I have finally arrived...

We got to Ann Arbor, and our new apartment, yesterday and have not stopped moving things in. Crysta has a lot of stuff. Our apartment is a mess, the kitties are slowly acclimating to each other, I finally have my own bed and I'm always exhausted... but I'm here. I'm safe. I'm not too sad. And now I can get on with my life.

The last (and longest) leg of the trip took us through all of Illinois and Indiana, two of the most boring-looking states in the US. There wasn't even a fire to look at. Our journey took us through many tiny towns, villages and townships, but I think I have fallen in love with Elwood, Indiana. You know those quaint, charming little towns that pop in the middle of nowhere in old movies, where even the most surly-looking of men stops to say hello, or help a little girl capture her lost puppy from the perils of the narrow streets? This is that town. Brick, brick everywhere and how I love it all. There had to be only four or five main streets to complement another low number of alleyways and side streets, and all along them were brick buildings that held homes and mom-and-pop businesses. No chains here, minus a fast food joint and a gas station (both of which we stopped at). Elwood is the cutest town I have ever seen. I could have sworn we were on the Universal Studios backlot tour, but I was also pretty delirious from driving across the country in four days.

We also found the only place named "Swayzee" in the world. The sign said so. I said that couldn't be right, Patrick probably calls his house Swayze Mansion, but Crysta pointed out that it was spelled different, so I guess Swayzee can keep its title.

Oh! And we passed four buggy carts! That's right, we were in the heart of Amish country. Apparently there are quite a few of them in Indiana. For safe driving their buggies have flashing lights and reflective signs, which are fantastic, because without them we would have hit a lot of Amish people. I have no idea how many points they're worth, but I don't really want to find out.

The night we got to Michigan we stayed at mom's house (Mom is Teri, Crysta's mom, by the way. I don't think I have ever called her by her name, though. It's always been "mom"). I really missed the labs, Baggins and Higgins, and it was nice to see Memphis, too. Sawyer stayed in my bedroom for the night. It wouldn't have been a good idea to introduce them then. We spent a quiet night, and then packed up and shipped off to Ann Arbor yesterday. We moved most of Crysta's things in yesterday with the help of three of her friends and coworkers from Trader Joe's. By the end of the day I was exhausted or beyond. My arms could barely lift the covers over me while I lay on the air mattress. The same air mattress that, three hours later, decided to wake me up by showing me it was slowly deflating. When I woke up again at about 7:00am, my upper half was on the ground, and my bottom half was up in the air. So I got up, 'cause that's no way for a person to sleep.

Today was the Ikea trip and more unpacking. Ikea was fantastic, and I bought my bed + mattress, a side table, towels, a clock, some kitchen utensils and a shower rack for $307. I worship that magical land of cheap furniture and really good food.

And then, after mostly assembling my bedframe it dawned on me- I forgot the blasted slats that go IN the bedframe. So, not only was it my first full day in Ann Arbor, but I got to drive myself back to Ikea in Canton to get the slats. I'm not going to lie... I don't understand how left turns work in Michigan. Why do they need FOUR different kinds of left turn signals? There's the regular green arrow, and then the solid green where you wait 'til it's all clear... but then they get crazy and have both flashing yellow lights and flashing red lights. It makes no sense. Just make it all the solid green and stick a sign up. It's a little ridiculous. I made it home, however, and now my bed is all lovely and waiting for me. My room is nearing completion and after I get my (free) dresser on Saturday I will take pictures.

For now, I am going to rustle up some dinner and catch up on TV shows.