Our New Home

Welcome to our new home!

Most of these pictures were taken before we moved in, which is probably better because at least the place looks like a nice, new home instead of what I think it looks like - the aftermath of a tornado.

So, here we have the front. The landscaping was all replaced, so don't worry... we didn't get a place with dead trees and sod.

 front o house

As you enter, there's a long entryway. Right off the entryway are the extra bedrooms/bathroom. I have no idea what to do in those insets. Brian has suggested tapestries, but us deciding on ones we like might take a lifetime.

 entry way

So, the first "wing" has 3 bedrooms and a full bath. I don't plan to do much here since there will be two children to "decorate" it for me. I'll wait til they are older and we paint over whatever destruction they may cause.

 hall to bedrooms

 guest bedroom

 baby's room

 kaylee's room

The second "wing" consists of a 1/2 bath and the study. The study is where the tornado used most of it's energy. It's hard to walk in here. But, I have a plan to organize my stuff. It will just have to wait until Christmas. Ahhhh, the visions of scrapbooking drawers and shelves! I can't wait :)

 study

When you leave the study and go through the "rotunda", to the right, you'll find our ginormous garage. I have vowed to only allow us to use the 1/2 garage portion for storage. I have a plan for that, too. Currently, we have 2 sets of shelves. Kind of like what you would find at Lowes, but not nearly as awesome/big. We have set them up perpendicular - library style, as Brian calls it, which will allow us to fit one more unit in there. So far, this plan is working out nicely. I should be able to park my car in the garage by next weekend!

 garage

As you leave the garage, to the right there's a ginormous laundry room. So far, I have used my dryer once for 5 minutes to finish drying some PJs for Kaylee. It got COLD here last night. Otherwise, I have line dried everything. I'm almost excited to see our electric bill. HA! We've also managed to fit our deep freezer and the dog's stuff in here. It doesn't look near as large with all that in there, but again, I have a vision of a few shelves to help matters.

 laundry room

The dining room has no real use to us yet. Maybe when/if we start hosting parties/family functions, but for now, it's a playroom for Kaylee.

dining room

Ahhhh, my kitchen. I wish it would stay this clean on it's own! It's also ginormous, like everything else in this place... I'm starting to figure out my rhythm with it though.

 kitchen

 kitchen

Now we move into the pictures I took with all of our stuff in it. The living room and breakfast area are the two areas I want to begin my decorating venture. But, every idea I come up with conflicts with the other ideas I had before. I'd love an accent wall, but I'm not sure which one it should be. The right of the fireplace has a curved corner, so it's not going to be the best wall. The windows will have shutters installed within in the next month. Other than that, I'm at a loss.

living room

Here's the breakfast area. Clueless.

breakfast room

So, off the breakfast area is the master bedroom. Our bed/nightstands are against this wall. In the bayarea, I have a chaise and a little box table. No real plans to decorate in here for a while. At some point, I would like a nice cozy, romantic room.

master

This wall features our amoire.

 master

I've never seen a bathroom so big. It's literally bigger than Kaylee's bedroom.

 masterbath

One day, when I find the right piece, I'd like to put a dressing table with drawers in the middle to kind of break up the space.

masterbath

And, the end.... here's the backyard. We now have sod back here and have plans of a garden, shed and playscape area for the kids.

 backyard

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Happy Halloween!

So, it's rare that I decide to be creative while cooking. In fact, this is about as creative as I get....

Although, I did want to do this and this, but we canceled our get together. I'm just not as into Halloween as I'd like to be this year... maybe next year. My mind is already on Christmas.

Decorating

Does anyone else have trouble decorating? I have all this "stuff" and all this space, but no idea how to put it together. And since my walls are still new, I'm afraid to put holes in them until I really have a plan. UGH. They may stay bare forever at this rate....

There's that free ride I've been looking for!

Not.

So, Obama is trying to get re-elected. Good luck with that one, buddy. I try to stay very neutral when it comes to politics. Both parties are extremist and until they start compromising, things won't be getting any better. But this really takes the cake. My kids and grandkids are going to be suffering with inflated taxes rates. This money doesn't just disappear. SOMEONE has to pay for it. That someone is taxpayers! Money doesn't grow on trees, people. Healthcare won't be free. Nor will college. Stop trying to live that pipe dream already.

Student Loan 'Relief'

First of all, going to school is a CHOICE, so I think this bailout is ridiculous. Where do I think the problem really lies? In high school. There are not any courses that go through HOW to go to college. What I mean there is when I was thrown into the fire, I had no idea how to fill out a FASFA application. Heck, I didn't even know what it was for! They just said it was required. When it came to my parent's information, I lied and told them I didn't know where they were. Why? Because it wasn't my business to know how much my parents made. It wasn't anyone else's business either. AND, they weren't going to help pay for school, so this was not information they needed.

Ok. Now you have a student loan. What KIND of student loan do you have? Wait? There are different types? Oh yea, buddy... There's subsidized and unsubsidized and private. Can you consolidate them? What are the typical interest and repayment plans? Is there a deferment? What happens if you defer? What will that really cost me? Did I have any idea to ask these questions? No. And had I known to ask these questions, I would have never taken out a private loan.

Another problem? I knew what I wanted to be in my head, but was it achievable? I switched majors 4 times before I found something I thought would work because once I got in there, it was just not what I was looking for. I started in Computer Science and Programming. Then 3D Animation. Then I went into Multimedia and finally Visual Communications. Why did I switch all those times? I didn't truly understand what it took to get a CS degree. My first class was Calculus. I suck at math! When I got a 29 on my first test, my teacher told me to drop the class. I refused and went to tutoring before every class. I finished with an 89 in the class, but knew there would be many more math classes that I'd struggle through. And if I was struggling then - what would a career look like? The others were because I found that the market was saturated and that it would be hard to find a job. Visual Communications is broad. In the end, I taught myself how to code. So, technically, I didn't even need school.

I really think in this "How to go to college" class there needs to be a portion about a typical salary. Market expectations. Is the market flooded right now with people in that industry? Yes? Probably time to rethink things then. What will courses look like in your particular degree plan? What types of jobs could I get with my degree? I say go broad and find your specialty later because even if your specialty doesn't work out, you can still use your degree for something else. I don't know how many people are out there with degrees who aren't even using them! What a waste... that really, really sucks.


I think the class should be required. Even if you think you don't want to go to school after high school right away, you may decide later and that information will be invaluable.

Dear Government,
Stop bailing everyone and their dog out. It's not helping things. It's only making them worse in the long run.
Thank you,
Taxpayer

Weekend Off

Why is it that I have had the entire weekend off, yet I'm still exhausted? I can't sleep... I can't even lay down because then my head hurts. This blows. It was supposed to be the weekend where I got to recharge. A surprise weekend - all to myself if I wanted.

Yesterday was awesome. I met up with Liese and the other bridesmaids for the most awesome and productive day ever. Seriously. I have never witnessed what I witnessed yesterday. Three women, all different sizes, all different personalities, all different interests, agreeing. Not only on a dress. But jewelry. And shoes. And ideas. It was bizarre.

Today, I was supposed to stay in bed until the doorbell rang at 3 signaling that my daughter was home and I'd be back on parental duty. Instead, I'm catching up on a show that I really don't even like anymore contemplating going to Michael's and the Sami Show. I can't sit still for long. Never have been able to.
 

Just another reason....

water restrictions

Just another reason to set up some rain barrels and use them to collect the tiny bit of rain we get, but also to store grey water... we just installed sod - I'm not allowing it to die now...

In other news, I officially line dry everything! The only thing I don't like about this process is with towels, they are extremely scratchy once dried. I suspect this has to do with us having hard water and no softener. Hopefully, we can have one installed next year. Baby steps, ya'll...

Living the Student Loan Hell

Two more payments and I'll finally be out from under Sallie Mae. It was the worst loan I have ever taken out and I've busted my butt for the last few years to pay it off. The highest interest rate it jumped to at one time was 14.75%. I've never even had a credit card with that high of an interest rate! Ridiculous....

One down.... two more to go. The 3 year plan starts in January. :)