Tired....Decisions (very random post)

All of our stuff was delivered to us on Friday, the 13th. Fortunately, the "unlucky" day proved to be harmless for us as far as moving goes. I had a Dr. appt. at 8:00 for my second glucose test (I failed the first one by 3 points....URG) and thankfully, they allowed me to go home between each of the 4 times they drew my blood. Otherwise I would have had to sit there from 8:00-11:00 in the waiting room! Good thing we only life 1.5 miles from the Dr. office. They told me I'd hear something on Monday if my test results came back problematic, so I'm assuming I'm in the clear on that one.

Anyway, Leslie was gracious enough to offer her assistance and Matt & Ann Hagedorn also came over to help with the unloading. As expected, the most difficult part of the whole process was trying to figure out what room to put stuff in because we were going from a large, 2 bedroom apartment to a decent sized house with a lot more room options. The movers were disheartened to discover that other than all of our kitchen stuff and a 2 bookcases, everything coming into the house either had to go upstairs or down into the basement.

We are getting new living room furniture, so that room now has accent tables only. We are trying to figure out exactly what we want for couches now. Brian has pretty much given me the clear to get whatever I want that I think will look nice, but that is a lot of pressure! We also want it pretty quick.....don't want to have to wait 10 weeks to be able to utilize the main floor of our house! I'm leaning toward leather because it is so easy to keep clean....especially with a new baby on the way and it is ultra durable.

We ordered some online, and then got a call an hour later that even though the website said they were "quick ship" it would take up to 10 weeks....order canceled...back to square one.

So, after dinner last night since we have no TV we decided to go out furniture shopping. We weren't sure of many places to go, but we found a couple (a few were closed...didn't realize we didn't even leave the house until after 7:00!) Anyway, I think we've found another winner. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is NOT nearly that shiny...and the tuffed back cushions are just that, tuffed, but there isn't a button there or anything like that. The legs also don't stand out nearly as much....I guess that is what a stark white background will do to a picture. They are very very dark brown, licorice, to be exact. (the super dark color was my only hesitation...I don't want them to look black) My favorite thing about them is that each couch is 96 inches long and are super comfy! I laid down on it at the store and my feet reached the middle of the third cushion! Again, although it is difficult to tell from the picture, I appreciate the fact that in person, the couches don't have that inflated, puffy look that a lot of soft leather ones have. So, basically I'm saying that the picture is complete crap, but you at least get a very general idea! We came home and measured again to make sure they would fit and I think we'll order them today. Another big bonus is that we should get them in a matter of days....not weeks. So, we'll see how these work. We ordered 2 full-sized couches, so even if we have a houseful of guests, come anyway...you can sleep on a comfy couch!

The other decision that we have to make is which TV we are going to get to put over the fireplace in the living room. We were originally going to put our other TV in there, but opted for it to go in the basement instead. Brian would really like a big TV (and I don't blame him....he's never been one of those guys that has to have the biggest and best of electronic things....I am very thankful for this) but I don't want a really big TV to dwarf the size of the room. We will also have to hire someone to wire it because there is not an electrical outlet behind the picture. Here is where the TV will go. (previous owner's stuff)
I'm also trying to figure out of there is a way to extend the mantle a little bit so we won't have to actually mount the TV on the wall. I'd like to be able to leave it on its stand if possible. Yet something else that needs to be figured out.

Anyway, sorry to bore you with my decision making process.
There are a lot of other decisions too about paint colors, etc., but I'll spare you. I guess you will just have to come visit to see how it all turns out!

Needless to say, I am exhausted. I've been able to sleep pretty well, but the gerbil in my head just keeps running and running. So, if I have anything pressing on my mind that I want to get done, it usually involves me getting up at 3:00 am or so and just pressing on with it (as long as it doesn't involve the room where Brian is sleeping or hammering, etc.) My legs and feet have been really sore. I should have worn tennis shoes all day on Friday when the movers were here..big mistake wearing flip flops. I think my body is just now starting to really feel the effects of the extra baby weight I'm carrying right now.

Without going into any details, I'll share a lesson I learned on Monday: By law, a person has 72 hours to get out of any kind of contract. I'll just tell you that learning this lesson involved about 4 hours on the phone with DirectTV and a customer service angel from Time Warner Cable. Although we have had TV for the last 2 days, we don't have it anymore and we'll have to wait for our own internet and cable until the 27th. That is a ridiculously long time away, but at this point I'm so thankful to not be under contract with DirectTV that I don't care. However, Gabe (at DirectTV) gets a big gold star for being helpful...I just wish I'd gotten to talk to him the first time I called! So, lesson learned.

Our master bedroom (not bathroom) are all put together as well as the basement and for the most part the office (except it needs to be painted). So, progress is being made....still lots of rooms to go!

Oh, for those of you that have expressed concern....a cyst update. I thought it went away during all of the commotion and moving stuff on Friday/Saturday. The knot went down considerably and the pain stopped. But it is back now. Grant called (got home from honeymoon last night) and he said he had 1 on the other side of his wrist for about 4 weeks until he finally got Carrie to hit it with a pot! I'm not quite there yet because this time I have more finger function, but if it continues to be persistent perhaps I will have to ask for Brian's services with a pot/pan as well....geez, you'd think we were a bunch of barbarians!

Sorry for the randomness of this post...I know I jumped around a lot!

Come visit...I promise I won't make you work!

OUR HOUSE!!! (Under Contract!)

Well, all went well...we feel good about it and the sellers feel good about the deal agreed on! It was a little awkward talking about everything face-to-face over a kitchen table (without realtors), but it is done now and we are scheduled to close on June 11th!!!

I was an idiot and didn't take a picture of the front when it was light out, so we'll probably have to go by the house and take a picture in the morning from the curb. (we did, thus the new pictures.....) The neighborhood seems to be really fantastic and all just about everyone is our age. There are two one year olds on the block right now! They have cookouts and Christmas parties....the president and treasurer of the home owner's association are both on our (future) culdesac! So, YAY for us!!

Here are some pictures....with all of their stuff.....but it really is just move-in ready! Thank goodness!

Living room or dining room, right off the foyer. All of the open doorways are arched....we like it....













View of family room from foyer.







From kitchen look-through into family room....with nice built-in bookshelves. We are planning on putting our TV above the fireplace.





Kitchen from front of family room.





Kitchen....didn't take a picture of the dining area....crap.






The back deck is right off the kitchen (with a screen door). They also added on a patio that leads to a nice little area for our fire pit and has views of the lake!



















Another really nice feature of this house that set it apart from the rest is the completely finished basement! The stairs kind of divide the space in two: one perfect for little kid stuff, and the other is a good space for adults to hang out....so we can all be together.







The laundry room is "unfinished" in the basement and there is a chute from the 2nd floor. All appliances are staying with the house and these owners added a folding table and sink...nice bonuses.


There are 4 bedrooms in the 2nd floor of the house. One of them is currently being used as an office. We will do the same. The current owners added hardwood floors, shelving, track lighting and also created a fun little window seat that has views of the lake.











The master bedroom. The only disappointing factor about the house is that the bathroom only has 1 sink. We'll either have to get over it or make that our little addition.


Connor's future room at the top of the stairs. :)






Future guest room. This is the only room that will absolutely HAVE to be painted. The others can change colors as we see fit.





The laundry chute beginning from the linen closet in the hall upstairs.









2 car garage with a door leading to the back yard. They've added all sorts of shelving that will stay....good for us!








Come visit us in Ohio in about a month and you can sit here and enjoy a cup of coffee! Come in 3-4 and you can hold a little baby boy too!


Now we just have to hope and pray that everything goes well from now until closing!!!

Stressful, Tired, Fingers Crossed

Ok, let's see...I will start with our arrival on Friday night.

Good God, no one should ever stay at the Holiday Inn in "Hudson". It isn't actually in Hudson, OH, it is in Boston Heights and let me tell you...it is a dump! We were supposed to stay there for 4 nights, but right after we checked in it became very clear that that would NOT be happening. (and we are not picky...used to sleeping anywhere cheap in Europe) There was no breakfast, the internet didn't work, no elevator (glad I'm not super huge!), and it smelled like a mixture of about 5 different scented air fresheners in the lobby and all halls. Brian could barely get online to his company site to cancel the reservation and move us somewhere else. We had to stay one night because we'd already checked in, but now we are MUCH happier at a Hampton Inn in Stow....beautiful rooms, free breakfast, and great internet (wired and wireless) and even cookies in the lobby after 3:00 pm!

Now to the house hunt business.... After arriving it became VERY clear that renting a house basically isn't an option. The only houses that are available were built long ago and are geared a lot more toward college kids in the Kent area than for families. In addition, no one finds short-term with kitties appealing. So, that was scratched pretty quickly. Apartments also are tough to come by. Yes, there are plenty of apartments, but none that are big enough, do short-term leases, and allow cats. Our curent "carriage house" apartment is big by apartment standards and we BARELY fit. And that is only because it has an "eat-in" kitchen allowing us to use the dining room as office space. So, apartments are out unless we want to rent an additional storage space.

On Saturday we looked at a lot of condos and townhouse style places with a few "cluster homes" thrown in also. After about 15 properties, there was only 1 that was very appealing. It was in a great area and the price seemed great......

Pat, Leslie, Scott and Mary drove down to meet us for dinner (I was starving....no lunch break, even for the pregnant lady...thank goodness I had some snack bars in my purse!) At dinner, Brian got a call from our realtor and the one house that we really liked was under contract....awesome. However, we noticed that the house next door was "for sale by owner", so we went back by and Brian knocked on the door to see if we could take a look. They asked for 10 minutes to get their 2 kids in the basement watching a movie and to pick up a little bit, but then we saw it...it is great! They are asking more money than the one right next door, but it has 4 bedrooms instead of 3 and a completely finished basement...and has a great deck, with a patio adjacent that has great lake views. The decor is great and there are built-ins that flank the fireplace in the family room. The family is super nice and weren't scared off by our sooner-than-normal timeline. They are just planning to move into a neighboring community. Anyway, our spirits were lifted!

Sunday, we drove around on our own and went by a few new listings that our realtor was planning on taking us to today. They were all either "cluster homes" (smaller lots with a montly fee to cover trash and snow removal) or homes. Some looked appealing, but it is tough without going inside. Brian's good friend Matt, and his wife Ann had us over for dinner last night so we were treated to a wonderful meal and great company. Thank goodness they were also willing to lend us a jacket and sweatshirt....we did not look at the weather prior to our trip and it is chilly.....now I know....ALWAYS bring a jacket to Ohio...I don't care if it is May!

That brings us to today. We messed around with getting pre-approved for a loan before our realtor picked us up at noon for another afternoon of "hunting". Brian's computer was also invaded by little bugs...literally graphic little bugs were crawling on his business computer screen and he got messages that there were severe problems...awesome. Thank goodness his company has great tech support and can take over the computer to get it fixed. (It is still being "immunized" right now.)

We are back from the final hunt and although the very last property we looked at was very nice, Brian and I both still feel that the for-sale-by-owner home is the best for us. We are going back over there tonight to take another look and talk to them more. So, fingers crossed that everything will all work out. It is so hard to figure out what to offer in a market like this. We don't want to insult them, but we also want a good deal ourselves. Since our realtor didn't show us the property, there are no realtors involved. Hopefully this will help with our bargaining position to let that factor help both of us out. We should know more after our second time going through tonight.....fingers crossed.

So, that is all I have to report. Probably more than you care to know, but we are hopeful to be in a very nice place in June. It will be great for us, the baby, and even guests! We will likely stay there for at least a year unless Brian's commute becomes too ridiculous (depending on where he ends up) or if they really pull a fast one and move us to a different state (that is not likely...thank goodness). We are extremely thankful that Brian's company pays for his car and his gas and I am thankful for a husband that is willing to spend a lot of time in the car so we can feel more settled and finally put down a few roots....at least for a while.

All for now. Love and hugs.....