Busy busy

Hi all, I am so sorry I haven't posted in over a week.  Things have been busy as we are prepping for our move, getting set up for visa appointments, getting ready to go to Budapest, and searching for furniture etc.   As for the move date, Kevin is actually emailing the landlord as we speak.  We would like to move in a day or 2 early.  Thursday or Friday.  Just to give us time to get some what together before he starts work on Monday the 3rd.  That Friday we finally got an appointment for our Visas.  So it will be a busy end to the week right before he starts work.  In addition to that we are leaving here this Friday the 24th to go to Budapest to visit Drew.   I will be dragging along my tablet.  If I can get a good signal I will attempt to download some pics and see if  can't post them here finally.  So there may be a flow of posts over the weekend.  Just to get you up to date.  So keep checking if I haven't already lost you since its been a while since  I have posted.  If that is the case I will try to also post pics of Budapest each day.  In other news we have a renter for our place that may finally workout.  What do they say 3 times is a charm.  Yes this is our third potential renter and on our end everything looks good so tomorrow we will head to Kev's school to print and sign the lease and send it to the renter.  This means if all goes well in the next 36 hours our house is rented!!!!  Yay!!!  In the afternoon we head to Ikea finally. We have been busy looking at apartment furniture.  We decided to look at local places first then Ikea and see what works best.  We have seen some really nice pieces.  We can go either way, get the nice pieces and bring them back to the states or go cheap with Ikea and sell before we leave.   One possibility is to go really cheap at Ikea and then buy some nice authentic German pieces before we leave.  We found an antique shop that we are in love with.  The things in there are so pricey but there are at least 1-2 items we may consider buying down the road when we have some money saved.  So tomorrow its off to ikea which is 30-45 min bus/train trip.  Its crazy to us that here its common for apartments to not have lights.  So in addition to furniture we are on the lookout for lights.  Actually its a priority since you need lights at night to see.  I am more focused on Ivy's room. I have a vision for her room every other room not so much.   I am looking at one of those lantern lights that are popular in the states.  In town I found the cutest shop where I could go nuts if I had the money.  I love the stores here.  I have never loved shopping but I do here and so far all I have done is window shopped except I did buy myself a waterproof jacket since its  must here. Plus I bought Ivy some sand toys ( german made) and a ball that she loves.  I found this cute little German toy store where all the toys are made in Germany.  They are all expensive but are well built and have a warranty or here its called guarantee.  Yes, even Ivy's sand toys have a 3 yr guarantee.  Kind of crazy but they are really well built sand toys.    We are also in search of a washer. Our apartment has a hook up and a spot for one in the basement we just have to get one but its not a priority at the moment.  So as you can see its a busy time so we can get settled and organized.  I am currently looking into cell phones and home phones.   I am hoping to find a company that has US calling so I can soon touch base with some of you.  I miss talking with many of you and it does get lonely in that aspect.  So far I really do like it here and I do enjoy my walks and the places I visit often. I am meeting some nice locals who own smaller shops that are helping me learn the language.  The nicest people so far are in the bakery, the meat shop, the bank, the ice cream shop, and the local produce stand.  In other quick news.  For those of you who don't know.  I have been struggling with diastasis recti.  Its basically a tear in your abs after you have children. It was keeping me from losing weight and making me look bigger and bigger.  At one point I was at my lowest weight since having Ivy but I looked 6 month pregnant. I had a 3 finger gap in my abs at this point. Well weeks before we left I bought a splint and got the info to do the tupler technique.  I just wore the splint. This past week was my first real week doing the exercises and following all the rules.  So far I am down to just a 2 finger gap now and my belly has gone down considerably . I don't know if I am losing weight as we need to get a scale.  I do think wearing the splint worked well weeks before and now the exercises are doing what they need to do.   I will need to do the exercises and keeping a certain form while doing certain activities the rest of my life.   I do think it was worth the money I spent on the splint, dvd, and booklet.  Kevin even commented this week on how he notices a huge change.  So that makes me feel good. I know I have so much more to share but its getting late and I have a few important emails I have to send to get things together for the move. Check in this weekend I hope to have luck with my pictures.  Until then I hope you all have a wonderful memorial day weekend!!!