The End of an Era

It is official, the "Condo Ownership" Era of our lives is officially over.  Papers are signed, keys were handed over, and we can't just stop by the condo anymore if we wanted to!

4 great years were spent in this condo!  I have so many memories in this place, and will always remember it fondly.

Alas, it's time to start making memories in our new place.

A Miniature...Filled with So Much Love

I don't even know where to begin explaining this amazing gift that we received for our Housewarming.  Some very dear family friends brought a Huge box into our house for us, and when we opened it, this is what we found:

Such an amazing representation of our very own house to look at every night.  From the shutters & hand painted bushes, to the brick steps & American Flag, I can't believe how incredible this is each time I look at it.

4 years ago, when I bought the Condo, these same friends made this for me:

Complete with mini-shingles, hand painted wood pattern and a family photo behind working doors, this gift brought tears to my eyes back then.

I didn't think in a million years I'd be graced with another as special as that one.  Many people go their whole lives without such a heartfelt and meaningful handmade gift being made just for them, and I now have 2!

I don't know how I got so lucky to have such talented and loving friends like them, but I'm sure glad I do.

Our House is Officially Warm

We were warmed, in House and in Heart by all of our friends and family this weekend who came to celebrate our new house with us.

The outpouring of love and amazing gifts blew us away, and just made this house feel even more like Home!

Thank you to all of you who made that day what it was for us.

Progress is Being Made

Little by little we are settling in and enjoying the nooks and crannies of this new house of ours.

This past weekend the Crafting Closet got a make-over.  I hung a Towelbar on the wall to contain all Wrapping paper items. (which I am Very excited about!)

I also finally unwrapped all the goodies my Mom got me for a crafting extravaganza this Christmas.  All items have found spots on shelves. (can you spot the entire bin packed with balloons that will eventually be made into a Birthday Wreath...?)

We officially got our Fireplace cleaned, so this happened!  And we are in love with it.

 As we go through more and more boxes, unpacking the last of the straggling items, and picking up things we need along the way, we end up with Lots of Cardboard on Garbage day.

We are also finally purging the couch that Brody methodically tore apart and peed on in his efforts to demonstrate to us that he was not a fan...

All of these happenings in our home the past couple weeks are in an effort to prep ourselves and our house for our impending Housewarming Party this coming weekend!  We are excited to show off our house and this adorable face....

How can anyone say no to that...?

The Storage Room

It's funny how you realize how many rooms are in a house when you have to clean & update & organize them all.

We are gearing up to host a friend for a visit this coming weekend, and also a housewarming party in a couple weeks, so I am more and more mindful of those hidden places where stuff has accumulated, or just hasn't been unpacked quite yet, and trying to tame them a bit.

I know, I know, we've only been in this house for 2 full weeks, everything isn't supposed to be "tame" yet, but we're obsessive like that, so whatever.  You'll all thank me when you come to the party :)

This room is in our basement, it leads to the little utility room with the Burner in it, and the doors are in the middle of the walls... so it's a little awkward to set up for maximum usage.

I started with a couple of minimalistic bookshelves my brother actually had lying around and offered to us:

Then of course came putting stuff on those bookshelves... and adding some College-era cubes to the mix for extra added DVD & Video game storage:

I threw a couple picture frames on there for added interest, and because I just plain don't have anywhere else to put them just yet.

Those bins you see stacked there to the left... those are part of the "Permanent Storage/Don't Know What to do With Yet" section:

(sorry for the blurry iPhone photo.  It was taken late last night as I finally stumbled to bed)

Honestly, even this crazy section of the house makes me happy.  We have room to Store stuff!

Behind that white door are 3 matching red Rubbermaid bins filled with all of our Christmas decorations.  They may end up in the Attic eventually, but they definitely fit in the "permanent storage" category of this room for now.

We also have a few other bins of camping-type supplies in there that will probably end up in the attic.  The stack you see with the cardboard box on top... that's the "Don't Know What to do With Yet" section!

 But hey, not too bad for only 15 days into owning this house.

The last piece of this room is this pile.....

It's All Cardboard and Packing Material!  I cannot wait to bring this to Recycle-Central on Saturday and officially reclaim this section of our floor.

Bathroom Update

Last weekend we spent some time in the Main Bathroom of our house.  No, we weren't sick and praying to the porcelain god... we were actually replacing the porcelain god!

Remember this picture from our previous Bathroom post...?

Well, thanks to our "Welcome to the Neighborhood" 10% off Home Depot Coupon, that bathroom now looks like this:

From the door looking in, the change is subtle, but let me tell you.... this toilet is anything but subtle!  It uses about an ounce of water to flush, which make my water-bill very happy.  The bowl is HUGE, to the point where I actually feel like I'm going to fall in, and worry for any children under 14 years of age to attempt to use it.

You've been warned!