A Temporary Move

Today we are moving from our loft apartment to a little rental house in a nearby historic neighborhood.  We hate to leave downtown, but we will be back... soon, I hope.  In fact, this move is the repercussion of our trying to buy a space downtown to turn into a live/work -- Unit A.

It boasted 14' ceilings, fantastic brick walls, and a ton of well-detailed windows to the sidewalk. So sure it would work out, we decided to go ahead and put in our sixty day notice to end our apartment's lease.  I even did some architectural photography of our apartment for the owner to aid them in finding a buyer. Our plans for Unit A were thwarted, however, when the owner decided to increase their asking price by fifty grand.  It was a fun design project, nevertheless, and eventually it could work out.  Here are some drawings of how we would have turned Unit A into a tight 2 bedroom condo with a small retail space to the street (the kids would even have a lofted play space):

After Unit A fell through, we had to find another place to live while we await the right opportunity to arise downtown.  Brooke quickly found a small, cute square house in Cloverdale, still biking distance from work and walking distance from some restaurants and shops.  Better yet, it has lower rent, no lease requirement, and no deposit.  I'm hoping this is part of God's plan for us to find our place in downtown, but I am trying to be patient.  In the meantime, I am really going to miss our casual family walks to 2Cities church, the Riverfront, the Biscuits baseball stadium, and all of the fountains around downtown.

Graduation Present... to myself

So today I bought myself a little graduation present... a brand spank'n new vehicle! More precisely: a bike, bought with graduation gift money. We currently own one car and do not want another, so we are very grateful that our new home is only one and a half miles from my work.  Thus, I will be able to stroll in through downtown Montgomery on this bad boy...

...sweaty but sleek. And on rainy days I'm sure my wonderful wife will give me a lift. She'll just be grateful for what pedaling will do for my glutes. On that thought, I think bicycles are pretty brilliant: they use the age old technology of the wheel and gears to increase the efficiency and efficacy of man-power, which is not only free, but clean and renewable! Thankfully they are coming back into fashion as a serious mode of transportation.

Anyways, this bike has great customer reviews and has been ranked at the top for commuter bikes, plus it is gorgeous. What sealed the deal for me was, of course, the classic lines, the integrated bell and lights, and the avocado fenders... so I decided to go for it, even though I couldn't take it for a test ride.

Its expected delivery day is my first day of work. I was hoping to have a few free days to practice and regain my 5th grade biking skills, but I'll probably just go for it as soon as it comes in. Now all I need is a helmet, a new pair of Tom's, and a couple toddler bike seats for the kids.

new apartment = fun

It’s official! Well, almost. We still have to sign the lease, but we put a deposit on an apartment in downtown montgomery. Woo hoo! We are super excited about it and can’t wait to move in. And, one of the best parts about it is that nick will be able to ride his bike to work (note to self: get bike for nick). We will live only about a mile and a half away. We’ll also be able to WALK to a lot of fun places in downtown. one of our number one requirements in finding a place to live was walkability. Definition: a measure of how friendly an area is to walking. Check outwalkscore.com to see if the area you live in is walkable. Downtown montgomery isn’t exactly the best place for walking. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to make it more suitable for walking like bigger sidewalks and more narrow streets, but at least we’ll be able to walk and not have to drive everywhere. We’ll be close to several restaurants, the baseball stadium, and the riverwalk. And, there’s a cute little park near old alabama town which is just a few minutes away. I thought i’d share a few pictures of the new apartment. Keep in mind, the pictures were taken while someone else was living there, so that’s not our stuff in there. I like to look at the pictures and think about where we’re going to put our furniture and things. enjoy!