Ode to our Hotel Hopping days...



This is how one of our "one bedroom rooms looked



 I miss blogging...I miss updating my life and keeping track of everything...I miss people commenting on everything.  I could have updated my blog, I am not sure exactly why I used "life" as an excuse, but I am back to my blog in full swing.





 It is official though--WE SPENT 3 MONTHS IN A HOTEL---now we are out, in the most amazing place!

Here is a video of how we entertained ourselves, and the "growth" of Rodda J during our hotel stay ( granted, she thinks she can almost walk now, but I have to backtrack with everything)

 Of course, in hind site, it doesn't even seem real that we pulled off living in a hotel.  But in reality, it worked out really great.  Steve was seconds from his school, and we loved the ward we were in.  We made friends there we otherwise probably wouldn't have met (consequently are having a hard time even thinking about not being in the ward).


this was our supposed hotel "pool" that we swam in until they changed it to feel hotter than the hot tub



 Since we were , in fact, in the hotel, for so long, and I am not going to be able to recount everything , yet I still want a "document" of our time spent there....I am writing a brief summary of our stay below"---


 --We checked in our "time share" on July 21st 2010, and checked out Oct 25th 2010.  Throughout our stay there, for the first little bit, we switched rooms every couple of days (from a one bedroom to a two bedroom, to a studio, etc).  Due to the nature we arranged things, that is how it had to be done. 

 I wish I would have planned better.  Moving was the hardest part, especially on days when we couldn't get a late checkout, couldn't check in early, and Steve couldn't help me.  We had packed for his school, and life for that long, thus had a computer, printer, three suitcases of medicine alone. 

 The hotel would not allow you to use those bug carts yourself to "haul" things, and we couldn't afford t o pay someone to carry everything ( kind of defeats the whole point of saving money in a hotel).  One day when we moved rooms, it took me over three hours to haul our girls back and forth with all of our stuff ( that was a day they just let us transfer rooms, we weren't always so lucky).

Another layout of a different room...Some were set up much better than others, we got so many different layouts)

 The hotel had a fridge, and microwave.  Sometimes we were lucky to have an oven in a room, but it wasn't always guarantee.  Because of the location of the hotel, right downtown, it wasn't a "drive up and park your car kind of place.  You either paid the valet $26 a day, or parked yourself with a deal we worked out for $200 a month.  This means you would have to walk about fifteen minutes away, and navigate through the very slim one way streets. 

 That part was hard as well.  I could never anticipate how long everything would take me, especially when it came to groceries.  Let's just say, I got my workout--literally lost a few pounds having to walk to the different places just to get the car.

 While in the hotel we were centrally located e children's museum, about a ten minute walk, so we went there two or three times a week. 

 At first we thought the hotel staff really disliked our situation since we technically did live there ( we called it our hotel house so Andy could feel like she still had some sense of a home, as she slept on her "couch bed).  They were always a little put off, but then we came to realize that is the mentality here...No customer service exists in Louisiana anywhere--something I am still getting use to.

BIGGER AND BETTER

Now we have officially moved onto the Navy base in a four bedroom ( the only unit they had available for us) amazing place ( larget place I have lived as an adult, period).  We have a backyard, a study, we are loving life.

 We are so grateful for the money we saved in the hotel (don't get me started on the cost of living here) and to my inlaws for helpin us with that.  A part of us really enjoyed that time...