Jet-Lag & House Hunting

The first couple of days have been very exhausting. Trying to adjust to a 16 hour time difference is not easy. We have literally been going to bed at 7:00pm, and waking up at 3:30am. Thank goodness for the internet to keep us occupied in the early mornings. JET-LAG SUCKS!!! On Thursday, Jon had to be out the door at 8:30am to check in. That afternoon we walked around the middle of "town" and hit up the base exchange as well as the commissary for some groceries. The prices of food are similar to those at home, until it comes to produce. Most produce is shipped in from the states, so it is not cheap. A bag of apples (5 apples) was $6, and bananas were $1.20 a pound. Luckily, there is a produce stand just outside of base that is cheaper....gonna have to go there.
On Friday, we had an appointment with base housing. We were very surprised to be scheduled so soon, as we had heard it could take months to get housing. Since this is PCS season, there are openings right now. We were literally given three sets of keys, and told to go look and choose....much better than just being given whatever was available.
House #1: In Monzen (across the Monzen River) is an upstairs 2bd/1ba unit. The unit has be recently renovated and new carpet has been placed. The Kitchen is HUGE with a moveable island. It has a full stove/oven and even a dishwasher. The unit has hookups for washer/dryer, and we were told that those would be placed in the unit. The rooms were good sized and this unit comes with a front-yard/side yard that includes a storage shed.
House #2: The Mid-rise apartment was on the 6th floor (penthouse). It was an open concept 2bd/1ba unit with a huge patio off the living room, as well as another patio off the master bedroom. There was no shortage of storage spac in this unit. The building felt like a dorm....but had great river views, only down side was the elemenatry and high school were literally across the street...noisy.
House #3: North side ground floor townhome with a HUGE yard! This unit was not renovated, and had funky linoleum/tile floors throughout, making it kind of loud. The layout was very similar to house #1, but the kitchen was not as big, nor did it have an island. This house was the closest to Jon's work, but the downside was the flight line was about a 2 minute walk away. It can get vey loud when fighter jets go screaming down the runway.
In the end, we chose house #1, and we will sign the paperwork on wednesday @ 1300. We don't know how soon we can move in, but it should be fairly soon, hopefully by next weekend.
This is our new home...the upper unit!
Our front yard.... we can plant a garden too!!
Our side yard...lots of plans for this space!