Settling in our Real Taos Home...Finally!

Well, everyone, this is the long awaited next entry in our housing saga.  As we mentioned in our previous post, the first place we were set up in was very outdated and very cold even with the strange heat dials turned up to 90 in one room and high in the other (not sure if they meant anything!).  Well, we caused a good bit of a ruckus and went ahead and found a place we loved on Craigslist.  The couple that was renting it are super nice people who recently fixed it up after their two sons lived in it for a few years.  While the hospital was fussing about us wanting to move and being "high maintenance," we just paid the penalty to get out of the first place and claimed the new one.  It involved a lot of prayer and quite a leap of faith because we were concerned that the hospital might take the opportunity to just withdraw our housing money.  Last Saturday morning we packed up and then emailed the hospital CEO our plan and said adios.  It took us only 2 1/2 hours to move and we finally reached the place for us.  It is beautifully decorated with nice furniture, a modern kitchen, and actually more room.  The kicker is that there is forced-air heat which works...we can set it at 68 and the place will be a nice temperature!  Not only were we blessed with a place we love, but the money stuff seems to be working out to where the agency and hospital are probably going to pay most of the rent and penalty.  The place is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment with a separate laundry room (which my honey loves) that doubles as the kitty bedroom.  It's so nice to get settled finally and everyone have their space.  Oh well, here are some pictures of the place:

This is in our main bedroom, but it really doesn't capture how nice it is.  I think it's a funny picture, though, with Mandi curled up under her blanket and the kitties hunkered down for a nap!  The room has a large leather bed as well as a nice desk and a huge closet.

These are pictures of the living room.  The couch is a nice futon which will be awesome in case we have guests.  Well, that is if we have more guests than the queen bed in the second bedroom can handle.  It has nice art and a great fireplace.  We make fires most nights by starting with the fake logs in the bag that you just light and then adding some real wood.  I'm quite the outdoorsman.  The tiny TV is only temporary...the one that was there had broken and our landlords are buying a 42 inch flat panel to replace it...nice with our HD Dish service.

These are the bathroom and kitchen.  Both so nice and so modern.  The only odd thing is that since the owners and their sons are tall, they remodeled with everything very tall.  The top of the cabinets are hard to reach and the shower rod is about 7 and a 1/2 feet high (the shower head is about 7 feet!).  Great for me but sometimes a pain for my honey...oh well, I guess that's why we're a team.

This is the kitties' bedroom.  Ms. P loves the high window where she can perch and watch out over the neighborhood.  She's recently decided that she always wants to be in the highest spot in a room...not sure if it's a phase or if she's working out a tactical advantage!

Lastly, we don't want to make people too jealous, but this is the view we have in the mountains about 20 minutes from our home!  It looks so much like Colorado and they don't even consider this snow over here.  Anyway, we hope everyone is well and getting ready for a great Christmas.  We hope to talk to you all soon and will post again in the near future.

Jason