall.)

We met with the Bishop last week and he informed us that about 2/3 of the ward has moved in within the last 2 months!

This made me feel less like I was "the new girl".

But more like I will probably have to take the initiative to meet new friends and involve myself in activities.

Hayden already has a BFF at church.

A little girl who is about 4 months older than her.

They just hugged, played with each others pig tails,

and chased each other around the church all day long.

It was so stinking cute.

(and a funny thing,

this little girl has a baby brother

who is exactly 16 months younger than her)

Anyways we are getting settled in.

Our house is finally coming together.

we are pretty much just getting all the decor and fluff up.

Though I just realized that by the time I get it all up,

it will be time to take it down to put up the Fall - Halloween - Christmas stuff.

We have had a couple big projects:

Changing out the light fixtures,

putting up blinds - who gets a house with no blinds? seriously.

and we are yet to tackle the biggest one of all.

Remodling the downstairs bathroom.

(This will have it's own post with pics later - trust me it's worth it.)

I hope everyone is doing well.

We miss you all already.

And are looking forward to seeing you again.