My weekend in pictures… Things that made me happy

This weekend was a busy one, some of the best times from the weekend, I didn’t take pictures of… Friday night, I went to dinner with one of the coolest, strongest woman I know, didn’t take pictures. Saturday morning, had to get an oil change… during the oil change, my mom and I walked around the “French Hens Market” and then checked out the stores downtown. When that was done went out to my parents house and found a cute little tree frog in the garden. Then on to church and Cruise Night. Sunday morning, my parents headed up to my place to help me pick up a free stack of bricks. Two truck loads, loaded by hand. Did I mention that I have GREAT parents? I have no pictures from the bricks… because we were too busy moving the bricks to think about pictures. After moving the bricks, on to Home Depot… where there were no pictures taken either. Picked up some new plants, some hardware to hang some shelves, and some bug spray. Pictures from my DIY planter to come! 🙂 Check out the other pictures:

Car from the cruise night… I could see myself driving down the road, wind blowing through my hair.

Look at this little bug, check out the driver’s door…

check out the passenger’s side door… see the difference?  🙂 Love it! And the colors!

Awww the little tree frog!

Sign would look great in my bedroom!

Found in one of the downtown stores. I have an old lamp and the silk lampshade is falling apart. When I saw this, I thought what a great way to use something instead of adding it to the landfill. Watch for another DIY project to come!

Great words to live by!

Cute planter, Mom and I both liked. Looks like another DIY project in the works!

Still have a lot to do to get my house together, but things are slowly coming together both inside and out. Love the chance to get out and get ideas to do to my house.

Most Recent DIY Project

As a home owner, I am learning the joys of DIY projects. While this project isn’t done yet, I have made progress. Tomorrow it will be finished and installed. I have read enough articles about home improvements, one of the eye sores on my house was the front. There were old/tarnished/rusty brass house numbers, mailbox and lights.  Last weekend, I started the project by painting the numbers and mailbox. The lights had a lot more detail in having to play with electricity to take the lights down. I enlisted my dad’s help in taking down and he will be assisting with the reinstallation of the lights. (What a great man!)

Old Brass lights from front porch…

The rusty brass lights, glass removed for cleaning and painting.

The lights with the first paint coat…

I chose an oil rubbed bronze paint, the project took two coats. Can hardly wait to see the finished project installed. The numbers and the mailbox already look amazing, the lights will only add to the finished look. I will post the installed version. What DIY Project are you working on? A few of the other projects to come are painting my bedroom furniture (started sanding this weekend… way too muggy for that), I have painting various rooms of the house. Found my spare bedroom paint at Lowe’s oops paint for $5.00 🙂 Yeah Me! I am working on picking out other colors for other rooms. I also need to work on making the basement livable.

The Second Twenty Four or Meeting the Neighbors

The 2nd 24 hours have come and gone, it was an exhausting weekend, I was excited to go to work on Monday, just to rest. No, I am not an Air Traffic Controller. The weekend wasn’t only spent moving stuff, but I worked and had a friends 100th Birthday Party to go to.

Sunday morning, not too early, I headed to my parents house, to pack my car and their truck with boxes. Had some time to check out all the great things my mom has recently done, she made a cute new walk way in her yard, and stained the deck. She is an incredible woman, very creative and hard-working. And I have her help and my dad’s help in putting my house together. They are the best parents a girl can ask for.

Once the cars were packed to the brim, it was time to go get ready to attend a party honoring a lovely woman who is celebrating her 100th birthday. Can you imagine all the things she has seen and experienced over these past 100 years. This event was wonderful, when we walked in, she lit up. We got hugs and kisses, and she wanted to know where we have been, why we have not stopped by… definitely going to have to stop by more. She is a firecracker that one. Her birthday is today… so Happy Birthday Bessie!

Once we mingled at her party, we did have to get on the road to my house so we could get the cars unpacked. As we were unpacking, I noticed my neighbors in their backyard… so I decided to venture out and introduce myself to them. I met husband and wife, and girl, girl and boy… and their dog and cat… first impression, very nice respectful children and couple. A little while later, my neighbor across the street came to visit bringing me a welcome basket with lots of goodies.

Here is the basket both in the basket and laid out to see all the goodies, plus a cute basket. Thank you neighbor!!! 🙂

The rest of the afternoon was spent putting together an IKEA bookcase, and my dad started changing the locks. I didn’t realize how slow of a process this is. I have not spent the night in my house yet, that is coming soon, and I am looking forward to it. I am so thankful for my parents who have helped me with this move, I know if I didn’t have them and their support, I don’t know where I would be. A big I LOVE YOU to my Mom and Dad. This on a day that now two high school friends have lost their mothers on this day. I am so sorry that they have each lost a parent on this day, one, 10 years ago today, the other, her mother passed away today.

Who is most important to you in your life? Do you tell them you love them daily? Don’t let a day go by that you don’t tell them you don’t know when they will be taken from you.

The First 24…

I have been a home owner for just over 24 hours… and I have had the best 24 hours I have had in a long time… from signing all that paper work and drinks out with my banker, realtor and their realtor… to working this morning meeting potential incoming students (nothing to do with my house) and shopping for paint (still looking) and locks.

Right now I am exhausted but it is such a rewarding exhaustion. Everything I am doing is being done to make my house a home.

So far I have a sparkling bathroom… clean wood floors in the 2 bedrooms as well as clean closets (yes I have cleaned out my closets 😉 ), hall and front room… cleaned under and behind the stove (you won’t believe the things I found under there)

The dust bunnies, multiplied into Buffalos 😉 there was enough dog food for a doggies dinner and so many crumbs. I feel pretty good with all the work I have completed and having to work today. A pretty successful day all in all.

Third Time’s a Charm!

I received great news today… my dream of owning a house is coming true this week. I know I posted that I was supposed to close on April 1st, well April 1st came and went… and no closing. 😦

I began to think it wasn’t going to happen, when I got a phone call today. It is official, I will be a home owner on Thursday Friday! Looks as if I have had a change in days… I should be closing on Friday now… It is that pesky little government wanting to know what the left hand is doing, or something like that. While I have a time and a date, I am still afraid that something will go wrong. However if I go with the old saying Third Time’s a Charm, everything should come together on Thursday. This is the third house I have had a contract on, however, none of the other houses did I have an actually closing date and time.

If you are looking to get a house-warming gift for me…

This cute Tiffany & Co. Key Ring would be a lovely give for my new set of house keys.

 

A bottle of Jordan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon. I want to have a nice bottle of wine to enjoy on my first evening in my house.

 

 

And if you are stuck for an idea… gift cards are always welcome 😉 Any home improvement center (Home Depot, Lowes or Menards), home decor store (Target, TJMaxx or Walmart) or grocery store (I’m going to have to stock the kitchen)

Truly, I can hardly wait, I am a little worried about buyer’s remorse, but the movie Under the Tuscan Sun taught me a little about buyer’s remorse, I would add in a movie clip, but it isn’t working. So if you have not seen the movie check it out.

Wish me luck on this great new adventure, owning a part of the “American Dream.”

Yard Crashers or I <3 Ahmed Hassan

One of my “new” favorite shows is Yard Crashers with Ahmed Hassan. I am only hoping that once I have signed that contract, Ahmed finds me at Home Depot, Menards or Lowes… or what ever hardware store he hangs at. I will say YES, you can follow me home. On a side note, if he asked me to follow him home and help him in his yard, I would probably say yes to that as well. 😉 My new yard is pretty small, but I have some wonderful ideas.

If I could have my dream backyard, I would love an outdoor kitchen, an outdoor soaking area, a deck/patio area, a fire pit and a nice garden area with both edible and flowering plants.

The outdoor kitchen is similar to what I like, but a little big for my little house. I would want it built to scale for my house and my life. This picture is out of Texas where everything is bigger. What I like is it has the grilling/kitchen area, and the fire pit all in one.

This teak tub is something I cam across one day, and while I like the material, and it would be great for soaking, it isn’t big enough for socializing. I would love a larger teak soaking / hot tub, but I hope the hot cabana boy comes with it. If I wasn’t able to have this, I would like a swim spa that allows you the current to swim against.

Raised beds and container gardens are a great asset to a small garden and is also something I would like in my garden/yard area. Lots of containers around the outdoor kitchen filled with fresh herbs, tomatoes and peppers.

So while I have lots of ideas, and the willingness to do the work, I personally am lacking the “skill” to do it all myself and since I am just buying the house, I will be lacking the funds to create my dream yard. So if you know Ahmed and the crew of Yard Crashers… PLEASE send them my way.

*** Just a note… none of the above pictures are mine, if you click on the pictures, they will take you to the links of the product, company, or person where credit is due. A big thanks to google images and the individual websites to help me find pictures of what I am looking for.

Garden Girl

One of the most exciting things for me is I will have a garden… I am also scared. I have cared for a ton of house plants, but a whole yard… makes me nervous. I can’t wait for this cold weather to be done, I can start buying plants and making my yard, mine. Looking forward to doing some container gardening, some vegetable gardening and some flower gardening.

Some of the plants I will definitely have are as follows:

Lavender, rosemary, basil
Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers
Brown Eyed Susan’s
Columbine
Various Daisies
At least One Rose Bush (to honor my Grandma)
Some climbing vines
Some decorative grasses to add height.
A “Christmas” tree, to decorate during the season.
I’m sure as I get to do some shopping, I will find more. What would you add to my list?

A Vertical Garden

http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-home/video/default.aspx?vid=3b7f5024-d456-4a31-ba6e-d43f32e12b17&from=cp^IV2_en-us_health_ExpandedPlayer_template&fg=MSNlifestyles_HF_Hub_CustomPlayer_Expanded

Here is a wonderful idea for spring… a vertical garden. Once I have my own place, it might be fun to make. It could be cool with a bunch a different herbs. It looks interetsing but I wonder how well it really works. Anyone ever try this?

I think Hoda and Kathy are a little crazy but they have some fun ideas now and again.

Counter Offer…

While I have placed the bid… and I felt good about my FIRST bid… I wasn’t as happy with their counter offer. Now I have to decide where to go from here I have to come up but how much do I come up… how many times can we counter bid. While I did my research on similar houses in the neighborhood and how much they are worth or at least listed for… this house was listed VERY high. So while I talked to my parents first… of course I needed to turn to my ever faithful Google, I found an article about negotiation home prices… I had to laugh at the first tip… offer less than the listing price… isn’t that a given? Second tip was to look at many houses look at the prices on the other houses in the area so you are better equipped to figure out the asking price, check. This same article goes on to say that it should be a win/win situation… not sure how I feel on that, LOL. I want to be the winner here! Right? Also, ask for what you want… if the roof needs to be replaced ask as part of your negotiating. Last look at how much you want the house and what it is worth. Look at how long the house has been on the market decide are you willing to walk away from the house if the home owner does not come down to your price?