The Gapartment: A garage called home?

We have arrived! Well, actually we've been here since late Thursday night/early Friday morning. We arrived only knowing that we'd be staying at the hotel on post for a couple days and no other plan beyond that. However, we soon found a new home that will allow us to be able to save money, which is always a good idea! :)

It was a hard decision not to rent the typical 3 bed/2bath home, but with the prices for rent coupled with the sketchy area, particularly right outside post, we opted for this apartment that is in this HUGE garage. The owners built this garage and apartment and they lived in it for 2 years while they were building their {very nice} home on the property. Now, they rent this space out, primarily to military tenants.

this is the entire garage; notice I had to get this entire pic using a panoramic app. the Gapartment entry is on the left. Told ya it is HUGE! Promise its so much nicer inside than it looks on the outside!

country road leading back to main hwy

massive flagpole on the property

I must admit I wasn't sold on this idea at first, and since this is so a-typical {to live in a garage}, I feel like I need to defend our decision. Well, it's very private and not connected to their house, 1100 sq ft, 1 bed/1 bath, large kitchen and living room combo, plus the use of half of the huge garage. I've playfully nicknamed the place the 'Gapartment'. This was the best decision financially since rent is low, all utilities are included, so we will be saving a good bit on that alone. Plus, it's sorta out in the country so we can use his 10 acres if we so desire and we will feel safer.

In reality, we don't need the standard 3/2 combo; this will suit us just fine for now. The owners repainted the entire inside and they are installing new carpet this week! It'll feel brand new! :) We should be good to start moving our stuff in later this week! I'm hoping we can get our household goods around the same time! Fingers crossed!Let the decorating begin, I guess! I'll include some more pictures when we get our stuff in! Wish us luck!

In between frantically looking for homes, we have been exploring the city and surrounding areas. They have a QT for a gas station which has this amazing slushy drink called Rooster Booster Energy drink (we first discovered these in Atlanta and they are so worth it!) We ate the BEST mac n'cheese for dinner last night. I had this the last time we visited and it's soooo amazing. Just look at the pic. 

Warning: your mouth will water!

They have a grocery store called Price Chopper, which is comparable to a Publix. They have motion activated coolers!!! Motion.Activated, PEOPLE!!! Check the vid below:

Before you ask, yes, that is my husband, and yes I do claim him. :) Serisously, never a dull moment, never! ha!

Today we toured Atchison which is an old, historic town. Most of the house rentals claimed that these houses are haunted. This town is the birthplace of Amelia Earhart (sp?).

We stopped by the local WalMart where I discovered these red beauties. It was only suitable to try them on given that we are now in KS and there's truly no place like home. ;)

And just cause she's too cute, we had to document what a rough life Bella is living..

So far, so good! Just looking forward to some normalcy, whatever that may be. For now, we'll enjoy the hotel room with a REAL bed and the complimentary breakfast every morning! It's like having a mother to cook breakfast every day! It totally ROCKS! :)

Ta-ta for now!

Heisel Rules!

Heisel Rules the Road!

Well, it's about that time...to move it on out {mid} westward. We're packed (almost) and ready to hit the road in the am. Both excited and nervous, we're certainly glad to have each other!

Beware- lots photos below!

We had a wonderful trip to Washington DC (and surrounding areas) this past week. We stayed with one of Matt's Army buddies for the first couple days. They were such gracious hostesses and even had a sweet lil 2 year old boy that was down right darling. Glad to call them all friends of mine now as well! I love the people that the Army introduces us to! Makes me feel proud to be a part of the Army family! :)

sweet mr Dylan

During our visit to DC, we got a personal tour of the White House! It was a tad smaller than I expected/thought, but still very nice nonetheless! I'm so grateful to our special tour guide and for taking time out of his (and his family's) day/weekend to do this for us! We ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe DC and then got to see Ford's Theater.

before White House tour

Rock it Hard, baby!

Ford's Theater

We also got to tour the Capitol with Matt's Congressman's office . This is by far the best way to go if you are in the area and want to tour the Capitol!  We even got to go to the Congress floor!! The tour was a little over 2 hours, but honestly, this was our favorite part! Sooo worth it, and did I mention, FREE?! Actually, most everything we did on the trip was free!

P.S. Matt wanted me to mention that while visiting his Congressman's office, he visited Ron Paul's office and got to sit in his chair. (Silly, Matt!)

neat view from one of the tunnels under the Capitol Building.

Jefferson Monument

We topped our last night off with the Nats vs. Braves baseball game. So much fun to hang out with the fam while watching the game. Below is some of the shenanigans that we couldn't help but get into! ;)

Special Congrats to the newlywed couple!! We are so blessed to be a part of your very special day!  Here's to a lifetime of many happy memories!! Muah! We love you!

We came, we saw, we conquered need to come back to see everything! Great trip, though, and so glad we took the time to see what we did!

Well, I think that's about all for one night. The sound of snoring alarm will sound early, gotta get my beauty rest for the long drive ahead. ;) We will miss this city and all our friends here, but we're ready to get the next chapter started. Wish of tons of luck and love!

Heisel Rules!

Update on the move

Hey friends!
Since it's been a minute since I gave you an update, I thought it was due time! This past Wednesday I got to experience for the very first time a Military pack up. The Army contracts with local moving companies and we got to use Covan. A team of 3 people arrived Wednesday at 9am and finished up around 2pm.

Here's a pic of the living room in shambles right before they got started:

We had some entertaining moments while they packed our things. I walk into the living room to  check the status and I see this picture:

Yep, you're seeing that right. That's actually a wreath. Ya, that really happened.

So later on that day when they had left, we go into the garage where our 'outside' type stuff was packed and we saw this:

Once again, this is an Xmas wreath. Hey, if you're gonna be wrong, be consistent. ;)

Another crew of 2 men came back on Thursday at 8:15am and they were done at 1:30pm. There wasn't any entertaining moments to account for, sadly. Just a little anxious watching strangers load our things an take them away.

But, alas, we are now living the high (albeit bare) life! The house is bare and we can now hear the strange echo that comes with an empty home. I'm actually quite surprised by how little we can live without! We've managed to "camp out" with minimal household goods and we're still whipping out pretty good meals! :) Priorities, right?!
Pic of said camp site:

And even though our bed now consists of an air mattress and our bed time story is the sound of the nightly air pump inflate, we are in pretty good spirits. Getting excited for the DC trip and then the big drive out west after that. Life is good. We're together and we're healthy, so we're counting our blessings. Thankful to have this dude by my side.

Heisel Rules!

Stay tuned...tomorrow is my love's birthday! :) :)