finally!

After six months of hoping and waiting and planning we have finally moved into our own home!  Last night we slept in our own bed for the first time since May.  It is a happy day.

Earlier in the week, the stove we think we're buying from the hospital was transported from the guest house to our house:

Oh yes. These men carried the stove from one house to the other -- uphill the whole way.  I was totally dismayed when I realized they would be carrying it. But Dexter assured me that there was no other way.  See the two guys there who are walking on the side? They must be alternates on the team.  I must say, this is one of the funnier sights I've seen in Kenya.  Don't worry - I helped, too! I carried the burners. 

On Saturday we began by moving in a few things, but on Sunday we made a big push to  get out of the guest house and into our place.

 

The easiest room to set up turned out to be the bathroom, so we quickly went to work there.

 

I couldn't get the whole room in one photo, so this will have to do.  There was a slight change during the fixing-up of the house.  To save time and money, it was decided not to change the white tiles around the tub, nor to add blue tiles around the wall of the toilet. I am okay with that, since it meant us actually getting into the house before 2010 ended.  They fixed and scrubbed the toilet instead of changing it as promised.  I hope we don't regret that.  The shower curtain and rugs are all from Bed Bath and Beyond and I think they make the bathroom cheery!  There's nice storage in the bathroom, and I hope to eventually get baskets and things to catch all our stuff. Plus we can store extra towels and sheets here as well.

When we first saw the house the kitchen seemed small, dull and dingy.  A fresh coat of paint on the walls, bright white on the cabinets, and white tiles has really brightened the place up!  That's good since I spend a lot of time here. 

Organizing everything will be interesting.  Here's a couple of shots of the work-in-progress.

As you can see, there's a lot to do!  I really like the built in spice rack (or at least, that's what I'm using it for). The only challenge is that I can't actually see the names of the spices.  But at least they're not all bunched up together on a shelf like I usually end up doing.

Our couches haven't come yet - maybe today or tomorrow - and we need to go pick up the dining room table from the missionaries we're buying it from, so the living room looks a little bare still.  In the meantime, it serves as a nice dumping ground as we get organized.

Before leaving the UAE we got a LOT of wedding photos framed (for cheap) and have proudly displayed a few of them here.  You'll notice which photo gets center stage...the cars!  They painted the fireplace again for us, but we anticipate painting over that reddish color to something a little more neutral.  Actually, we plan on doing a lot of painting as time goes by.  Stay tuned for further updates on that!

One of the best things about being in our own home?  Being able to walk out the back door to hang laundry!

 

No more schlepping laundry uphill to a friend's machine!!! 

It has been a long time coming, but we're here, and we're happy.  As things get more organized and put together I'll get more photos up.

Now, who wants to come help?