Thursday, August 20, 2009

Coming Along...

So, there isn't a word to describe the exhaustion that I'm feeling. But it's all going to be worth it. Every last second of hard work. The long days at work followed by long nights at our new house (I still like saying it!) are coming to an end, and soon we are going to be living there. Just the two of us, in our very own house. I'm so excited that we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I know that this is a day early, but my husband deserves every bit of praise so I'm saying my husband rocks... Thursday!

Joe has absolutely worked his butt off. He has been getting up early (let me tell you, he is NOT a morning person) and trying to get some things done before going into work, and working after work until I basically have to drag him to bed. He stripped, restained, and refinished the cabinets in my kitchen... just because I didn't like the way they looked! He is replacing most of the light fixtures because they are horrendous! He is such a great husband, and such a hard worker. I'm not sure what he is going to do when we have everything done. He's going to get bored!

Anyway, I promise pictures are coming soon, from both our vacation and before pictures of our house.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Ten Things Tuesday

In light of recent purchases in our family, my ten things are… ten things we have to purchase before we can move into our new house :-)

1. Refrigerator. Although most houses leave their large appliances, we didn’t purchase one of “those” homes. Oh, and did I mention that the hole left for the refrigerator is smaller than standard refrigerators today. This should be fun. Thanks to my husband, who has searched far and wide, we have been able to find a few that will fit in there that are to our liking.

2. Range. Again, not left by previous owner. And to boot, we are very serious when we say we have to have a gas stove/oven. We have rented two different apartments with electric appliances, and I can’t cook anything on electric. Mind you, they were probably the worst quality appliances ever, but I couldn’t even get a chicken breast to cook in less than 5 hours without butterflying it or cutting it into little pieces, and who really wants to do that? Anyway, there is no gas line run to the kitchen, so guess what… we get to spend more money on that! Lucky us!

3. Microwave. Not a huge purchase, and actually the only reason we are buying one is because the owner left a spot above the range for a microwave, and it would look extremely stupid if we just put a hood there. Joe and I never even use the microwave. Joe is convinced it kills all the nutrients in your food, so… if you ever come visit, please use our microwave so it doesn’t feel like we spent a couple hundred bucks on NOTHING.

4. Dishwasher. This was left by the previous owner, but it’s white. Joe and I decided, if we have to buy our own appliances, we are going to go with stainless steel so the white won’t match. If you know anyone who needs a brand-spankin new dishwasher, let me know!

5. Paint. I refuse to live in an all white house. Not only does it get dirty extremely fast, but it’s boring (at least to us) so before we even move in, we are going to paint every room. Yep, you heard right, we are going to paint every room, including the basement. And… I HATE PAINTING. But it’s so worth it in the end!

6. Furniture. We have enough furniture to fill the living room, dining room, kitchen, and 2 of 3 bedrooms, however, we have a finished basement which I am making my husband put the 50” plasma down there because it will look way too big in my living room. So, we are going to put the big TV down stairs, which means we are going to need some couches and stuff to put down there for the guys. (For some reason, the boys are drawn to the TV and we end up hosting all big sporting events at our place!)

7. Electric Fence. The house we bought has a half-acre lot. Enough room for Riley to do all her running. Unfortunately, it isn’t fenced in, and we don’t really want to have to chase a black dog all around Tallmadge, so we are going to buy an underground fence to keep her in our yard.

8. Lawn Products. By lawn products, I mean absolutely anything you need for a yard. We don’t have a lawn mower, weed whacker, garden hose, and whatever else you may need outside. That isn’t my area, so I’m not even sure what Joe has planned for outside, but we are going to have to buy something immediately, as it’s been raining here for the past few days and I’m sure our grass will be nice and long when we get the keys Thursday!

9. Patio Furniture. We have a little concrete patio outside, which will be there only this summer and will be replaced with something next summer (Joe doesn’t know that yet, but I’m already making a list for next year’s projects HAHA!) We have a patio heater, because in Ohio it goes from 90 to 50 at night really quick. We also have a little fire pit. I would ultimately like to get something from Lowe’s that’s on sale, but I don’t think it’s in the budget until next year.

10. Window Coverings. I thought these were pretty cheap, however, I have found some really nice ones and guess what, they aren’t cheap! We also have a HUGE picture window in our living room (which I love) but to put blinds on that is going to cost us an arm and a leg!

Now, with all the stuff that we have to buy, I have to tell you that we got an awesome deal on this house. The gentleman who owns the house (for two more days) bought it as a flip a few years ago, and re-did everything. He even added another bathroom in the basement! The kitchen is brand new, as are the tubs, toilets, and showers in all bathrooms. So while I’m whining about all the expenses we are going to be facing in the next few months/years, we also have a lot of stuff we aren’t going to have to spend any money on, which is fantastic.

On another note, while we are both very excited, we are also very well aware that we are going to be broke for awhile, so if you’re going to ask us to do something, the answer is probably no… followed by an invitation to put on your paintin’ clothes and come over. Oh, and if you happen to have any spare change lying around your house, you can go ahead and put that in an envelope and mail it to us, as we are going to need any and all extra money! HAHA!

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I can’t wait to get some pictures posted. Look for those this coming weekend :-P

Sunday, August 9, 2009

EXCITEMENT

So, if you read any of my previous posts, you know that Joe and I bought a house a while ago (it actually seems like an eternity ago!). Well, this week it becomes REAL! This week, we sign our lives away and actually become homeowners. I feel like this is just the next step in our lives together. Our lives are beginning to feel real. Don't get me wrong, I totally have felt married, and happy for the past year of my life, but we lived together before we were married (I know, I know, don't judge me!) and so when we got back from our honeymoon and back to reality, things didn't necessarily change. That was a good thing! Now, we are having serious conversations such as... children, where we want our kids to go to school, etc.

I recently got together with a friend from high school and we were talking. I told her that Joe brought up the "having children" conversation (it wasn't a total surprise, we have talked about it before) and I freaked out. Like I said before, it's becoming real. Within the next year we are thinking about trying to start a family. This means... no more sleeping in (or sleeping at all for that matter), no more running errands together just to spend time together, no more having extra money to spend on US, etc. Those of you who have your own children know the drill... LOL.

Anyway, I could use some help talking me down off the ledge right now because I am totally nervous and scared. We aren't even trying to have a child yet, but it is truly all I think about lately. I NEED SOME HELPFUL WORDS HERE! LOL

Friday, August 7, 2009

My Husband Rocks!

Joe rocks this week (and always) because he is my best friend. By this time next week, we will be HOMEOWNERS! We sign the papers for our house next week and I couldn't be more excited to take this step with him. I promise to post pictures, especially before and after pictures as soon as I can get my flippin' camera cord.