Congrats. good luck with the move. May you have good weather.

Good luck!

Don't stress, worry about the move first and the art once you get yourself settled =3

As far as electric go with First Choice, that's the company my family uses.

It all sounds like glorious FREEDOM to me.

good luck and I hope the move goes well

enjoy the new pad!

Congrats on the move. I suppose having everything in one room will make packing easier, at least. :3

Congrats on the move.

awesome!

Best wishes

Ahh yeah, well good luc kwith the move then.

well thats kinda mean... your going to make the poor kitty(s) walk further away from their bed to go potty? so evil.

lol nah seriously con grads on getting more room to actully move around. hope everything goes smoothly and hope your dreams smell more like roses and not kitty number 2's lol

Congrats! Hope everything works out for you!

Good luck, take care and hope everything goes well... If i lived a little closer, i'd offer to help you guys move... as is, sadly, all i can give for now is well wishes

Congratulations! Just wait till you have kids of your own...

Good to know! Maybe I can make a visit one day. :)

Hopefully that sister in law won't continue borrowing your Tupperware once you've moved.

I sympathize on the Tupperware issue. I was the only one who bought any and continuously lost it to the brother-in-law who would take it to work and never bring it back.

Woo :D I dont know if you will get a choice with the utility company. Here there is only one, and its owned by the city.

I can say most definitely you are going to LOVE having a new place! The sense of freedom will be amazing. =)

And about having space to yourself---you and your husband by all means should take advantage of that in every single way you can, as often as you can. Yes, take that however you want. n.n;

Good luck with the move! =)

Totally fabu ^_^

All those things and more!

Mondo gratz, I'm so happy for you to be finally free!!!!!

You forgot another important aspect - you're finally free to do art when and were you want - no more hiding and being forced to work at odd hours thanks to the parents - you can lounge in the living room or sit at the kitchen table and work whenever you want.

Some tips for you now that you've got your own space.

Buy in bulk when you can - if there's a good sale on some sort of food stuff or supply (dry goods, cleaning stuff, towels, soap and even tooth brushes) and you can spare the cash, stock up - don't be ashamed of having three months worth of TP in the closet or five cases of soda stacked in the corner - you'll save a mint doing so.

Cooking in bulk equals cooking cheap - you don't just save on the food bill by making a large quantity of something cheap, you save on the cost of the actual cooking of the future meals when you reheat it (takes less energy to reheat then to cook from scratch), you save on the water/energy/soap used to clean the items involved in the cooking and of course, you save the time involved in the future meals. Left overs also make good lunches for the Coon when he goes to work - buy a cooler and pack it with food and drinks - you'll save a fortune on what he'd buy at work for the same.

Stay on top of the housework - you'll be tempted to "take care of that later" because it wont matter now if you leave a sink full of dishes or a pile of dirty laundry - don't - the laundry isn't too bad but the dishes become a nightmare as they share grease and scum with each other, never mind the risk of roaches they pose. Vacuming and dusting also need to stay current or the place will become a nightmare quickly - ditto trash.

Clutter - put stuff away and unpack everything immediately - the longer a box stays packed the less likely it is to ever be unpacked. This is the perfect chance to lighten your load - look at everything you pack and ask yourself if you really need it, if not, toss it, give it away or sell it. When you unpack repeat the process - no excuses (this is mainly aimed at Coon as I'm sure you're already traveling pretty light).

No more dining out - you've got your own kitchen and fridge and that means no more fast food or take out unless it's for a special occasion or treat. Two value meals at McDonalds will run you around $10 - you can buy a slab of boneless chicken breasts for that same money and have food for a week.

Pay attention to utilities - if you pay for your hot water then check the setting on the water heater and turn it down as low as you're comfortable with - you do not need boiling water coming out of your faucets. Same thing applies to heat and AC - I'm not saying fry in the summer and freeze in the winter, but if you're wearing shorts inside in the winter and feel the need for a sweater or bathrobe in the summer, you're asking for a killer utility bill.

Keep an eye on the utility costs - this mainly applies to TV/internet as those companies are infamous for suddenly raising your rates out of the blue - write down what your deal is and how long you'll have it, make a print out if you can and on the last month call in and demand an extension or a new deal. If the customer service rep wont give it to you then ask to speak to retention - they'll give away the whole store if you work them a little.

Accounting time - you need a folder to keep copies of all of the rent/utility bills and the copies of the checks or money orders you paid them with to prevent future claims of something not being paid. Same applies to the rental agreement and deposit check - get receipts and never pay in cash - check or MO. Make sure to inspect and put into writing any damage to the apt before you move in and sign - check all the lights, power and plumbing - take pictures if need be. When something goes wrong or you discover something wrong after the fact hit the rental office in person with two copies of the problem in writing and get the person you give it to to sign and date your copy, thus preventing future problems.

Now I hate to give this last bit of advice after you made the decision, but did you check the neighborhood out first - hit it during the day and as school let out to see what kind of people you'll be living with? What about transportation - I don't recall you two having your own car - will Coon be able to get to work ok and if you do have wheels, can you safely park them somewhere?

That's all I can think of for the moment - best of luck to you two!

Congratulations! I hope everything works out excellently well for you!

That is awesome, best of luck to ya! :3

Good to hear! Good luck with the new place!

HB

Very well done, and I look forward to you having this new place!

Entergy is decent enough. Depends on where in Texas you're moving. Centerpoint is also fairly reliable.

Whatever you do, don't sign onto a co-op until you've read the agreement. Alot of them leave the customers liable for infrastructure damage and improvement, such as happened after Ike and Rita. People got slapped with 700 dollar power bills where they were paying as little as 90 bucks previously. Nghr.

Good luck!

congrats on freeing you two from the ties of the itty bitty room

Being shushed waking up a 2 year old? Wayda completely screw up your child.

don't tip-toe around children! You continue your daily routing as normal. Baabies and children very quickly learn to sleep through the noise because it's an expected noise. Vacuum cleaner going? Not going to harm me, so I can ignore it. If you insist on silence when the kids asleep, it breeds to to interperate *any* noise as unexpected and bad when they're sleeping. Just means kids will sleep less soundly later in life.

Congrats.. Although I'm a bit suprised that no one was waking up with a cat sleeping on there face or chest. (Knew someone whose cat use to do that if it decided to sleep in the house early morning.)