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.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
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...
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...
Monday, November 25, 2013
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.
Franklin certainly keeps things interesting around our house, but we don't know what we'd do without our little weirdo.
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.
Friday, November 22, 2013
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!
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!
**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!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
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.
**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.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
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).
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).
Monday, November 18, 2013
"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.
Back bedroom:
Bathroom:
Linen closet (just because all built-ins are cool):
Now, going up those attic stairs to what will be the master bedroom:
Attic closet space, because it is so important:
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.
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.
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.
Friday, November 15, 2013
home sweet home
This officially happened yesterday: home-ownership, round 2!!
We closed at 4:00pm and unfortunately by the time we made it to the new house, across town in rush hour traffic, it was too dark for some good pics. So these will have to suffice for now.
The new place is a HUD home, thus another foreclosure. This means the house will be another huge DIY project and we can't wait to get started! Unfortunately this also means that there currently is no running water in the house, which among more serious consequences, made it hard to celebrate last night. We managed to get by with some banh mi and champagne though.
Now, a quick background on the process as I'll share more info when I can get some better "before" pics this weekend. This house was a fairly long-time in the making (at least it seemed so to us). We started looking back in May, originally for another duplex. There was one right off the bat we regret letting slip through our fingers, but we had no idea the rest of the summer was going to have such a sparse market for duplexes in our price range that met our criteria. As months went by we were able to save up more money and thus increase our search range slightly, but we still decided to open it up to single family houses- thinking we would most likely continue to live in our apartment and rent out the single family house if we ended up going that route.
We bid on 6 houses over the summer- some SF, some duplexes. When we first walked through this house, in September, we loved it. However, we learned it was a HUD home, which besides other hoops to jump through, it means we legally have to live in it for one year after closing. We could not rent it out immediately. We had toyed with the idea of moving into a single family and renting out our apartment, but we had, until this house, agreed it wasn't the most ideal situation, though still somewhat desirable. After some thinking, number crunching, and discussing, we decided that for us, at this time, moving into this SF house and renting our apartment was the way to go. The house was a great deal, we'll have a better quality of life not sharing a house with our tenants, and we will still be making some extra money each month once we get that other apartment rented out. And who knows what would be on the market 1,3, or 6 months from now? At the rate things were going over the summer, nothing we could afford in the duplex department was going to show up. And waiting 6 or more months for the "perfect" property (that would still require months of renovation and projects) did not seem to fit in with our large-picture plans. So we pulled the pin, and here we are! Now stay tuned: more info and pictures to come next week.
Have a great weekend everyone! You all know where I'll be and what I'll be doing :)
Thursday, November 14, 2013
finally (not quite) friday
Having Monday off has completely thrown off my internal calendar, so let's just pretend today is Friday for a bit. Wait, that probably won't work out well come tomorrow... but anyways, here is my usual Friday post. I have an exciting one lined up for tomorrow, get pumped.
1. This week I tried a kickboxing class for the first time. Yes, you read that right, kickboxing. A friend of mine went once and enjoyed herself, and since they were running a special I figured I'd give it a shot too. It might be a little pricey for me to make a habit out of it, but it truly was a fun workout. I'm still sore and I did the class on Tuesday.
Between the lunges and kicks we did in class, and the mileage I put on in the past two weeks running, I think it is safe to say my knee is officially back to normal.
2. I finally got around to making some homemade chicken stock. I have been meaning to for the longest time. I've had chicken pieces and bones in gallon baggies taking up space in my freezer for over a year. But you know how three-day weekends motivate me, so of course I tackled it on Monday.
I followed roughly this recipe/ ratio. I haven't tried it yet, so I really can't say if it's any better than the store-bought variety (although I buy the cheap stuff from Aldi, so I hope so). At the very least, however, I can say it was super cheap (pretty much the price of 1 onion and 2 carrots, to make 8 cups) and we already had the ingredients lying around the house.
3. Groupon is addicting. Just throwing this out there. I've got four outstanding groupons and a few more I'm eyeing, yet I don't want to pull the pin on with so many in limbo. Not that I have ever let a groupon expire, but still, it concerns me. There are some pretty sweet deals on those sites and they make getting in those two dates per month awfully easy and interesting!
Rollerskating at the Dome, excuse me, I mean Mall of America Field, anyone before it gets demolished? Or how about wine-tasting in a cave? See what I mean!
And for anyone else stressing over my unused groupons like I am (I'm sure all of you), no worries, I have two scheduled to be used before Thanksgiving.
That's all I've got time for tonight- I'm kind of getting this one in under the wire. But it's still Thursday so this totally counts towards my mission of blogging every work day this month!
1. This week I tried a kickboxing class for the first time. Yes, you read that right, kickboxing. A friend of mine went once and enjoyed herself, and since they were running a special I figured I'd give it a shot too. It might be a little pricey for me to make a habit out of it, but it truly was a fun workout. I'm still sore and I did the class on Tuesday.
Between the lunges and kicks we did in class, and the mileage I put on in the past two weeks running, I think it is safe to say my knee is officially back to normal.
2. I finally got around to making some homemade chicken stock. I have been meaning to for the longest time. I've had chicken pieces and bones in gallon baggies taking up space in my freezer for over a year. But you know how three-day weekends motivate me, so of course I tackled it on Monday.
I followed roughly this recipe/ ratio. I haven't tried it yet, so I really can't say if it's any better than the store-bought variety (although I buy the cheap stuff from Aldi, so I hope so). At the very least, however, I can say it was super cheap (pretty much the price of 1 onion and 2 carrots, to make 8 cups) and we already had the ingredients lying around the house.
3. Groupon is addicting. Just throwing this out there. I've got four outstanding groupons and a few more I'm eyeing, yet I don't want to pull the pin on with so many in limbo. Not that I have ever let a groupon expire, but still, it concerns me. There are some pretty sweet deals on those sites and they make getting in those two dates per month awfully easy and interesting!
Rollerskating at the Dome, excuse me, I mean Mall of America Field, anyone before it gets demolished? Or how about wine-tasting in a cave? See what I mean!
And for anyone else stressing over my unused groupons like I am (I'm sure all of you), no worries, I have two scheduled to be used before Thanksgiving.
That's all I've got time for tonight- I'm kind of getting this one in under the wire. But it's still Thursday so this totally counts towards my mission of blogging every work day this month!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
what i wore wednesday
Outfit #1
Location: Work
Dress: Mossimo (thrifted)/ Belt: gifted/
Scarf: Walmart/ Boots: DSW
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
new shoes: mizuno wave riders
Four months after I intended, three months after getting injured, two weeks after starting to run again, and hundreds of miles past the point of necessity, I finally went and got professionally fitted for new shoes. I came out with these snazzy things:
I was going to write-up a play-by-play of how the fitting went down, but each time I started it got way too wordy for what really was a relatively short and painless experience. In summary:
I went to Tri Fitness in White Bear Lake on the recommendation of a friend who had a great experience there.
The lady helping me was fantastic: knowledgeable and to the point. She watched my stride, asked me running- related questions, and took a look at my old shoes before grabbing some new shoes for me to try on. The conclusion she drew was that my old shoes were offering me too much support and causing me to pronate.
I tried on 2 different pairs of shoes. The first weren't quite it, but the second pair, the Wave Riders, felt good. After walking in them she took me to the treadmill to watch me run with the shoes on and make sure they still felt comfortable on my feet.
They were winners. Light on my feet and comfortable, and apparently (and most importantly), not causing the pronation to the same extent.
Cost for shoes: $115
Time: 20 Minutes (not including the trek out to White Bear Lake)
I would highly recommend a good shoe fitting to anyone who runs. I learned a little bit about my foot and what I should look for in a shoe. I also received excellent feedback on my natural stride and how I run. Specifically I learned that I turn my right foot out whilst running which can cause extra tightness in my legs and glutes. To fix this I need to be more diligent about stretching and start foam rolling (surprise).
Now that I have been running with the shoes for almost a week, or for just about 18 miles, I am still pleased with the shoe. They are obviously lighter and less cumbersome than my old pair. They are also roomier in the toes which I think will help prevent the blisters I get under my toes. At first I was concerned they were a half-size too big, but after reading that many women tend to wear too small running shoes and adjusting the laces near the toes, I feel confident I picked the right shoes and the right size.
I went to Tri Fitness in White Bear Lake on the recommendation of a friend who had a great experience there.
The lady helping me was fantastic: knowledgeable and to the point. She watched my stride, asked me running- related questions, and took a look at my old shoes before grabbing some new shoes for me to try on. The conclusion she drew was that my old shoes were offering me too much support and causing me to pronate.
I tried on 2 different pairs of shoes. The first weren't quite it, but the second pair, the Wave Riders, felt good. After walking in them she took me to the treadmill to watch me run with the shoes on and make sure they still felt comfortable on my feet.
They were winners. Light on my feet and comfortable, and apparently (and most importantly), not causing the pronation to the same extent.
Cost for shoes: $115
Time: 20 Minutes (not including the trek out to White Bear Lake)
I would highly recommend a good shoe fitting to anyone who runs. I learned a little bit about my foot and what I should look for in a shoe. I also received excellent feedback on my natural stride and how I run. Specifically I learned that I turn my right foot out whilst running which can cause extra tightness in my legs and glutes. To fix this I need to be more diligent about stretching and start foam rolling (surprise).
Now that I have been running with the shoes for almost a week, or for just about 18 miles, I am still pleased with the shoe. They are obviously lighter and less cumbersome than my old pair. They are also roomier in the toes which I think will help prevent the blisters I get under my toes. At first I was concerned they were a half-size too big, but after reading that many women tend to wear too small running shoes and adjusting the laces near the toes, I feel confident I picked the right shoes and the right size.
Friday, November 8, 2013
finally friday
One week down posting every single day, maybe this won't be so bad? Doubtful. Now get ready for the photo-dump version of finally friday.
1. First snowfall of the season happened on Tuesday. Nothing too impressive, but it did hang around a lot longer than I expected, we still have a dusting in our backyard.
3. I've made these
three times already this fall. Once stuffed with the caramels, once
with caramel pieces stirred in, and once with a pumpkin-caramel sauce
drizzled on top. All three ways they were delicious. Perhaps it's
because the recipe is just that good, or because my baking skills are so
stellar, or perhaps it's just because I have put in almost twice as
much pumpkin puree as called for each time, but these cookies have been
deliciously moist each time.
4. I did in fact end up going to the Como Zoo yesterday. I haven't been in years and I'm not quite sure why. I had a great time spying on the various animals. The lions even started to wrestle and the male let out a small "roar." That was a little too exciting, I'll probably be having nightmares about it soon.
5.Besides one pesky Gopher football game, this weekend is officially plan-free. And that's just how I like it. There is of course the never ending to- do list around the house, and I'm sure we'll get a few things crossed off, but I'm not letting that bring me down on a Friday afternoon. Right now I'm just soaking up the fact that I have a 3 day weekend ahead of me with almost no obligations. Perfect.
1. First snowfall of the season happened on Tuesday. Nothing too impressive, but it did hang around a lot longer than I expected, we still have a dusting in our backyard.
2. It
has been unusually cold this week, however we have managed to survive
without turning the furnace on by just moving the space heater from room
to room. This is making the puppies become even better friends.
4. I did in fact end up going to the Como Zoo yesterday. I haven't been in years and I'm not quite sure why. I had a great time spying on the various animals. The lions even started to wrestle and the male let out a small "roar." That was a little too exciting, I'll probably be having nightmares about it soon.
5.Besides one pesky Gopher football game, this weekend is officially plan-free. And that's just how I like it. There is of course the never ending to- do list around the house, and I'm sure we'll get a few things crossed off, but I'm not letting that bring me down on a Friday afternoon. Right now I'm just soaking up the fact that I have a 3 day weekend ahead of me with almost no obligations. Perfect.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
what i wore thursday
Only time for a quick post today, off to lunch at Saigon with my dad and grandma, followed by an outing at the Como Zoo, and a Thursday night Vikings game!
Outfit #1
Location: Work
Sweater: H&M/ Tank: thrifted/ Scarf: gifted/
Pants: Old Navy ($8!!)/ Shoes: Nine West (thrifted)
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
painting recap
Have you heard enough about our painting yet? I know I have written about it, thought about it, and actually done it more than enough these past few weeks. I also realize, however, that I am going to want to look back on this and have a little more info on how we did it, what we spent, etc if for no other reason than for budgeting's sake when we do this again in the all-to-near future.
So here's the breakdown in numbers of what it took to paint just about one half of the house this fall...
-Pittsburgh Grand Distinction Exterior Paint, 1- 5 gallon bucket $154.05, after mail-in rebate
-Pittsburgh Grand Distinction Exterior Paint (trim), 2-1 gallon buckets $81
-Extension ladder, borrowed from a friend, free
-Sprayer, borrowed from my parents, free
-Cheap labor, brother-in-law, $230
Total = $465.05
All three of us workers (the paid laborer included) also spent an estimated 23 each painting.
It should also be mentioned that this was after we spent about $250 and 15 hours each, scraping, power washing, sanding, and priming the house earlier this spring.
Taking into account the prep work, time, and money, you could extrapolate that this project, by the time all said and done next spring, will have cost about $1150 and 183 total man hours.
That is not a small amount of money or time (so much time!), but considering we got a very rough estimate of $3500-$4000 to prep and paint our house, I'd say it was definitely worth the hard work and hours we put in to save such a considerable amount of money. I sure like having that extra $2500 in the bank.
-Pittsburgh Grand Distinction Exterior Paint, 1- 5 gallon bucket $154.05, after mail-in rebate
-Pittsburgh Grand Distinction Exterior Paint (trim), 2-1 gallon buckets $81
-Extension ladder, borrowed from a friend, free
-Sprayer, borrowed from my parents, free
-Cheap labor, brother-in-law, $230
Total = $465.05
All three of us workers (the paid laborer included) also spent an estimated 23 each painting.
It should also be mentioned that this was after we spent about $250 and 15 hours each, scraping, power washing, sanding, and priming the house earlier this spring.
Taking into account the prep work, time, and money, you could extrapolate that this project, by the time all said and done next spring, will have cost about $1150 and 183 total man hours.
That is not a small amount of money or time (so much time!), but considering we got a very rough estimate of $3500-$4000 to prep and paint our house, I'd say it was definitely worth the hard work and hours we put in to save such a considerable amount of money. I sure like having that extra $2500 in the bank.
Please know that the windows have all been put back in (taken out to easily get out on the roof)
and the wood boards moved out of the 2nd story porch.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
unofficial NaBloPoMo and laura ingalls wilder
Since October's blog posts were quite bleak in number, the worst month yet in fact, I have decided, quite nervously, to commit to publish a post every day, well every week-day during the month of November. I was originally going to participate in National Blog Post Month, NaBloPoMo, on BlogHer- but I decided I would probably rarely follow the prompts, and if I did, it wouldn't be on the right day. Instead, I'm just going to do my own thing and hold myself accountable to posting every.single.day. This means there might be some interesting, shall we say, posts. Please bear with me.
Today I chose to tackle yesterday's prompt: Who is your favorite character of all time?
This is an easy one, which is why I decided to take the prompt- Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lucy Montgomery's Anne Shirley was a close second. Anne's vivid imagination and spunk, shall we say, are always endearing, entertaining, and inspiring no matter what age, or life circumstance. But as I knew Anne first through the movies (and later the books) and Laura only through her books, I feel I know Laura better. Let's disregard the fact that she is a real life person, I am sure she embellished her character a bit for the series. Laura has fascinated and influenced me since I first read her books nearly 20 years ago, and thus rightly earns the title of my absolute favorite character of all time.
I am sure it was Laura (with the help of Anne) who started my love of history early in my childhood. This manifested itself first by playing "Pioneer Barbie" (picture a Barbie, and Ken of course, in a home-made covered wagon traveling across the prairie, or play room, with their horses, children, and all their worldly goods). This was followed by Pioneer American Girl who sat in her rocking chair, with her sunbonnet on, by her imaginary wood-burning stove. Also somewhere in there was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Halloween costume as well as a family road trip to DeSmet South Dakota and many of the Little House on the Prairie locations. My childhood was filled with imitations, dreams, and learnings about all things Laura Ingalls Wilder.
It was that early fascination with history, and specifically anything "pioneer" or "1800s" that led to many AP history classes and a declared History major in college. Those history classes were the perfect foundation for my first Constitution course, which I am sure is the reason I became a Political Science major, and thus an intern in DC, followed naturally by my current job with the Minnesota Legislature. So really I can thank Laura for helping me find something I love, and then find a way to turn that into something I want to do with my life. A little dramatic and over simplified, but true nonetheless.
And don't even get me started on the great lessons and morals taught in the books: responsibility, sacrifice, integrity, and discipline, among others, are all valued highly in the stories Laura tells, making her books important and a worth-while read to not only children, but adults as well.
Today I chose to tackle yesterday's prompt: Who is your favorite character of all time?
This is an easy one, which is why I decided to take the prompt- Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lucy Montgomery's Anne Shirley was a close second. Anne's vivid imagination and spunk, shall we say, are always endearing, entertaining, and inspiring no matter what age, or life circumstance. But as I knew Anne first through the movies (and later the books) and Laura only through her books, I feel I know Laura better. Let's disregard the fact that she is a real life person, I am sure she embellished her character a bit for the series. Laura has fascinated and influenced me since I first read her books nearly 20 years ago, and thus rightly earns the title of my absolute favorite character of all time.
I am sure it was Laura (with the help of Anne) who started my love of history early in my childhood. This manifested itself first by playing "Pioneer Barbie" (picture a Barbie, and Ken of course, in a home-made covered wagon traveling across the prairie, or play room, with their horses, children, and all their worldly goods). This was followed by Pioneer American Girl who sat in her rocking chair, with her sunbonnet on, by her imaginary wood-burning stove. Also somewhere in there was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Halloween costume as well as a family road trip to DeSmet South Dakota and many of the Little House on the Prairie locations. My childhood was filled with imitations, dreams, and learnings about all things Laura Ingalls Wilder.
It was that early fascination with history, and specifically anything "pioneer" or "1800s" that led to many AP history classes and a declared History major in college. Those history classes were the perfect foundation for my first Constitution course, which I am sure is the reason I became a Political Science major, and thus an intern in DC, followed naturally by my current job with the Minnesota Legislature. So really I can thank Laura for helping me find something I love, and then find a way to turn that into something I want to do with my life. A little dramatic and over simplified, but true nonetheless.
And don't even get me started on the great lessons and morals taught in the books: responsibility, sacrifice, integrity, and discipline, among others, are all valued highly in the stories Laura tells, making her books important and a worth-while read to not only children, but adults as well.
Monday, November 4, 2013
stone arch bridge
Perfect weather this weekend meant we had to take advantage and go on a little outing. We chose heading to the Stone Arch Bridge, downtown Minneapolis. It's a beautiful old bridge, with arguably the best view of the Minneapolis skyline. There are also mill ruins as well as the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater (with its own fantastic views) to explore nearby if you have lots of time on your hands.
We
brought the Chihuahuas with which meant we couldn't go into any of the
buildings, but they enjoyed a good long walk and did pretty well
considering I think most of Minnesota also decided to go to the bridge
on Saturday. They only outbursts that were had was when another dog
happened to walk by.
I can't believe I have lived here my whole life (minus those four pesky college years) and only been here twice. We really have no excuse as it's only a 10 minute drive from our house. I hereby resolve to make outings to the Bridge more frequently in the future.
3rd Avenue Bridge and the St Anthony Falls Upper Lock and Dam
the downtown/ west bank side of the bridge
mill ruins
looking back towards the east bank and the University of MN
Mill City Museum
I can't believe I have lived here my whole life (minus those four pesky college years) and only been here twice. We really have no excuse as it's only a 10 minute drive from our house. I hereby resolve to make outings to the Bridge more frequently in the future.
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