We're Building A Shed (Part 1)

Do you know where you are? You're in the jungle baby!  

For those of you who know us and have seen our house (and specifically our back and front yards), you know just how neglected it was when we moved. You may or may not also know that I affectionately refer to our backyard as "The Jungle". During the warm summer months, the weeds, ivy and other-plants-that-I-don't-know-the-names-of, seem to take over the entire space and it's been an uphill battle to try and tame them (especially when you can't spend more than a minute outside in summer before being attacked by giant mosquitoes! Seriously, does anyone know any tricks to get rid of the little buggers? I'll forever be in your debt!)

But then after the weather turns chilly and the plants begin to wither, the seasonal Georgia rains turn our jungle into a mud pit. The good news is that with the cooler weather comes fewer mosquitoes, so it's an OK trade off in my opinion. We're taking advantage of the brief reprieve from rain and giving our yard some much needed TLC.

First step? Building up a shed to store all our tools and holiday decorations. This should have the added bonus of freeing up space in our garage so that we can actually park another car in there! I'm actually super excited about being able to use our garage for car storage--this must be what being an adult is all about. You get excited about little things like more storage space! 

We went out and purchased a metal shed from our local DIY store, and to be honest I was expecting a much larger box. It's amazing how they managed to fit a 12'x10' shed into a box that easily fits in the bed of our little truck. The box contained everything you'd possibly need, except for a floor, but that was easy enough to build. B took advantage of one of the few sunny days we had and built the floor platform in an afternoon. It was a simple project that involved making a big square frame using using 2x4s and then securing plywood on top to create a sturdy floor.

Of course it has rained nearly every day since the floor was built, so we haven't had a chance to finish our little project, but the weather should be clearing up soon. Until then, we have a cute little platform sitting in our yard. It's the perfect size to use as a small stage to sing and dance in the rain, if your heart desires. Normal people totally do that, right? Right?!?

See, the perfect stage for an impromptu concert!

Time for a Fresh Start!

Some days I feel like I can never finish the things I start. Well unless we're talking about ice cream, I can always finish off a tub of ice cream myself! Especially if it's chocolate. Mmmmm, chocolate! My writing seems to be one of those things that tends to suffer and be neglected when life gets crazy. But that ends today! One thing I've realized lately is that every day is a new opportunity to do something fulfilling and that you shouldn't put your life on hold. So no more excuses and no more procrastinating! Today is a new day, and it's time for a fresh start to this blog.

Cheers to a new day!

Home Sweet Home

It's been a busy around here lately. All this packing and moving and painting and yard work. And between all that we've got to fit normal life in somehow as well. Whew, we are worn out! We closed on our first house as a married couple and have been slowly putting our stamp on our new home. B started off by working in the yard. His eagerness to get our vegetable garden started is both endearing and contagious! So far he's gotten a good sized plot tilled and fenced, and it will only be a matter of time before it's safe to transplant all our little seedlings. Now that will be an exciting day!

In the meantime, my projects have involved deep cleaning the entire house (there was dog hair and dirt from the previous owners everywhere, yuck!) and repainting the dingy kitchen cabinets (also filthy!). Can I just say that I have a new appreciation for all those hard-working indivudals who work cleaning up other people's messes? It's one thing to clean up after yourself and your family, but to clean a stranger's dirt, hair and soap scum was almost enough to push me over the edge. Many of you know that I'm not a fan using chemicals in the house to clean and prefer to use natural cleaners, but after a week of intense cleaning I gave in and bought some heavy duty stuff at the store. I hate the idea of exposing B, the kitties and I to all those chemicals, but for my peace of mind I was willing to make an exception this one time. Especially when it came to the bathrooms--at least now I can shower and actually feel clean, which makes it worth it if you ask me!

Now, I'm off to unpack a few boxes and perhaps enjoy a glass of wine!

P.S. For anyone interested, here are some pics of our progress.

 This is my amazing husband working hard on his veggie garden. Shh...Don't let him know I took a picture of him! 

A before shot of the kitchen cabinets. You can't really tell, but they were dingy and sticky and not something I'd want anywhere near my food prep area.

 And here's an after shot (please ignore the mess from cooking breakfast!) 

After much cleaning, sanding, and several coats of primer and paint, the cabinets are just about done! All that's left now is to add some shelf liners and do a few touch-ups (for the record, you know that painter's tape that promises not to remove paint? Well, that's a lie, and there are a few places I need to touch up because of that, but overall I'm happy with the result.)

Late Nights and Cake

Well, we learned the other night that all it takes to get me out of bed is the promise of cake, lol. B and some of his coworkers have gone out after work a couple of times to the local diner which is open 24 hours. It's probably one of the only places open when they get off work around 2 am, and this time they invited me to tag along. Granted when I first got a text message from B and I was freshly out of the shower, cozying up in my nice warm bed and it was storming outside so I had no intention of going anywhere and politely passed up the offer. But then after some prodding, the promise of amazing cake was made and long story short, I found myself hanging out at a diner at 2 in the morning with people I barely know, very well aware of the fact that I had work early the next morning. But honestly. Totally. Worth. It.

You know what surprised me even more than how awesome the diner's deserts are? How busy it was at 2 am! I walked in and at least half the tables were filled, people were laughing and chatting. It was such a cool, laid back place. And the food? To die for! Our waiter was wonderful too. He joked with us and treated us like old friends. Needless to say, I will definitely be going back. I have made it my mission to try each cake they make. I can cross off the Boston Cream Pie, so that leaves Red Velvet, Reese's, Snickers, Carrot, German Chocolate, a Fruit Tart, Cheesecake, Oreo, Strawberry Shortcake...

...OK, so maybe I should make sure to join a gym too before I go all cake crazy!

Seriously, wouldn't this get you out of bed in the middle of the night too?

An Apology and Quick Update

It's been a little while since I've updated here. Actually it's been so long that I'm a little ashamed of the fact that I haven't been able to find a few minutes to spare. It's the same feeling I get after I promise myself I'm only going to have one little Oreo and end up eating an entire sleeve....actually Oreos sound amazing right now. Maybe I'll go grab a little snack. No, focus! Dessert can be my treat for finishing this blog update!

Well, I guess an update on the house is as good a place to start as any. We had a few tense moments there last week. Our lender went out to the house to do the appraisal and came back with quite a shock for us. We expected the appraisal price to be slightly lower than the selling price, however we were not expecting it to come in at $12,000 less! The homeowner's apparently didn't expect it either. We thought they might even pull out and decide not to sell the house at all, but lucky for us, they still want to sell the house to us (We Coloradans have to stick together!). The only downside is that like many people throughout the country right now, they are upside down on their home loan so they will have to bring money in to closing. This in turn, means that they won't be able to make any of the repairs that we requested, like replacing some of the siding and getting rid of the animal nests in the garage and attic. But, on the plus side, the repairs will cost us nowhere near $12,000 so we still come out looking good.  We have just over a week until we close on the house and we can't wait! It will be so nice to have a place to call our own again!

Let's see what else has happened. Oh, my wonderful husband surprised me with tickets to see the Atlanta Ballet perform Dracula. It was actually the same day that we found out about the appraisal and the seller's decision to continue with the sale. B came out of the bedroom all dressed up, brought me out a dress and told me I had 15 minutes to get ready, but he wouldn't tell me what he had planned. All I can say is that the show was AMAZING! Such a wonderful sensory experience, and B surprised me by actually enjoying the show. The Orchestra did a wonderful job and the dancers were all so talented. It was truly a wonderful gift to be able to experience, and being able to spend the evening at a nice dinner with my husband was wonderful. With our crazy schedules, we don't do dates like that nearly often enough, so when we get the oppurtinity we cherish it.

Well, I think that's all I have for the time being. I feel like I'm leaving something out, but I'm sure it will come to me in the middle of the night or some other inconvenient time. In which case I will dutifully log-on and post it here! For now thought, I'm signing off. Those Oreos in my cupboard are calling to me, and I think they may be just the motivation I need to do some packing tonight. :)

Thanks for sticking around guys!

House Hunting part 5: The Inspection!

Is it a bad omen that every time we've gone to look at the house, it's been pouring rain? People say that if it rains on your wedding day, that it's supposed to be a symbol of good luck, so I'm going with that same line of thinking on this whole house-buying experience. Let's just hope it works!

Anyways, today we met the inspector at the house and we went through the entire home to make sure that everything was working and to note any repairs that need to be made. The whole process took some time, but we were glad to have someone go through the house so thoroughly with us. There were a couple of things that we learned will need to be dealt with. Like the nest we found in the attic vent and the giant tree root going through the crawl space, but being the DIYers that we are, B and I are confident that we can take care of most of the issues ourselves.

You could tell that the inside of the home had been pretty well taken care of, but the outdoor maintenance had not really been kept-up with. Nothing that a few replacement siding boards and some fresh paint won't fix though. We're going to be chatting with our real estate agent later to figure out how we want to proceed having now gone through the inspection. Maybe the sellers will be nice and fix everything for us so we don't even have to lift a finger when we move in! :)

House Hunting Part 4: Well, that was quick!

If you could see me right now, you'd think I was crazy--well, you probably already know I'm crazy, but you'd probably still be wondering why I'm jumping up and down all over my apartment. My friends, I have some great news--the sellers on House #3 accepted our offer!!!

Things are moving so much faster than what we initially thought, but we're so excited that it doesn't even matter. Our lease isn't up until the end of April so we were thinking we wouldn't even be finding a home until we got closer to that timeline. I guess life has a way of throwing you for a loop like that sometimes. If all things go according to plan, then we'll have the keys to our new home at the end of this month! I'm totally excited and am off to go have a celebratory drink now! I guess I should start getting everything packed up this weekend too! :D