Settling In

We are finally moved in!! Well, 99% moved in....

The movers came on Saturday and moved a majority of the furniture to the new house. They left behind the piano b/c they needed three guys (even though I specified that when scheduling the move) and didn't have enough room on the truck for the washer, dryer and big screen tv.

Ross & I had to make 4 more runs on Sunday to get the remaining small stuff, clothes, laundry items, and most importantly, the 40" tv, which was a hilariously played out event in case you caught that pic on facebook :) It was our last run and here's how it all went down between Ross & I:

Kristin: I was thinking, we could bring over the smaller tv today. That way we have a TV in the house.
Ross: *looks at me like I'm crazy* Seriously, Kristin? You can't go ONE day without a tv??!
K: Yes, I can! BUT... I CANNOT go one day missing the Walking Dead tonight....
R: Oh, crap. *pause*  You're right. We need to get our tv.

So at the apartment, Ross is carrying the 40" tv ready to load it into the backseat of my crossover, only to realize that it won't fit. He looks at me with dissapointment, pauses..... smiles, then briskly walks around to the front passenger seat and sits down.... all while holding the tv.  It still cracks me up ust thinking about us driving down the highway with Ross gripping the tv in the front seat. My initial reaction was "seriously, this is how we're transporting the tv?!!" as he commanded, "just drive, this will work!" And it did. And we didn't even have to miss a Walking Dead episode. If that's not true dedication, I don't know what is :)

Overall, the weekend was just overwhelming and I couldn't wait to get it over with, as I'm sure all moves are, but Ross & I were still in good spirits and it helps to have some laughs along the way.

Today, I have movers coming again to grab the last 4 big items, so fingers crossed they are bringing 3 guys like I asked and the truck with a ramp so they can avoid steps. And then it will be official! Officially done with apartment living, forever?? Only one can hope :)

*Kristin*

Little by Little

Last weekend was supposed to be our move-in day to the new house, but unfortunately it got delayed to this Saturday. Which actually is working out better even though I'm still eager to get this all over with!

But with the extra time:

• The electrician finished and we have an updated breaker box in the house. And the power is turned back on!
• The plumber should be finishing up today or tomorrow. He had to update our water heater and move the W/D hookups
• The carpets should be cleaned tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the 3rd time's the charm.... I've already been stood up twice so hopefully this new company is better at showing up!
• I finished the living room!! :) ...as far as painting goes
• I'm almost done with the master bedroom. It'll feel good to have freshly painted walls, ceiling and trim done in 2 rooms when we move in!

And on top of that, Ross & I rented a Uhaul last weekend and at least moved most of our boxes to the house. Now only the heavy furniture is left for the movers this weekend. I tell ya, I'll be so happy to be done with the move. And I knew how much I would dread it even back when we began house hunting. Moving is the worst!! Especially when you start to realize how much crap we own (even though I feel like we're pretty good at keeping the clutter down)! I feel a spring yard sale calling my name :)

*Kristin*

What's a girl to do?...

...when the electrician is 2 days behind schedule?
Causing the power at the house to be turned off for an extra 2 days (b/c he's updating the breaker box)?
Interfering with the carpet cleaning appointment I scheduled for Thursday?
Interfering with the movers coming Saturday to move furniture into the house because I absolutely refuse to move any furniture into the house before carpets are cleaned?
What do I do?!

I take a deep breath and realize that I should be thankful that I gave myself one 'buffer' weekend JUST in case things got pushed back.

So I rescheduled the movers for next Saturday, 11/23. Just 3 days before we need to officially be out of the apartment. I told myself we wouldn't plan on moving that Saturday in case we needed some 'extra time.' So I'm glad it was just Plan B and that we even had a Plan B! Of course, I'm just stressed and anxious and really wanted to be done with the move this weekend, but I guess life gives you these lessons to make you learn a thing or two. In particular, that things can't always go my way. And that sometimes, if I just give in, maybe things will go more smoothly than I could've planned! So instead I'm looking on the bright side...

... that I have another week to procrastinate on packing :) ha!

*Kristin*

Asheville, NC and other good things

I kept avoiding posting an update becuase I wanted so badly to share some work we've recently done at the house with 'After' pictures. Unfortunately I STILL haven't gotten 'After' pictures over a week since we've finished since the house is dark by the time I drive over there at night.  But maybe this weekend :)

And in case you can't keep up, we closed on our house on 10/21 and are hoping to move in next weekend, the 16th.

Besides that, it's been a good week and I'm in a great mood!

Ross and I headed to Asheville this past weekend becuase we had tickets from his parents to see the Biltmore House. I posted pics on Facebook last night in case you missed 'em. We got there Friday afternoon just in time for the Brews Cruise I signed us up for! On it, we met some hilarious people, were pretty happy after a few drinks, and learned about beer? Ok, ok, I was just drinking it. Afterwards, Ross & I headed out to dinner with a couple we met on the tour and checked out a delicious seafood restuarant. Then Ross & I retreated back to the most beautiful bed & breakfast. Our B&B was a lovely older home and our room was very quaint but full of character, just what I had hoped for! And we had our own newly remodeled bathroom. I felt like we were living in luxury! haha Which was a nice break from the chaos of what we're living in at home currently, between boxes and dirt & dust, getting ready to move soon.

Saturday morning we were served a 3-course gourmet breakfast at the B&B where we met the other couples staying there that weekend. It was the perfect start to the day! Then we headed out to the Biltmore for the day. We started off with the self-guided audio tour which took us 90-minutes. I was pleasantly surprised that the crowds weren't as bad as I had braced myself for! The house was stunning and did not dissapoint! Afterwards, we ate lunch at one of the restaurants they had on the property. And since I couldn't stop thinking about the Biltmore Estate, I signed us up for the guided 'Butler's Tour' that afternoon. It was also very insightful and I'm glad we had the chance to see the house just one more time. I figured we might never have the chance to go back so we might as well take just one more tour! And I'm glad we did :)

Saturday night, we ventured to downtown Asheville and checked out all of the 'eclectic' shops in town. We also ate dinner at the highly praised Tupelo Honey Cafe. It was delicious and worth the 90 minute wait! We ventured around Asheville anyway during our wait so it didn't matter to us.  All in all, it really was a perfect weekend. The 6-hour drive seemed too long for such a short stay, but we definitely saw everything we I wanted to :)

Work has also been great this week. My office is quiet with many people in my department traveling this week (which is a rarity these days, they used to travel all the time!) + we had our annual chili cook-off yesterday that I organized = some definite fun and play while the managers are away! ha! The cook-off was a great success, we had a great turnout (about 40 ppl) as everyone on our floor was invited and I had the chance to really appreciate the amazing coworkers that I get to work with!

*Kristin*

Closing Progress & Seibert Visit

So we're 2 weeks down in the closing, 2 weeks to go :)

Right now, we're just waiting on getting the appraisal back. We should hopefully hear from them in the next day or two and I'm curious to hear what they have to say. On one hand, the house is move-in ready and doesn't need much work. But on the other hand, Ross & I see huge potential of what it could be!! I'll try my best to not get carried away :) We certainly wouldn't want to put more work into the house than it's even worth.

We gave our 60-day notification to our apartment office so we have the apartment until before Thanksgiving. That'll give us time to hire pros to replace the furnace before we move in and get an electrician to look at a few things.

Other than that, we're sitting pretty. I'm surprised at how much easier this closing has been than the first one, so far. *...as I'm knocking on wood* :)

In other news, Ross' parents were here visiting last week. It was so nice to have visitors and something to look forward to throughout the week! For their week visit, I think we got out quite a bit to explore -- we took them to the annual Greek Food Festival held last weekend, rented a pontoon boat one day and fished (sadly, no catches, even with my breadball fish bait, boo!), showed them our house, visited the Barber Motorsports Museum, visited the Saturday farmer's market that's held downtown, ate at the Whistle Stop Cafe, checked out the local County Fair and more! *whoo* I'm tired just thinking about everything we did :) I think we explored more of B'ham with them in a week than we've done since we've lived here! It was a whirlwind week and they left just in time for the fall weather to set in. It's officially chilly today (aka, high's in the mid-70's :) haha. Yes, it's chilly. There, I said it. I had to use the heat in my car this morning... ha.

Now Ross & I are back to our normal routines. This week, we are revving up for the Walking Dead Season 4 premiere next Sunday! We are in marathon-mode catching up on all of season 3 in the next 7 days! I tell ya... it's a hard life we live....

-Kristin

Settling Down

Well I think I can finally share the news!

Crap, no...no, I'm not pregnant :)

I guess I really need to start off with a different lead-in!

Soooo, Ross & I are buying a house :) Finally, 10+ months of browsing the listings and we finally found something with almost everything on our wish list.

I stole a few pics from the listing page so I could share. Here is the front exterior:

I'm not a huge fan of the green paint on the trim, but being that it was recently redone, I think I'll live with it for a while. But a few things it does have that caught our eye? To name a few, the 2-car garage that is a main-level garage (as opposed to a basement garage), the walk-out patio to the back yard, the ranch style, one-level living, the gorgeous flat lot (a rarity in B'ham) with mature trees, and the projects it has in store for us :)

Yup, we bought another fixer upper. It mostly needs just cosmetic updating. A few fresh coats of paint, taking down some outdated wallpaper, changing light fixtures and we'll be good to go for awhile! Oh, and to replace the original 42-year old furnace! Eek. That is priority #1.

What they did update were the kitchen cabinets:

Not my personal taste but it's nice that they are in good condition. What baffles me is the size of the kitchen! I think I need to add a kitchen island :)

Here's a glimpse of one of the 3 full baths that is in need of updating:

We have a lot of projects on hand but that makes me so excited and the ideas are spinning around in my head... Pinterest here I come!!

A few more facts about the house, it originally had 3 bedrooms/ 2 baths. Somewhere along the way they converted attic space into an additional bedroom & bath bringing it up to 4 beds/ 3 baths. It's great to have the extra room upstairs, but for now, it'll be storage. I like having our master on the main floor anyway.

We close on October 21st but our apartment lease runs until November 26th since we had to give a 60-day notice to vacate. That should give me time to paint a few rooms before moving in, and clean!

So there you have it. I'm happy for this next phase in our life. I know that as much as I hope/dream/wish to be back in Pittsburgh one day, this is the right move for us right now. I can finally settle down here and see where life takes us!

*Kristin*

A Plan

You've heard it over and over on this blog, if we're gonna buy a house, if we're not. We've been back and forth on this more than I can count. After waiting and waiting for the perfect sign, waiting to see if it felt right, I finally decided that Ross & I needed to step in and create our own fate. To set our own path in life. That's when we I decided we needed to make a 3-year plan for ourselves. And if fate intervenes, then so be it! But this is what we've I've decided so far. After all, Ross is such a good listener, it's certainly not my fault that I do most of the talking :)

- We need to be here for at least 3 more years. Ross & I both have great jobs here and in order to make this step in his career worth it, he needs to get at least 5 yrs. experience under his belt. Though I think this was always the plan...

- Our goal at the end of our three year plan is to figure out how to move back to PA.  Unfortunately, I don't know how that will work with Ross' job at USS, but we'll see. We may not have all the answers, but at least we have a goal. The reason we didn't make a 5-year plan is b/c I really can't fathom staying here any longer than a few years. Three years is optimistic I guess and the most I'm willing to miss out on in our families and friends lives.

- So now that we've decided to make it here another three years, I think it's time to buy a house. The apartment is really driving me crazy lately anyway between late-night partying neighbors, construction work going on and not having an outdoor space. So back to square one. We want to find a new Realtor and start house hunting again.

So we'll see. I feel a lot better after making a decision about the next few years ahead. And I realize that a few years may only be a blip in time, but it's a start. And as much as I try not to plan out our lives, it's nice to have an idea of what we want. Because once I can see a road ahead, I'll stop trying to focus on how much we miss Pgh and focus on how we can make the most out of our time here :)

*Kristin*