Teatopia

Catalogues/Magazines

Since I forwarded my mail to my parents', none of my catalogues are coming. They aren't 1st class, so they don't get forwarded, or something like that. Anyway, I love looking at catalogues-- during a rare leisurely bath, a quick trip to the bathroom (hehe), or when Olivia is snoozing. My usual favorites are Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, and probably Pier 1, but I know there are others out there I'd love and don't know about or haven't thought to order.

When I forward my mail for the last time, to my new house, the post office lets you choose what catalogues you'd like to start receiving, and they arrange it for you. Neat, huh? I love it! They're like magazines, but FREE. :-) Do you get any catalogues in the mail you love to browse through? I love home decor, but I'm up for anything.

While we're on the topic, what magazines do you subcribe to? I let a couple subscriptions lapse, and I'd like to maybe subscribe to something new. Currently I get: Mothering, Kiwi, Cooks Illustrated, Saveur, New Beginnings (for LLL members) and I recently got a free subscription to Organic Gardening because I saved all my yogurt tops and sent them in. :-) What magazines do you love?

The house is empty.

I'm feeling very relieved at the moment, but also very sad. About an hour ago, we took one last look around our first home, laid our keys on the counter, listened as Olivia said goodbye to the only house she's ever known, and pulled the door shut behind us. I told myself I wouldn't cry, but as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, the tears began. I was glad I was driving alone with just Olivia in the back seat because there was something empowering and also private about that moment . . .

The last time I saw that house completely empty, I was 21 and single, soon to be a new bride. James and I purchased it a few months before our wedding and rented it out to the previous owner until a few weeks before our big day. We spent many excited hours painting and planning and I moved in the week before the wedding. After the honeymoon, we got James settled in. Now, 5.5 years later we saw the house empty once again, this time leaving as a family of 3. It's weird to think that I'll never pull in the driveway again, or sit on Olivia's floor reading books and putting together Mr. Potato Head. It's amazing to think how much my life has changed between moving in and now moving out.

I'm already starting to think of our next house as home. When I picture certain things now (like planning our Easter dinner), in my mind I see it at the new house. I've been buying towels and mats and candles and things with the new house in mind. I can't wait to be settled and really feel like we have a HOME again.

We're going to try to catch our breath over the next few weeks before the we start painting the new house. Assuming everything goes according to plan, we close 3/12 and move in 3/22. BTW, our old house closed yesterday, so legally, we're homeless for now. :-)

I can't believe that our house wasn't even on the market a few weeks ago and now we've moved out, closed, and paid off the old mortgage. Crazy. I think it's pretty unusual for things to move THAT fast. Hey, be careful what you wish for. I remember us fretting when we decided to sell the house and asking each other, "What if it doesn't sell before the baby comes?" HA!

Well, off to relax a bit. Olivia has a fever, so we'll be laying low. I was hoping to go out tonight to celebrate the sale of the house, but maybe instead we'll order in (Indian? Thai?) at my parents' and watch a movie. :-)

I need your help.

We are buying a fridge this evening. HH_Gregg has a great sale (30% off!) that ends tonight, so we're going to go ahead and get one, and they'll wait a few weeks to deliver it. Perfect!

Trouble is, we don't know what to get. Initially, we wanted this one. It's stainless steel, with a bottom mounted freezer and french doors. We still love it, but it's $2000.00 I like that the freezer is on the bottom though since we use it the least often, and it's so stylish and sleek.

In thinking about it though, it seems foolish to spend THAT much on a fridge when we have other furniture to buy and some fence to put it (the fence doesn't enclose the whole yard, so we've got to fix that for the dogs). Anyway, you see what I mean. Cheaper is probably better. We're dead set on stainless steel, and for nearly $1000 less, we can get the same brand fridge in the side-by-side style that still has the water/ice despenser on the outside, which we also want.

So here's what I'm wondering, do any of you have a side-by-side fridge with the freezer on one side and the fridge on the other? If so, is it annoying or do you like it?

Furnishings

As I get older, I find myself liking brighter colors. I don't feel the need to "play it safe" and go with neutrals like I always have. So, if for some reason I can come up with an extra $550 (not likely), I am sooooo buying this!

I might have James to contend with since this is so bright, but I think this is an argument I could win. Would you like a new longer ladder, honey? Or another power tool to add to the million you already have? Done! Now if I only had the money. *sigh*

I think I need a rug to go under the dining room table we're ordering. Do you always put a rug under something for a hard wood floor? I know you can put those padded things under the table legs, but is it better to have a rug? If so, I LOVE these:

These are from Pottery Barn, which is a bit pricey, so it's more likely I'll be choosing from the best of what Target has to offer. That's ok though because they have some pretty ones too, they just probably won't have the same life span. Oh well. Gotta cut corners somewhere.

I'm so worried about being able to fill this house with furniture and pretty things. I know it'll take time and money. I think my pregnancy nesting instincts are making me want to finish everything ASAP, and that just won't be possible. Besides, I want to shop around for the right things, I just know once Baby Boy comes, I won't have the time to browse around Pier 1.

Finally, Pictures!

Excuse my lateness in posting the pics of the house. We've been packing/moving all weekend and now are officially squatters until the end of the week. Not sure if I can survive staying in this house even that long, but it's easier to stay here than with my parents because I still have packing to do and they are 25 minutes away. I'd rather be able to stay up late packing and then crash here and start again in the morning. Who knew we had so much stuff? I'm also actually sorting through it rather than just boxing it. Goodwill loves me right now. :-) We got out all the big stuff, but James is still cleaning out the storage room, and I'm packing up dishes and sorting through the thousand piles of random things that are in every corner of every room in this house. Olivia's toys are also scattered throughout the house.

I think she's confused and having a tough time time with what's going on. She keeps telling me the house is messy and that we're going bye-byes, but I can tell she feel lost. She cries at the smallest thing and clings to me constantly. She'll feel much more settled when we get to my parents' house.

Ok, enough chatter. Here are some pics! I would've liked to take more, but the seller was home recovering from surgery, so I told her I was taking them to help plan my decorating. I felt akward snapping a ton of pics.

The front of the house:

I love that there's a (small) space to sit on the porch. We can't afford rocking chairs right now given all the other furniture we're buying, but I have a super cute cafe table and chairs from my current patio that will do just fine.

Here's the back yard, which doesn't look quite so big in real life:

My pictures of the inside are dark. I turned off my flash thinking there was plenty of light and I didn't want to annoy the seller. I should've just taken them anyway. Oh well. :-(

I can snap more next time I'm there. Here's one of Olivia so you can see all her wild curls (we call her Kramer sometimes). Here, she's wearing Mommy's "boof"-- the word she used for nursing. She loves playing with my bras. :-)

And here is her "smile"! She told me, "Mommy need picture of Eeeya. I smile." And so she did. :-) (BTW, she can't say "Olivia" so she calls herself "eeeya")

Off to pack some more!

Popping In

-- Busy packing to move! We are actually going to stay here until next weekend, but we'll move most of our stuff out this weekend.

-- I'm heading to the new house this afternoon when the inspector is there and I'll snap some pics with my new Canon Elph! Keep in mind, carpet and paint are being replaced. The colors are not too pretty. Have vision people! :-)

-- Yesterday, Olivia woke up and asked me if Santa had brought more toys. When I said no, she replied, "I need more books, mama!"

-- I've been telling her about the new house every day to prepare her. Finally yesterday, I started talking about it again and she said, "We go to new house. I KNEW that!!" Ha! I guess she gets more than I think! :-)

-- I can see lots of tummy movement from the outside! Baby boy is getting big. :-)

-- Olivia is an artiste extraordinaire. She can draw a face, eyes, and circles around the eyes for glasses. The other day, she actually drew lines for legs and colored balls at the end of the feet, telling me, "look! legs with shoes!" Isn't she a little young to draw like that? Perhaps I gave birth to the next Picasso. Her understanding of things is amazing, it really is. I definitely wasn't that smart as a kid. I'll post a pic of some of her drawings when I have access to a scanner again. It's all packed up!

Ok, off to make a million phone calls, go to the bank, then see the lender, grab lunch, head to the new house, and then back home again for a workmen to give me an estimate. Whew!!!

BTW, thanks so much for all your kind comments. It's nice to sign on and have something to smile about it the midst of the chaos. I'm sorry I've been a stranger on some of your blogs. I try to read when I can, but I haven't commented since it takes more time and I want to pack in as many as I can. When I'm at my parents', I'll have a big break! :-)

Yes!!!!

****Pictures to come-- forgot my camera yesterday, so when we do the inspection this week, I'll slip in and snap some pics. I also need to take some measurements for curtains and stuff.

Just dropping in to say that we got the house! And there's a contract on this one! Wow!

We have to be out of here by the 22nd (I know, crazy), but we'll probably end up moving this weekend and going to stay with my parents. Our new house will be available March 16, but since that's a Sunday and the weekend will be almost gone, we'll probably wait to move until the next weekend. It'll give us time to paint the rooms a better color (bye bye yellow!) and finish the fence so our doggies will be safe. :-)

The stressful "what's going to happen?" stage is over, but now we're onto the stressful "what a hastle" stage. We have TONS of work ahead of us-- moving twice, first out of here and to my parents and putting everything in storage, and then renting a truck to get the stuff out of storage and into the house. I'm just going to remind myself that I will be settled in my gorgeous new home a good two months before the little guy arrives. That in itself is a blessing. The rest will fall into place.

Be prepared for lots of furniture talk and pattern/paint questions. I love input! We're buying a new bedroom suit (FINALLY! We still have our mismatched college furniture), a formal dining room set since our current smaller one will go in the breakfast area, and a fridge. Our old one is just that, OLD, and will go in the garage for extra space. It's white and the kitchen has black appliances.

I am still in freak-out mode and it feels so weird to be in this house that already doesn't quite feel like ours, even though it is until we close on the 22nd.

You know, we prayed for God to move us out if it was His will, we just didn't think He'd do it so fast! :-)

The Waiting Game

Well, the house we were interested in went off the market early this morning. Luckily, we found an even more amazing (and slightly more pricey) house at the end of the street. We loved everything about it minus it's odd yellow-colored walls, so we made an offer. The house has everything we wanted: a great location, 2 car garage, 4 bedrooms, it's less than a year old, it has a jacuzzi tub in the master bath, and a gorgeous almost fully-fenced yard, which we'd finish fencing in. Someone had made an offer on it yesterday, which hadn't yet been accepted, so we offered them something we hope is better and we're waiting to hear back. When we know we've got it, we'll agree to the offer we got yesterday.

We'll definitely be moving in with my parents for a few weeks if we get this house.

I told James that no matter what happens, God has a plan, and also, that I expect to be taken to dinner tonight to either celebrate or distract myself from having a potential nervous breakdown. Either way, God knows what he's doing.

Please pray for us . . .

Things are moving at lightning speed around here. We said we wanted things done ASAP, but weren't prepared for things to go THIS fast.

We got an offer today from someone different (not the girl from Friday), the second day the house is on the market. The people came this afternoon, loved the house, but want to be in by the end of the month. We've barely started looking for somewhere to move.

James and I argued all day about houses and which properties we liked. I liked a newer house with a small yard (probably too small) and he liked a bigger, not-so-old house in a busy area of town where I don't want to live. We were in the midst of yelling when our agent called and said she was heading over for us to make a decision on this offer, and I just burst into tears at the situation. We don't want to pass on an offer, but there may be others since our house has been so well-liked. I want to be settled well before June, but I don't want to be this rushed. Besides, where would we go in a few weeks? Nothing is really catching our eye. It turned out the house James liked went under contract today and the one I liked does have a crappy yard.

We've done a lot of thinking tonight (and more arguing) and decided to up our price range. We can afford to put more down than we originally had decided and a house is such a great investment. We called a lender, got approved, and after another search, found what appears to be the PERFECT house in a neighborhood we love (we've seen other houses in it already). I am praying this house is still available tomorrow so we can go see it. It's only a couple years old, so no worries about structure stuff, and the internet tour is great. Obviously, you can't tell everything from the internet, but I know enough about the subdivision (and the fact it's new) to know it's awesome. We have to decide by 3:00 tomorrow whether or not to accept our current offer to sell, so I am hoping we can see this house in the morning and make an offer of our own. The house has a fenced yard, a garage, and it's in a good area near James's work. Perfect!!!

I am feeling so stressed and worried we'll make the right decision. I also hate that this situation is causing such problems in my marriage. James and I usually get along so well, but we're both tired from late nights working in the house, and we're frustrated and taking it out on each other. Also, I'm so emotional from hormones that I tend to over-react to everything he says. I'll be sure to update tomorrow and let you know if we take the peoples' offer. We don't want to accept unless we find somewhere to go by the end of the month.

*Fingers Crossed*

The girl whose parents live up the street came to see the house today. Inbetween appointments today (bank and then OBGYN), I ran by the house and found this note from my real estate agent:

"They liked house and are going to meet with their lender."

Sounds promising, doesn't it? Here's hoping this girl gets approved for a loan!!! Wouldn't it be awesome if the first person to look on the very first day ended up buying our house?? That sounds a little too easy. Of course, we still have to find somewhere to move . . .

Answer me this...

Would you rather have...

a new/newer smaller house, where everything is in awesome shape

--or--

an older, bigger house that might need some work (like maybe new appliances or tile, not structural work, but still stuff that takes time)

I can't decide if I want the ease of moving in something with new paint, florring and appliances or something bigger that we'll have to "update" which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm impatient and like a typical pregnant woman, I'm feel strong urges to have things in order and moving is bad enough. Then again, more space is always good. What would you choose 'cuz I don't have a freaking clue. James wants size, I want something newer...

27

Today's my birthday. It doesn't feel like birthdays usually do because we are going so crazy getting the house ready. It's amazing how much work the "to do" from our agent has become. We have worked until midnight every night touching up paint, cleaning out closets, making many trips to our newly rented storage unit. I am so sleepy.

I know you aren't supposed to share your birthday wish, but I really just want to get this place sold and be moved before the little guy comes. We have someone coming to look at the house on Friday at 1:00. I know it's foolish to set my hopes on the first person to look, but her parents live up the street and she's already seen the outside of the house and likes that it's close to her parents, so hopefully if she likes the house, she'll put in an offer. *fingers crossed*

Whirlwind

The last few days have been a blur. I'm still sick, but I've been trying to suck it up and get stuff done. Yesterday was MF's shower, which went great! We had a great turnout (not Karen, who BTW e-mailed me today and asked me to financially sponsor her for something?????). I think MF was really happy. Instead of a cake, I got all the girls Rocky Road brownies from a local bakery. Since half of us are pregnant, I figured something chocolatey and decadent would go over well, which it did. I got cookies for the kids.

I'm so proud of myself-- I got rid of nearly 20 pairs of shoes and flip-flops in less than 20 minutes. I didn't sit and obsess about letting them go, I just grabbed them and threw them in a bag. Go me! And today, I cleaned out my closet and got rid of TONS of stuff. It was hard to let go of pants I hope to someday fit into again, but if I ever get the small again, I'll treat myself to new stuff! I also donated 38 books to the library. Can we say BIG tax write-offs next year? :-)

James has been hard at work touching up paint and doing stuff outside and I've been organizing closets, re-staining cabinets, and doing general cleaning. Our real estate agent is moving at lightning speed. There's already a sign out), but it's clear we need a little more time before this house is ready to be shown. Right now we have paint out and supplies laying around, piles of stuff to be taken to storage, and still a few more things to start. I asked our agent to please add a note to our listing that the house is not to be shown until next weekend, and she said that was fine. So, we'll be going crazy this week getting ready for next weekend.

I'm dying to go look at potential houses to buy, but we need to tackle our current house first and get it ready to be shown before we really start looking. However, I thought you all might like to see another one we like so far (BTW, the last pictures I posted were of the same house, front and back):

The end of the house is actually the garage. The house is on a corner lot, so you pull into the garage from the other side of the street. This house has a little more square footage than the other I posted, and it's also more expensive. It's at the top of our price range, but finding something maybe in the middle of the range would allow us more money in our pocket each month. Decision, decisions!