merry christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

The Hauges

here we go again...

Here is our giant checklist, sorted by room. I reserve the right to add or subtract as we make progress and/or change our minds once we start living in the house. There are a few items with question marks, which means I am already undecided on this project, or I don't know if the project is possible. And I am sure approximately 1,264,327 other projects will come up once we get started on the list. DIY projects tend to multiply like that.

Front Porch:

-paint ceiling and trim (and maybe walls)
-paint front door
-reattach storm door
-remove blinds
-hang coat hooks


Living Room:

-paint walls and ceiling
-switch out light switches
-hang curtains
-sand and stain trim 
-find a fixture to cover old deadbolt hole in door


Dining Room:

-paint walls and ceiling
-switch out light switches
-get rid of extra plastic on thermostat
-hang curtains
-sand and stain trim
-un-stick drawer in buffet
-hang new blinds (to match living room)

Kitchen:

-paint walls and ceiling
-fix leaking pipe under sink
-new, flush mount light fixture
-remove current shelves and random sconce, and replace with floating shelves
-rearrange appliances 
-install dishwasher
-eventually replace counter top
-paint cabinets
-remove blinds and frost windows?
-make back light switch functional?


Hallway:

-paint walls, ceiling, and trim
-stabilize linen closet drawers?
-add shelf to coat closet
-secure door knobs


Bathroom:

-paint walls, ceiling, and trim
-switch out light switch
-fix leaking tank on toilet
-replace seat and lid on toilet
-install threshold in doorway 
-replace vanity
-replace/ relocate towel rods
-replace shower head, faucet, and handles?
-eventually remove tub and surround and re-tile


Guest Bedroom:

-paint walls, ceiling, and trim
-replace miniature ceiling fan with a normal sized one or a light fixture
-replace mismatched blinds with extra from dining room
-hang curtains
-make light switch operational?
-patch hole in closet


Office:

-paint walls, ceiling, and trim
-hang blinds and curtains

Attic Bedroom: 

-paint walls, ceiling, and trim
-tear up carpet, pad, and staples
-replace carpet
-install 3 matching light fixtures
-extend door frame on 2nd closet?
-take down walls around chimney and whitewash brick?
-paint banister and stairs
-eventually replace nook window
-install runner on stairs?


Basement:

  
-replace back storm door
-tear down ceiling
-replace old pipes as needed
-paint walls, ceiling, and floors


Exterior:

-trim front tree
-dig out, then seal front foundation (and change the grade of the yard while the dirt is out)
-mudjack back patio?
-fix gates so dogs can't escape 
-patch missing shingles
-re-roof
-replace missing screens on windows
-thin bushes near AC unit


Garage: (no pic yet!)

-install garage door opener
-install missing cable to garage door
-replace missing facia

I thought about adding things like "get furnace up and running" and "get water heater up and running" to the list, because when you buy a foreclosure like this, these things aren't guarantees, even with an inspection, and we have already spent a fair amount of time just getting these basic things taken care of. But I left them off for some reason, so just know, that even though there aren't that many things crossed off yet, we have been over there putzing around figuring out furnaces, thermostats, water heaters with missing caps, whole house plumbing systems, etc.

 

a southern thanksgiving

For the first time since my parents have moved down to Atlanta, David and I were able to make the trip down there and celebrate Thanksgiving with them. We have been in the summer, spring, early fall, and winter and we were expecting some nice, warm southern temperatures. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and the temperature peaked in the 40s the first two days and then ventured into the 50s for the remainder, which was still slightly warmer than Minnesota, which was stuck in the 20s (however now it is high 60s down there). The cool weather and crazy wind didn't slow us down too much, even though most of our plans were outdoors. If anything, it probably just kept the crowds away. I'm making excuses for why we look so bundled up, it really was chilly and windy those first few days! But enough chit chat, there's a lot of pictures to get through, so let's get started.


Day 1: Our first full day started at the shooting range (surprise, surprise). We followed that up with a trip into downtown ATL, where we visited Piedmont Park, the Olympic Park, and the (original) Varsity for a little lunch.

A little friendly competition

Piedmont Park

 

 The largest fast food restaurant we have ever seen. It was truly impressive the number of employees behind the counter and customers they were serving, and how quickly!

 Enjoying our chili slaw dog

Centennial Olympic Park- not terribly exciting, but I guess if you're already downtown it's worth a drive-by

Day 2: Thanksgiving day, as I previously told you, we got up early to participate in Marietta's Annual Gobble Jog 10k. The race started with temps in the low 20s (and warmed up quickly), and it was a little comical to hear the locals around us waiting for the race to start exclaim things like "I've never run in gloves before!" Nevertheless we were impressed with how many people turned up for the race despite the "arctic temperatures." Following the race was a full day of cooking, eating, football, and card games.

Here we go!

David at the halfway point

I'm in the maroon there crossing the finish- if you take into account the time it took me to cross the starting gate, I ran the 10K with about 9:40 miles, which I am pretty pleased with considering the hills on the course.

Ready for some turkey!

Let's have Thanksgiving dinner twice a year, ok?

Day 3: We met up with David's aunt and uncle who also live in the area for brunch at Cracker Barrel. We hadn't seen them since the wedding (and I had only met them once besides that), so it was nice to be able to sit down for a full meal and conversation with them. Afterwards my mom and I set out to do some thrifting, while David caught up on some football and my dad started his 5-hour rib-grilling process. Later, David and I hit up a local brewery, the Red Hare, for a tasting and tour. We ended the evening with some home-made ribs that just might have made me a rib-liker.

See that glass there? That is one of the six "tastes" we got with our tour!

Day 4: Our last full day in Georgia was jam packed. We headed northeast of Atlanta for a little day trip in the Dahlonega area. We hit up a few antique stores on our way out of town, before ending up at The Wolf Mountain Winery. Again, we participated in a tour and tasting. A wine tasting, especially when accompanied by a delicious cheese plate, is a little more up my alley than a beer tasting. After getting sufficiently full and drowsy, and learning quite a bit about the wine-making process, we decided it would be a good idea to hike up 600 steps to the top of Amicalola Falls. It was getting a little dark to really appreciate the view, but it really was a scenic "hike."

Not a bad view, eh? I can only imagine how gorgeous it was a month or two earlier.

 After the first 175 steps you get a little break to enjoy the waterfall

Part way up the trail

Only 425 more steps to go to the top

I made it!

And FYI, there was also a lot of this that went on in the backyard "shooting range" every day:

Overall we had a wonderful time, thanks Mom and Dad!

christmas wishlist I

Well it appears to be that time of year again. Even though my fall decoration are still out and the advent wreath is buried in the attic, the calendar is telling me there are only 22 days until Christmas. This means I need to get my butt and gear and acquire some Christmas presents, among other more, meaningful things. While I've had my lists for others saved on my computer for months, I just got around to compiling what's on my wishlist. See below if you are in a generous mood and want to spend some money on me! (I will warn you this is the pricier edition of my 2013 wishlist).

You might have seen some of these things come up before, the red handbag for example, but I ended up returning both of those options; or the Garmin, that nobody decided to get me for my birthday (ahem, you know who you are).

And I know some of these are completely unfeasible for someone else to pick out for me, because I couldn't even pick it out for me right now if you paid me (like a new rug)... but the collage needed another pic, and an appropriate giftcard could always be applied to such a purchase. 

Also, don't feel limited to what's on my list, I like most presents ;) Happy shopping everybody!

1. red handbag 2. area rug 3. laptop 4. ice cream attatchment for my KitchenAid (if compatible) 

5. black riding boots. 6. pink Garmin watch

happy thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving from the ATL! 

Our day got off to a good start with a brisk 10K and is bound to get better once the food rolls out. Hope you are all enjoying your day with family and friends and remembering all we have to be thankful for.

patience

If you could change on thing about yourself, what would it be?

Lots of possible answers to this question on both the shallow and the deep end of the spectrum. I surprisingly ended up towards the deep end with a change that I think would appeal to a lot of folks, but is nevertheless still much desired by me. If I could change one thing about myself, I would change my lack of patience.

If I had just a little more (or a lot more) patience, I think nearly every aspect of my life would be effected, presumably for the best. I would be able to finish tedious DIY projects I start (and finish them with a better attitude and probably with a more attractive outcome); I would be less hostile in rush hour traffic; I would be more sympathetic on the phone at work; I would engage in less "arguments" at home... I think this list could go on for quite awhile, but those are the most obvious examples that would also impact me the most, and the most frequently.

At this point I should probably go on and on praising the virtue of patience, why it's important, and how you can acquire it, but I have spent too much time now googling for the perfect quote and reading through William Bennett children's stories with the fruits of the spirit song stuck in my head (that I also can't find online) that I can't form any more sentences on the topic. Not to mention my phone is ringing off the hook today with constituents who will give me the perfect chance to test and grow my patience.

So I'm just going to leave you with that little tidbit for the day and call it quits. Hopefully I will be around later this week, but I am off to Atlanta for the holiday and didn't plan ahead with per-scheduled posts, so it's about to get dicey...

 

lounging

A lot of lounging happened this weekend, and not a lot else (besides working that pesky Gopher game). But that's ok- we thoroughly enjoyed cozying up during the cold weather. Franklin had no complaints either, in fact I think he viewed it as an opportunity to find some new ways to snuggle.

The head-wrap

The movie-watcher

The nose-warmer

Franklin certainly keeps things interesting around our house, but we don't know what we'd do without our little weirdo.

finally friday

I really don't know if I have 5 new or even mildly interesting things to tell you (not that that has stopped me before), but what can I say, I really want to make up for that missing post on Wednesday. And I figured I need to throw another picture or two up here, it's been pretty sparse/ obnoxiously verbose the past few days even though I probably more than made up for that with the 29 pictures on Monday.

1. A preliminary new house to-do list is in the works, but know in the meantime that we have already crossed 2.5 projects off of it: we've replaced the loose shingles, torn the carpet, pad, nail boards, and staples out of the attic, and extended one of the gutters.

2. We received some phenomenal news from the city earlier this week. We discovered that we do not (as of now) have to have a follow up TISH inspection because we bought a HUD house. I am slightly skeptical the city isn't going to pull something on us later, but for now this means we can plug away at the to-do list at our own leisure and not worry about getting projects done and permits pulled on the city's timeline.

3. We found this hidden in one of the closets: dates and signatures from the last two owners. The most recent signature if you can't read it says underneath, "Lost to Bank of America Feb 2012," and "I put so much love in these walls."

 

4. Minnesotans like to brag that we can drive in 7 feet of snow completely unphased, and I think we are definitely better at snow driving than a lot of states just because we have to be (although in general I think Minnesotans are terrible, terrible drivers, but that's another issue). But yesterday we got a dusting of snow and my commute home took over an hour (my drive home is less than 10 miles). They closed down the Lake Street Bridge, which meant that anyone who needs to cross the river from St. Paul to Minneapolis down south, had to go down to the Ford Parkway Bridge. It took me 30 minutes alone to weave my way down there and get across the river (2.8 miles). Then this morning the DOT closed down a lane on 94 during the morning rush hour to change the light bulbs along the freeway bringing normally flowing traffic to a halt. I think I'm just not going to drive anywhere this weekend, which considering the weather, sounds like a good plan.

5. The high tomorrow is 18 degrees, anywhere between -5 and 5 with windchill. Normally at this time of year this wouldn't be worth mentioning, but I will be stuck outside vending at the Gopher game for a few hours, aka trying to sell frozen hot chocolate to frozen fans with my frozen fingertips. But don't worry everybody, the Vikings' season goes much further into the winter months and we are building them an outdoor stadium so I should get to do this fairly often in the next few years. Why do people like outdoor stadiums?!
 
6. Wow, this list got depressing, negative, and sarcastic real fast. Let's end on a positive note here.....um..... Thanksgiving is next week! Let's just get excited for that now. This means a 2 day work-week for me next week followed by a trip down South to see the parents. And that means I get to spend some time this weekend making packing lists and packing a suitcase which I genuinely enjoy. There, things are definitely looking up!

onward and upward

If you were really quick yesterday you saw that I had another small list at the bottom of the post of things I won't miss about the duplex apartment. After a few minutes consideration I decided to remove it as I wanted yesterday's post to be all about the good things and memories of that home. However, there are a few things I won't miss about the place, and there are quite a few things I am looking forward to in our new house. I'm going to list them below just so you don't think David is forcing me out of our perfect little home:

**This list should be read with something along the lines of this playing in the background.

- hauling groceries up to the second floor.

- hearing our tenants through the floors.

- having to check if our tenants are outside before letting the dogs out.

- the ruckus from the corner behind our house.

- the trash that would build up on the sidewalk (though we will still have to come pick it  up, at least we won't have to see it constantly).

- having to go into the tenants' apartment if we blew a fuse (which thankfully only happened twice, and once while work was being done in the basement anyways).

- feeling the need to tip-toe around the house, not wanting to walk in heels, or feeling bad if I dropped something so we wouldn't be too noisy for our tenants.

- worrying about the dogs barking during the day.


To round out this house-list making here's the list that really counts, the one that makes the mountain of work we have to do to get the new house ready and our current apartment ready to rent out, what I am looking forward to most in the new house:

- having a whole house to ourselves, and a yard.

- having a garage, which means not having to leave 5-10 minutes early for work in the winter to brush my car off as well as having an accessible space to store all our outdoor equipment, tools, etc (the shed wasn't really cutting it).

- the built in china cabinet. I think I've been pretty obvious about this one, but it's so pretty and now my wedding china can have a place to live where I can actually easily get at it to use it on occasion.

 - having 3 whole bedrooms. We don't really need 3 bedrooms, but having a guest bedroom/ office combo wasn't really working (and most of that problem was not enough storage room in our current place). It will be nice to always have a room ready for overnight guests and always have a desk that is cleared off for the computer, in separate rooms.

- having enough storage space. No more emptying lots of boxes out of the attic crawl space to get at a box near the back, now I'll just be able to walk downstairs and grab the Christmas decorations.

- being on a quieter block. We went out in the backyard at the new place last weekend around 6pm, it was eerily quiet (again, for city standards), and it was nice.

- central air, no explanation needed.

-getting to really paint and decorate how I want. I could have done this at the old place, and I did paint the closet teal and I didn't worry about how many nail holes I was putting in the wall or where, but that was about it. I didn't want to go overboard without knowing how long we were going to be there, and now I am glad I didn't as we will have only lived there a little less than 1.5 years when all is said and done. This place though we will certainly be living in for longer so I am going to paint each room the color I want and not worry about when we have to repaint it because that will be years down the road. No more all-beige house!

take a good look around

Before I delve into more about plans for the new house and my general excitement for living in a house all by ourselves, I wanted to spend a moment and dedicate a post to our current place. Even though I am extremely excited for our new house and all its potential, that first moment of finding out our offer was accepted was a little bittersweet. Our current home (the upper apartment to our duplex) was the first house we owned and thus the first place we really got to decorate and take care of as we wanted. I am really going to miss it. In fact, tears may or may not have been shed about our little apartment somewhere in the purchase process as I thought about all the good times we had in it already, all the potential that would go unfulfilled, and the projects that would be left unfinished. But really I think that's a good thing- it means we made the right choice when purchasing the last house and despite its flaws, I loved living there. If there was no regret involved that would mean something would have been unpleasant about our living situation, or worse, our life, for the past 13 months.

**Read the following list with Trace Adkins' "You're Gonna Miss This" playing for full emotional effect.

 I will miss most about our apartment... 

- our large (for city standards) backyard with the 6' wooden fence. I know not everyone likes fences between yards, but with houses as close as they are in the city I don't mind a good privacy fence, especially if it hides neighbor kids and dogs from our two pups and ensures a little more peace and quiet in the neighborhood. Also I don't need to be out grilling our dinner 15 feet from our neighbors with nothing in between us, no matter how much I like our neighbors. Along those same lines I am also saddened by the fact that we will never get to enjoy properly our lush new yard.

- our large bathroom. I once said it had room for a dance party in there, and it really does. Not that you really need that much space in a bathroom, but it certainly was nice while it lasted. It made all those times there where 2 humans and 2 chihuahuas were in there trying to get ready a lot more comfortable.

- the open shelves/ linen closet in the bathroom. Now, I am super stoked about having a built in linen-closet, but there is something about having open shelves, and in  the bathroom no-less, for convenience that I also adore. It helps that I painted the inside of the shelves a fun color to match the shower curtain (this was actually the only space we deviated from the beige color in the rest of the house in order to save effort on re-painting when we went to rent out the apartment).

- our attic bedroom. Specifically how open and big it feels with the high ceilings (for an attic). Our new bedroom is technically not much narrower (only a foot I think), but the whole layout will be a lot less traditional and functional even though there is overall more square footage. I will also miss my "walk in" closet. Yes, it took away from having a reading nook, but it was so convenient to be able to see all my clothes at once when getting dressed (in fairness to our new place, I may end up with the same "walk in" closet set up if the other closets don't pan out).

-the sun porch, especially because I just got it cleared out in time for the cold and we never got to properly enjoy it. It had so much potential for weekend mornings and fall evenings with a cup of hot chocolate.

- the gallery wall leading up to the attic. I'm sure I will find a place for such a wall at the new house, but I love the setup of the frames now, going up the stairs.

- the gray exterior. This one might seem exceedingly silly. But I was truly excited to pick a paint color for the outside of the house and then to pick an accent color to paint our front door (which would have been yellow). I painted our patio table to match what would have been the accent and now it won't match at the new place. And I really really like the shade of gray I picked out- I think it was the perfect middle between light and dark, warm and cool.

- the open kitchen. Even if the table had to be stuck in a corner and we didn't have quite enough storage or a dishwasher, the "open" kitchen was very user friendly for such a small space.

- our proximity to 35W. Our new place is actually slightly closer to work for me, and just 1 or 2 minutes farther for David, so this shouldn't seem like a big deal. However, moving exactly (seriously google map that) 1 mile away now means we will logically have to take Hiawatha (Highway 55) going most places, especially going to say, visit family that all live in the southern suburbs. And I. HATE. HIAWATHA. I hate the lights and the trains, I hate having to drive on it and I even hate just having to cross it. It is just the worst road every constructed as a major throughway through a city. There might be some exaggeration here, but not much.

- the nearness to the bus line. There were some obvious downsides to being so close to the bus stop, but for convenience's sake you really can't beat living a block away from the bus stop that you take to work (at the Dome) or just to downtown in general when you don't want to deal with parking. It helps that we get bus tokens from work, so riding the bus was also always a cheaper option.

- the "security" that came with sharing a house with someone. This one also might be silly as well, but I always felt, especially when I would be home alone for that night, that sharing a house with someone, even if they were in another apartment, made me safer. I rationalized that if something were to happen they would be able to hear the commotion or hear me scream, and that criminals would be less likely to break into a duplex for those reasons (also because they could not tell who was home if there were cars in the driveway)... though that last part is probably giving most criminals too much credit. The noises of our tenants (and neighbors at our first rental duplex) may be a nuisance, but they could also be comforting.

taking stock

I know, I know, I missed a day. I honestly don't feel too bad about it since I made it the first 19 days of the month, which is for sure a record for me. But maybe I'll be overcome by guilt and post twice one remaining day this week to make up for it... maybe. I even had/ have a bunch of drafts going I could've just finished, but work was busy and I decided to enjoy a walk with the dogs and movie night with card games and hot chocolate instead of publishing something yesterday. 

Today though, I'm finishing up a draft I have had sitting on my computer for months now. I first found it on this blog awhile back, but have since seen it pop up on a few others. I've even seen one blogger who does her own monthly version, which I think would be cool. I'm not quite sure my lifestyle varies enough monthly to make this a habit, thought it was neat to see how much my answers have changed in the two months since I first drafted this up.

Cooking: pumpkin, squash, brussels sprouts... lots of seasonal veg.
Drinking: diet dr. pepper, per usual.
Reading: anything by Anchee Min.
Smelling: pine scented candles, my favorite this time of year.
Wanting: patience.
Making: moves.  
Looking: at Christmas presents (for other people) online.
Playing: chinese poker.
Wishing: for a fireplace.
Enjoying: the weather.
Liking: the accomplished feeling after a long run.
Loving: vending free weekends.
Needing: a long weekend, preferably up North. 
Wearing: long sweaters, leggings, and riding boots, my fall uniform.
Knowing: God has a plan and He is in control (although sometimes it is more reminding than knowing...).
Thinking: about my to-do list, always.
Feeling: excited.
Bookmarking: new running blogs.
Giggling: at silly chihuahuas and their new "tricks" (cuz if I didn't laugh, I would go crazy).

"before" pics

Get ready for a HUGE photo dump/ house tour of our new place. It was overcast and raining while we were over there doing work this weekend (and apparently I forgot to open all of the blinds), so unfortunately some of these pictures are still pretty crumby, but that will make the "after" pictures look that much better when they eventually roll around, right?

Also, I want to apologize in advance for just how long this is going to be. In the spirit of NaBloPoMo November, I didn't want to cop-out and spread this out over multiple posts so you are getting it all at once.

Pulling up to the house this is what you see: A craftsman style bungalow that contains 3 BR, 1 BA, and approximately 1,400 square feet (supposedly).

You first enter into a small porch area. You turn left and immediately enter the living room.

 Picture of porch taken from living room looking toward the front door

The living room is separated from the dining room by small arch-way.

 

From dining room, looking back toward living room and front door/ porch (on left).

The main attraction of the dining room, and probably the whole house:

Going through the doorway to the right of the built-in buffet you reach the hallway that houses 2 of the bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a coat closet, linen closet, and the stairs to the attic.

View from front bedroom, looking back. Doorway on left is dining room.

 Door on right is coat closet. Hidden behind that is the bathroom (not seen),

with the small bedroom and stairway to attic in back. 

Front bedroom:

On the other side of those 3 windows is the front porch.

 

Back bedroom:

 

  
Bathroom:

Linen closet (just because all built-ins are cool):
 

 This would be from the back bedroom/ attic stairs looking towards the front.

Linen closet straight ahead with bathroom door on left. Light coming from dining room doorway.

Front bedroom door at far end of picture.

Now, going up those attic stairs to what will be the master bedroom:

The window at the front of the house (the far end from the above pictures) will be where the bed goes.

Looking back towards stairs. Nook off to left will hopefully be for a chair and reading, 

but it could turn into a closet for me if necessity dictates.

Attic closet space, because it is so important:

 Picture on right is the inside of the closet seen as the dark doorway behind main closet in picture on left. Follow that?

Now going back downstairs. Instead of going right at the dining room into the hallway and living quarters, continue straight back behind china cabinet into the kitchen:

 Pictures taken from doorway to dining room.

 Doorway to backdoor and basement seen in back right of picture on right.

 Pictures taken from back of kitchen. Doorway to dining room seen in picture on left.

Continuing through the back doorway to the basement:

 Door on left leads to backyard. 

Half flight of stairs on right (behind the dog gate) continue down into the basement.

At bottom of stairs, looking towards front of house and what will be the "man cave"

 Left: To the immediate left of the stairs (when looking towards man cave)

Right: Storage area, to the right of basement stairs (again when standing at bottom looking wards man cave).

This is on the other side of the furnace as the man cave for those following this whole tour closely.

And finally, the backyard, as viewed from the driveway:

Note the central air!!! Also, not pictured is a two car garage!!

So could you picture all of that? Probably not. In retrospect I probably should have started off with these:

Rough floor-plans I made online. The dimensions shown below are the ones I was given for the house, however still consider them a sketch (with my notes to the side) as everything didn't quite line up and come together as it does in the actual house. 

First floor

Second floor

Congrats on making it to the end! Now what did you think? It seems as if a toddler picked the color scheme no? Bright yellow, pink, blue and kelly green! At least that will be one of the easy things to change.