Proof and Pudding

So you would have thought that after all the renovations and moving that we would have signed up for premium cable and couched it for a few months. Not Jeremy. He single handedly sanded, sanitized, refaced and rehung the downstairs kitchen cabinets, thereby removing the last of the "foreclosure gunk." I am posting a style before photo and an in progress photo. BUT to see the finished (georgous) product you should stop by our Open House this Saturday!

We are feeling very at home and moved in. It feels so amazing to be able to live in this house, let alone own it (at least 5% of it!) I have to say it even feels great shoveling our snow, taking out our trash can on Wednesdays, and using our dishwasher with super soft water. I will wait for you to remind me of this on our 1,000th shovel, trash day and dishload, but until then I am on a homeownership honeymoon! Hope to see you all Saturday, I will be sure to post photos of the event (and final kitchen renovations)

Thanksgiving

We are full of thanks and gratitude for this beautiful home and for the beautiful family to share it with. We had 12 over on Thanksgiving day including my family and Jeremy's family. Two turkeys, three pies and some great Guitar Hero made for a wonderful day.

We are MOVED IN!

...and moved out! The movers came yesterday in 1/2 inch of snow and brought all the furniture over successfully. Mom and Dad helped with trips over and helped to clean out the apartment. I think we have cleaned our last rental-oven! Moving was a bit hectic, but having everything in one place is amazing. I am afraid to admit we fit into a 5 bedroom house quite well.

Our resident almost-master plumber Lon successfully installed our new dishwasher and re-installed all the plumbing Alison has been working on, and I think it was only a 2 beer job! (with 3 trips to the store)

I have snuck onto someones internet this morning, we hoped to be all wired up tonite, I will post some photos. I am now off to do more free laundry, with no lines! Amazing!!!!! Thank you to everyone who has helped us get here physically, financially and mentally! We hope to pay you back with gracious accommodations whenever you find yourselves in the neighborhood.

Sweet House almost Home

Wow, since I posted last we have been at the house for dinner most nights. This is because not only is our whole kitchen unpacked (thanks mom!), but we now have a stove, dining room table and couches to enjoy. We have been making multiple trips of boxes of clothes, books and small stuff every evening and will be sleeping at the house this Saturday after the movers come to bring the furniture over. We can't wait! Our apartment is pretty empty feeling, but is also warm with free heat and hot water.

We also have curtains hung upstairs and the new washer and dryer installed and working! (not without spraying the exposed electrical box with a hose stream of water, whups!) Anyone who wants me to teach them how to do plumbing, sign up here.

I will hopefully have some more photos soon to post, otherwise you will just have to stop by and see for yourself! Check out the Evite link at the top for our Housewarming Open House info.

We're Floored!

The last monumental tile was laid on Friday evening, and the last two buckets of grout were spread Saturday morning! 1,100 square feet all perfectly lined up and cut to fit with gorgeous ceramic tile!

We have already purged our garage of most of the tiling equiptment but not the scraps of tile. I hope everyone is excited to see what kind of ceramic "art" you will all be receiving for Christmas!

Brewer Approves!

Brewer took no time getting used to running off leash in his new huge fenced in yard. He still gets a few cockle-burrs but not many after all we raked up.

Brewer also took no time getting used to the carpet (only took him 2 hours to make his first puke, consider carpet broken in!) AND Brewer is almost free to run anywhere in the tiled basement, since we only have 7 tiles to go (one closet left) after Jeremy has had a marathon of mortar!

Tile Time Out

With the great weather we had last week we were able to do some work outside. Dad and I raked the front yard (10 bags weren't enough), then later in the week Jeremy and I raked the back yard (40 bags weren't enough!) Jeremy also set up a firepit in the back yard that we have used to get rid of two trees-worth of sticks! Dad has washed almost every window in the house, and with Grandma and Grandpa's help, mom finished the kitchen!

Coming together

Jeremy and I have completed laying the tile in over half the basement! Over the weekend, before the snow flew, Dad and I raked leaves and Jeremy made a fire pit to get rid of some of the sticks from fallen branches. We feasted on fantastic hot meals from Grandma and Grandpa on the sunny leaf-free deck.

Chris has been an amazing electrician helping us out as we all shake our heads at some of the screwy wiring going on in the house. Only 3 trips to Home Depot on this project and we are 99% wired up!

The chimney sweep comes today with hopefully good (and cheap) news on the condition of our fireplace, I should set the carpet install date for late next week and we just got two guys and a truck set to move us on Nov 22nd.

Save the Date!
Jeremy and I would like to invite everyone to:

A Happy Holidays Housewarming Open House
on Saturday December 20th from 3pm-late.


(The Best-Holiday Sweater judging will be at 4:30!)
-More emails and invitations to follow.

60 down 1,040 to go

Shopping and loading, check! Planning and prep, check! Lots of geometry, check! Mixing and sloping, check! Measuring and cutting, check! Laying our first of many tiles....awesome!

We would like to dedicate this first corner of finished floor to Josh, for unloading the tile, Mr Paul for planning the tile and Erich for laying the tile. I don't think even another thousand square feet could wear down my excitement, I'll let you know!

Plumb dandy

Our new highlight on the tour for those who have stopped by the house (Meghan & Garret & Jace, Emily &Paul, Josh & Ashley, Stephanie & Chris & Savannah, Mr & Mrs Paul, Scott & Carrie, Rossows, and Boutins) is the fantastic new plumbing in the utility room. We had some wonderful people over from Genz-Ryan Plumbing to redo the whole wall of pipes, and replace the water heater and water softner. (you should see the hot suds we brew up now!!)

A whole week of home ownership and we have made some noticable progress; the sanding & polishing is complete and gorgeous in the 2 wood floor bedrooms, Jeremy has kilz'd and replaced some soggy floor boards, mom is still batteling the kitchen of mouse parts, and Grandma and Grandpa are covering all 552 kitchen shelves with shelving paper and tonite....we tile!

Pain must mean Progress

Well we cant so much bend our backs today, but the weekend was fantastic for the house. Beautiful weather allowed us to unload 2 tons of tile, sand & seal 200 sq ft of hardwood floors, clean up some hedges and weeds and demo some damp drywall. Mom made 2 disgusting refrigerators like new by scrubbing for 3 days, Dad made windows see through again by polishing & the beefcakes Josh, Garret & Jeremy loaded and hauled and lifted all weekend.

Each room we conquer makes it feel more like our house, although there is alot to do to make it livable. We hope to have the upstairs finished when the carpet is installed next week sometime. For now, the tile party will begin this week. Any able minds or bodies are welcome to help us lay 1,100 sq ft of gorgeous floor tile (or join us for needed breaks in between)!

Keep your ears open for an early December open house date to come and see all our finished work!

HOMEOWNERS!

As of yesterday, we own a house!!!!! (well at least 5% of it) Jeremy cleaned the gutters and I cleaned one room and Mom cleaned the fridge. You can see the before and after shot of Mom's attack on the fridge. Its a good start for a big day.


More projects and more pictures to follow!

2 days 4 hours

2 days 4 hours 31 minutes

and we will own a house, 3 large trees, a deck, a clogged drain, 4 or so mole colonies, one functional sink, 4 exterior doors, 2 refrigerators and a shed.

wow

Photos for Grandma & Grandpa

Here are a few shots of the house. and a good one of Brewer from a few months ago with puppy hair.

12 days before closing

With 12 days left, I wanted to share some photos. I hope to take more this weekend. Fingers crossed until October 15th! -ab

these are photos of the deck and backyard and of the kitchen/dining/living room on the main level. As well as the hallway on the main level (3 beds 1 bath). The downstairs has a similar format plus a huge fireplace!