The Honeymoon is over

Yep, we've been in our home 2 weeks now and the honeymoon stage is definitely over. The first few days we were soooooo excited to be in all this space. It seemed totally awesome. Now, 2 weeks later, we're still excited to have the space but not some of the things that have come along with it.
1. Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. I guess we're gonna have good glutes and calves.
2. 2.5 bathrooms to clean. I absolutely love cleaning the boys' tub...I'm pretty sure there will be no grime I can't get, it is such a smooth lined tub. The master shower is horrible to clean! It is a shower, not a tub/shower and has those opaque walls that take forever to wipe down.
3. Our phone line doesn't work. We can call out, but can't get calls in, unless the phone is hooked up to the verizon box outside! Guess we'll just be using our cell phones.
4. Grass. Barrett has to use the "lawn blower" to cut the grass. I'm pretty sure he doesn't really mind doing it, but still.
5. Neighbors. Since we're in a duplex, our garages are next to each other with one driveway. We still don't know who lives there, it seems that there are lots of cars and different people in and out, but at least they're not too noisy...and they have 3 kids, I think.
6. MICE! On Monday afternoon, I watched a little mouse hop into my church bag that was sitting on the kitchen floor.
The next night I was up late with Tommy. I went down to the kitchen to get motrin, and on the way up the stairs, I passed a mouse who was hopping down the stairs. There was one more sighting in the kitchen while Barrett was getting mouse traps at the store. We've only caught one this morning...pretty gross with blood all over the floor. Sometimes I just get creeped out when doing the dishes and have to stand on something so one doesn't run across my toes.

I feel like this is a trial run. We basically have all the responsibilities of owning a home without actually owning one. I'm learning all the things I like and don't like in a home, so maybe one day, if we can afford to build our own, I'll have it all figured out!

We really do enjoy our place and are almost all settled in. I love having a double sink in the kitchen, a digital thermostat, a working oven (we've made 2 batches of cookies, brownies, and cupcakes already!!!), a neighborhood with a sidewalk to take the boys on walks, and lots and lots of windows to lighten up the place! We're also 2.8 miles to Barrett's work. He calls me on his way home and 6 minutes later, he's home!!! We have a little more freedom. No more train schedules to worry about, no more setting an alarm, and no more worries of always having to study. Yesterday I had to be somewhere at 8:45 near Barrett's office and it was pouring rain. Instead of me dropping him off, he just waited with the kids in the car while I ran in, then he went to work. It is nice to have more flexibility!