Table & Chairs

Growing up we always dined as a family at the dinner table. We sat down together, ate and discussed our day. Yes, the television remained tuned into the Nightly News, but we still talked as a family. What I've learned over the last few years is that this is an important ritual to me. One that I miss.

At our old house we had a very small eat-in kitchen and no dining room. We found a small bar height table that fit perfectly, but it was so small that with two plates, drinks and silverware we were virtually on top of each other. I didn't help that we had to shove the table into the corner which gave us zero elbow room.

{our bar height table}

We honestly ate at this table twice the entire time we lived at that house; the photo above is from the very first time we ate together in our new house [note the moving boxes still under the table].

One of the more important criteria for our new house was a designated dining area. We didn't necessarily need a formal dining room, but a place for a normal-sized table. Ideally one large enough to seat a dinner party, or at least our family.

Thankfully our new home does feature that added space, so Rich and I went in search of a table. We had a very specific idea in mind: a rectangular traditional height table, dark wood, with a leaf and fully-backed chairs. We found what we were looking for and it was on sale! I am so excited to use it!!

{our new dining set}

Surprise - we bought a house!!

We close... like... right now!!! In fact, this entry should post at the same time we start signing our paperwork. {I've been having some issues with scheduled posts, so this might not work but I'm still going to give it a whirl.}

I still can't believe we found a house and were able to close so quickly!! Our POD is being delivered today and we plan to pick up a bunch of stuff from our storage unit throughout the week.

While I really liked living in our apartment for the last month, I am not sad at all to see it go. However, I am very anxious to get all of our things into our house, unpacked and put away.

In my ideal fantasy world we will unpack the POD, pick up all of our boxes from the storage unit and be fully out of our apartment by the end of the weekend. Realistic? Not really. But it sure is something to strive for!!

SOLD - to the highest bidder!!

It's done! As of this very moment we no longer own our house. Rich and I did the pre-sign yesterday morning, and right now the new home owners are signing their name during the official closing.

I am truly happy that the house is sold, that we are done packing and moving (for now) and that everything is out of there!!! {Holy smokes we have a lot of stuff!!} However, I will fully admit that when we got into our car with the last of our belongings knowing that we would not be coming back -- my eyes welled.

We certainly have a lot of memories there. This was our house. We looked at it together, we moved in together, we were living together! Our first indoor project (painting the living room) will forever be a story worth telling. Our first outdoor project was widening the garden path in the backyard. We brought our dog home to that house. (He was house-trained in that house, and had many accidents!) Rich proposed in the kitchen. We held our engagement party at that house. In fact we had a number of parties there: house warming (complete w/ holiday gift exchange), annual Super Bowl parties, Tailgating, GRILLING, purse party, dinner party w/ the girls, patio parties. Speaking of which, we put in a BEAUTIFUL patio and did wonders to the landscaping of the backyard. We painted the exterior (huge improvement) and installed new exterior doors & storm doors. We removed the screens from the windows our first year and never ended up putting them back up (I'll be glad to have screens again). It was our house.

But now it is not ours, and that's okay. We will find a new house and to make new memories in. And this next house will be our house, too. But even more so, because this time my name will be on the mortgage.

Smartest Moving Idea Ever!!!

Rich asked a bunch of his guy friends if they could come over on Saturday to help move the furniture out of our house and into storage while we look for our next place.

Our initial plan included a rental truck and storage unit. [We already have one storage unit and were going to need to rent a second one for all of our furniture.] The guys would come over Saturday morning, load the truck, drive 20 miles to our storage facility and then unload the truck. It was a great plan.

Until, one of my co-workers suggested an even BETTER plan. PODS!!! Portable On Demand Storage = Genius!!!

Our pod was delivered to our house Saturday morning at about 11:15a. The guys had every single piece of our furniture loaded, reorganized and reconfigured in the 16' pod by 1:30p.

*And I'm talking every piece of furniture! In our pod we fit: 2 couch/love seat sets, 2 large bookcases, 2 small bookcases, 2 queen mattresses, 2 queen box springs, 2 queen bed frames, a large entertainment center, long dresser, bureau, tall glass-doored cabinet, wine fridge, kitchen/bar table, coffee table, end table, two night stands, LARGE gas grill and outdoor fireplace. And that is only listing a portion of the items we were able to pack away!

Yes; we got a later start than we had hoped (we wanted to get started at 9a), but this took so much less time than our original plan. The guys would have had to do the same work, but twice with the unload. And later down the line, they would need to do it all over again, to load up a rental truck and unload in our new house. The way things are - we will still need help. But only to unload the pod once from the driveway of our new house! Using PODS is an absolute brilliant idea and we are beyond glad we did it this way!!

{Two very happy home-sellers}

Busy Month

I probably should have mentioned this in my previous post - but because we've sold our home we kind of have a lot of work to do in a limited amount of time, 17 days in fact. As a result, expect blogging to be at a minimum in the upcoming weeks. {I would love to create more posts that I have been, however I feel extremely guilty if I'm not working on one of the projects below.}

Here is our list:
- Find temporary housing in which to reside while we look for our next home; we found a place!! checked off the list 5/11!
- Pack up belongings; Rich has started, I have not... DONE! 5/25. I ended up contributing, finally...
- Coordinate move, furniture, boxes, etc.; Moving truck rented, plan to move all large furniture 5/16; Change in plans, I think we are going to try to get a POD! So glad we did this!
- PO Box vs. Mail Forwarding; Rich is working on this... done! 5/22
- Order Lake Harriet Pizza once a week before we move {Our favorite local pizza place!}; ordered 4/26 (Supreme Pizza), 5/6 (Taco Pizza), 5/11 (Supreme Pizza); 5/23 (Supreme Pizza w/ Jalapenos)
- Order Fresh Wok at least twice before we move {Our favorite Chinese delivery restaurant}; ordered 5/9 (Steamed Chicken & Mixed Veggies), 5/22 same meal as before
- Search & purchase our next house!!~ Viewing trips w/ realtor: 4, Houses Shown: 27 (updated 5/30)

SOLD!!

We sold our house!! I didn't mention it on the blog before, but we listed our house in March. After 45 days on the market we received an offer we accepted!! We've had the inspection and all systems are a go for sale!

Our closing date is fast approaching (a little more than 3 weeks away). So we have a lot to do in a little amount of time. First on the list: find a new place to live.

*We are so excited!!*

Spring Has Sprung

**These next few posts are back-posts. While I had a lot to type about last week, I didn't have the time.**

Finally it is beautiful here - warm, sunny and things are greening up!! I took a half day from work today to work in our yard.

We raked all of the remaining leaves from the yard and those that blanketed the berm and landscaping we put in last year. We applied new mulch and put down grass seed & fertilizer throughout the backyard (that's all of the bright green stuff on the lawn).

And of course - planted pansies and violets.

I also managed to find a need for an additional assortment of plants for my favorite blue pot.

This is our first year with a perennial garden and landscaping to care for. I'm excited to see what comes up!!

Amazingly Productive Weekend

This was an extremely productive weekend.

Here is our list of accomplishments:

1. Prepare treats, snacks and drinks for #2
2. Host 1154 Lill purse party
3. Buy new bedding for loft & spare bedrooms
4. Paint upstairs loft bedroom
5. Paint closets in loft bedroom (3)
6. Paint spare bedroom
7. Paint side table for spare bedroom
8. Go through sweaters - sort donation vs. storage
9. Sort wedding gifts in loft - store and repack into closet
10. Arrange furniture in loft w/ new bedding
11. Arrange furniture in spare bedroom w/ new bedding
12. Reorganize extra items in the gym
13. Touch up bathroom

This list would not be complete without the help of my husband and mother. Before the purse party, Rich went out and bought the paint and supplies we would need for the weekend. Then during the party, Rich diligently taped and prepped the loft for painting.

Saturday morning my mom came over at 11a, after stopping at Herberger's to pick up requested Euroshams. Together we painted the loft, while Rich taped the spare bedroom. Once my mom and I finished painting upstairs, we headed downstairs to apply primer to the spare bedroom. The three of us divided and conquered - my mom rolled primer on the walls, Rich rolled ceiling paint on the ceiling and I painted the edging first with primer and then with ceiling paint. We were done for the day, to allow the primer to cure.

This morning my mom came over at 8a. Funny... the coffee seemed to taste better today. My mom and Rich painted the spare bedroom. I painted two of the closets in the loft and a side table for the spare bedroom. When my mom finished rolling paint, she helped me sort through some sweaters and then rearranged the loft furniture and put on the new bedding. We then did the same in the spare bedroom. She left at 1:35p to enjoy the few remaining hours of her weekend.

Rich and I spent the rest of the day finishing things up. He touched up the bathroom walls, from a previous project, while I worked upstairs sorting and reorganizing some of our wedding gifts. I used Space Saver bags -- which, by the way, are awesome! I packed up three Space Saver bags filled with extra sweaters I am not donating, two comforters, a throw and set of sheets, and three sets of towels. After I wash our old comforters, I plan on using another bag to pack those up.

All in all - we accomplished a lot during this weekend. I am so grateful that my mom and husband were willing to devote their weekend to these projects. Rich kind of had to - but my Mom gave up a lot to help us - and we really, really appreciate it. If she hadn't come over to help, I can't guarantee we would have finished the loft, let alone everything else!

The sad part is I forgot to take before and after photos; I'll have to see what I can scrounge up...