Friday was our big moving day. We were up bright and early to finish the last minute packing before the movers arrived. Kristian stayed at the condo while the movers loaded the truck and I went ahead to the townhouse to wait for the water guy to come turn on our water which was supposed to have been on Thursday. No flushing toilets = no bueno.
Our movers did a fantastic job. I can't even imagine having that as a job and spending your days lifting and carrying heavy boxes and furniture. NoThankYou. Hiring movers was the best decision ever and I will never not use movers in the future. They arrived at 9am at the condo and were done unloading at the townhouse at 2pm. We gave them each a tip along with some pizza and beer that we had for lunch.
Right after they left, Value City showed up with our new couch and bedroom set. I LOVE them! Our couch is quite large and probably a little too big for our living room but I don't care, I think it looks great and it's SOOO comfortable. We've become great friend already. Our bedroom furniture is beautiful, my only complaint is that having the darker wood shows dust so much more easily. I feel like I'm constantly having to wipe down the furniture. Also, our bed it now set up REALLY high. Like ridiculously high to the point where I may need to get a step stool to get into bed at night. But I actually like the look of the higher bed.
We've been working like mad to unpack and get everything set up. My mom and brother came over yesterday (Sunday) so that helped motivate us on Saturday to get shit done. We have probably 75-80% of the house unpacked. The office hasn't been touched and I just started clearing out the guest bedroom and made that bed today. We still have to unpack all of our decorative stuff, picture frames, candles etc. And of course we still need to paint and hang stuff so we're far from done but at least it looks like a home now rather than just a house and we couldn't be happier.
I promise to post pictures soon of our progress so far, keep in mind the house is a work in progress and we will be making a lot of changes and updates.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Mixed Emotions
Tomorrow is our big moving day, unlike all my previous moves where I had to bribe friends and family with beer and pizza to help, we decided to bite the bullet and hire movers. We just have too much stuff to move it all on our own and now seeing the weather forecast of rain and wind I'm glad we did.
We have 95% of the condo boxed up and plan to do the rest tonight/early tomorrow morning. Our condo looks like a disaster right now and the mess and disorganization gives me anxiety so I will be happy to finally get everything moved over this weekend.
Despite my overwhelming excitement over our new home and being a first time homebuyer there are moments when I get a bit sad and misty over leaving our condo. This was after all the first place we lived together, the place where Kristian proposed and where we came home after being newly married.
I still remember the first time I came to the condo after we started dating and being impressed by how clean and nicely decorated it was for a bachelor pad. I remember bringing my cat Halpert over to the condo with me to spend the weekends and how excited he would get everytime I would get his carrier out because that meant he was going to "Disneyland" (he would run excitedly around the condo like a little kid at Disneyland because it was so much bigger than my place). I think Halpert knew before I did that would be our future home.
In the past 2 1/2 years we've made a lot of great memories in our little condo and it is hard for me to leave but I know we have so many more new and exciting adventures in store for us at our new home and I'm looking forward to that.
We have 95% of the condo boxed up and plan to do the rest tonight/early tomorrow morning. Our condo looks like a disaster right now and the mess and disorganization gives me anxiety so I will be happy to finally get everything moved over this weekend.
Despite my overwhelming excitement over our new home and being a first time homebuyer there are moments when I get a bit sad and misty over leaving our condo. This was after all the first place we lived together, the place where Kristian proposed and where we came home after being newly married.
I still remember the first time I came to the condo after we started dating and being impressed by how clean and nicely decorated it was for a bachelor pad. I remember bringing my cat Halpert over to the condo with me to spend the weekends and how excited he would get everytime I would get his carrier out because that meant he was going to "Disneyland" (he would run excitedly around the condo like a little kid at Disneyland because it was so much bigger than my place). I think Halpert knew before I did that would be our future home.
In the past 2 1/2 years we've made a lot of great memories in our little condo and it is hard for me to leave but I know we have so many more new and exciting adventures in store for us at our new home and I'm looking forward to that.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Moving Annoucements
My good friend Kristen helped me out by creating these super adorable moving announcements to send to family and friends so that everyone can have our new address. How cute are these??
*had to white out some personal info to keep all the stalkers away*
Kristen designs super cute announcements, invitations and other prints. Go check out her blog and order something! All proceeds go towards her adorable son Smith's college fund.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Homeowner
On Friday papers were signed, keys were exchanged and I became a homeowner for the very first time!
We did one last walk through to make sure everything was still as it should be then headed to the title company to sign all 80 bazillion papers. I definitely got practice signing my new last name. The whole closing went very smoothly and a lot quicker than I anticipated. Kristian has bought two houses in the past and he said this one by far was the smoothest. The best part was that our mortgage lender over-estimated (on purpose) the amount of money we would need at closing so we got a nice little refund check that we were able to go shopping with.
Once we finished at the title company we went back to the house to run around and just enjoy the fact that we now owned the house we wanted so badly.
We did one last walk through to make sure everything was still as it should be then headed to the title company to sign all 80 bazillion papers. I definitely got practice signing my new last name. The whole closing went very smoothly and a lot quicker than I anticipated. Kristian has bought two houses in the past and he said this one by far was the smoothest. The best part was that our mortgage lender over-estimated (on purpose) the amount of money we would need at closing so we got a nice little refund check that we were able to go shopping with.
Once we finished at the title company we went back to the house to run around and just enjoy the fact that we now owned the house we wanted so badly.
Here I am holding up my new keys (which you can't see). It was 70 degrees on Friday! In February! It was a beautiful day to buy a house. One thing that I didn't put together until Friday was that our house number is 3080 which is a combination of my current age (30) and the year I was born (80). A sign it was meant to be perhaps?
Here we are right before Kristian carried me over the threshold. I think I will make him do this for all of the houses we live in in the future.
We decided to spend Friday night at the new house with the bare minimum supplies we would need including an air mattress, sheets, an Ipod, champagne and a box to eat our Chinese food on. It was so much fun camping out in our new house though I was very happy to sleep in my bed again the next night at our condo. The movers come this Friday to take all our furniture to the new place.
It's been a busy weekend of cleaning and starting to move items over. The cable guy came yesterday so now we have cable and Internet in the new house and we started meeting our neighbors and so far all seem really nice. It's going to be a crazy week finishing up the packing at the condo and moving this weekend but I can't wait to get all settled in.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Series
I've been trying to make more time to read and I've found myself getting sucked into book series rather than stand alone novels. Most of the books I've read over the past year have been part of a series including:
The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer- After seeing the first Twilight movie I was hooked and had to find out what happened next. I received all four books for Christmas '09 and read all four in January '10. I loved the series, I love the movies and I can't wait for the final two movies to come out.
The Bride Quartet Series by Nora Roberts- I started reading these books while I was planning and obsessing over the wedding and read the last book after receiving it for Christmas this year. It's a cute series and if you love weddings and love chick lit this is right up your alley. However, each book is VERY predictable and follows the same format which is disappointing. But they are quick, easy and light hearted reads if that's something you are looking for.
The Millennium Series by Stieg Larrson- For the most part I really enjoyed this series, I thought the overall story line of each book was interesting and I loved the Lisbeth Salander character. However, there were several issues I had with these books. The first being that they should have been edited down by at least 100 pages or more. There was way too much useless descriptions of what people were eating, how their homes were decorated etc. There were way too many characters, most of whom had very similar names, making it difficult to keep track. And there were several side story lines that ultimately could have been removed without losing anything from the main plot. With that said I did really enjoy these books and I can't wait to see the movies (both the Swedish and American versions) which I hope will focus on the meat of the stories rather than all of the sub-plots and excess information.
And finally I just started reading The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins- So far I've only read the first book but I loved it! I know some people have an issue with the teen violence but unfortunately it's not unheard of for teens in other countries to be sent off to war to kill others their age. As soon as I started reading I couldn't put this book down and after I finished reading it I couldn't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to read the next two books in the series and continue following Katniss's adventures.
The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer- After seeing the first Twilight movie I was hooked and had to find out what happened next. I received all four books for Christmas '09 and read all four in January '10. I loved the series, I love the movies and I can't wait for the final two movies to come out.
The Bride Quartet Series by Nora Roberts- I started reading these books while I was planning and obsessing over the wedding and read the last book after receiving it for Christmas this year. It's a cute series and if you love weddings and love chick lit this is right up your alley. However, each book is VERY predictable and follows the same format which is disappointing. But they are quick, easy and light hearted reads if that's something you are looking for.
The Millennium Series by Stieg Larrson- For the most part I really enjoyed this series, I thought the overall story line of each book was interesting and I loved the Lisbeth Salander character. However, there were several issues I had with these books. The first being that they should have been edited down by at least 100 pages or more. There was way too much useless descriptions of what people were eating, how their homes were decorated etc. There were way too many characters, most of whom had very similar names, making it difficult to keep track. And there were several side story lines that ultimately could have been removed without losing anything from the main plot. With that said I did really enjoy these books and I can't wait to see the movies (both the Swedish and American versions) which I hope will focus on the meat of the stories rather than all of the sub-plots and excess information.
And finally I just started reading The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins- So far I've only read the first book but I loved it! I know some people have an issue with the teen violence but unfortunately it's not unheard of for teens in other countries to be sent off to war to kill others their age. As soon as I started reading I couldn't put this book down and after I finished reading it I couldn't stop thinking about it. I can't wait to read the next two books in the series and continue following Katniss's adventures.
What book series have you read/liked?
Monday, February 14, 2011
Day Of Love
*warning- schmoopy post ahead*
Today of course is Valentine's Day, the day to celebrate the one you love. But today is more than just Valentine's Day for me because two years ago today the most amazing man I know asked me a very important question and saying yes to that question was the best decision I've ever made. So tonight we will celebrate not only Valentine's Day but also the day we made a promise to love each other forever and become our own little family.
Last year I had Kristian write a guest post talking about the night he proposed from his perspective. I still love to read it. Check it out here.
Photos from 2-14-09
Thursday, February 10, 2011
New Furniture
So I learned this week that the furniture store is much like Target for me, you go in intending to only buy something small like Shampoo and you walk out $100 later. Happens. Every. Time.
We we went to Value City Furniture the other night intending to just look for a new couch and walked out with an order for a new couch AND a whole new bedroom set. Budget Schmudget.
In all fairness we were planning to eventually get a new bedroom set since currently our bedroom consists of a hodge podge of furniture we've both collected over the years. While browsing the store we saw a bedroom set we both really loved and the pricing was very reasonable compared to what we've seen elsewhere for similar. So we bit the bullet and ordered both the couch and the bedroom set. And I'm now putting the kibosh on anymore big purchases for a while.
Everything will be delivered on the 25th which works out perfectly since we are having the movers come on the 26th to move everything else. It will be so nice to have furniture we picked out together and that matches! Definitely a sign of adulthood.
Here are the pictures I took in the store. Pardon the shitty quality I only had my blackberry with me for pictures at the time.
We we went to Value City Furniture the other night intending to just look for a new couch and walked out with an order for a new couch AND a whole new bedroom set. Budget Schmudget.
In all fairness we were planning to eventually get a new bedroom set since currently our bedroom consists of a hodge podge of furniture we've both collected over the years. While browsing the store we saw a bedroom set we both really loved and the pricing was very reasonable compared to what we've seen elsewhere for similar. So we bit the bullet and ordered both the couch and the bedroom set. And I'm now putting the kibosh on anymore big purchases for a while.
Everything will be delivered on the 25th which works out perfectly since we are having the movers come on the 26th to move everything else. It will be so nice to have furniture we picked out together and that matches! Definitely a sign of adulthood.
Here are the pictures I took in the store. Pardon the shitty quality I only had my blackberry with me for pictures at the time.
We ordered the couch in this color, it's called Cobblestone. Doesn't Kristian look comfy?
We'll need to get some colorful pillows to dress this up a bit.
The bedroom furniture is an espresso color, I know it looks black in the picture. We ordered the bed (we will use our current mattress), two nightstands, the dresser and mirror and the chest that's in the picture below. We did not get the black bench at the foot of the bed.
The bottom of the bed has two drawers on each side which will be great for more storage. I told Kristian this is where his clothes can go and I get the rest!
I also ordered a new duvet cover for our room from Overstock. We decided to go with a soothing sage color. We'll also bring in some more colors later with some more pillows, the curtains and maybe an area rug.
It's all slowly coming together and I'm very excited, though less excited about the bills and the new mortgage payment.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Same Sex Only?
The other day I was bored and playing around on Facebook and noticed on the People You May Know section there was a guy I went to school with. We had been pretty good friends back in the day but hadn't talked in years. I knew he had gotten married a few years back but didn't know if he had any kids or where he was living now. I was curious so I sent him a friend request. **I admit I'm super nosy and even if I don't have any desire to talk to a person I still like to see what they've been up to**
To be honest I didn't expect to hear from him since he's the type that probably doesn't get on FB very often. However I received an email back from him today. He noticed (based on my new last name and wedding photo) that I was now married and sent his congratulations and well wishes. He then explained that when he and his wife got on FB they agreed to only be "friends" with same sex "peeps" and even keep that group of people limited. Therefore he couldn't accept my friend request but hoped I was doing well. I did click on his friend list and saw that he was telling the truth, all of his friends were male with the exception of a few female family members.
I admit at first it stung a bit to have my friend request rejected, even though I didn't really want to get back in contact, I was just curious about what was going on in his life. I responded, thanked him for the congratulations, told him I understood and wished him well. I know every relationship is different and I try not to judge but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
While I guess I can understand why a couple would make that agreement it does seem a bit silly to me. It gives off the impression that you don't trust your partner (whether that's true or not) and their online activity. I know FB and other social networking sites have contributed to cheating and relationships ending but let's be real, FB doesn't make you cheat, if you want to cheat you'll find a way. While I respect their decision I can't help but find it odd and I know it's not something Kristian and I would ever put into place. I don't care if he's friends with girls on FB or in real life. I trust him completely. I think if you start to notice shady behavior from your significant other in regards to online activity then it would be something to perhaps consider but otherwise I just don't really get it.
To be honest I didn't expect to hear from him since he's the type that probably doesn't get on FB very often. However I received an email back from him today. He noticed (based on my new last name and wedding photo) that I was now married and sent his congratulations and well wishes. He then explained that when he and his wife got on FB they agreed to only be "friends" with same sex "peeps" and even keep that group of people limited. Therefore he couldn't accept my friend request but hoped I was doing well. I did click on his friend list and saw that he was telling the truth, all of his friends were male with the exception of a few female family members.
I admit at first it stung a bit to have my friend request rejected, even though I didn't really want to get back in contact, I was just curious about what was going on in his life. I responded, thanked him for the congratulations, told him I understood and wished him well. I know every relationship is different and I try not to judge but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
While I guess I can understand why a couple would make that agreement it does seem a bit silly to me. It gives off the impression that you don't trust your partner (whether that's true or not) and their online activity. I know FB and other social networking sites have contributed to cheating and relationships ending but let's be real, FB doesn't make you cheat, if you want to cheat you'll find a way. While I respect their decision I can't help but find it odd and I know it's not something Kristian and I would ever put into place. I don't care if he's friends with girls on FB or in real life. I trust him completely. I think if you start to notice shady behavior from your significant other in regards to online activity then it would be something to perhaps consider but otherwise I just don't really get it.
Do you have any online "rules" with your significant other? Do you think this is strange or totally understandable?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Weekend highlights
Work has been a bit nuts and I haven't been sleeping well at all so I'm a bit of a walking zombie at the moment. I had to get up at 3 am last night to feed my cats who were jumping around the bedroom like assholes. F*ckers.
Some highlights of my weekend:
-Went to our favorite sushi restaurant for dinner Friday night. Followed by a trip to Lowe's (yes Lowe's on a Friday night, the exciting life of a married couple). We wanted to get ideas for the new house since we eventually want to update the kitchen and bathrooms. Too bad we don't have an extra $50K laying around to do what we want.
-Saturday we spent most of the day going from store to store on the hunt for a couch. We found one we both liked but it was out of our price range and WAY to big for our living room. Kristian- for the record- is far pickier than I am. So we are back to square one on the couch search but may go shopping again tonight at a place to close to us. It helps that we now have actual room measurements so we know what size to get.
-Sunday Kristian went to where he works to build a new stand for our turtle's tank using some leftover wood that his job had. Once it's stained I'll post pictures. We made some finger foods and watched the Super bowl and continued to pack some more.
This weekend will consist of more packing and shopping which seems to be the theme for February. Right now we're set to close on the house next Friday the 18th and plan to move all our furniture the weekend of the 26th.
Some highlights of my weekend:
-Went to our favorite sushi restaurant for dinner Friday night. Followed by a trip to Lowe's (yes Lowe's on a Friday night, the exciting life of a married couple). We wanted to get ideas for the new house since we eventually want to update the kitchen and bathrooms. Too bad we don't have an extra $50K laying around to do what we want.
-Saturday we spent most of the day going from store to store on the hunt for a couch. We found one we both liked but it was out of our price range and WAY to big for our living room. Kristian- for the record- is far pickier than I am. So we are back to square one on the couch search but may go shopping again tonight at a place to close to us. It helps that we now have actual room measurements so we know what size to get.
-Sunday Kristian went to where he works to build a new stand for our turtle's tank using some leftover wood that his job had. Once it's stained I'll post pictures. We made some finger foods and watched the Super bowl and continued to pack some more.
This weekend will consist of more packing and shopping which seems to be the theme for February. Right now we're set to close on the house next Friday the 18th and plan to move all our furniture the weekend of the 26th.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Another Wedding
I saw this post today on East Side Bride's blog (yes I still read wedding blog's) about what kind of wedding this person would choose to have now, nine years after getting married. I have to say I just love the idea of a wedding like this, small, intimate and classy.
Obviously my wedding has come and gone and I loved it, don't get me wrong but I do often think about what I would do if I could have another wedding and I think something like this would be fabulous. I also love the idea of a small, intimate wedding on the beach somewhere with a flowy, white dress, flowers in my hair and a small group of our family and friends standing barefoot in the sand around us.
Alas, I won't be planning another wedding for myself (hopefully ever) but there is always the option for a Vow Renewal down the road :-)
Obviously my wedding has come and gone and I loved it, don't get me wrong but I do often think about what I would do if I could have another wedding and I think something like this would be fabulous. I also love the idea of a small, intimate wedding on the beach somewhere with a flowy, white dress, flowers in my hair and a small group of our family and friends standing barefoot in the sand around us.
Alas, I won't be planning another wedding for myself (hopefully ever) but there is always the option for a Vow Renewal down the road :-)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Time to Shop
Now that all the loan paperwork is turned in, the inspection is done and our HVAC is fixed (turned out there was leak and the bank offered to split the cost of the repairing it with us) it's time to focus on the fun part of this whole house buying process....SHOPPING!
Since most of our savings is going into buying the home it doesn't leave much leftover to buy new furniture but there are a few items we would like to get sooner rather than later. Since we will now have both a living room and a basement/man room we need another couch.
Our current couch which isn't in the best of shape will be going into the basement/man room until we can eventually replace it. We decided we needed a new, nicer couch for the living room since that's what people will see when they first walk in. It's also where I will probably be spending most of my time since I'm not sure if I'll be allowed in the man room ;-)
We both have been wanting a big, comfy sectional. Something that we can both lay on and watch t.v. and with plenty of room for when we have guests.
Below are a few pictures of what we have in mind. The color and fabric are still TBD but we want something on the darker side that won't show stains as easily and will be durable against our pets and future kiddos. I'm also obsessed with having a chaise attached to the couch. I'm a bit of a t.v. addict so I need a comfortable spot to put my lazy ass while in DVR heaven. Since the fireplace and t.v. will be on different walls we want a couch that will accommodate a view of both.
Since most of our savings is going into buying the home it doesn't leave much leftover to buy new furniture but there are a few items we would like to get sooner rather than later. Since we will now have both a living room and a basement/man room we need another couch.
Our current couch which isn't in the best of shape will be going into the basement/man room until we can eventually replace it. We decided we needed a new, nicer couch for the living room since that's what people will see when they first walk in. It's also where I will probably be spending most of my time since I'm not sure if I'll be allowed in the man room ;-)
We both have been wanting a big, comfy sectional. Something that we can both lay on and watch t.v. and with plenty of room for when we have guests.
Below are a few pictures of what we have in mind. The color and fabric are still TBD but we want something on the darker side that won't show stains as easily and will be durable against our pets and future kiddos. I'm also obsessed with having a chaise attached to the couch. I'm a bit of a t.v. addict so I need a comfortable spot to put my lazy ass while in DVR heaven. Since the fireplace and t.v. will be on different walls we want a couch that will accommodate a view of both.
We are going shopping this weekend and hope to find something we both like. If anyone can recommend any good furniture stores in the Northern VA area I'm all ears!
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