we are moved in!

... or at least our belongings are in 1 location! dp and i moved to our new home this sunday. we want to thank our lovely helpers for their muscles, cleaning skills, helping skills, and overall, friendships!! couldn't have done it all without you all. with their help, dp and i got 8/10 of our belongings unpacked. so, now what? well, dp has a laundry list of projects he wants to do. go dp for his desire to spend time here and there fixing things. in addition, he is even helping with the "womanly" tasks. lucky me! i don't even need to think this bc he is quick to tell me how lucky i am, haha. anyways, now it's just us settling, beautifying our place, and making this our home. posts to come will probably be us and our our diy projects :)

dp and the Budget moving truck

part of our moving crew

allison helping move us in

shelley rocks with organizing our kitchen items



diy

diy- do it yourself... is a new term that dp and i are becoming quite familiar with. our thought is- if we can physically do something, and there are many tutorials online and in books, then why not? further, after the inevitable mess the floors made (from the sanding) and on top of that, men using our bathroom and leaving trash/ cigarettes behind... i'm actually even considering diy kitchen remodel! i'd much prefer if we are making the mess than some guys who may not respect our beautiful floors, clean bathrooms, and furniture. anyways, as i was cruising around online, here's a project i'm highly considering. dp doesn't know yet, but he will be partaking in this ;)

concrete countertops

who needs a gym?...

when you have a home to repair!?!? the last two days dp and i have continued repairing our home. yesterday especially was a big day. little me wiped down walls (for the upteenth time-so over it), MOWED the back lawn, raked the yard, cleaned the closets, wiped the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, and the list goes on... and on... and honestly, i'm not sure if it'll ever end. needless to say, my arms and legs are sore and i feel as though i've worked out! on a side note- there is a little gym nearby so maybe i'll start actually exercising soon :) so, today is moving day. i'm so excited i'm up at 5:45 am today... and better yet, it's RAINING!!!! rain, pls go away and come back another day... dp won't be happy moving in rain... i cannot wait to post some of our pics from yesterday. of course dp was always catching me doing "manly" tasks (probably as evidence when i tell him i can't do it ;) oh, btw, our hardwood floors were completed on friday and we are very happy!! pics to come!

rp raking our front yard

rp mowing the back yard w/ our new electric mower

living room wood panels

lucky us... our new home had a wall that the owners must have thought it was nice to staple/glue on some wood panels to the wall. here is the wood panels (left of 1st photo) and what you would've saw on your right when you walked into the house. lucky me, i have a husband who wanted to take the risk of pulling them off... and look what we found... a decent wall (2nd photo)! good job dp!

wow- 5 days have passed?

since we received our keys, dp and i have been packing our car every evening after work, having a quick dinner, and heading to our new home to make repairs. this past weekend we had a few extra helping hands (thank you nadine, daniel, anne, andrew, and the raya family!) what was accomplished? i'll show the before and after photos soon. this week the hard wood floor contractor will be in to sand and refinish our floors that have not seen light since maybe 30 years! last night we left our home early... 3:30 pm, which is early compared to 10 pm every other night! we had to run to the supermarket and then our neighbors had us over for dinner. dp and i have been so focused on home repair that it was nice to be a part of civilization again. once i get the pics compiled, i will post them.

we got the keys!

yesterday 5/18/11, dp and i officially became homeowners! when people talk about the joy they experience when having a baby, i can relate now... except this time to owning a home. we rocked up to our new pad after work and just began clean and removing fixtures that were old and outdated. as i was sweeping our new 2 car garage and front steps... i was just so happy. who would've thought? sweeping and pulling weeds would bring me such joy? as we enjoyed beers in our new living room... we are just sooo excited for what's to come. thank you God and thank you everyone for your support!! kudos to our mortgage broker and extra extra kudos to our real estate agent!!

so complementary

they always say you marry someone who complements you. in general dp and i do. even more so though, with this house journey, i see it more and more. the odd thing is that we've switched roles sometimes. for instance, i can be impulsive sometimes, and when i get excited to do something, i just begin doing it. i have found recently that dp has gotten this way in his excitement to get home repairs and tools/items to buy. i find that i have to simmer him down and am more calculated! i guess this is what it partly means when we grow together as a married couple and mature. now we're able to see each others' perspectives a little bit more. (i still can't use the impulsiveness to justify my handbag purchases though, haha.)

t-10 days

yes... in about 10 days... we will be home owners... assuming escrow closes on time... 5/18/11! friday we signed the loan papers. apparently it's not common for people to sign loan papers two weeks before escrow closes. thanks to my husband, God, our real estate agent, and the loan officer... thank you thank you. so we are preparing for the move... our apt looks funny with boxes and bare walls. i'm loving the fact that i'm giving away stuff though. and we've been blessed bc people are offering their items, such as my lovely friend Mimi and her fam giving us their 62" plasma tv. what an upgrade from our tv. dp and i decided that even if we don't use it, we can use it for decoration :) haha. in general, dp and i are excited!