Wednesday, July 30, 2014

We Closed!!!!!

We closed escrow Monday!! The house is all ours.  Sean and I got the keys and spent the last two evenings showing our new casa to friends and family and drinking wine and champagne.  It was amazing.  This was the first time I saw our house without someone else's junk all over the place.  I mean everywhere.  The previous owner was borderline hoarder.  
The front door and entry way to our house!!!

Another thing we did was start a list of all the things that needed to get done now that we are homeowners.  Homeowners to a house that was built in 1905 that needs major renovations.  Our list consists of simple things (notifying everyone from the post office to banks to our grandmothers of our new address) to far more complex issues (creating an as built drawing and demolition- demolition of everything).  Okay, I may be exaggerating but we are really planning some major changes- full kitchen and bathroom renovation, getting rid of a wall (maybe two), and completely re doing the flooring throughout.  Our goal is to be in our house by September 1st.  That is 32 days from now.  And our place that we live in now is rented as of September 1st.  So it isn't really a goal as much as a requirement...  While I totally do not mind living through a remodel it would be a lot easier if we got the major demolition aspect taken care of before we are in there permanently.

I looked at my calendar at some point yesterday while talking to mom and realized I have one thing or another planned for every weekend (except one) until the first of October. 
 I am sure you are saying, "Why don't you just cancel your plans?  I'm sure if you explain, people would understand."  No way.  One of my biggest pet peeves is people flaking on plans.  I am a huge planner and when others do this to me, it drives me insane.  If you are a flake, stop it.  It's not nice.  Anyways, sorry for the tangent, I'm back.  Since my weekends are packed that leaves evenings after work to get a lot of the house stuff done.  We also have to tackle a list of things like going to banks and getting home owners insurance which requires dealing with people who have the same work hours as us.  Again, 32 days from today.  It is a ton of work to do but we are so ready to get started. 

I have been pretty caught up in the moment but I managed to get a couple pictures.  We also got a chance to pull the carpet back in one corner to see what kind of shape the hardwood is in.  It looked pretty promising, however we won't really know until we can see more of it.  Jessie and Chloe came with us last night to check out their new home and explore all the scents in the backyard and on the nasty carpet that will be torn out asap.  They seem pretty happy, so as long as we have their approval, we are set :)


And now... Pictures!
An iPhone panoramic picture of the front bedroom with a bay window to the left

Another iPhone panoramic of the living room (door on top right leads to kitchen, door ahead to middle bedroom and on left door to front bedroom, entry way and enclosed porch)

Gross.  Everything about this picture. 

These are light switches... Did I mention this house was built in 1905?

Sean's brother drew out our floor plan then later entered all the dimensions.  Thank you Ryan!  The front door is on the top with the three bedrooms lined up on the right (and a "Jack and Jill" bathroom).  The curve on top left is our enclosed porch (YES!!!!) entry way, living room, kitchen, back porch and 2nd bathroom.  Our house sits pretty high off the street level so there are stairs to both front and back doors.  
Ughhh this kitchen... so disgusting.  But a blank canvas we get to design however we want :)

Another view of the kitchen...

The view from the street.  
 It has been  super helpful to have so many people walking through the house and getting opinions on how to situate furniture, what to turn into an office or bedroom and what walls to keep or tear down.  It is kind of hard to see from the pictures but if you have any goals, tips or suggestions to help us through this remodel, please let me know.

Friday, July 25, 2014

First Blog!

Welcome to my blog!  Thank you for stopping by.  I plan on keeping my followers (you!) updated on the daily happenings of my life.  There are a couple things you should know about me which will make me easier to follow and understand:
  1. I have absolutely no experience writing, other than college papers.  I primarily use the other side of my brain, so pardon my grammatical errors.
  2. I love cooking, so much so that my degree is in Nutrition and Food Sciences.  I work for an Engineering Company which has nothing to do with food, more on that later. 
  3. My boyfriend (Sean) and I have two amazing dogs who mean the world to us.  Our 11 year old Lousiana Catahoula teaches our 10 month old Golden Retriever how to win us of over every night when we come home from work.  We are both suckers for handing out table scraps and overloading them with treats.
  4. We are set to close escrow on a house next week in our dream town, which we currently live and rent in now.  We could not be more excited for this whole house remodel.  
Starting a blog has recently been on my mind.  A lot.  I keep thinking "Oh, if I had a blog I would definitely write about this."  One thing I will write about is our new house.  I love pinning to Pinterest and DIY projects.  Our house needs a ton of work, which is the main reason we chose it.  Or it chose us.. I guess.  Sean is a General Contractor who owns a Construction business.  He is very talented and has a lot of connections.  Mix that with my creativity  Pinterest ideas and hopefully we end up with a house we can call a home.
My Jessie and I :)
Another aspect of having a blog is to set goals with a small amount of accountability to them. Hopefully you all will help me with that.  I will try to set small, short goals to accomplish by the next time I blog.  Looking at my upcoming schedule:
Tonight: Rehearsal Dinner for Sean's friends wedding
Tomorrow: Wedding
Sunday: Celebratory brunch for a friend's promotion

That being said, I don't think I will be getting much done this weekend.  My goals before Monday are:
1. Workout once
2.  Meal plan and prep for next week
3.  Blog on Monday! 

Thanks for reading my first blog and I hope everyone has a great weekend.