We Survived!

We have moved! It's done! We're home!!

...can you tell i'm excited.

Okay, I'm a tad overwhelmed still. I feel like there is still so much left to do. But after looking at the pictures Kate graciously took the day we received our keys, I'm realizing just how lucky we are. Our house is cute and only in need of a few cosmetic fixes. We own, so no need to ask anyone's permission before starting a project. Paint is easy and there's no rush to get everything done by the end of the year. I can take my time to truly make this a house worth coming home to.

This is the first thing you see...well, usually we're not standing in front of the door with huge smiles on our faces, but you get the idea. The front deck will need to be rebuilt. Years of neglect has lead to dry rot and after much discussion C and I have decided to tear it out. This will be our big project for the year. There are large beautiful rose bushes that have also been neglected. They need some desperate TLC.



This was the real selling point for me. We looked at another 50's ranch within the same price range and the original floor plan was tight and closed in. What a difference knocking down a wall makes! The space is very light, open and airy. The tic-tac-toe wall of cabinets offer us more then enough storage space and the island holds a new stove and my devotion (as you can see!)


There's also this little window nook that I envision growing pots of basil, parsley, etc. Can you feel my face glowing with joy?


All through the house we have nice hard wood floors. We have yet to find any big holes, scratches or soft spots. Noro fancies the tile floors the best. They keep his belly cool in the hot summer.


The bathroom is decent. I wouldn't mind getting my hands in there and making a few updates. There is a mirrored sliding door that blocks the light when in the shower. I'm not a big fan of taking dark showers and it's hard to clean the tot when you can't see the dirt!


All the bedrooms have ceiling fans and need to be eventually repainted. Now that we own, we can let the kids "design" there own rooms. B wants a pink room...of course.



The backyard holds a few gems itself. What your looking at folks is a HOT TUB there on the left. Yup. At first I wanted to get rid of it and put in a shed. That still gets a few chuckles from C when he thinks about it. Hot tubs just seem so 70s porn star to me. But, I have been told by many that we must keep it and once I use it I will want to keep it...forever!



We also have a gold fish pond...or trough for Noro. I don't have good luck keeping gold fish alive. I believe I was the direct contributor to our last fish's death so I will leave the care of these to C.



And here is the shot of our back porch. It's roomy and there's a gardening sink right outside. The yard is beautifully landscaped with tons of character. I loves it!


C and I have so many plans! He wants to make the garage a music studio. We want to make the existing dog kennel a shed with a play house on top for the kids. I want a garden in the front yard and since we're going to rebuild the deck, possibly integrating the two projects together in an organic way. So many ideas...

We are both very happy to have bought this home.

still alive...still packing

Three days until we move.

Let me sit on that for a moment. I can't believe how quickly the move date sneeks up on you. But let's go back since my last post.

Sunday was a quiet uneventful day. Although we have a dad in the house, we opted to skip any brew-ha-ha and gave him what he really wanted. So instead of a family outing or a tie, I took the kids out for the afternoon so he could sit and watch sports uninterrupted. He was a very happy man indeed and the kids and I were happy as clams hitting the library, park and the DQ for a little ice cream!

We closed the house on Monday. I had no clue what to expect and was a little disappointed at how quickly and non ceremoniously it all went. I mean, where were the balloons? The life sized replica cake of our little ranch house? The high school marching band seeing us off from the title agency? We spent over 200K and all we got were two plastic pens!

But later that night we did get our keys. I opened the door to MY house! It was magical. And over whelming. I spent most of this week in a state of moodiness brought on by depression (buyers remorse), anxiety (what were they thinking!), and shock (we have to get rid of more stuff!). The previous owners didn't clean so that was another thing to put on the ever growing list.

Thankfully I had yesterday afternoon off and spent most of it cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. It was a nice opportunity for me to introduce myself to the house, get to know her better, let her get to know me. I fell in love with her all over again. The open floorplan in the front room and the amount of natural light I will have. The gobs of cabinet space and the bling bling of new appliances. The ease of dust mopping a hardwood floor versus vacuuming and the wonderful view of my backyard as I'm washing dishes.

I'm excited about the house again. Tomorrow we'll be showing the house to the boy. It just happens that he hasn't seen it yet! So i'll make sure to take photos.

14 days

It's been fourteen days since my last blog and i feel extremely guilty! But, in my defense, it has been chaotic around here.

First I need to give a big thanks to my mother and step-sis for flying and spending a week visiting us. They flew in from the 90 degree Michigan heat to our normal rose festival weather of cold and rainy. We tried to cram as much stuff as physically possible into our trip without killing anyone from exhaustion. We hit some great eats/attractions; Kennedy School, Fat City, Red Bike Cafe, Salvidor Molly's and Chuck-e Cheese. The last was my daughter's idea. We also walked Alberta Street and Hawthorne checking out shops. We had some beers from Kells, Goose Hollow Inn, Paddy's Pub and John's Market. We saw the rose garden, walked a little on the waterfront and spent a few days at Manzanita Beach. (shooot....i'm still tired!)

It was a good trip. Blake was super dooper excited about grandma's and aunti's visit and was on hyperdrive most of the time. I just hope mom and sis didn't take home the nasty cough we had. :-(

Blake couldn't get enough of grandma. There hasn't been that much laughter in the house in a long time!


It was wicked cool to have three generations of women together. Can you see the family resemblance?


And not to mention they were here during fleet week! Insert dirty joke regarding seamen here.



And for the big finale, the trip to the beach! Though cold and chilly, the mighty Oregon coast gave us one day of semi-sun.



After the relatives left, life reared it's ugly head and the vacation was over. We were to close on the house this past Thursday but a snafoo pushed it to Monday. There were intense stressful moments, angry voices heard and conversations had from the bank, the agent and the title company. Buying a house sucks but ask me again next week when I have the keys to my very own home.

I kept sane by working my knitting. I completed a few projects. One I had mention earlier, has been photographed and given.


Mal liked the hat but now I have a really great idea of the things she likes. She's a cool gal from Michigan who could totally fit into the NW scene in a heartbeat. I am totally jealous of these fantastic hand made earrings she bought in a little shop on Alberta. The girl has some class.

I also finished another Summer 08 Cotton Sampler Knit Picks pattern...the ruffled wrist warmers!


Oh my god. The first time I put this on my wrist I felt so like Madonna from the "Like A Virgin" days. I couldn't stop with the jazz hands! This was such a delight to knit but totally not my style! I wish I could pull something like this off, but I can't. So alas, they went into the garage sale...didn't i mention we had a garage sale today?

...because we didn't have enough to do! Anyone have any boxes?