We moved on Friday. Thursday night, we found ourselves still packing and organizing for the move at 2am, expecting family to arrive at 7:30am to help with Luca and expecting the movers to arrive around 9am.
Everything went smoothly on the day of the move, minus Luca not napping well and getting a bit cranky. The movers moved quickly and were very nice, and left our new house a little after 6.
Yesterday, we spent the day with family unpacking and getting everything organized. We still have a lot more to go, but the kitchen is about complete, and Luca's room is close as well. Everything else will fall into place in the coming days.
Today, we got cable and internet hooked up and it feels good to have access to reading blogs, facebook, and my email.
I was worried that Luca would not adjust well to being in a new house. But she has been sleeping beautifully at night and we feel so lucky about that because by the end of the day, Ian and I are exhausted. So grateful she is sleeping well so that we, too, can get some good rest.
Last night, we had our first experience with a family of deer in our backyard. I quietly lifted Luca into my arms and stepped onto the deck with her. I pointed the deer out to her. And as two baby deer came bounding across the yard, she took notice of them. Then, she promptly blew a raspberry. She seemed generally unimpressed!
Our new house is all one level, except it has three steps separating our kitchen from the family room. Our old house had two huge flights of steps. Luca took no interest in the steps at our old house. But in the two days we have lived here, she has been generally obsessed with those three steps. And she has learned to climb them with very little help. It is truly amazing to watch how quickly she is progressing since she began crawling just a couple weeks ago. She is also now pulling up on us to stand, and is loving walking while holding our hands.
We are loving things so far. I promise to post some pictures soon. I hope you all had a lovely weekend!
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Our last night
Tonight is our last night in this house. We have so many memories here. We hosted holidays here with family. We hosted many parties here with friends. We grew up and grew into our marriage here. It was the first house we moved into as a married couple. I started law school here.
I became pregnant here and have so many memories during that pregnancy in this house. It is where we came home to when Luca was hospitalized. And ultimately, although later than expected, we brought her home here. It was her first home.
We made great friends out of neighbors here. We are close in distance to so many friends and I am sad we will be farther away.
I am so very excited for this next house. But I am surprised by the sadness I feel at leaving this house. And I am especially surprised that I could grow attached to a rental. I guess it is because we made this rental a true home for over 3 years. It seems silly to be sad about it but it almost feels like we are letting go of some memories by leaving this place. Not logical - I know. But I do not want to lose the good and bad that has happened while we've lived here.
I am sure when all of our belongings have been moved out, and the house is empty, it will feel exactly that to be in it - empty. And when we set up our new house, and I can hear Luca's giggles and squeals and cries, and Ian next to me telling me about his day, I know I will be home again.
Here's to making so many amazing memories in our new home!
I became pregnant here and have so many memories during that pregnancy in this house. It is where we came home to when Luca was hospitalized. And ultimately, although later than expected, we brought her home here. It was her first home.
We made great friends out of neighbors here. We are close in distance to so many friends and I am sad we will be farther away.
I am so very excited for this next house. But I am surprised by the sadness I feel at leaving this house. And I am especially surprised that I could grow attached to a rental. I guess it is because we made this rental a true home for over 3 years. It seems silly to be sad about it but it almost feels like we are letting go of some memories by leaving this place. Not logical - I know. But I do not want to lose the good and bad that has happened while we've lived here.
I am sure when all of our belongings have been moved out, and the house is empty, it will feel exactly that to be in it - empty. And when we set up our new house, and I can hear Luca's giggles and squeals and cries, and Ian next to me telling me about his day, I know I will be home again.
Here's to making so many amazing memories in our new home!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Lately
I have been packing any free moment I can. But as soon as I pack, for example, a suitcase full of clothes, I turn back around to find that Luca has taken out every single piece of clothing. I sigh, and smile at the same time. More work for me - but too adorable to ignore the joy in it.
Until I get some real time to blog, here are some recent photos. Note the line across her forehead - she had a little mishap thinking she was more mobile than she is, and had a massive knot and bruise for several weeks. The line is what the mishap left behind - her doctor said it will take a couple months to completely go away. Another note - look at the curls starting to form! That one front piece ends up in the middle of her forehead about 1000 times per day.
See the curl in this next one!
This next one makes my heart melt.
Until I get some real time to blog, here are some recent photos. Note the line across her forehead - she had a little mishap thinking she was more mobile than she is, and had a massive knot and bruise for several weeks. The line is what the mishap left behind - her doctor said it will take a couple months to completely go away. Another note - look at the curls starting to form! That one front piece ends up in the middle of her forehead about 1000 times per day.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The new house
Just a little preview of the outside of our new house, the awesome backyard, and the beautiful kitchen. This house looks so country from the outside, and it feels very country when you are sitting outside looking out at the huge yard. But the inside is all updated with beautiful hardwood floors. The formal living room (pictured last) even has a wood-burning stove. There are so many cute touches to this house that make it feel just so quaint. A definite change from living in downtown Baltimore!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Our new house
As you all know, our housing search was stressful. We did not think we were that picky, but when it came time to looking for a new place to rent, we realized our situation with Luca makes us much more picky than we first thought. We finally started working with a family friend realtor. We looked at a lot of places. All the while, I was looking at craigslist for other options.
One Saturday a few weeks ago, I opened up craigslist and found a place in great location, out of our price range. But the location was awesome. And also happens to be about 2 streets away from Luca's godparents, (who are the parents to my goddaughter). These are the people we stay with when Luca is in the hospital. They are family to us. I called them right away and they drove by the house for us to take a look.
I contacted the owners. We went and saw the house the next day. We fell in love with it.
Then, we sat down and looked at our finances. We figured out major ways to cut expenses. And then we realized that by cutting those expenses, we could afford this house. So we submitted our application. And we got it!
Things that sold us - the list is long. The neighborhood is great. We are close to family. We have privacy because it is a single-family home with 1.5 acres of land (that we are not responsible for mowing all of). It is super quiet and quaint. We can have our dog there. It is all hard-woods. The house is clean!! because it was redone 3 years ago. We have a deck and a driveway. It is three bedrooms, 2 full baths, a family room and a living room. The kitchen is huge and all updated.
We get the keys on the 10th. Pictures to come.
Until we move, I am swamped with packing. But we are so very excited to start a new chapter.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Housing search continues
Our housing search continues. If you missed the beginning, you can start here.
Well, remember how we liked house #2? The owner got the ducts cleaned. We put in an application and were approved. Friday, we went to do a smell test to see if the smoke smell was gone. I still smelled it, primarily near the master bedroom closets (where the smokers clothes were!). But Ian and I talked it over, and we decided that we thought with a thorough cleaning, area rugs, and repainting the master bedroom (by us) would likely solve most of the issue. So we asked for the lease.
I received it from my realtor yesterday and I reviewed it last night. There were a lot of things in the lease that did not sit well with me. So I called our potential landlord (who also happens to be a realtor) and clarified things. The main things that were concerning: 1 - tenant is responsible for all infestations, including ants, rodents, termites, 2 - costs for repainting house, bringing in a cleaning crew, and replacing/cleaning carpet are all taken out of our deposit at the end of the lease (even if it is "normal wear and tear"), and 3 - for each and every repair, we have to pay $50 (this includes repairs if an appliance breaks down, not from our doing). She refused to negotiate on any of those conditions. And these were just the major issues we had with the lease.
I called our realtor, a close family friend, and talked to her about the issues. With her guidance about routine leases, Ian and I decided that this lease is not something we can sign. So, we walked away from that house.
The bad news of all of this is that I had just given notice to our current landlord that August 31 is our last day here. QUEUE PANIC ATTACK. I called Ian hysterically crying when all of this went down this morning. I could barely choke out the words in between sobs, but...where...are (sob sob) we (sob) going to live?
Before telling the owner of house #2 that we are walking away, I called our current landlord and asked if we can rescind our termination notice. He was super nice and said of course. I know our current landlord is likely going to try to sell this house in the near future, so he probably wouldn't re-rent to a new tenant after us. So for him, having us here for another month ensures another month of rent.
Back to square one, looking for a house. Seriously, what is with this bad luck with potential landlords?
I think I need a stiff drink tonight. I will drink it while I bury my nose in craigslist ads, real estate websites, etc. looking for another house. God help us - I might possibly lose my head by the end of this.
And I hope we find a place we really love. Because we might possibly stay there until we're 85 years old because I don't ever want to search for housing again!
Well, remember how we liked house #2? The owner got the ducts cleaned. We put in an application and were approved. Friday, we went to do a smell test to see if the smoke smell was gone. I still smelled it, primarily near the master bedroom closets (where the smokers clothes were!). But Ian and I talked it over, and we decided that we thought with a thorough cleaning, area rugs, and repainting the master bedroom (by us) would likely solve most of the issue. So we asked for the lease.
I received it from my realtor yesterday and I reviewed it last night. There were a lot of things in the lease that did not sit well with me. So I called our potential landlord (who also happens to be a realtor) and clarified things. The main things that were concerning: 1 - tenant is responsible for all infestations, including ants, rodents, termites, 2 - costs for repainting house, bringing in a cleaning crew, and replacing/cleaning carpet are all taken out of our deposit at the end of the lease (even if it is "normal wear and tear"), and 3 - for each and every repair, we have to pay $50 (this includes repairs if an appliance breaks down, not from our doing). She refused to negotiate on any of those conditions. And these were just the major issues we had with the lease.
I called our realtor, a close family friend, and talked to her about the issues. With her guidance about routine leases, Ian and I decided that this lease is not something we can sign. So, we walked away from that house.
The bad news of all of this is that I had just given notice to our current landlord that August 31 is our last day here. QUEUE PANIC ATTACK. I called Ian hysterically crying when all of this went down this morning. I could barely choke out the words in between sobs, but...where...are (sob sob) we (sob) going to live?
Before telling the owner of house #2 that we are walking away, I called our current landlord and asked if we can rescind our termination notice. He was super nice and said of course. I know our current landlord is likely going to try to sell this house in the near future, so he probably wouldn't re-rent to a new tenant after us. So for him, having us here for another month ensures another month of rent.
Back to square one, looking for a house. Seriously, what is with this bad luck with potential landlords?
I think I need a stiff drink tonight. I will drink it while I bury my nose in craigslist ads, real estate websites, etc. looking for another house. God help us - I might possibly lose my head by the end of this.
And I hope we find a place we really love. Because we might possibly stay there until we're 85 years old because I don't ever want to search for housing again!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Housing search
Over the past three months, we have been searching for a new place to live. It means that we are moving over an hour from where we currently live. It means finding a new place to rent that fits our needs. Our needs are:
Sadly, the area we are moving to is a much pricier county. We knew it would mean sacrificing on how new or updated the place is, and possibly on the size (we currently have a 3 bedroom, but know that we might have to sacrifice and get a 2 bedroom). But as long as it was clean and healthy for Luca, we'd make it work.
Well, a place kind of fell into our laps. A 4-bedroom house, just slightly over our budget, in a great neighborhood, a fantastic commute for both of us, and a lot more space. It certainly is an old house - no updates to the kitchen or bathrooms, but hardwoods throughout (that are not in the best shape) and a fenced backyard. We were super excited. We said we needed to see the house once they were finished with the work before we signed a lease.
They started working on fixing some stuff up in the house - it needed to be repainted and they tore up the old carpet in the bedrooms. The house had not been occupied in over 7 months so it was kind of stale.
Then, I tried to make a better deal. We would take care of refinishing all of the hardwoods (all two stories!), we would sign a 2-year lease instead of a 1-year lease, and we would get the house cleaned instead of them doing it, if they would drop the price by $100-$150 per month.
Any business person would have looked at this and said, refinishing of hardwoods alone would make up for that difference in rent. The increase in value would be a bonus.
Instead, the real estate agent listing the house got pissed. She avoided saying she would even present our offer to the owners. I finally just asked her to present it and get back to us. That was 4 weeks ago. I called her over 2 weeks ago and she said she was waiting to hear back from the owners. And I still have not heard back.
I am angry. Even if she did not agree with our offer, or thought it was a terrible idea, she could have kindly replied "I do not think the owners will agree but I will ask them and get back to you." She could be cordial and nice. Instead, I got attitude and a lack of respect.
So, Ian and I have decided to walk away. We are so hoping to find a new place that meets our needs. When that happens, I desperately want this real estate agent to call me back and say that the house is available for us, and me say "oh, we signed for another house. Have a fine day."
We searched for places yesterday. We saw three places. 1 - we didn't love. The bedrooms were small and everything just seemed kind of eh. Nothing updated, and not as close to town as we'd like, and was also the highest price. 2 - perfect and we would love it except the previous tenants smoked. It has already been repainted and the carpets have been replaced in some areas, while other areas are hardwoods. And it still smells terrible. Not sure we can do much to change this. 3 - if it was just Ian and I, this 2 bedroom condo would have been great. If it had a 3rd bedroom, we would take it. But it was just too small for all that comes with Luca (medical supplies in addition to all of her baby crap).
We have not had much luck with finding anything on craigslist. We have mostly been using our realtor, and looking on real estate websites as well. How do you find where you're going to live?
- more closet space
- great neighborhood
- must be close to our price range
- better commute to the hospital, while still being an okay commute for Ian
- no high-rise apartment building
Sadly, the area we are moving to is a much pricier county. We knew it would mean sacrificing on how new or updated the place is, and possibly on the size (we currently have a 3 bedroom, but know that we might have to sacrifice and get a 2 bedroom). But as long as it was clean and healthy for Luca, we'd make it work.
Well, a place kind of fell into our laps. A 4-bedroom house, just slightly over our budget, in a great neighborhood, a fantastic commute for both of us, and a lot more space. It certainly is an old house - no updates to the kitchen or bathrooms, but hardwoods throughout (that are not in the best shape) and a fenced backyard. We were super excited. We said we needed to see the house once they were finished with the work before we signed a lease.
They started working on fixing some stuff up in the house - it needed to be repainted and they tore up the old carpet in the bedrooms. The house had not been occupied in over 7 months so it was kind of stale.
Then, I tried to make a better deal. We would take care of refinishing all of the hardwoods (all two stories!), we would sign a 2-year lease instead of a 1-year lease, and we would get the house cleaned instead of them doing it, if they would drop the price by $100-$150 per month.
Any business person would have looked at this and said, refinishing of hardwoods alone would make up for that difference in rent. The increase in value would be a bonus.
Instead, the real estate agent listing the house got pissed. She avoided saying she would even present our offer to the owners. I finally just asked her to present it and get back to us. That was 4 weeks ago. I called her over 2 weeks ago and she said she was waiting to hear back from the owners. And I still have not heard back.
I am angry. Even if she did not agree with our offer, or thought it was a terrible idea, she could have kindly replied "I do not think the owners will agree but I will ask them and get back to you." She could be cordial and nice. Instead, I got attitude and a lack of respect.
So, Ian and I have decided to walk away. We are so hoping to find a new place that meets our needs. When that happens, I desperately want this real estate agent to call me back and say that the house is available for us, and me say "oh, we signed for another house. Have a fine day."
We searched for places yesterday. We saw three places. 1 - we didn't love. The bedrooms were small and everything just seemed kind of eh. Nothing updated, and not as close to town as we'd like, and was also the highest price. 2 - perfect and we would love it except the previous tenants smoked. It has already been repainted and the carpets have been replaced in some areas, while other areas are hardwoods. And it still smells terrible. Not sure we can do much to change this. 3 - if it was just Ian and I, this 2 bedroom condo would have been great. If it had a 3rd bedroom, we would take it. But it was just too small for all that comes with Luca (medical supplies in addition to all of her baby crap).
We have not had much luck with finding anything on craigslist. We have mostly been using our realtor, and looking on real estate websites as well. How do you find where you're going to live?
Monday, September 1, 2008
Just in Case...
Just in case you haven't guessed, between the move and the start of law school, I've been slacking in keeping up with everyone!
I am loving where we live! We are slowly getting scheduled but are quite behind schedule with where we'd hope to be at this point in terms of unpacking. I think unpacking is one of those things that always takes longer than you'd ever imagine. Slowly but surely it's coming along. I have yet to come across the box with the camera charger - otherwise I'd have already taken and posted pictures of the house.
The Good
We finally have a grill! Ian's birthday is coming up in just a couple of weeks and my mom surprised him with this early birthday gift. We grilled out and had Mr. and Mrs. Twink over for some food last night and tonight once again cooked out. We now live about 1/2 mile from the Twinks so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of them!
Tessa can go on our 2nd story deck and wonder around in addition to having a much larger house, and also can run around in our fenced in patio area. The outdoor space isn't that large in size but it's a change for her and she's loving it! She also isn't used to people walking by our house so much, or the mailman coming to the front window to drop our mail off. These things she's not liking so much but overall, she's adjusting beautifully! And as mentioned before, she was loving the 2 staircases in our house and I was hoping this novelty wouldn't wear off, and so far it hasn't. She even goes as far as to take her toy to the top of one of the staircases, drop it and go chasing down after it. She's certainly getting a lot more exercise than she had been.
We have a full size washer and dryer. This is A-MAZING to me as we had a stackable washer and dryer before and I felt like my life revolved around laundry. Now - two loads per week just about does it for my clothes! Heaven.
We live down the street from a snowcone stand. I know snowcones don't sound that amazing - but this place is to die for. Ian has to basically hold me back from going every single night. I'll be sad when it closes for the colder months.
New restaurants! I'm loving trying out all of these new restaurants! So far, we've found an amazing pizza place, a very good sushi restaurant, and two cute pubs that have fantastic food all within about 5 minutes walking or driving.
In 9 days, I've only driven about 50 miles. This is incredible for me. Normally, I fill up my car with gas about every 6 days. Well, the last time I filled my car up was 9 days ago and I still have 3/4 tank left. I am so happy we're about 3 miles from school and all of our errands are within those three miles.
The Bad
Well - I don't have that many bad thus far. But - here is the only one I've found to really start to annoy me...
We aren't used to having more than one story. So I am finding that I start accumulating water bottles, coffee mugs, water glasses, cereal bowls, cans from sodas all upstairs. I finally make a big trip down to the kitchen and my arms are full. I'm sure this will get better as I get more used to having this much space.
Law School
My first week went very well. Although I think I might have to get an IV to hook me up to the coffee pot. Holy hell - I have had more coffee in the past week than I have in my entire life.
I like all of my professors - although one of them makes me sit in fear for my life the entire class. He is the epitome of intimidating! You've heard of the socratic method, but he should have a method named after him because he is that scary! I'm hoping it's just the beginning and he's trying to break us in a bit - but basically I try to hide behind my laptop the entire class hoping he won't call on me.
Law school is exhausting. I got very little sleep my first week. I'm hoping it's just because being in orientation for the first two days for about 8-10 hours didn't allow me to start reading the assignments until after 9:00pm when I got home. The most I am in class per day is 4 hours so the rest of the day should allow me plenty of time to get things done, spend time with Ian and hopefully get some sleep.
Speaking of Ian, today is his 2nd anniversary since he quit smoking. He rocks and I couldn't be more proud of him. I told him I'd treat him to something special for this big occasion - a homemade cake, a nice dinner - all he wanted was ice cream. Ahh - the little things that make us happy. I love the full washer and dryer, his is ice cream. I think I need to come up with something better...
I am loving where we live! We are slowly getting scheduled but are quite behind schedule with where we'd hope to be at this point in terms of unpacking. I think unpacking is one of those things that always takes longer than you'd ever imagine. Slowly but surely it's coming along. I have yet to come across the box with the camera charger - otherwise I'd have already taken and posted pictures of the house.
The Good
We finally have a grill! Ian's birthday is coming up in just a couple of weeks and my mom surprised him with this early birthday gift. We grilled out and had Mr. and Mrs. Twink over for some food last night and tonight once again cooked out. We now live about 1/2 mile from the Twinks so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of them!
Tessa can go on our 2nd story deck and wonder around in addition to having a much larger house, and also can run around in our fenced in patio area. The outdoor space isn't that large in size but it's a change for her and she's loving it! She also isn't used to people walking by our house so much, or the mailman coming to the front window to drop our mail off. These things she's not liking so much but overall, she's adjusting beautifully! And as mentioned before, she was loving the 2 staircases in our house and I was hoping this novelty wouldn't wear off, and so far it hasn't. She even goes as far as to take her toy to the top of one of the staircases, drop it and go chasing down after it. She's certainly getting a lot more exercise than she had been.
We have a full size washer and dryer. This is A-MAZING to me as we had a stackable washer and dryer before and I felt like my life revolved around laundry. Now - two loads per week just about does it for my clothes! Heaven.
We live down the street from a snowcone stand. I know snowcones don't sound that amazing - but this place is to die for. Ian has to basically hold me back from going every single night. I'll be sad when it closes for the colder months.
New restaurants! I'm loving trying out all of these new restaurants! So far, we've found an amazing pizza place, a very good sushi restaurant, and two cute pubs that have fantastic food all within about 5 minutes walking or driving.
In 9 days, I've only driven about 50 miles. This is incredible for me. Normally, I fill up my car with gas about every 6 days. Well, the last time I filled my car up was 9 days ago and I still have 3/4 tank left. I am so happy we're about 3 miles from school and all of our errands are within those three miles.
The Bad
Well - I don't have that many bad thus far. But - here is the only one I've found to really start to annoy me...
We aren't used to having more than one story. So I am finding that I start accumulating water bottles, coffee mugs, water glasses, cereal bowls, cans from sodas all upstairs. I finally make a big trip down to the kitchen and my arms are full. I'm sure this will get better as I get more used to having this much space.
Law School
My first week went very well. Although I think I might have to get an IV to hook me up to the coffee pot. Holy hell - I have had more coffee in the past week than I have in my entire life.
I like all of my professors - although one of them makes me sit in fear for my life the entire class. He is the epitome of intimidating! You've heard of the socratic method, but he should have a method named after him because he is that scary! I'm hoping it's just the beginning and he's trying to break us in a bit - but basically I try to hide behind my laptop the entire class hoping he won't call on me.
Law school is exhausting. I got very little sleep my first week. I'm hoping it's just because being in orientation for the first two days for about 8-10 hours didn't allow me to start reading the assignments until after 9:00pm when I got home. The most I am in class per day is 4 hours so the rest of the day should allow me plenty of time to get things done, spend time with Ian and hopefully get some sleep.
Speaking of Ian, today is his 2nd anniversary since he quit smoking. He rocks and I couldn't be more proud of him. I told him I'd treat him to something special for this big occasion - a homemade cake, a nice dinner - all he wanted was ice cream. Ahh - the little things that make us happy. I love the full washer and dryer, his is ice cream. I think I need to come up with something better...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Getting Settled
We FINALLY have internet! YAYYYYY! Things have been crazy! Let me try to make it brief.
- Last Friday was my last day at work. It was sad and exciting and frightening all at once. I may go into more detail about this at some point. But for now, I miss my close friends from work a lot.
- Last Friday I also got a phone call from my brother to tell me some exciting news - he's engaged!! Can't wait to celebrate with him and his now fiance!
- We packed all last weekend - fun fun.
- I chopped my hair off - I think about 8 inches probably. It's now a bob. It's barely long enough to fit into a low ponytail - and that's if I take the time to straighten it. When I wear it curly, which is the majority of the time, it's very very short.
- Monday, I spent 3.5 hours at the DMV. I needed to transfer the title to my car from my parents name to my own name. In MD, you have to go on a weekday. My license was also up for renewal so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. Well, they didn't accept my form because of the way it was dated. Damnit! They also won't let you take one number for two services, but luckily I made nice with one of the workers and she gave me two numbers for the two different lines I had to be in so I could wait for them at the same time. Finally, after 3.5 hours, I got a new license. I then went home and had to get my parents to complete a new form and now I have to take the time to go back. We'll see when that one happens.
- Tuesday we spent the day with the movers moving into our new house. Ian's parents came to help handle Tessa and help us with other move related items. Tessa spent the day on leash next to one of us and was not happy.
- Since then, I've been playing housewife - unpacking, cleaning, cooking, making Ian's lunch, grocery shopping, running errands, walking Tessa. I have a lot more respect for housewives after the past few days. It's exhausting! It's also exhausting making/taking phone calls all day for house related things - comcast, alarm system company, plumber, movers.
- I took my first drive to campus, got my parking pass, student ID (I am happy I thought to do my hair and makeup before heading over there!), and picked up my books. A whole $750 worth of books - and that's only for first semester - oh and a couple of the books were used books. That's freakin expensive!!
- I have to use my GPS to go everywhere - grocery shopping, home depot, gas station. You name it - I have no idea where it is!
I have some pictures to post and hope to get those up tomorrow. Until then, I'm busy catching up on my daily blogs! How are you guys?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Jam Packed
I have been so busy at work that sadly I've been slacking on the blog. Quite frankly, I've been wondering what to do with this blog since I had started it to track the wedding planning process, and well, the wedding is over. So - do I continue? Do I stop? If I do continue, what should be the primary focus? Until I decide that, I guess I'll fill you in on my where-abouts.
This past weekend was spent packing. That's just about it really. However, as we prepare for the move, I realize that there are major differences between Ian and I when it comes to the idea of moving. You see, his idea of moving is, pack everything and move it to the next place. Mine is that we anally decide whether every item is needed, place it either in a box to go with us, in the pile for Good Will or one of those places, or the trash. Every pen, piece of paper, sock, pair of shoes, t-shirt, dress, shampoo, washcloth. You name it - I sit and debate it. In my own defense of my craziness, the last time I moved, because of how I pack, the movers left the place at 11am and I was fully unpacked and organized by 3pm. So, my packing system makes unpacking that much easier. I make sure that every item in a box goes together or belongs in the same area, mark where the box should be dropped off in the house, and mark what's in it. I have an issue - I know. But it's worth it! And we help the needy! And it feels good to get rid of unnecessary stuff!
But my craziness makes Ian, well, crazy. Especially when he is helping to pack (after much persuading from me) and I yell from across the room that the extra shower curtain does not go in the box with random items, but must go in a bathroom box. Poor guy. BUT! Again in my defense, he doesn't have off work on our move day, so I get to move us with the movers and unpack and everything while he's at work. So since I have to do it alone, I'm doing it my way.
Anyways - so we did pack. We also visited the new house again with Tessa. She was very excited and remembered which door is ours on the street. I'm a proud mama. Otherwise - our weekend was boring!
I can't wait to get settled, take some pictures, and have some more interesting topics to talk about.
Until then...
This past weekend was spent packing. That's just about it really. However, as we prepare for the move, I realize that there are major differences between Ian and I when it comes to the idea of moving. You see, his idea of moving is, pack everything and move it to the next place. Mine is that we anally decide whether every item is needed, place it either in a box to go with us, in the pile for Good Will or one of those places, or the trash. Every pen, piece of paper, sock, pair of shoes, t-shirt, dress, shampoo, washcloth. You name it - I sit and debate it. In my own defense of my craziness, the last time I moved, because of how I pack, the movers left the place at 11am and I was fully unpacked and organized by 3pm. So, my packing system makes unpacking that much easier. I make sure that every item in a box goes together or belongs in the same area, mark where the box should be dropped off in the house, and mark what's in it. I have an issue - I know. But it's worth it! And we help the needy! And it feels good to get rid of unnecessary stuff!
But my craziness makes Ian, well, crazy. Especially when he is helping to pack (after much persuading from me) and I yell from across the room that the extra shower curtain does not go in the box with random items, but must go in a bathroom box. Poor guy. BUT! Again in my defense, he doesn't have off work on our move day, so I get to move us with the movers and unpack and everything while he's at work. So since I have to do it alone, I'm doing it my way.
Anyways - so we did pack. We also visited the new house again with Tessa. She was very excited and remembered which door is ours on the street. I'm a proud mama. Otherwise - our weekend was boring!
I can't wait to get settled, take some pictures, and have some more interesting topics to talk about.
Until then...
Friday, August 8, 2008
Work Shmork
Since I've been back from our honeymoon, knowing that my time at my job was limited, I found myself on a daily basis slacking off. I'd surf the net, reading blogs far too much, checking out what the latest is on PerezHilton and chatting it up with coworkers. Well - all until Wednesday that is.
When I got back from Greece, it was crunch mode for finding a replacement. My boss, being in major denial that I was leaving so soon, wanted nothing to do with creating the job description, talking with HR, posting the position on our company's portal, reviewing resumes, interviewing and finally deciding on someone. She left this to me and another person. So I took care of most of it and finally chose someone.
Wednesday, my replacement started and I've been training her since then. No more surfing the net, reading blogs, posting on this blog, etc. I have a half day today which means that I have time to relax and unwind a bit after a very hectic 2.5 days. And while going through all of the crap on my desk to hand over, I realize just how much I should not have been slacking the past few weeks. I have a whole lot to do in the next week.
Up until now, I had been mostly excited at the prospect of not working. But as I get closer, I realize that I'm sad to leave the familiarity - the people, the work, the lingo, the mundane schedule, the steady income, that I've had over the past 3 years. And wow - three years flies by.
So one week from today, I'll be leaving this familiar place that has helped me mature, become more professional and given me some fantastic friends and mentors. This is also the place that was my first real job and that I was at during a few big moments in my life - moving into my first place, moving in with a boyfriend for the first time, getting engaged and finally getting married.
I only hope the next place will be just as good to me as this one has been. But I think my first year of law school will be a little easier to walk away from than this!
When I got back from Greece, it was crunch mode for finding a replacement. My boss, being in major denial that I was leaving so soon, wanted nothing to do with creating the job description, talking with HR, posting the position on our company's portal, reviewing resumes, interviewing and finally deciding on someone. She left this to me and another person. So I took care of most of it and finally chose someone.
Wednesday, my replacement started and I've been training her since then. No more surfing the net, reading blogs, posting on this blog, etc. I have a half day today which means that I have time to relax and unwind a bit after a very hectic 2.5 days. And while going through all of the crap on my desk to hand over, I realize just how much I should not have been slacking the past few weeks. I have a whole lot to do in the next week.
Up until now, I had been mostly excited at the prospect of not working. But as I get closer, I realize that I'm sad to leave the familiarity - the people, the work, the lingo, the mundane schedule, the steady income, that I've had over the past 3 years. And wow - three years flies by.
So one week from today, I'll be leaving this familiar place that has helped me mature, become more professional and given me some fantastic friends and mentors. This is also the place that was my first real job and that I was at during a few big moments in my life - moving into my first place, moving in with a boyfriend for the first time, getting engaged and finally getting married.
I only hope the next place will be just as good to me as this one has been. But I think my first year of law school will be a little easier to walk away from than this!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Signed
Saturday - we signed our new lease! It was a very exciting feeling to be picking a place of our own and feels more like our own place since it's brand new.
Sunday, we were busy furniture shopping. Our old couches were about 15 years old, a bit dirty, and just plain run down. We decided to head to Value City Furniture since they were having a big sale. It was a very successful shopping trip and we ended up with a new sofa, chair & 1/2 and a matching ottoman. Here's a picture of the three new pieces (actually I don't think this is exactly what we got but the color and shape are almost identical):
We then took a side trip to Ikea, where we purchased a couple new throws for the new couches, and Ian was desperate to get rid of the crappy old TV stand I had in college, and so we purchased this:
It looks black but is actually black/brown, and we bought 3 cute little baskets to go on the bottom shelf to hold stuff in - but got them home and realized we bought the wrong size - DOH! I hate when that happens. Oh well - looks like we'll have to go to Ikea again and get sucked into spending more money. Ikea has a way of doing that to me - part of it is I get a little confused as to where I am as a whole, and they have lots of cute things that I could always use. Do I need them - no. But I like them so inevitably we end up spending money on stupid stuff that we don't need.
I've been busy making lots of phone calls - calling the new gas and electric company to transfer the bill to our name as of the start of our lease, arranging an appointment time for them to come out to turn on the gas, booking the movers, and a whole other list of places to call before we move - Comcast to switch locations, alarm company to set up appointment to turn alarm system on, current electric company to close our bill on the last day we're in the apartment. Moving in one word: sucks!
We did find time to watch Fool's Gold - I don't recommend it. I loved Matthew and Kate in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (one of my fave movies), but their chemistry just wasn't there in this one. I think it mostly had to do with a poor storyline.
And I'm super delayed in finishing up our honeymoon recap! How was your weekend?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Who? What? Where? When?
I'll start with those questions to fill you in as to what we've been up to!
We happened to land us some box seat tickets to the Coldplay concert in DC and we are psyched!!
Since things were so hectic before the wedding and we felt like horrible friends, we've been trying to take time to catch up with friends. I also have been busy trying to get all of my school loans in order so that everything's set for my first day of orientation on August 25. I got my class schedule and got extremely excited. I couldn't fall asleep I was so wired. And I have to say, of the 10 or so schedules I could've had, I think I got one of the good ones. I'm finished with classes by 12 on Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays and on Monday and Wednesdays I'm finished by 3. I rather get up at the same time as Ian and go get classes overwith so I can come home, eat lunch and still have lots of study time before Ian gets home. I'm hoping this schedule will allow me to have a nice dinner with him every night but I have no idea what 1st year life will be like so we'll have to wait and see.
I know I need to finish the honeymoon recap but am happy to say that we finished all of our thank you notes - woohoo!
We've been making multiple trips up to Baltimore to look at houses to find a place to rent. We're moving in less than 4 weeks and were getting anxious to findy the right place. I've been busy doing lots of looking on craigslist and also working with a realtor. By the way - we LOVE our realtor. She's very Baltimore but is such a sweetie.
In total - we looked at about 15 properties. We found one on the first day we looked and were ready to move forward when we got an email from the young owners (who also happen to be newlyweds) saying that their new house that they were moving into had a very bad inspection. They tried to negotiate with the owners of that house to get the issues fixed or to knock the price down, but they were unwilling to negotiate. So they pulled out of the contract. That left us going back to looking.
Sunday we visited a place and fell in love with it. It's a little more pricey than we wanted considering we'll be dropping down to one salary, but it's well worth the price. We went for a night time visit on Tuesday night to see it again, to make sure the area is safe for me to walk through at night, and moved forward with it yesterday! Say hello to our new place:
The pictures do not do this place justice whatsoever. It's a rowhome (similar to a townhouse) in a cute area of downtown Baltimore. The house has just been gutted and completely renovated. It's 2 bedroom, 1.5 baths with a patio, a deck off the 2nd bedroom, a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and a fully finished basement. The part that is great about the finished basement part is that I need an office. So instead of putting the office in the guest bedroom, we'll have them as two separate rooms. The kitchen - oh how I love thee - I cannot wait to unpack our new kitchenware and cook in it. I told the hubby that the kitchen made me want to cook dinner every night - I think that just about sold him:)
We happened to land us some box seat tickets to the Coldplay concert in DC and we are psyched!!
Since things were so hectic before the wedding and we felt like horrible friends, we've been trying to take time to catch up with friends. I also have been busy trying to get all of my school loans in order so that everything's set for my first day of orientation on August 25. I got my class schedule and got extremely excited. I couldn't fall asleep I was so wired. And I have to say, of the 10 or so schedules I could've had, I think I got one of the good ones. I'm finished with classes by 12 on Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays and on Monday and Wednesdays I'm finished by 3. I rather get up at the same time as Ian and go get classes overwith so I can come home, eat lunch and still have lots of study time before Ian gets home. I'm hoping this schedule will allow me to have a nice dinner with him every night but I have no idea what 1st year life will be like so we'll have to wait and see.
I know I need to finish the honeymoon recap but am happy to say that we finished all of our thank you notes - woohoo!
We've been making multiple trips up to Baltimore to look at houses to find a place to rent. We're moving in less than 4 weeks and were getting anxious to findy the right place. I've been busy doing lots of looking on craigslist and also working with a realtor. By the way - we LOVE our realtor. She's very Baltimore but is such a sweetie.
In total - we looked at about 15 properties. We found one on the first day we looked and were ready to move forward when we got an email from the young owners (who also happen to be newlyweds) saying that their new house that they were moving into had a very bad inspection. They tried to negotiate with the owners of that house to get the issues fixed or to knock the price down, but they were unwilling to negotiate. So they pulled out of the contract. That left us going back to looking.
Sunday we visited a place and fell in love with it. It's a little more pricey than we wanted considering we'll be dropping down to one salary, but it's well worth the price. We went for a night time visit on Tuesday night to see it again, to make sure the area is safe for me to walk through at night, and moved forward with it yesterday! Say hello to our new place:
The pictures do not do this place justice whatsoever. It's a rowhome (similar to a townhouse) in a cute area of downtown Baltimore. The house has just been gutted and completely renovated. It's 2 bedroom, 1.5 baths with a patio, a deck off the 2nd bedroom, a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, and a fully finished basement. The part that is great about the finished basement part is that I need an office. So instead of putting the office in the guest bedroom, we'll have them as two separate rooms. The kitchen - oh how I love thee - I cannot wait to unpack our new kitchenware and cook in it. I told the hubby that the kitchen made me want to cook dinner every night - I think that just about sold him:)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Interruption
I'm taking a quick break in between the wedding recap before going into the honeymoon recap. Since we've been home from Greece, I am seriously loving being married. I didn't think it would feel different since we lived together before getting married, but it does in some ways. I have a feeling it's just because it's new, but I don't care - I'm loving it!
We've been super busy getting our house organized. The hubby doesn't think we need to start packing until about a week before we move. Umm - yeah not so much. I've been trying to get rid of things - and am now realizing how much crap we've accumulated since living here - and we've only been here 2 years! It feels good to get rid of stuff!
We went and visited three places in Baltimore this past weekend. One was extremely cute, but in a sketchy area, one was in a great area but not worth the price and had a very bizarre layout (as well as not having updated anything), and our favorite of the three is in an okay area and is absolutely beautiful. We have a few questions to be answered from the owners and then we're ready to move forward. I'm hoping this falls into place - although somehow knowing our luck, it won't be that easy. If you live in the Baltimore area (Canton, Federal Hill or Fells Point) and know of any places available for rent, send them my way! We are working with a realtor, plus checking craigslist, and have only come across a handful of options.
We also are busy getting our place ready so that the owners can come in and show it. This is creating quite an issue because we don't want random people coming in our house while we're not home because Tessa's anxiety will go through the roof. She already can sense that something's going on because we have tons of stuff boxed up and we're constantly bringing in boxes and moving stuff around and we're in and out of the house. But somehow my landlord doesn't really understand how things work when you have a pet. So our solution is to have our dogwalker take Tessa out of the house for a few hours every MWF, and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ian will take Tessa to and from my mom's house to spend the day there. Oh Mom - if you're reading this, yep Tessa will be staying at your house two days per week. I swear - one of the first few people to look at the place better freaking like it - this is a pain in my butt!
Our move to Baltimore is getting me very excited. Excited for new restaurants, being close enough to walk to go get food/coffee/bagels, new neighborhoods, a bigger house, new adventures, being closer to some of our friends (mostly Ian's close friends), and new adventures. I can't wait!
We've been super busy getting our house organized. The hubby doesn't think we need to start packing until about a week before we move. Umm - yeah not so much. I've been trying to get rid of things - and am now realizing how much crap we've accumulated since living here - and we've only been here 2 years! It feels good to get rid of stuff!
We went and visited three places in Baltimore this past weekend. One was extremely cute, but in a sketchy area, one was in a great area but not worth the price and had a very bizarre layout (as well as not having updated anything), and our favorite of the three is in an okay area and is absolutely beautiful. We have a few questions to be answered from the owners and then we're ready to move forward. I'm hoping this falls into place - although somehow knowing our luck, it won't be that easy. If you live in the Baltimore area (Canton, Federal Hill or Fells Point) and know of any places available for rent, send them my way! We are working with a realtor, plus checking craigslist, and have only come across a handful of options.
We also are busy getting our place ready so that the owners can come in and show it. This is creating quite an issue because we don't want random people coming in our house while we're not home because Tessa's anxiety will go through the roof. She already can sense that something's going on because we have tons of stuff boxed up and we're constantly bringing in boxes and moving stuff around and we're in and out of the house. But somehow my landlord doesn't really understand how things work when you have a pet. So our solution is to have our dogwalker take Tessa out of the house for a few hours every MWF, and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ian will take Tessa to and from my mom's house to spend the day there. Oh Mom - if you're reading this, yep Tessa will be staying at your house two days per week. I swear - one of the first few people to look at the place better freaking like it - this is a pain in my butt!
Our move to Baltimore is getting me very excited. Excited for new restaurants, being close enough to walk to go get food/coffee/bagels, new neighborhoods, a bigger house, new adventures, being closer to some of our friends (mostly Ian's close friends), and new adventures. I can't wait!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Lurkers - Good or Bad?
After posting about my nerves about our florist yesterday, I soon got a phone call from the owner. You see, I had posted on the DC Knot Board to get opinions from those who had used this florist (most of the responses were good). The owner, Sharone, could not have been more delightful on the phone. He was upfront and said he'd seen my concerns on the knot and wanted to make sure I was comfortable with everything. So we set up an in-person meeting to go over the contract, meet me and see the pictures that I had in mind, and show me flowers he plans on using. He also explained the situation with the bride who was not 100% satisfied with her flowers. The explanation made sense and I felt more comfortable. It also helps for any vendor to know your skepticism (in a nice way of course) so they know to be especially careful with their services for you.
Getting this phone call was also a reminder to be very fair on the knot. My post was in no way bashing his business, nor was I asking for anyone's rants about his business. And although I dislike vendors being able to lurk on the boards (which are supposed to be helpful to brides), in this case it did not offend me. The times that lurkers offend me are when they post about how fantastic their business is to unknowing brides. I think lurkers that use it to know how good their services are, and to hear reviews in order to improve their business are smart.
Last night we went to Bacchus of Lebanon in Bethesda with some friends and had a very long dinner filled with delicious food, good wine and had a great time. Although I don't think my body likes getting home past 11 on a worknight.
This weekend I am:
Getting this phone call was also a reminder to be very fair on the knot. My post was in no way bashing his business, nor was I asking for anyone's rants about his business. And although I dislike vendors being able to lurk on the boards (which are supposed to be helpful to brides), in this case it did not offend me. The times that lurkers offend me are when they post about how fantastic their business is to unknowing brides. I think lurkers that use it to know how good their services are, and to hear reviews in order to improve their business are smart.
Last night we went to Bacchus of Lebanon in Bethesda with some friends and had a very long dinner filled with delicious food, good wine and had a great time. Although I don't think my body likes getting home past 11 on a worknight.
This weekend I am:
- Taking Ian's ring to be engraved (but first have to decide what to engrave it with)
- Taking Tessa to the vet for an eye infection
- Going to Chris and Chrissy's wedding in Baltimore
- Continue our Project Move Preparation (otherwise known as cleaning out closets and cleaning in general)
- Writing thank you notes
- Going tie shopping for Ian
- Going to see my flower girl in her dance recital
- Update our registry
- Wrap bridesmaid gifts
- Preparing final payments for wedding vendors
Not sure what other details we'll accomplish this weekend. Hoping Ian will start the research for the out-of-town bags but he's a procrastinator so who knows. I'm sure I'll have pictures from the wedding to post on Monday.
Have a great weekend!
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