My week.. with a few pictures

I feel like it has been forever since I have posted, even though it has been less than a week. I suppose it is just that SO much is going on right now, I feel overwhelmed and am not even sure where to start posting..... Hope you have a cup of coffee or tea and a few minutes to sit and read. I have a feeling this is gonna be a long one....

Well, my 29th birthday has come and gone. I am a little sad to have celebrated the last birthday in my 20's. I have a feeling the big 3-0 will not come easy to me. It never ceases to amaze me the complete misconception I had about 30 when I was a child. I had this idea of being married, with a house and children, settled in my lifelong career...well, that is another post in itself.

I had a great birthday! Keith got me a fantastic birthday present...

5 new books!!! I was so impressed with my husband- it was the perfect gift.
THEN, my friend at work, Karen, made me bithday treats.

I called them "cone cakes". I had never seen these before, but cannot wait for someone to have a birthday so I can make them! She took ice cream cones, poured the cake batter into the cones and baked them. Then she iced the top, added the sprinkles and the cherries. Yum!!! I think I ate three of them! (it was my birthday, so I don't feel bad about it).

A stressful part of my week has to do with my job. Most of you may have read in previous posts that I work for the St. Louis City Health Department in the Communicable Disease section, specifically with HIV/STDs. LOOOOONG story short, my job description is changing for the next 8 weeks. I am now stationed at a clinic, not the health department where I typically work. I can't even begin to explain why I am the one working there for now, but I am. It has been stressful because it is not my normal job and I have had two days to grasp my new responsibilites, which include doing stat gonorrhea and chlamydia interviews and giving test results. I have given test results before, mostly HIV results, but the stat interviews are a first for me. AND, working strictly with gonorrhea and chlamydia cases is a first for me. My knowledge on the two diseases is not as extensive as my knowledge on HIV. I'm just not as confident with the other 2 diseases. (Some of you are probably thinking "WHAT on earth does this girl DO?") The best thing about my new, temporary position is that I get to wear scrubs to work! Scrubs and crocs. So comfy and requires absolutely zero thought in the morning. No more ironing and trying on multiple outfits before work. That is what I must focus on for the next 8 weeks...... enough with the job stuff. I am pretty sure I have lost most of my readers at this point....

Another big piece of news for us- we are moving. Again, this is a very long story that I will not share right now, maybe someday. We are moving to another apartment. We needed to move and quickly, so buying was not an option for us right now. We chose the first place we looked at. It is so cute!

It isn't far from where we are in South City currently, just a couple more blocks south. But, it is on a one way street, which is so much quieter and less busy than where we are now. The couple that owns the building (which is a 4 family flat) seems great- very clean, responsible and trustworthy (which we have learned is very important, from our current landlord).

We have a working gas fireplace in the living room, with stained glass windows on either side. I am already picturing Keith and I cozied up with a mug of hot cocoa, exchanging Christmas presents while the fire glows in front of us!
There is an archway between the dining room and living room and french doors that lead from the dining room to the hall that will take you to the bathroom and kitchen.

The kitchen has beautiful new cabinets and tile backsplash. The only downfall is that there is no dishwasher, which we have become completely dependent on! Oh how I dread doing dishes again. But, the fridge is HUGE and has one of the bottom drawer freezers. Too cool and unheard of in rentals!

We have 5 (yes, 5, also unheard of in city apartments) closets. Ah, the storage! A bedroom with an attached sunroom. We have a full basement available for storage use also. The bathroom is purple, but it is growing on me. They did tell us we could paint if we want to, but I absolutely despise painting, so the walls will be staying the colors they are. The landlords just painted anyway and I like the colors of the other rooms. They are letting us move in gradually, all month. Our first official day of residency will be Oct. 1. I've already taken everything off our walls, packed all the picture frames, books, cds and dvds. We are going to move those things and winter clothes this week. Just bit by bit, that way hopefully on the last weekend, we will only have the big furniture items left to move.
I hate moving, but I am excited about our new place.

WHEW! That was a long post. Next time I will remember to make time to post before a week has gone by. If you made it all the way through this one, I commend you! :)