Commited myself

FINALLY FURNITURE HAS BEEN ACQUIRED!  That's right. I finally jumped into the commitment pond and picked out furniture and went with it.  (afterwords, of course, all the NEW ads for furniture sales made me second guess, but DARN IT, I DID IT!) We bought a sectional that went with the current color in the living room, because my hubby was NOT going to paint, but was also super comfy and had the right mix of comfy/traditional sense of style I was looking for.  Something that isn't too modern, which in my mind doesn't fit in a house built a hundred years ago. Something that isn't too casual because I didn't want it to just look like a tv room.  Something that wasn't so traditional and stuffy that it felt like it should be in the neighbor's house next door. ( same ones who btw, brought us string beans from their garden last night.. Gosh I love them) Something that my hubby is currently napping on!  So it is good.  Pics should probably be posted here-in, however this girl is sad because her laptop has died and loading pics isn't as easy as it used to be.. (insert sad face here).  Can you tell this couch was a major decision?? I truly think I put as much thought, research and shopping into this as I did my engagement ring.. No lie. 

Anyway, we also got a dining room table, bed, and bedstead.  Whoo-hoo.  The bed and such were not as stressful decisions and the dining room table was kismet.  As we looked for "the" couch, we came across the table and it was the only one I really liked from day one.  I saw it and nothing compared after it.  It has four chairs and a bench and is really sweet. Again pics, should be here, laptop dead, blogger in mourning. Lo Siento, Amigas.. 

This house needs some sassy-tizing.. Like, accessories and such. That is my next project:  Lamps, wall stuff, I bought fabric for a table runner and maybe a valance in the kitchen so some sassy-ing up of the place comes next. 

Neighbors and Neglect

So I've been cooking up new ideas to write about, and then battling the feeling of, "Stace, no one is reading this, who CARES!?" I have become a blog addict though.  There are many that I frequently read and sometimes I feel a bit voyeuristic because what people write about is so personal and well written.  However, hells bells, I'll write anyway and try to be less neglectful. 

So, Two Things:
One, the decorating has begun. And I have a devious admittance.. I have relegated anything of my husband's that I don't like to the library. Literally, his Beatles poster, his tacky painting (which probably deserves a post of its own) and poster of Old Man in the Mountain are all hanging in a bedroom on the second floor with the DOOR CLOSED... I know it's his house too, but does that mean I have to hang all of his stuff on the first floor where everyone will see it? Do I have to?

Second, we have been blessed with sweet neighbors. Now across the street, could be drug lords, not so sure, however on either side we have very nice people. To our left is a 70 year old couple who have been married 50 years.  They had us over the other night for raspberries from their garden and ice cream.  It was so sweet.. WELLL... This has blown in to a full fledged friendship. (Alliteration?) Yesterday, the wife asked me to go with her to IKEA and Costco so she wouldn't have to ride alone. Now, the razzing from my husband about my new "friend" has been relentless and how I fit in with the elderly crowd is HILARIOUS DEAR, however I think it's very sweet. And I know that it is a gift considering other neighbors we could have had.  Home ownership, a lovely experience thus far. 

Carousel ride

Friday was a BLUR.....  Our closing was at 10 a.m. and so we met our realtor at 9:30 for our final walk through. When we got to the house all I could think was, "this is our house, this is our house, this is our house.."  It was like the most racing feeling.  I felt like all I was doing was staring in wonder and not really doing a "final inspection".  Oops. 

So then, we went to the title company and from the moment we sat down, I feel like the day went by in a blur.  First I'm signing my name, and then our friend was at OUR house, popping a bottle of champagne and celebrating our first house.  I mean, it was just unbelievable!  We took over a few car loads of stuff with just my car but I feel like all I could do is sit and stare. This is our house! When we returned to our apartment, it was like going to a cave, I told my hubby that it was hard to be here, in this little space when we OWNED something fantastic and open a few miles from here. 

I also told him thank you.  Having my own home has been a dream of mine for a long long time.  Not long too many years ago, someone I thought I was going to marry also bought a house with me.  And then not long after the door closed on our home, he walked away with the house and I walked away to find myself and who I was independently.  That lead me to meeting ME, finding ME and finding a great place where I grew as a person.  And after I grew as a person, I met my hubby and well, this horse met her carriage.  And the carousel keeps turning full circle and here I am, with keys to a new future and a new dream. It's a really wonderful feeling and means more than just having a space of our own. 

We're Getting It On..

The best best best part of summer (and remember I am a teacher, or was in a former life.. so there are a lot of reasons to be thankful for summer) is the fact that cooking is SOO much easier.  The hubby is a grill-o-maniac and frankly that makes planning dinners a lot easier. We get in this rut in winter months and I feel like are in a same ol' recipe rotation.
Monday: Meatloaf
Tuesday: Pasta of some sort
Wednesday: Homemade Pizza or something easily popped in the oven
Thursday: Crock pot something, most likely roast
Friday: Not taxing meal: order in pizza, Chicken Kiev (frozen here people!), etc..(this is usually take out..)
Why do we have regular recipe rotation? Because, in my opinion, my husband is picky. He doesn't like cumin, so anything Mexican is a most likely NO.  Anything that doesn't involve a potato is negligible.  And most definitely, anything he has never tried before is OUT! He says he's not, but I have gobs of cookbooks that have recipes that have never been touched that say otherwise. 

So summer comes and WE GET IT ON PEOPLE!!! (dirty minds, need not apply) Hubby is a great lover of the grill especially because his bribe, err I mean, gift for when we moved out to the Midwest was a fancy fangled three burner plus side burner MacDaddy grill which make grilling a cinch.  As a gift my girlfriend got me a subscription to Real Simple Magazine and they had a huge layout on ribs this issue. And so I'm passing along this uber simple, uber yummy rib recipe.  We have now made them twice and a small modification the second time around. I added half as much oregano, because that isn't one of my favorite spices.  We also used our favorite store bought BBQ sauce this time which was delicious.  We wanted a more classic rib flavor and WoWsErS it was good. If I were one of those wicked cool bloggers, I would have a pic.. Lo Siento. I'm not that cool.. Just trust me they are good!

She's a Super...

Today anxiety set in.  We got our closing notice and the amount we are supposed to come to closing with was SIGNIFICANTLY more than what we were originally estimated to need.  And I FREAKED out.  Now this freak-y-deak-y-ness is legitimately compounded by the fact that I am still on the job hunt and having little success in finding one even though I had the best interview of my life two weeks ago and haven't heard ANYTHING... Sorry, I digress. I'm a little hyped up about it. 

Anywho, so as I looked over our closing statement, I forwarded it to my sister who once again saved my arse. Alright, in all legitimacy maybe our loan guy would have caught it BUT my sister caught it first.. and she caught it in like 10 minutes. She is amazing! Have I mentioned that? This is post numero dos devoted to how my sister is so fabulous. I mean the girl once again saved me big! So now they are changing things and my heart rate may revert to it's less deak-y stage.  Maybe. 

So. We were at a little over two days until the house BELONGS to us.  TWO DAYS. I am excited and happy and am wondering how soon we can get into it and out of this GOSH DARN apartment. 

Beauty in the eye of my husband..

The boxes are taking over this tiny apartment.  Before we moved here, our old apartment was a lot larger (I wish I knew how many square feet.. it feels like A LOT bigger some days!) and so when it was time to start moving, we just moved our dining room table to a corner of the dining room and then just started stacking and piling and dropping boxes into the room that we honestly didn't feel that encroached upon as the date of our move came up. I recently noticed that when we move into our house, we will have been in this apartment less than a YEAR! Oy.  Someone thankfully pointed out that we won't have to worry about moving for a LONG time after this so that means we can settle and not do this shenanigans again! That is a relief!

Anyway, in this place I feel like boxes are everywhere and despite my hubby's estimation of half done, I think we are more like 30 percent packed.  I just feel like there is so much stuff NOT packed. I don't know. Maybe I'm being Debby- Downer but I feel like we have a lot not packed but since we haven't set a move out date, we can't really pack up the stuff we do need every day. 

However, a couple decoration decisions have been made.  The kitchen will be like a french country blue (or at least that's what I'm calling it) with some white accents. I saw online a great shade that I wish I could find but hubby assures me we have plenty of time for that. Also, thanks to Target today, we are now going to have a "baseball themed" den. While strolling the aisles of Target (a favorite past time of mine), we came across a baseball picture of Carl Fiske, a baseball player from New Hampshire that the hubby INSISTED we have. I acquiesced, assuming it would go in the library, at the top of the stairs.  After the purchase however, I was informed this was going downstairs in the den where everyone can see it! Yup.. WHERE EVERYONE can see it.  We are going to now find old baseballs and bats and go with a vintage baseball theme, which I am a fan of, but trust me, NOT where my decorating schema was going when I first envisioned our den.  However marriage is about compromise, right?

Baseball is beauty to my Mister... This I feel like will be a ticket to use when I want to do something like a girly guestroom, I think!

Amazing Sisters Exclamation Point

With all of this moving, packing, housing closing business, I have not had a chance to sew at all. At night I'm packing or the hubby and I are looking and investigating the latest things we need for the house. My husband is all about the investigating. But my sister commissioned me (What was she thinking??) to make her some throw pillows for her new couch. We picked out the fabric and inserts and I'm to make them.. Well, I FINALLY finished them!! Picture attached. I appreciate my sister having so much faith in me and she is taking me to see Daughtry tonight (because she is an amazing sister and I am more than grateful for how generous she is). I hope she likes them. I'm a huge fan of the fabric and I really want to see if I can find more so that I can do something in our house with it. I even used a finishing stich on it that I really like and if I had not procrastinated like a horrible sister that I am, I would have done this stich around the whole thing... But I feel like I NEED to have them done for this impending gift she is bestowing on me. I should actually probably pay her for the fabric since I took so long. (Only since Easter, yo..)

Anyway, our apartment is now box central and we have begun the REAL countdown to home ownership! 9 DAYS! 9 DAYS! 9 DAYS! We are at single digits people! Single Digits! I can not wait. Now the big debate is when will we get out of this apartment for good and be officially solely in the house. Hubby thinks the end of the month but I don't know if I will wait that long. Like the sooner we get it painted, I'm going to want to be IN! (Did I mention my sis is taking a day off to help me paint?? I was going to title this about the moving day question mark but frankly, this should be devoted to her who does so much for me..) Dad helped us pick up our W/D and then we are painting and frankly I just want to be in!

Also, who decided to close on Memorial Day? I mean people are busy that weekend. We can't get move help or paint help or really be able to do it quickly. Should have looked at the calender when we picked that day. But to be fair, 45 days have flown by and I don't know if I could have made it 60 days. I guess we'll just use the Jeep and my car to schlep stuff back and forth until we do the big move, which is TBD.