Settling In

Seems like we've been running around full tilt for the past two months. Since we got here, we've:

• Upacked the Uhaul and put most everything in storage
• Created a 1-room living space, with a little "kitchen" area, a 4-foot walk-in closet, our "bedroom," and a "living room," and a full bathroom all crammed in to an attic
• Started working for my father's business
• Flew to Ft. Myers Beach for Matt's grandfather's 80th birthday surprise party, where I met 85% of the Cooper clan for the first time
• Took a long weekend trip up to Sandy Pond to meet with the contractor of the new Keefer cottage, decided details of the reception and rehearsal dinner, and met with flower and cake vendors
• You'd  think eating cake all day would be fun. Not so. We wolfed down the cake, peaked on our sugar highs, and I crashed in the car between appointments. Matt said I even snored a little bit!
• Got our PA drivers licenses, got my car registered, and got PA insurance
• Apparently, my passport, old DL from AZ, our lease, and a bill from the Internet was not enough proof of identity for the DMV here - GROAN. And, of course, my credit union in AZ doesn't do electronic titles, so we have to wait 8-12 weeks for my registration to be manually processed in Harrisburg. Double GROAN.
• Got bank accounts and Giant Eagle Advantage cards :)
• Found a real estate agent
• Did some more wedding planning
• Realized all of the things that change when you go from a desk job to manual labor and when you change from arid Arizona to schizophrenic Pennsylvania weather
• Like work boots instead of nice shoes and clothes we trash instead of dressy outfits we have to iron all the time
• And the humidity will kill us until we adjust back to this climate and we have to worry about stuff like fleas and mold again

In the end, we knew the moment we arrived that we made the right choice to move back east, closer to family and friends. Our lives haven't slowed down at all--we still have a trip to Cleveland for a men's wedding clothes shopping trip, a girls shopping trip, and the first meeting of the Keefer and Cooper parental units--but we are happy to be home, and starting a new chapter of our lives together.