The Move to New Plymouth

Well, we officially live in New Plymouth, and so far it has been a positive experience. Of course, there are always difficulties when it comes to moving, but that's how it goes.

We moved all of our things on Saturday, which was quite easy with the movers coming and putting everything in the truck and then unloading it at the new house. Unfortunately, our washer did not fit into the bathroom/laundry room, so we had to get rid of it. Which means that now we have to buy a new one. Yuck. We always hate spending money, but we are particularly bothered by it right now, since we have moved into a more expensive house in a more expensive city, and there is always a cost associated with moving, even when you are lucky enough to have movers paid for. Fortunately, the people at Noel Leeming (a home appliance store) are very nice and are going to deliver the washer and even hang our dryer for us. Here you can set dryers on the floor or hang them from brackets on the wall, but if you hang them, they hang upside down, which I find hilarious. Anyway, it is all being taken care of with little inconvenience other than the loss of some money, which we are trying not to worry about.

Also, within a month, J's boss is going to take back his work car, so we will have to buy another one. I hate the idea of having two cars for two people, but I think it's unavoidable. I will be biking to work and using my car as little as possible, but I can't be in a position where I can't get to work because J has taken our only car. I try to comfort myself with the fact that I actually drive my car very infrequently, but it still feels yucky. Plus, as you can imagine, we are not going to be thrilled to spend all that money!

J keeps telling me, "You have to remember, we are now rich white people who work for the government, so we don't have to worry about spending money." Neither of us are very comfortable with that description of ourselves, but we're trying to use it to decrease stress when we can.

On the bright side, the beaches here are beautiful, and so close to our house! This afternoon, I am picking up a bicycle trailer that I bought from a guy on TradeMe (like US Craig's list or Canadian Kijiji). I am going to use it to take Holly to the beach without having to use my car, and I'm so excited! I think it will take a bit for her to get used to it, but once she does, she will love it! And I will love being more environmentally friendly in my trips to the beach. I think it will be about a 10 minute bike ride.

Another bright side - the New Plymouth library is amazing! I am in it right now, because we don't have internet set up at our house until tomorrow. I will have to post pictures of the library when I get a chance, because it is wonderful. I am particularly pleased, because I didn't like the Whanganui library, and I always thought that was a pity.

Side note: J's and my inaugural night at our new house was spent watching Frozen, for which I have been waiting with bated breath. And I just want to say, to all of you who haven't seen it - Watch it! It is so good! We definitely started off on the right foot in our new house. And just for good measure, I watched it again on Monday while J was at work. And I'll probably watch it again tomorrow.