We are finally getting settled into our home! We got the keys (after several more delays and kinks in the process...even after we'd already signed all the papers!) on October 11th, at 4:30pm. And by "got the keys" I mean they gave us the code to the lock box on the front door....which we already knew....oh well. No grand exchanging of the keys like we see on House Hunters. We had been crashing in my sister's basement in between the time we moved out of our condo (Oct. 6th) and when we got the keys to our home. So when we they called us to give us the lock box code we scrambled to pick up all our over night bags and hauled the uhaul to our new home! Surprisingly the move in went very fast, even with only 4 or 5 men helping. The next day, Friday, was a "clean every surface possible" kind of day. Thank you Amanda and Heather for all your help in cleaning! I was able to get my kitchen somewhat in order and unpack just enough to feel like we weren't completely living out of boxes.
Since we moved in... we had our contractor start work the Monday after we moved in. We enlisted his help in opening the wall that separated the den from the kitchen. The den felt more like a basement before, completely closed off from all other living areas. We are pretty happy with the results, now we just need to paint the banister they installed and paint the walls the drywall guy had to patch. The construction lasted longer than expected (why were we surprised?), the finally finished on the 23rd. While the construction was happening Justin and I were painting maniacs. We wanted to get Caleb's bedroom, our bedroom and the den ceiling painted before the new carpet was installed. We were able to get both rooms and the den finished (and love them!) by the 24th, when the carpet was installed.
Here's a lovely unexpected home ownership situation we've encountered...
...Yellow jackets. We knew we had a problem with a yellow jackets nest hive on the backside of our home and had seen a few dead ones inside the home. We had a pest control technician spray a "slow kill" formula on them outside. The next morning we had hundreds of dead yellow jackets...inside our home! They mysteriously came in during the night and died everywhere. On our couches, floor, window sill, pillows. Gross. Justin said at least they were getting to die in comfort. We sucked them up in our vacuum and continued sucking up both dead and the nearly dead yellow jackets for the following week. The pest control guy came back another time to spray inside. And as of this morning, two more quasi-living yellow jackets were spotted in our den. So I called and they are coming out again tomorrow. I just wish we could find the hive and remove it altogether and be done with it all. If we keep finding them inside we just might take more drastic measures.
I am loving our home more each day because it progressively is starting to feel more and more like home. We have met most everyone on our street and have been warmly welcomed to the neighborhood. Its great living in a cul-de-sac, its super quiet and I feel like we are able to interact with our neighbors more. Just about every family on our street has children, though the youngest we've met so far is 3 years old so Caleb doesn't have any buddies just yet. I can't wait for him to want to play in the yard and ride his bike in our cul-de-sac. I think he'll love this home and area when he gets older.
Anyway, we have tons of projects and "to-do's" still on our list. I am excited to continually work and make home improvements but I think our bank account would like a break from it all. In the short term future (next couple months) we are going to put in wood floor on the main level (front room, dining area, kitchen) then that should be our last major renovation for a while. Its hard to plan out my days with normal, routine activities since I've been so focused on the home the last couple weeks. But Halloween in is two days and I don't have a single piece of candy in my home! I guess since we are going to have tons of trick-or-treaters this year it might be a good thing to load up.
Hope you all have a great Halloween and please come visit! :-)
Pictures to come btw.
