.Around the Apartment: Suitcases.

Around the Apartment is a series in which I share with you different things of the Shoave apartment! You can my collection of camera's here!

I LOOOOVVEEEE old floral suitcases! I remember the first time I saw one at an estate sale when I was in high school. I pleaded with my mom for 25 cents so I could purchase it, she couldn't phantom why I would want the old thing. But for me it was love at first sight and my love for all floral suitcases began. Now when ever I see a floral suitcase or a great vintage suitcase I scoop it up!

My first floral suitcase!!

Currently we have the suitcases chillin' in different areas of our living room. They all hold a special purpose other than looking cool and pretty. As you can see from the pictures above we use a stack of three suitcases to hold our blankets near the couch. It's perfect because the blankets are out of sight but still really easily accessible to grab when needed. 

I use this cutie to hold all of our chargers near our desk. It keeps them all in one area, close to our power strip and looks wonderful doing so! My sister got me this one for our house warming gift!

Ahhh...look this one matches the cute little one above! I purchased this floral suitcase right before we left for Australia. It was in my friends parent's antique store in Fairmont, MN and I gushed about it. That 's how my sister knew to purchase me the little one when when I was gone! The floral suitcase holds our surge protector, cable wires, and what not from the tv. It is definitely prettier to have it in here than out for the whole world to see.  The red bag is an older travel bag from Australia that we got in Newcastle at the best thrift store ever! We now use it to hold the dvds that I borrow from friends..which is a lot! hee heee. Plus it's a great reminder of our travels! 

I just got my grandma's old luggage collection last month. Three separate pieces of a mustardy color, I'm sure you all have seen them a time or to in your own thrifting adventures! I still haven't decided on what I will use them for that will be practical and still be able to show them off. So if you have any ideas let me know!

.going home.

When I was little, I grew up on a farm. It was actually the same farm that my grandpa grew up on and my mom grew up on, I was pretty lucky. I loved growing up there; running around outside all day long, swimming in the ditch, checking in on the animals, and letting my imagination run wild. I LOVED that place. It was a sad day in fifth grade when my parents divorced and my dad got the farm, the rest of us were city bound (wellll..10,000 people was a city to me!).   

My old farm place is now in foreclosure. The people who my dad sold it to years ago trashed the place that I loved. They never painted the inside or outside, they didn't use our garden or our pastures, they didn't love it.  My sisters and I had the opportunity to look at our "home" one last time before it may be gone forever. Even though it was tough to see it in the condition it is in now, it was still great to say goodbye.  I got to share memories with Dave while showing him where things took place and tell stories to my niece about her mom ( like the one time she made me slide down the hallway and I cracked my head). 

While we were are the farm I took some pictures that I may submit to Dear Photograph. I still haven't figured out which photo I will submit....maybe I will submit each one at different times!

* don't mind the nudity, I was a free spirit*

This one is my favorite! 

We used to stand on the register in the morning to warm up. 

Back then it felt sooo huge....now it seems sooo small!!

I may not be able to go "home" again, but I will always have the memories!

.mn.

Today marks the third week that we have been back in the states and more importantly back to living in Minnesota. I can't believe that it's been this long already, just one more week and a whole MONTH will have passed by. So much has happened in the last three weeks and yet I feel like we still have so much to do! As you may know Dave and I moved to Minneapolis, MN. This is the first time ever I have really lived in a city and it is sooo exciting!!! 

A lot of people assume that I know where everything is in the cities because I grew up in Minnesota. What they all forget is that I grew up in southern Minnesota and we NEVER traveled up to the big cities, it was to big and to confusing! So now Dave and I get to explore this wonderful city together for the first time. I have my list of places to check out and I can't wait to share our little cities adventures with y'all!

Soon we are suppose to have a big snow storm...well at least it's suppose to snow. To me now 2in. is a BIG storm! I have made it my rule for the remaining winter that I will not go out in the snow, especially driving! It's been a LOOOOONNNNGGG time since I have driven in the snow and I think I will wait until next year when the rest of the Minnesotans try to remember how to drive in the snow as well.  It's funny how the start of every winter Minnesotans need at least two snowfalls before they remember how to drive in snow, even though they live in it for about 5 months! 

So here is to staying inside for the next few days to 

watch netflix,drink hot chocolate, finish unpacking, 

and snuggling on our new couch!

.home sweet home.

Weee'reeee bbaaaccccckkkkkk!!!! 

Dave and I are officially in the U.S., Minnesota to be exactly. We have been back for a total of a week now and it has been a whirl wind. It just now feels like we are slowly getting on our feet. But, oh how wonderful it feels to be back home, even though it is cold! Within the last week we have taken tests, moved, hung out with amazing friends, shopped, and so on and so on ( you know what it feels like to move and the craziness that goes with it).  We have even been eating all the great (aka fattening) food we didn't have in Aussie...not good. I wouldn't be surprised if I gain 5 lbs this week..eeppp!!

 The other exciting thing is that we finally have internet and I can update you on all the Aussie adventures I still have to share as well as our new home/life in MN. Minneapolis is going to be a great place for us, I can already tell. Dave and I started making life changes in Aussie and I can't wait to continue making them here in Minneapolis. Make sure you stay tuned!

Cheers!

Our home away from home

Dave and I have officially had a place here in Newcastle, Australia for 5 days! It is located in an area called The Hills. The name is very fitting because any which way you turn on the streets you are bound to end up going up hill. This is exactly what Dave and I found out when we went  tried to go for a run earlier today. It turned into a walk up the hill, catch breathe at top of the hill, jog down for a bit, then walk down because it is to steep of a slope and then start all over again! We did however find a new park that is only 3-4 blocks away that we will probably be visiting more because it has a great view of the city. 

Here is a little tour of our apartment, so you can see the Shoave palace in Newcastle:

The place has turned out to be okay...nothing great. We have shelter and a place to sleep at night, that is the most important thing. Plus here we are FAR more cleaner than we were in the states, so that is a plus. It has to do with a fear of roaches, which I will touch on a little bit later!  If you don't feel like watching the video tour and hearing my voice sound like I'm 12..here are some pictures!

When you enter the door you come right into our living room

Kitchen off to the left. All appliances and dishes came with the unit

Living Room and Door. We bought the sheet and pillows to cover up the icky couch beneath.
We also placed bags from home up for easy grabbing, decoration, and to feel like we are home. 

Our bedroom. It had two single beds that we pushed together, pillowcases from home (they say Key to my heart). The room has some storage for our clothes, which is nice. We had our second encounter with a roach on the bed, it was the biggest one I have ever seen!

Our bathroom..where the shower drain barely works, when you turn on the hot water the cold water handle runs, and where I killed my first cockroach (it was a german cockroach..I've become an expert on roaches)

So this is our place here on Mosbri Crescent in Newcastle. We find it to be okay, but honestly we don't really spend to much time in the apartment. Our days usually consist of us waking up, getting ready, heading out for the day, and then coming home for the night, watch tv and check internet, and then head to bed. As stated above we have had a few encounters with the insects of Australia. I HATE bugs...they are sooo gross, so it has been hard for me to handle these roaches. I have learned that due to the warm weather here in Australia there really is no way to stop roaches, they are just a part of life. I don't know if I can have them become part of my life...hopefully we won't have to many more visitors! It does make it a good reason to clean up EVERYTHING and not to leave anything on the floor where they could hide. 

We just found the second roach tonight on Dave's side of the bed. This thing was HUGE, I even took video of it because we had to show people for them to believe us! We are also posting different parts of our adventures here in Australia on our Youtube channel, ShoaveRoberts. Check it out and see some of the videos, warning they aren't the best because I have NOOO editing skills!

Cheers!