Getting sick, that is.
We officially moved into our new house! But right before that happened I got sick. It all started on Thursday. Everyone in my office has been fighting this awful cold that seems to hang on for weeks. I've been trying to take my vitamins and wash my hands and stay healthy and I thought I was doing a pretty good job until Thursday morning. I woke up a little congested, but figured it was allergy related from cleaning the new house. As the day progressed I felt worse and worse- my throat was sore and my head was pounding and I just wanted to go to sleep.
I went home from work just to go paint at the new house with BF and some of our family. I took some generic cold and cough stuff to see if that would help and it only mildly dulled my headache and sore throat. Friday morning I woke up with a full on nasty cold- sore throat, headache, body aches, coughing and sneezing, runny nose, the works. Awesome. I did my best to pack up the house while BF was at work and didn't make a ton of progress. Saturday morning came extremely fast and I felt only marginally better but we actually got everything moved!
Despite having an awful cold (that I still have) I am LOVING the new house. We are definitely starting a project list of all the house stuff we realized we wanted to do and it is fun trying to plan it all out. We installed a dog door so we no longer have to get up and take the dogs out in the middle of the night (AWESOME!) and our puppies have a ton of space to run around and play.
Our neighbors all seem nice even though we've not really gotten to know anyone yet- just saying hi as we come and go.
I'll have pics up soon!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Someone Throw Me a Costume Party
In the process of going through and packing our house in order to move, I've found that we have an awful lot of AWESOME COSTUMES that rarely, if ever, see the light of day except for maybe at Halloween. I'm also a pretty darn good costume make-up artist, if I do say so myself, and I am itching for a chance to hone those skills.
Really, I just want someone (or multiple people) to throw costume parties. PLEASE. It's almost my birthday and if it wasn't so close to us moving and me being out of town for two weeks for work then I would throw my own costume party.
Actually, now that I mention it I guess I should let you all know that you should be prepared that any time you receive an invitation to a party or get together it most likely will have a theme and will require a costume.
You have been warned.
Really, I just want someone (or multiple people) to throw costume parties. PLEASE. It's almost my birthday and if it wasn't so close to us moving and me being out of town for two weeks for work then I would throw my own costume party.
Actually, now that I mention it I guess I should let you all know that you should be prepared that any time you receive an invitation to a party or get together it most likely will have a theme and will require a costume.
You have been warned.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Patience Is A Virtue That I'm Working Really Hard On
We know I'm not the most patient person in the world. Once I get something in my head it's hard for me to contain my energy and I just have to get out there and start doing SOMETHING. This whole buying a house business has really tested my patience and I'm hoping that it will pay off soon!
This is hopefully the last week of waiting for us as the rest of our loan paperwork, etc comes through. We've been packing and organizing little by little and I think my labeling system is working out pretty well. All you have to do is look at the tape on the box to know what room it goes to! Way faster than having to read the labels (but yes, there ARE still labels). I haven't gotten to the kitchen yet, because we use it so frequently that it sort of doesn't make sense to pack it yet, but when I think about having to pack it up I get SO ANXIOUS. There's a lot of stuff in there! And we use 95% of it on a weekly basis.
The upside of this all is that I'm getting rid of things that I don't use or that I don't need any more. It's nice to purge and feel productive during this stressful time. I'm planning on going through my clothes (yet again) tonight/tomorrow and doing the same thing. I have also found that I need to plan in time to take a breather from life in my daily schedule. Things at work and in life got so stressful a couple weeks ago that I thought I was going to lose my mind! Instead of actually losing my mind I caught a little bit of a cold and my neck and shoulders got really stiff and sore and stayed that way for days. After that I made a promise to myself that despite what may go on in life, I need to slow down and give myself permission to relax. The universe decided to reinforce this idea and while looking through my work files at my desk a little massage gift card fell out (a holiday gift from a coworker I had forgotten about) as if to say, "Hey! Schedule this massage and you'll feel much better!", so that's what I'm going to do.
I had to laugh because Monday at work our GM announced that our department was moving offices- very exciting but also adding to the stress! We are slated to move the first week of March, which is when I will be out of town for a meeting... so my plan is to pack up 2 weeks early (oh yeah, because I'll be out the last week of February as well for meetings elsewhere!) and have it ready to be moved in my absence. It feels insane to have to move my personal life and my work life all at once! But I have an awesome new laptop bag and new carryon luggage that I can live out of for a couple of weeks while all of this happens.
Anyway, this week is all about the packing and scavenging for good, sturdy boxes at our local businesses. And about staying sane.
Wish us luck!
This is hopefully the last week of waiting for us as the rest of our loan paperwork, etc comes through. We've been packing and organizing little by little and I think my labeling system is working out pretty well. All you have to do is look at the tape on the box to know what room it goes to! Way faster than having to read the labels (but yes, there ARE still labels). I haven't gotten to the kitchen yet, because we use it so frequently that it sort of doesn't make sense to pack it yet, but when I think about having to pack it up I get SO ANXIOUS. There's a lot of stuff in there! And we use 95% of it on a weekly basis.
The upside of this all is that I'm getting rid of things that I don't use or that I don't need any more. It's nice to purge and feel productive during this stressful time. I'm planning on going through my clothes (yet again) tonight/tomorrow and doing the same thing. I have also found that I need to plan in time to take a breather from life in my daily schedule. Things at work and in life got so stressful a couple weeks ago that I thought I was going to lose my mind! Instead of actually losing my mind I caught a little bit of a cold and my neck and shoulders got really stiff and sore and stayed that way for days. After that I made a promise to myself that despite what may go on in life, I need to slow down and give myself permission to relax. The universe decided to reinforce this idea and while looking through my work files at my desk a little massage gift card fell out (a holiday gift from a coworker I had forgotten about) as if to say, "Hey! Schedule this massage and you'll feel much better!", so that's what I'm going to do.
I had to laugh because Monday at work our GM announced that our department was moving offices- very exciting but also adding to the stress! We are slated to move the first week of March, which is when I will be out of town for a meeting... so my plan is to pack up 2 weeks early (oh yeah, because I'll be out the last week of February as well for meetings elsewhere!) and have it ready to be moved in my absence. It feels insane to have to move my personal life and my work life all at once! But I have an awesome new laptop bag and new carryon luggage that I can live out of for a couple of weeks while all of this happens.
Anyway, this week is all about the packing and scavenging for good, sturdy boxes at our local businesses. And about staying sane.
Wish us luck!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Time For Some Updates!
It's the first day of February and it feels like January flew by! BF and I have tons going on and I cannot believe half of it. Here's what is going on with us:
House Stuff- so we found "The House", but until those keys are in my hand and our down payment check is in their hands, I don't want to think of it as "our" house- despite it being super close and like 95% ours (hey, you NEVER know what could happen). Because I'm such a planner I have lists and spreadsheets and room measurements and sketches as to what I'm going to do to this house to make it "ours". It has definitely grown since my last house update and now includes things like replacing all of the toilet seats, replacing a set of blinds in the extra bathroom upstairs, putting in new countertops in the kitchen, putting a new counter top in the master bathroom, replacing the filters in the furnace, etc.
Right now we are just awaiting our loan stuff to come back from our lender so we can get to closing on this house! We are hoping to start moving in the next 2 weeks, but we will see what happens. Today I'm going to see my insurance lady so we can get set up with Home Owners Insurance and I feel so grown up, and totally out of my league!
In other news I feel totally fat and gross. I'm not and I know that, but do you ever feel like you've been stuck in the same place with no movement for a while so you start not liking your results? That's how I feel. I need to renew my exercise program so I'm hoping to start scheduling a class or two a week into my routine to help spice things up a bit. Also, I feel like I've got to refocus on running. I got really good there for a while, but when everything got super stressful with house stuff and work stuff I totally let it slide. This week I'd love to get to a spinning or cardio kickboxing class.
Also, I feel SUPER OLD. Last week I was fighting off the nasty cold that everyone at work had. I didn't get the full-blown version, but I had a touch of the congestion, a tiny tickle in my throat and have been a bit achy. This week I feel much better, but my shoulders are so insanely sore and achy that it's giving me headaches! I started putting a heat-pack on my shoulders at night while we get ready for bed to help me relax. I love that thing and it seems to be helping, but I think I need to break down and get a massage to get any relief. I think it's a combination of stress and fighting off that cold. BF also got a bit of the same cold, but he seems to have bounced back a bit better than me. At least one of us feels 100%!
The puppies are getting so big! Nora and Rudy are two peas in a pod and are so entertaining. Nora is doing pretty well with house training and rarely had accidents; pretty good for 5 months old! We really have to work on their training- we let it slip with Rudy when we got Nora and now all he seems to remember is "Sit". Nora seems to be a bit too puppy-crazy to train yet, but I think we should start trying. I found a Puppy Training book while packing up our books so I left it out so I could start working on some things with them both. BF and I cannot wait to move so we have a dog door and don't have to wake up early to take them out every morning, 4am is insane.
Wedding planning is sort of taking a backseat right now to House Stuff, you know, since that happens this month and the wedding isn't until September. But I am feeling pretty comfortable with where we are in planning. A couple weekends ago we picked out two of the Bridesmaid dresses and so now we have 1 more to go!
Anyhow, that's what is new and hopefully I'll be able to share our move-in date and house-warming party date soon!
House Stuff- so we found "The House", but until those keys are in my hand and our down payment check is in their hands, I don't want to think of it as "our" house- despite it being super close and like 95% ours (hey, you NEVER know what could happen). Because I'm such a planner I have lists and spreadsheets and room measurements and sketches as to what I'm going to do to this house to make it "ours". It has definitely grown since my last house update and now includes things like replacing all of the toilet seats, replacing a set of blinds in the extra bathroom upstairs, putting in new countertops in the kitchen, putting a new counter top in the master bathroom, replacing the filters in the furnace, etc.
Right now we are just awaiting our loan stuff to come back from our lender so we can get to closing on this house! We are hoping to start moving in the next 2 weeks, but we will see what happens. Today I'm going to see my insurance lady so we can get set up with Home Owners Insurance and I feel so grown up, and totally out of my league!
In other news I feel totally fat and gross. I'm not and I know that, but do you ever feel like you've been stuck in the same place with no movement for a while so you start not liking your results? That's how I feel. I need to renew my exercise program so I'm hoping to start scheduling a class or two a week into my routine to help spice things up a bit. Also, I feel like I've got to refocus on running. I got really good there for a while, but when everything got super stressful with house stuff and work stuff I totally let it slide. This week I'd love to get to a spinning or cardio kickboxing class.
Also, I feel SUPER OLD. Last week I was fighting off the nasty cold that everyone at work had. I didn't get the full-blown version, but I had a touch of the congestion, a tiny tickle in my throat and have been a bit achy. This week I feel much better, but my shoulders are so insanely sore and achy that it's giving me headaches! I started putting a heat-pack on my shoulders at night while we get ready for bed to help me relax. I love that thing and it seems to be helping, but I think I need to break down and get a massage to get any relief. I think it's a combination of stress and fighting off that cold. BF also got a bit of the same cold, but he seems to have bounced back a bit better than me. At least one of us feels 100%!
The puppies are getting so big! Nora and Rudy are two peas in a pod and are so entertaining. Nora is doing pretty well with house training and rarely had accidents; pretty good for 5 months old! We really have to work on their training- we let it slip with Rudy when we got Nora and now all he seems to remember is "Sit". Nora seems to be a bit too puppy-crazy to train yet, but I think we should start trying. I found a Puppy Training book while packing up our books so I left it out so I could start working on some things with them both. BF and I cannot wait to move so we have a dog door and don't have to wake up early to take them out every morning, 4am is insane.
Wedding planning is sort of taking a backseat right now to House Stuff, you know, since that happens this month and the wedding isn't until September. But I am feeling pretty comfortable with where we are in planning. A couple weekends ago we picked out two of the Bridesmaid dresses and so now we have 1 more to go!
Anyhow, that's what is new and hopefully I'll be able to share our move-in date and house-warming party date soon!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
On the Problem with Being Good At Things
... or proficiency begets efficiency begets promotions begets responsibility begets everyone and their mom putting things on my To Do list and it's driving me crazy.
Ok, this is not supposed to be a brag-fest about how awesome I am at stuff, which, obviously I AM, but you know. Mostly, I'm upset today and need to rant about how it is completely unfair for people that are responsible and accountable and get things done (and get them done well!) are constantly being asked to take on more things that are not their responsibility because the people that are supposed to be doing them are not... let's call it "competent"at their own jobs and don't get them done, or get the done but badly.
I have no issue with helping people out sometimes, but right now I feel like things are getting to the point where projects are being thrown my way and I'm just expected to take care of them. Not fun. I was lamenting to one of my managers about this earlier in the week and he pointed out that people know my reputation is to get things done well, quickly and correctly. That's how I operate in most areas of my life. I'm trying to set boundaries so that this doesn't keep happening, but boundary setting is not the most fun thing in the world and usually it upsets people (which is not preferable, but also I'm not opposed to having to upset them in order to set a healthy boundary).
Currently I'm working 4 large group trips for work, 1 large meeting that will be happening in March, 1 meeting that is happening tomorrow, and then my normal work stuff for my new manager which is getting a bit complicated because I'm still being shared by him and my old manager until they have the head count to get someone else in here. All of the aforementioned is my job, so no big deal, it's just a lot on it's own. Then we have a few of my new manager's team that keep asking me to help out with their team projects because "it used to the person's job who had your job before you to do it"- but the thing is that when I was promoted my new manager rewrote my job description. We even had a discussion about it during one of his team meetings to let his team know what it is I will be doing and what I DO and DO NOT handle. So they are aware of what I do, and there is someone whose new job it is to do all of the things that I don't handle because they reorganized the entire team for it to work that way.
... ugh... just having a tough time handling all of it on top of everything going on at home. Sorry, I totally feel like this is turning into a "ugh, my job" post, which it is not! Just to clarify, I LOVE my job and wouldn't trade it for the world and I absolutely love the team I work with. Transition is hard.
Speaking of everything else going on:
We had our house inspection yesterday and everything looked great! The inspector pointed out a few things he thinks we may want to "fix", but they were more suggestions for things like scraping off the old caulking on some of the exterior walls that surrounds some of the entry points for cable, etc because they may be getting a little too old. Ok, we can handle that! While we were there for the inspection, BF and I walked around and made a list of the things we needed to do so we know what sort of budget to set for some minor things we want to work on before moving in. I also measured the walls so I could calculate how much paint we needed to get to touch up some areas and to add color to our main living spaces. I'm starting to get SUPER EXCITED to get moving, but it's also stressing me out a little. We will get our appraisal later this week and hopefully land on a closing date!
Oh yeah, and wedding planning! We are definitely in the throes of WP, and I'm starting to freak out a little despite having most everything planned and done. For one, I did not realize how expensive photography is! We found someone we like and are hoping to be able to schedule, but we cannot meet with him until next month so we will see what happens. I am also still looking for a florist and a bakery to make a very small cake (since we don't really want cake but our parents have insisted that we need a cake to cut for photos and for the tradition). On Sunday I took my sister and BF's sister dress shopping and we found our Bridesmaid dresses! I placed the orders and sent our findings to my MOH in Utah so she could do a little shopping and find something that will match (ish, I don't need them to match exactly). I'm also on the lookout for cute table decor ideas and have found some good ideas I may use. I downloaded a pretty sweet App for my iPad that helps organize my wedding plans in one place, without paper, which is nice because now all I have to do is bring my iPad with me places and I've got all my plans and ideas there! I've also been perusing Pinterest for ideas which is awesome and very easy for me to get lost in!
Anyway, more house updates to come. I'm feeling much more Zen after ranting about work, so thank you!
Ok, this is not supposed to be a brag-fest about how awesome I am at stuff, which, obviously I AM, but you know. Mostly, I'm upset today and need to rant about how it is completely unfair for people that are responsible and accountable and get things done (and get them done well!) are constantly being asked to take on more things that are not their responsibility because the people that are supposed to be doing them are not... let's call it "competent"at their own jobs and don't get them done, or get the done but badly.
I have no issue with helping people out sometimes, but right now I feel like things are getting to the point where projects are being thrown my way and I'm just expected to take care of them. Not fun. I was lamenting to one of my managers about this earlier in the week and he pointed out that people know my reputation is to get things done well, quickly and correctly. That's how I operate in most areas of my life. I'm trying to set boundaries so that this doesn't keep happening, but boundary setting is not the most fun thing in the world and usually it upsets people (which is not preferable, but also I'm not opposed to having to upset them in order to set a healthy boundary).
Currently I'm working 4 large group trips for work, 1 large meeting that will be happening in March, 1 meeting that is happening tomorrow, and then my normal work stuff for my new manager which is getting a bit complicated because I'm still being shared by him and my old manager until they have the head count to get someone else in here. All of the aforementioned is my job, so no big deal, it's just a lot on it's own. Then we have a few of my new manager's team that keep asking me to help out with their team projects because "it used to the person's job who had your job before you to do it"- but the thing is that when I was promoted my new manager rewrote my job description. We even had a discussion about it during one of his team meetings to let his team know what it is I will be doing and what I DO and DO NOT handle. So they are aware of what I do, and there is someone whose new job it is to do all of the things that I don't handle because they reorganized the entire team for it to work that way.
... ugh... just having a tough time handling all of it on top of everything going on at home. Sorry, I totally feel like this is turning into a "ugh, my job" post, which it is not! Just to clarify, I LOVE my job and wouldn't trade it for the world and I absolutely love the team I work with. Transition is hard.
Speaking of everything else going on:
We had our house inspection yesterday and everything looked great! The inspector pointed out a few things he thinks we may want to "fix", but they were more suggestions for things like scraping off the old caulking on some of the exterior walls that surrounds some of the entry points for cable, etc because they may be getting a little too old. Ok, we can handle that! While we were there for the inspection, BF and I walked around and made a list of the things we needed to do so we know what sort of budget to set for some minor things we want to work on before moving in. I also measured the walls so I could calculate how much paint we needed to get to touch up some areas and to add color to our main living spaces. I'm starting to get SUPER EXCITED to get moving, but it's also stressing me out a little. We will get our appraisal later this week and hopefully land on a closing date!
Oh yeah, and wedding planning! We are definitely in the throes of WP, and I'm starting to freak out a little despite having most everything planned and done. For one, I did not realize how expensive photography is! We found someone we like and are hoping to be able to schedule, but we cannot meet with him until next month so we will see what happens. I am also still looking for a florist and a bakery to make a very small cake (since we don't really want cake but our parents have insisted that we need a cake to cut for photos and for the tradition). On Sunday I took my sister and BF's sister dress shopping and we found our Bridesmaid dresses! I placed the orders and sent our findings to my MOH in Utah so she could do a little shopping and find something that will match (ish, I don't need them to match exactly). I'm also on the lookout for cute table decor ideas and have found some good ideas I may use. I downloaded a pretty sweet App for my iPad that helps organize my wedding plans in one place, without paper, which is nice because now all I have to do is bring my iPad with me places and I've got all my plans and ideas there! I've also been perusing Pinterest for ideas which is awesome and very easy for me to get lost in!
Anyway, more house updates to come. I'm feeling much more Zen after ranting about work, so thank you!
Friday, January 20, 2012
I'm Adding One More Thing To Our To Do List... for the Love of Food
... and it's making our own yogurt.
So here's my issue. I love yogurt and I love that it's pretty good for you, but when you really stop and read the labels I found that the companies that make the yogurt are adding some not-so-great-for-you ingredients to something that should be pretty healthy.
BF and I have been sampling different varieties trying to find ones we love that don't have all of the added icky ingredients (high fructose corn syrup, Red Dye, etc). We have found some good ones, but the ones we love had a ton of added sugar. I don't feel as bad since it's ACTUAL organic cane sugar, but added sugar isn't that great for you either. I've tried the plain, unsweetened varieties that sound good on paper, or rather sound good on the ingredient list, but they taste AWFUL! Some are super sour I don't know how people eat them and the less sour ones taste a little off... almost like vomity, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'm tired of trying to eat yogurt that I don't love... this whole thing has turned one of my favorite snacks into a snack I'm starting to avoid.
Anyway, so BF is so cute and looked up how to make your own yogurt and it is shockingly simple and that way we can make a big batch of it and put it into little containers to take to work and add our own stuff (fruit, honey, granola) to so we know exactly what goes into it!
I'll definitely document the process to let you know how it turns out!
So here's my issue. I love yogurt and I love that it's pretty good for you, but when you really stop and read the labels I found that the companies that make the yogurt are adding some not-so-great-for-you ingredients to something that should be pretty healthy.
BF and I have been sampling different varieties trying to find ones we love that don't have all of the added icky ingredients (high fructose corn syrup, Red Dye, etc). We have found some good ones, but the ones we love had a ton of added sugar. I don't feel as bad since it's ACTUAL organic cane sugar, but added sugar isn't that great for you either. I've tried the plain, unsweetened varieties that sound good on paper, or rather sound good on the ingredient list, but they taste AWFUL! Some are super sour I don't know how people eat them and the less sour ones taste a little off... almost like vomity, if that makes sense. Anyway, I'm tired of trying to eat yogurt that I don't love... this whole thing has turned one of my favorite snacks into a snack I'm starting to avoid.
Anyway, so BF is so cute and looked up how to make your own yogurt and it is shockingly simple and that way we can make a big batch of it and put it into little containers to take to work and add our own stuff (fruit, honey, granola) to so we know exactly what goes into it!
I'll definitely document the process to let you know how it turns out!
Living the American Dream...
... scares the crap out of me but is also very exciting.
So BF are going to be homeowners (barring the house passes inspection, which we think it will, fingers crossed) and I am so relieved and happy! When we started looking back in November I got a little down because I was hoping the Good Neighbor Next Door program house in Southeast would work out, but it wasn't meant to be. We looked at MANY homes, some good, some downright awful and then a few that we loved. We made an offer on one we adored a couple weeks ago, but it was a short sale so we knew that it may be months before we even heard anything.
From the get-go things seemed to be working for us as we heard the next day that our offer was accepted by the seller and given to their bank to review (again, necessary in a short sale). We were then told that it no one could guarantee when we'd hear back from the sellers or their bank and that the average wait time for these was close to 2 months. Luckily last week they updated us that things were moving along just fine and that we should be expecting the paperwork, etc from them shorty. This week we got the paperwork, sent it back and started scheduling our inspections and appraisals!
I have a really hard time being patient when I want something (which I've really tried to work on the past few years) so I had resolved that we may not have a house until late Spring/ early Summer and there was nothing I could do about that. Just when I was getting used to the idea of waiting, no more! I am so grateful for that blessing because Heaven knows I might have lost my mind.
BF and I have all of our decorating ideas noted and cannot wait to get started! What I am dreading is moving our stuff. I absolutely hate moving, but am willing to do it since it will be to a home that we OWN and will hopefully be in for a while.
So on our To Do List is:
1. Buy paint for the downstairs (right now every wall is white, so we want to paint before moving in).
2. Buy a dog door for the back door- no more taking the dogs out at 4 am!!!
3. Buy a medicine cabinet with mirror for the bathroom- BF loves them and the downstairs bathroom has no sort of storage in or near it.
4. Shop for a smaller dining room table- the one we have is pub height and much too large for this space (and our current space) but it can wait until we are settled and can shop for a cool used one or one we really love.
5. Get rid of things we don't need or use because I don't want to have to move them!
6. Start packing up the house!
7. Bookshelves- with our libraries combined, BF and I have a hefty collection that we don't have enough room for. I'll be trolling Goodwill and antique stores for used ones first since we do not have any built-in shelves in the new house and definitely want to keep all of the books we have and be able to find them easily.
I'm trying to devise a plan for packing and labeling so that things are easily moved and easy to locate and unpack. What I've landed on is colored tape. I will assign each room in the house it's own tape color and use that tape for the boxes. For example the Master Bedroom tape color will be Blue so that I don't even have to read the label on the box(but there WILL be labeled so when I unpack I know what is in each box) to know where it goes, I just know to pile it in the bedroom.
My color coding looks like this:
Master Bedroom: Blue
Kitchen: Yellow
Living Room/ Main areas: Green
Bathrooms: Purple
Office Stuff: Black
Necessary Items to Unpack FIRST: RED
I'm also trying to get everything packed up, taped and labeled first so we can put the boxes in the very front of the moving truck (by the cab, so I guess the back of it if you are looking from the back towards the front) and the furniture in last so that we unload the furniture first and then not have to try to move furniture in and around piles of boxes.
Any good tips or tricks you've found while moving?
And just for your reference we are definitely planning on having a House Warming Party so everyone can swing by and say hello!
So BF are going to be homeowners (barring the house passes inspection, which we think it will, fingers crossed) and I am so relieved and happy! When we started looking back in November I got a little down because I was hoping the Good Neighbor Next Door program house in Southeast would work out, but it wasn't meant to be. We looked at MANY homes, some good, some downright awful and then a few that we loved. We made an offer on one we adored a couple weeks ago, but it was a short sale so we knew that it may be months before we even heard anything.
From the get-go things seemed to be working for us as we heard the next day that our offer was accepted by the seller and given to their bank to review (again, necessary in a short sale). We were then told that it no one could guarantee when we'd hear back from the sellers or their bank and that the average wait time for these was close to 2 months. Luckily last week they updated us that things were moving along just fine and that we should be expecting the paperwork, etc from them shorty. This week we got the paperwork, sent it back and started scheduling our inspections and appraisals!
I have a really hard time being patient when I want something (which I've really tried to work on the past few years) so I had resolved that we may not have a house until late Spring/ early Summer and there was nothing I could do about that. Just when I was getting used to the idea of waiting, no more! I am so grateful for that blessing because Heaven knows I might have lost my mind.
BF and I have all of our decorating ideas noted and cannot wait to get started! What I am dreading is moving our stuff. I absolutely hate moving, but am willing to do it since it will be to a home that we OWN and will hopefully be in for a while.
So on our To Do List is:
1. Buy paint for the downstairs (right now every wall is white, so we want to paint before moving in).
2. Buy a dog door for the back door- no more taking the dogs out at 4 am!!!
3. Buy a medicine cabinet with mirror for the bathroom- BF loves them and the downstairs bathroom has no sort of storage in or near it.
4. Shop for a smaller dining room table- the one we have is pub height and much too large for this space (and our current space) but it can wait until we are settled and can shop for a cool used one or one we really love.
5. Get rid of things we don't need or use because I don't want to have to move them!
6. Start packing up the house!
7. Bookshelves- with our libraries combined, BF and I have a hefty collection that we don't have enough room for. I'll be trolling Goodwill and antique stores for used ones first since we do not have any built-in shelves in the new house and definitely want to keep all of the books we have and be able to find them easily.
I'm trying to devise a plan for packing and labeling so that things are easily moved and easy to locate and unpack. What I've landed on is colored tape. I will assign each room in the house it's own tape color and use that tape for the boxes. For example the Master Bedroom tape color will be Blue so that I don't even have to read the label on the box(but there WILL be labeled so when I unpack I know what is in each box) to know where it goes, I just know to pile it in the bedroom.
My color coding looks like this:
Master Bedroom: Blue
Kitchen: Yellow
Living Room/ Main areas: Green
Bathrooms: Purple
Office Stuff: Black
Necessary Items to Unpack FIRST: RED
I'm also trying to get everything packed up, taped and labeled first so we can put the boxes in the very front of the moving truck (by the cab, so I guess the back of it if you are looking from the back towards the front) and the furniture in last so that we unload the furniture first and then not have to try to move furniture in and around piles of boxes.
Any good tips or tricks you've found while moving?
And just for your reference we are definitely planning on having a House Warming Party so everyone can swing by and say hello!
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