We are continuing to settle into life in or new home, which feels so comforting. We were able to borrow my dad's truck to pick up our washing machine and dryer, and borrow my dad and brother to help get them set up, so we caught up on a lot of laundry this week. On that note (skip the next two paragraphs to bypass a boring asthma update), I read that if dust mites are exacerbating your asthma, you need to wash and dry your sheets on the highest possible heat setting at least once a week. It occurred to me that in the past I've always washed my linen sheets on a "delicate" cycle on low heat, and either dried on a delicate cycle as well or air dried them (linen sheets wear out pretty quickly so this was an attempt to extend their lifespan). And I was only washing them on a monthly basis, not weekly. This week I tried washing/drying all of our bedding on the highest heat setting to see if my nighttime asthma issues would go away, and what do you know, that seemed to do the trick! I'm hopeful that by washing/drying my sheets on high every week I can continue to keep the asthma at bay for the first time in years.
I also had an enlightening asthma experience last week in a furniture store. Jared and I were in a corner with all the fabric samples deciding which one we'd use for a couch we were interested in. As we flipped through the samples, I all of a sudden felt my throat constrict and an intense asthma attack coming on. We immediately ran to the other side of the store to try and find water, and the asthma slowly went away. In hindsight I'm realizing that was likely another dust mite issue because of the dusty fabric samples. I never knew this about myself until this week, but it's nice to know that dust mites seem to be the primary agitator of my asthma. I'm glad we ended up getting a Speed Queen washer and dryer. We debated going with a different brand because Speed Queens REALLY wash things well and can even be a little too tough on delicate items, but in the name of dust mite destruction I think we made the right choice. Lots of weekly bedding laundry in our future.
Speaking of couches (wow, this may be my most boring blog post today. Probably skip to pictures😂) we got two couches on a great Black Friday sale. We didn't go with the custom couch we were looking at with the fabric samples--just two floor model sofas for cheap at Ashley Furniture that were able to be delivered within a couple days. These couches were to replace the sectional we sold with our Washington home. We ended up putting one of the new couches in our great room, and the other one in our music/living room. Riveting stuff.
Hmm, what else...Jared officially started his new job today. He worked from home last week doing lots of training videos, but today he will be seeing his first patients. Very exciting for him. Oh! We went on a date! Without either of our kids! Most of our "dates" for the past 7 years have included one of our kids in tow, and we'd try and keep them distracted with a show on our phone so we could have the illusion of being on a real date together. One time we hired a babysitter in Washington, but the going rate was $20 an hour and that was tough to stomach. Jared's parents would watch the kids when we'd go away for our anniversary trips, but they lived far enough away that we weren't commuting to them on a regular basis. Anyway, my parents watched our kids last week while Jared and I went to a sit-down restaurant for dinner. We couldn't even remember the last time we'd done that. Probably well before Alice was born, honestly. Then we got some chocolates and found an art+antiques shop to wander through. Truly I'm not sure we've had such a date-feeling date since maybe before we had kids. It feels INSANE to have close access to several loved ones who would be happy to babysit now. It also feels insane to know that all of my siblings have had this the entire time they've had kids and have never had to go several years in a row without having a proper date. I'm happy for them and now happy for us. After a big stressful move like this one, me and Jared have never needed a real date more😅
It feels very good to be past the most stressful parts of our move and now in the part where we start settling in and enjoying some peaceful moments in our home with our family. I caught myself feeling panicked a few times this last week about the slow rate with which we've been able to unpack and organize. We still have a long ways to go, and it took me almost a week just to unpack our closet (kids bedtimes are still rocky, so free time is still very limited). I was able to take a step back and remind myself, "Hey! It's not like packing up to move. There isn't a deadline on unpacking. This isn't an emergency." This reminder has helped me a lot. I also like knowing we'll never have to have this home perfectly staged to sell since it's a rental. It takes a lot of pressure off. I'm ready to try a little thing called *relaxing* in the evenings more often in this house. Very excited for this new development. And now for some pictures:
