Friday Flashback

Jeff and I moved into our first apartment together about two weeks after we were married.  He had picked it out all on his own since I had been in California with my mom getting ready for our wedding.  I could sense his trepidation as he unlocked the door and waited for my reaction to seeing our place for the very first time.  I could have cared less what it looked like.  It was OURS!  I was young, I was starry-eyed, I was tired of hotel rooms, and I was head over heels in love.

Moving in was such an adventure.  It was so fun to unpack all of our wedding gifts together and start planning how to organize each room.  Our bed frame was defective (we had to return it for a new one twice) and so our mattress and box spring lay on the floor.  We hadn't yet bought couches, so we brought in camping chairs and set them up in our living room.  We also hadn't thought ahead to turn our utilities on before we moved in so we had to make do without any hot water for a few days.  I hate being cold more than anything in the world, so I just didn't take a shower.  Well, when you are moving and unpacking in the summer heat, that solution can only last for so long.  The next day was Sunday and I absolutely HAD to get clean.

The easiest solution would clearly have been to phone a friend and run over and use their shower.  However, we Goolds pride ourselves on never taking the easy way out.  Oh no!!  Instead, Jeff turned on all the burners on the stove, brought out every pot we owned and started heating water so that his new bride could take a bath.  We filled the tub up partway with cold water and then he would come in and add hot water from the pots.  It was hilarious and endearing and I'm pretty sure that I felt like the luckiest girl alive sitting in my lukewarm bath.  And I don't even like baths! Afterwards, my sweet husband declined my offer to return the favor (it took so long to heat that water!) and took an ice-cold shower instead.  We used shoelaces to hang up the shower curtain since we had forgotten to buy hooks.  Jeff started calling our apartment "The Money Pit" in reference to a Tom Hanks movie where a couple tries hopelessly to repair a rundown house.

Each place we have lived in since that time has been nicer than our first apartment and we've always remembered to turn the utilities on ahead of time.  And yet, no moving in experience has had quite the same sweetness as moving into that first place that we called "home" together.

Thanks, cute boy.  I love that home is always with you.