Before view from the entryway...
after....
other before view from entryway...
after....
before view from the hallway...
after view...
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
{House} Living Room Progress
As I mentioned in the previous post we have put a large dent in the work on our house and while we still have several things to do here are some photos on the progress of our living room. We had the bookshelves ripped out, the fireplace torn up and refaced, replaced the carpet and painted.
As you can see we need to do some furniture shopping (we are currently using dining chairs as extra seating and our giant media cabinet as an end table ha! ha!), hang a few items, work on window treatments and would like to replace the ceiling fan and add a few can lights but I think it already looks a hundred times better (and brighter). I'll post more as we progress.
Monday, January 28, 2013
{House} Before Pictures
As promised- here are the pictures of our house taken on the day it was inspected. As you can see we have a lot of work to do to make it our own and have put a significant amount of work in already, but there is much, much more to come. So here we go.....
Our entryway...
view into living room
living into dining
dining
my small kitchen
another kitchen shot
tiny pantry with poorly placed shelves
hallway to guest/kids rooms
guest bath
guest room
guest room from the other side
Brooklyn's room
view from the door
view from the corner by the window
playroom/future nursery
playroom from door
now back to the entry way there's a hall going to the laundry/garage and master
laundry
master
master view other side
master bath
master bath
master bath
our small, but big enough for us backyard that needs an overhaul
Next up I'll post the progress we've made on our living room. Doesn't look like the same house.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Lessons of a 1st time homebuyer
Every house I've ever lived in (rented or houses that my parents had bought) has been clean when we moved in. Maybe not perfect- but clean enough for you to feel comfortable moving your things into.
So we never thought to put a requirement into our contract to have the house professionally cleaned. Let me just say that unless we have a home built, we will never buy another home without requiring the house be professionally cleaned.
We had our walk through at 5 pm the night before closing and I was mostly looking to see that the sellers had fixed the things we'd asked them to take care of after our inspection. I never thought to look closely at the baseboards, the edges of the carpet, the ceiling fans, and checked every cabinet so it's partly my fault.
We went to the house the day after we closed to start painting, but instead spent the next 2 days literally cleaning the house from top to bottom. The sellers I'm sure are wonderful people, but in the 2 or 3 years they lived in the house I can tell you they never once dusted, washed the windows, or used the extension on their vacuum. I'm not even sure they owned a vacuum. We've discovered many half-hearted DIY projects which is why we'll just call the previous owners the "Sloppy Sally's."
So after the scrubbing, vacuuming, windexing, hole patching, dusting the dust blankets off the ceiling fans, and chair rail removing (which were cut all at the same angle so they looked like two arrows pointing at each other at every corner) -we began priming and painting, and removing and replacing broken outlet covers, blinds and broken closet doors.
In one week we were able to clean and prep the house, get the paint and several improvements done and unload the PODS container. Had we not had some major help it would have taken the two of us a year to do all that since our nugget can't hang out in her pack n' play while we are working (she plays for 5 minutes then whine/fake cries/real cries til we get her out).
My family is nothing short of incredible. My dad and mom spent hours and hours cleaning, spackling, sanding, removing doors, making trips to Lowe's with me, priming, painting and watching Brooklyn so Daniel and I could work on the house. My brother and sister-in-law spent their entire weekend watching Brooklyn and helping us move all of our furniture and boxes in from the storage container. Had my sister and her fam lived closer they would have been there too (actually, when we packed in Oregon- they drove down and helped us pack up our house!).
We had some work done on our fireplace and had new carpet put in the living room and hallways since it was beyond nasty. As of today we have most everything unpacked but still need to hang pictures and such.
There are still things to do - all of our lights are builder basic from the mid 90's so I'd like to change those, and somewhere down the line there will be renovations to both bathrooms and the kitchen. This weekend we are going to tackle the garage and try to get the sea of leaves out of our dog decimated backyard (that badly needs some TLC). I'll post all the pre-move in pics next week- promise! For now I'm going to work on B's one year post, break down some more boxes and dream of a day when I can finally get that post renovation manicure!
Love,
Why did we buy a house again??
P.S. Anyone wanna come help be paint all the trim and doors? .......Anyone??? ......Bueller????
So we never thought to put a requirement into our contract to have the house professionally cleaned. Let me just say that unless we have a home built, we will never buy another home without requiring the house be professionally cleaned.
We had our walk through at 5 pm the night before closing and I was mostly looking to see that the sellers had fixed the things we'd asked them to take care of after our inspection. I never thought to look closely at the baseboards, the edges of the carpet, the ceiling fans, and checked every cabinet so it's partly my fault.
We went to the house the day after we closed to start painting, but instead spent the next 2 days literally cleaning the house from top to bottom. The sellers I'm sure are wonderful people, but in the 2 or 3 years they lived in the house I can tell you they never once dusted, washed the windows, or used the extension on their vacuum. I'm not even sure they owned a vacuum. We've discovered many half-hearted DIY projects which is why we'll just call the previous owners the "Sloppy Sally's."
So after the scrubbing, vacuuming, windexing, hole patching, dusting the dust blankets off the ceiling fans, and chair rail removing (which were cut all at the same angle so they looked like two arrows pointing at each other at every corner) -we began priming and painting, and removing and replacing broken outlet covers, blinds and broken closet doors.
In one week we were able to clean and prep the house, get the paint and several improvements done and unload the PODS container. Had we not had some major help it would have taken the two of us a year to do all that since our nugget can't hang out in her pack n' play while we are working (she plays for 5 minutes then whine/fake cries/real cries til we get her out).
My family is nothing short of incredible. My dad and mom spent hours and hours cleaning, spackling, sanding, removing doors, making trips to Lowe's with me, priming, painting and watching Brooklyn so Daniel and I could work on the house. My brother and sister-in-law spent their entire weekend watching Brooklyn and helping us move all of our furniture and boxes in from the storage container. Had my sister and her fam lived closer they would have been there too (actually, when we packed in Oregon- they drove down and helped us pack up our house!).
We had some work done on our fireplace and had new carpet put in the living room and hallways since it was beyond nasty. As of today we have most everything unpacked but still need to hang pictures and such.
There are still things to do - all of our lights are builder basic from the mid 90's so I'd like to change those, and somewhere down the line there will be renovations to both bathrooms and the kitchen. This weekend we are going to tackle the garage and try to get the sea of leaves out of our dog decimated backyard (that badly needs some TLC). I'll post all the pre-move in pics next week- promise! For now I'm going to work on B's one year post, break down some more boxes and dream of a day when I can finally get that post renovation manicure!
Love,
Why did we buy a house again??
P.S. Anyone wanna come help be paint all the trim and doors? .......Anyone??? ......Bueller????
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Home Sweet Home
It has finally happened! We found a house! We will now be writing checks toward owning something instead of mailing checks to someone for rent. I learned that house hunting is not near as much fun or exciting as I had imagined. It's stressful and can be kind of depressing. Schools ruled the search for us, and not just school districts but specific elementary schools. So of the elementary schools that met the criteria, we then ruled out based on location. A quick drive for Daniel to work and being close to things we do and love were a top priority for us. I learned from the last town we lived in that not having to drive 30 plus minutes to get to the stores, shops, and restaurants we love is worth something.
Having 4 bedrooms was our other non-negotiable priority. We knew we wanted to be in whatever house we bought for more than just a few years. We want to build equity and quite honestly we are tired of moving. (We've lived in 6 places, in 3 different states, in the last 5 years and moving gets cray-cray when you have little humans who can't pack and load all their own stuff ...and they seem to have the most stuff.). We know we'd like to have another munchkin and don't want to outgrow our space a few years after we move in.
Finding neighborhoods with all three of these criteria was the easy part. Finding a house in these neighborhoods in our budget was waaaaayyy harder than I had imagined. Everything I liked was just a little out of our price comfort zone and the last thing I want to do is be house poor. It was so tempting to look at the houses that were just above the price we'd decided on... and we did, but it always came back to wanting to be able to pay all the bills and still have some cash to save and do a few fun things too. After a few months of looking at every house in our range (and a few out of our range) we finally found it and it's a perfect fit for us! We compromised on the size of my kitchen so I'll be scouring pinterest for lots of good kitchen storage ideas.
We are doing lots of work to the house so I'll be posting before and after pics as the projects get finished as well as some of the lessons we are learning!
Having 4 bedrooms was our other non-negotiable priority. We knew we wanted to be in whatever house we bought for more than just a few years. We want to build equity and quite honestly we are tired of moving. (We've lived in 6 places, in 3 different states, in the last 5 years and moving gets cray-cray when you have little humans who can't pack and load all their own stuff ...and they seem to have the most stuff.). We know we'd like to have another munchkin and don't want to outgrow our space a few years after we move in.
Finding neighborhoods with all three of these criteria was the easy part. Finding a house in these neighborhoods in our budget was waaaaayyy harder than I had imagined. Everything I liked was just a little out of our price comfort zone and the last thing I want to do is be house poor. It was so tempting to look at the houses that were just above the price we'd decided on... and we did, but it always came back to wanting to be able to pay all the bills and still have some cash to save and do a few fun things too. After a few months of looking at every house in our range (and a few out of our range) we finally found it and it's a perfect fit for us! We compromised on the size of my kitchen so I'll be scouring pinterest for lots of good kitchen storage ideas.
We are doing lots of work to the house so I'll be posting before and after pics as the projects get finished as well as some of the lessons we are learning!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Going home...
I never imagined that what I'm about to say would ever evoke any feeling other than despair, but I am excited to announce that we are moving back to Waco.
I know, right?! I'll wait while you pick your jaw up off the floor.
Daniel has accepted a position at Baylor and we will be moving next month. I am soooo proud of what he has done at WOU while he was here. From a new logo and branding, online ticketing, to revamping the Wolves club to raise more money for scholarships, and those are just a few. The decisions he has made at work have always been about one thing and one thing only... "Will this make the student athletes' experience here better?" He's never out of the office before 6:00 pm (and 6 is early, people) and, like many of his staff, has spent many, many weekends and week nights at all of the different athletic events. I'm sure I'll get the stink eye from him for putting all this in here, but it's true. Baylor is getting an invaluable asset. It wasn't the easiest decision, but ultimately being closer to family is our priority.
We have done some cool things here in Oregon and we have met some wonderful people too. I was lucky enough to work with some awesome ladies (and a few gents!) who I will miss bunches. I will miss the green summers and the 80 degree weather that comes with it. I will miss our church and our sweet small group. I will so miss being 4 hours away from my sister and her family. I will miss the Oregon coast. We have very much enjoyed this part of our journey.
I'm also a little scared. We are going back to the city where I grew up. The city where I spent my entire high school years pretending to be anyone but myself thinking that that's what would make people like me. Where I made many, many mistakes and bad decisions. When I moved away the first time I couldn't leave quick enough, I wanted a clean slate so badly. But then again, it's also the city where I met my best friends and my husband. I have to remember that I'm going back a different person, a better person. I'm going back as a mom, a better wife, a better friend and with a deeper faith.
Mostly I am excited. Excited to take B to her first Baylor homecoming. Excited to not have to buy a $500 plane ticket to take Brooklyn to see her grandparents. Excited to get a sno-cone during the summer. Excited to be able to spend more time with both my family and my husband's family. Excited to not have to get up at 7 am to watch College Gameday. Excited that we will be able to be there when my niece and nephew (who are due one day apart!) arrive this fall. Excited to get a #1 with cheese, no tomatoes, no onion What-a-sized with a Diet Dr. Pepper. Excited to spend hours of my life in Hobby Lobby looking for my next project . Excited to get up to OKC for some Thunder games.
We are excited to finally be going home.
Now if I can just convince my sister and her hubby to come with us ;)
(If I can get the weather in TX to be more like the Pac NW they might actually do it!)
I'll leave you with this..........
Daniel has accepted a position at Baylor and we will be moving next month. I am soooo proud of what he has done at WOU while he was here. From a new logo and branding, online ticketing, to revamping the Wolves club to raise more money for scholarships, and those are just a few. The decisions he has made at work have always been about one thing and one thing only... "Will this make the student athletes' experience here better?" He's never out of the office before 6:00 pm (and 6 is early, people) and, like many of his staff, has spent many, many weekends and week nights at all of the different athletic events. I'm sure I'll get the stink eye from him for putting all this in here, but it's true. Baylor is getting an invaluable asset. It wasn't the easiest decision, but ultimately being closer to family is our priority.
We have done some cool things here in Oregon and we have met some wonderful people too. I was lucky enough to work with some awesome ladies (and a few gents!) who I will miss bunches. I will miss the green summers and the 80 degree weather that comes with it. I will miss our church and our sweet small group. I will so miss being 4 hours away from my sister and her family. I will miss the Oregon coast. We have very much enjoyed this part of our journey.
I'm also a little scared. We are going back to the city where I grew up. The city where I spent my entire high school years pretending to be anyone but myself thinking that that's what would make people like me. Where I made many, many mistakes and bad decisions. When I moved away the first time I couldn't leave quick enough, I wanted a clean slate so badly. But then again, it's also the city where I met my best friends and my husband. I have to remember that I'm going back a different person, a better person. I'm going back as a mom, a better wife, a better friend and with a deeper faith.
Mostly I am excited. Excited to take B to her first Baylor homecoming. Excited to not have to buy a $500 plane ticket to take Brooklyn to see her grandparents. Excited to get a sno-cone during the summer. Excited to be able to spend more time with both my family and my husband's family. Excited to not have to get up at 7 am to watch College Gameday. Excited that we will be able to be there when my niece and nephew (who are due one day apart!) arrive this fall. Excited to get a #1 with cheese, no tomatoes, no onion What-a-sized with a Diet Dr. Pepper. Excited to spend hours of my life in Hobby Lobby looking for my next project . Excited to get up to OKC for some Thunder games.
We are excited to finally be going home.
Now if I can just convince my sister and her hubby to come with us ;)
(If I can get the weather in TX to be more like the Pac NW they might actually do it!)
I'll leave you with this..........
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| Heyyyyyyyyyy |
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| SIC 'EM |
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| BEARS!!! |
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Vacation
We were so excited to get to go on our 11 day trip home (Edmond, OK and Waco, TX) and had an absolutely amazing time! The last time we went home it was when B was 7 weeks old and were only able to spend about 2 and a half days in each city (and those days were PACKED with sip n' see parties for Miss B) so it was a bit of a blur. She was also at the age where she slept the whole plane ride there and back so traveling was a breeze. This go round we got to spend 5 days with each family which was amazing (but somehow still didn't feel like long enough ha ha!) but we were a little more nervous about traveling with a 6 month old who is now twice as heavy, 7 inches bigger and way more active.
As it turned out we had nothing to be nervous about. She was a little
fussy on one of the plane rides but not the screaming cranky kind of
fussy, it was just a little harder for her to fall asleep but she
figured it out and no one gave us the stink eye. It did take her a day
or so to adjust to the time change though.
Our first stop was OKC where we got to spend time with Daniel's family.
Brooklyn enjoyed being loved on by everyone and I enjoyed a nice break
from being her sole entertainment 24 hours a day. Daniel's sister Hayley
and her husband Nick came up from Dallas to spend the weekend with us
and his other sister Kristin and her husband Randy (who live in town)
were able to bring their boys by every day to play and swim with us.
Daniel's aunts, uncle, and grandparents came by too. If you haven't
figured it out yet, this family is serious about get togethers. :) We
even got to spend some time with his Dad's side of the family who had
all come in from out of state for a reunion.
We were able to have some dear friends bring their families over for a
little swim party and got to meet up with a few other families for
dinner or ice cream. I got my Johnnie's and Charleston's fix . The only 2
things I didn't get to on this leg of the journey was a trip to Hobby
Lobby and my former workplace in OKC.
We then took the train from OK to TX where we got to spend time with my family. My little bro and his wife joined us and my parents for an overnight trip to Brenham to visit my Granny and my Aunt and Uncle and some of their family. We stopped at Blue Bell (of course!) where B tried to steal my ice cream, and we ate at a really good Italian place. We had a chance to visit some friends and catch up and I of course made my rounds at my fave places to eat (although there wasn't time for all of them).
My mom and I hit up Dillard's (since I don't have one where I live) and we spent Saturday morning getting massages and pedicures downtown and had a yummy lunch at Amelia's in Sironia (if anyone knows how they make their vermicelli salad I'll pay you cash money for that recipe!). I also got to see Dr. Ron! Dr. Ron is my chiropractor- he's the best on the planet and I refuse to see anyone else. Other than seeing family that is the 2nd thing I miss most about being in Waco...Dr. Ron. He came in on his day off just to adjust me and boy did I need it - carrying around a kid all the time messes you up!
We had so much fun we didn't want to leave and almost couldn't because of the weather. Our 3pm flight from Waco to DFW got cancelled and we wouldn't have made our DFW to PDX flight if we tried to drive so we got booked for the 4:25 flight, then that got cancelled as it monsooned and then uncancelled. They said the plane we were taking got sent back to DFW, but then 5 min later we saw it landing, so like 10 of us ended up taking that plane to Dallas at 6pm where our flight to PDX had been delayed until 9:45pm. Anywho, we finally made it home after 14 hours of travel safe and sound and really sleepy.
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| The |
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| she loves her Papo |
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| hanging out with Bebe |
 | |
| Cousin Jack had Brooklyn and Jacob (who are a week apart in age) quite entertained! |
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| photos with Aunt Hayley |
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| Brooklyn with her twin Mumo :) She looks a lot like mumo when she was a baby. |
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| playing w/Aunt Nancy |
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| w/Aunt JuJu |
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| Her sunglasses apparently turn her into a little diva who is too cool to smile. |
We then took the train from OK to TX where we got to spend time with my family. My little bro and his wife joined us and my parents for an overnight trip to Brenham to visit my Granny and my Aunt and Uncle and some of their family. We stopped at Blue Bell (of course!) where B tried to steal my ice cream, and we ate at a really good Italian place. We had a chance to visit some friends and catch up and I of course made my rounds at my fave places to eat (although there wasn't time for all of them).
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| Before the peas.... |
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| ...after the peas. |
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| loving on her uncle Jon and Aunt Kristen |
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| she was playing with Nana's hair until her camera radar went off |
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| it took her a half-second to snatch my Blue Bell |
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| just look at that determination |
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| eyeballing the ice cream |
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| she looooved her jumper |
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| sitting assistance-free! |
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| kickin' it with Paps |
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| sporting the new bath robe from Nana & Papaw |
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