We closed!

We did it!  We closed on our new house last Monday!  We officially moved and all that jazz!

We LOVE the new place!  We now take our dogs for walks in the evenings and we've even seen some deer while on the walks!  It's SO peaceful and wonderful!

And..my commute went from 40 minutes to 16 minutes!  From 29 miles to 11!  UM, YES!!!!

I'll share more later this week, but now, I've gotta get my booty working to pay for this house! ha! :)

It's Friday!

If everything goes as planned, we will be loading a giant uHaul tomorrow morning and then closing on both houses Monday!  I hope and pray that everything goes as planned/scheduled and we'll be in our new house on Monday afternoon! 

Have a great weekend and I'll "see" ya'll sometime in the next week or so!

3 Things Thursday

1. Our house looks like a box factory threw up in it.  The Lowe's installation guy is coming this morning to install our new door and frame.  Tomorrow night we do our final walk-through on the new house AND the buyers will be doing the walk-through on our current house.  This means we have major cleaning to do tonight.  Who decided having a walk-through after we've started packing was a good idea??
2. We went last night and looked at furniture again.  We found a bedroom suite that we really like.  I think we'll make it ours next week.  We're 99.9% set on that one.  I'll take pictures.  Btw, I'll be taking pictures of EVERYTHING - LOL!
3. I'm on vacation next week - moving.  So, I wont be online more than likely.  Which means, no blog posts or pictures or anything from me next week.  Our internet is suppose to be installed on Tuesday, but we'll see.  Plus, I'll kinda be busy unpacking! ha! 

Lesson Learned

Sit back and relax...this might be a tad long.

One of the things the new homeowners put into our closing contract was that they wanted the back door replaced.  You see, our back door is steel and scratched all to bits.  Our golden retriever likes to jump onto the back door and paw at the door - scratching the window and the door as he does so.  Then our little jack russell likes to bounce off the back door when he hears that we are home.  So, between the two dogs, our door looks a little worn on the outside.

Well, the hubs and I thought that we could easily replace the back door by going to Lowe's and buying a new door and just taking the old one off the hinges, placing the new one in it's place.  Um, no.  You see, Friday night we learned that the appraiser wouldn't sign off on our appraisal until the back door was replaced.  We had been waiting to replace the door, because we didn't want the dogs to scratch up the new one.  But, now, a week from closing, we learned it needed to be replaced ASAP.  So, Friday night, we went to Lowe's and purchased a new door.

We bring the new door home and realize that although it's the correct size, the hinges don't match up.  Crapola.  Saturday morning hubs went back to Lowe's to see if we could get someone to install the door, because in order to install the new door, the entire door jam/framing had to come down and a new one be put in it's place.  Awesome.  So, while he's doing that, I'm running around the neighborhood.  During my run, a neighbor stopped to talk to me.  We chit chat and he tells me that we can get our door from another place in town - one we never thought of.  So, as soon as hubs gets home, we go to this other place (Ridout).  Turns out they have our exact door, but it has to be ordered - it will take a week to get here and then we'll have to paint it.  Small problem - we don't have a week.  That would've saved us mucho money, by the way.

So, we go with the Lowe's installation.  The installation guy came on Monday and measured everything to make sure we purchased the correct door (we did).  He's supposedly coming back today to install the door - might be Friday, but we've got our fingers crossed for today.  Then, the appraisal can be signed off on.  Then, the new homeowners can do their final walk through.  And then, we can close on Monday and MOVE.

Lesson to be learned - do your homework WELL in advance.  This little lesson cost us an extra $225.  Not only was our door cheaper at Ridout, but we could've installed it ourselves....

To-Do List Revisited

We close ONE week from today (if everything goes as planned, which is a whole other blog post).

So, we're revisiting the to-do list.

1. Buy & replace back door.
2. Replace dryer vent outside.
3. Call & schedule back window glass replacement.
4. Call & schedule uHauls.
5. Buy & schedule delivery of a new fridge (to new house).
6. Box up remainder of house & the storage building.
7. Find stuff to put in stepmom's yard sale.  (We have stuff, but it's already packed. Oh snap.)
8. Pack, pack, pack.
9. Buy random stuff that we need before move (trash bags, hand soap, etc)

So, as you can see, we accomplished some of the list!

Wordless Wednesday

Kinda.

This is part of our new kitchen!  This was taken with my phone, so the coloring is a tad off.  But, seriously, what's not to love about this kitchen!!!!  See that door?  That's the pantry!  There is also another set of cabinets on the other side, plus where the fridge goes. 

I promise to share actual pictures when we move in.  :)

The Dreaded To-Do List

I know ya'll could care less, but this is for my own sanity.

This is our to-do list before moving day.

1. Buy & replace back door.
2. Replace dryer vent outside.
3. Call & schedule back window glass replacement.
4. Call & schedule uHauls.
5. Buy & schedule delivery of a new fridge (to new house).
6. Box up remainder of house & the storage building.
7. Find stuff to put in stepmom's yard sale.  (We have stuff, but it's already packed. Oh snap.)
8. Pack, pack, pack.
9. Buy random stuff that we need before move (trash bags, hand soap, etc)

This is our last weekend before moving weekend and it's already looking busy and full of stuff that is not related to our move.  I might be a tad stressed.  :-) 

Set In Stone

It is finally set in stone that we will be closing on our new house June 20th!  So what does this mean?

We'll be closing on our old house that morning, closing on our new house that afternoon, and moving that day!  The only things we have left to do at this point (at our current home) is install a new backdoor, have a new piece of glass put in one of our windows (it's cracked), and replace the vent on the dryer thing outside.  Plus, the new homeowners on our current home need to get the appraisal scheduled.  As far as our new house, everything is done except the fence which will be built before we move in at some point. 

All that being said, I'm so excited!  YAY! 

Looks like we need to finish packing!  We have only 3 more weekends!

Photo Friday

Wordless Wednesday

Today is our home inspection on our current home!  Fingers crossed and praying that it all goes well!

Exciting News!

On Thursday, we got an offer on our house!  We countered the offer Friday morning and Friday afternoon they accepted!

Then Friday afternoon we put in an offer on the house we wanted and after LOTS of countering we accepted their counter on Saturday afternoon!

We are moving in June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!  Let the fun begin!  We're getting all the documents and paperwork together that's needed for the contract and lots of other "fun" stuff! ha!  I believe the inspection on our "old" house is sometime this week or next! 

3 Things Thursday

1. Our house has seen lots of activity the past week.  We've had a couple that looked at it a 2nd time and brought their family members with them.  Their realtor told our realtor that they're getting their mortgage stuff situated before making an offer.  Please let this be the case.  They saw our house for the 2nd time on Tuesday night.  I need an offer to come through today before I go bananas.  Please and thank you.
2. April is a BUSY month for me.  I have a case study, presentation, and a final to prepare for this month.  And no, I've not started any of it.  Plus, we have birthday parties, baby showers, Saturday work rotation, vet appointments, and 5ks to throw in the mix.  Oh, and we're back on mandatory overtime at work.  Throw all of that in a bowl with #1 and you'll make a nice stress pudding.
3. Tonight is our running clinic and I'm uber excited.  I need it as a stress release.  Plus, I think I'll go tanning.  Yes, I know it's bad for you.  Yada yada.  I go once {maybe twice} a week in the spring months.  The end.  :)

3 Things Thursday

1. I'm taking a week off on the weigh in challenge thing.  Last week we were "snowed in" which caused us to eat crap.  Sorry excuse, I know.  Then this weekend we're helping family move, I have a project due, and I'm back to working 10 hour days.  So, I'm taking this week off.  I'm still going to try to eat well and exercise, I'm just tired of worrying about it.  This morning I weighed in at 143.6, so I'm up .6 for the week.  Arg. 
2. It looks like the people who "forgot" to see our house earlier this week are coming back today.  Or maybe it's different people?  Who knows.  At any rate, I'm just happy people are coming to see it! 
3. It's been a very challenging week at work.   But, I need some good vibes sent please!  It's been causing me a good deal of BAD stress and if you add that in with the 5 page case study that is due next week....then you can just imagine how stressed out I am. 

Wow, this was a happy post, wasn't it?!  Sheesh!

Bullet Style!

• We had our first showing of the house yesterday afternoon.  The house was spotless thanks to my wonderful husband who took an extended lunch break to make sure things were perfect!!!!  But, we just found out that they "forgot" to see our house while looking at the other 6 in the neighborhood.  Ugh. 
• I have class tonight.  Blah.  We have a group case study due next Wednesday and we haven't started yet.  Awesome. 
• We have some marketing peeps coming over to our building tomorrow to film a small commercial for our company.  They're looking for people to do one liners.  Hmm.  What to do, what to do.
• And last but not least, Chapters of Our Life is having a wonderful girly giveaway here.  Don't go enter, I want to win it!

Our House Is For Sale...Again!

On Monday our house went on the market officially - again!

Here's a refresher of what our house looks like...

The front of the house - yes, everything is dead. LOL  It's winter, folks!

 The Living Room

 Our Eating Spot.

 Our Master Bedroom.

 This is how the living room used to look.  I changed out the pillows, added a blanket, and made him keep the curtains shut!

 Our old master... I changed out the bedding, curtains, and curtain rods.  I love the new decor!

That's just a few of the pictures.  The realtor took 14 pictures, but those are just your standard kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, backyard, etc pictures.  Our house is 3 bedroom and 2 bath.  So, if you're looking for a clean, freshly painted, starter home in Central Arkansas.... email me! ha!  No, but seriously, we want to move asap :)  Send the quick home selling vibes our way please!

His Name Wasn't Mickey

Warning:  This post is gross.

I've debated about sharing this, but I guess if I can't be real and share it all, then who can I be??

Back story...

There is a field and creek that runs behind our privacy fence.  Inside our privacy fence is where we keep our two dogs.  Every now and then we'll find dead field mice in our backyard due to the dogs.  Here recently, we had to move the dogs inside because of the below freezing temps. 

Our dryer vent is in the backyard.  The dogs have chewed the vent cover off, so it's just an open dryer vent.  You can see where I'm going with this....

Yesterday...

Hubs was home for lunch (thank goodness!) and he heard a sound coming from our laundry room.  He thought he heard something the other day, but I thought he was crazy.  Well, yesterday he decided to take a further look.  When he moved the dryer back, he found a mouse or...RAT!  So, he did what any sane person would do... He shot it with a BB Gun.  *sigh*  Well, that only injured the rodent.  The rodent then hid in a little spot under our dryer where hubs couldn't see him.  Well, hubs thought that maybe he crawled back in the hose and ran outside. 

So, he left for Home Depot to get a new dryer hose and vent cover.  When he came back home, he saw the rodent in our hallway!  The moment the rat saw him, he took off running (the best he could, he was injured).  Well, hubs got the BB Gun again and shot him a second time.  This time, the rat died.  He then sent me two pictures (I'm only sharing the least gross one.  You can thank me later.).  And yes, that is blood that you see.  Not to worry, it's been disinfected, swiffered, and disinfected again.  Trust me!!

After almost 3 hours of messing with it all, we now have a dryer vent cover, a new hose, and a dead rat.  I'm so so so so glad that the hubs was home.  Can you imagine what I would've done if I saw a rat in our house?!  I'll give you a hint, you might've seen me running and screaming down the street!

Updates

Just a quick life update!

1. We're having another open house this Sunday. Our house has now been on the market for 3 weeks as of today!
2. I have my first doctor's appointment concerning my body being stubborn and not cooperating on the whole baby producing front...next Tuesday the 14th. I'm sure they'll just start off by doing some blood work.
3. The temperatures are starting to drop and running is starting to get a tad easier! We ran 6.4 miles this past Saturday and it was my best run yet! Last night, we did 4 miles and it was a humid mess and it didn't go as great.
4. School hasn't gotten too overwhelming YET. One of my classes requires a 10 page (minimum) paper and then a 20 minute presentation - on different subjects. Yikes.
   

As Promised...

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers yesterday! They definitely worked! My dad should be out of the hospital by this weekend or sometime this weekend! Also, our house was cleaned and ready in the nick of time yesterday! Our agent showed up, took the pictures, and put the sign in our front yard! Then today, I'm going to go pay for school (ew!). I feel 100 times better this morning!!!!!!!!

As promised, here are the pictures that the agent took. They're not the best pictures, but they're certainly not bad either! I only wish he would've showed the shower curtain in the 2nd bathroom, but oh well! Plus, I don't like that our curtains are open in the first picture, but what can ya do?! Also, I know it looks really bare, but that's so the buyers can picture their things in the home!

You also can't see some of the cute little decorating things I did in some of the pictures, but again, these are his pictures and not mine! We'll be adding a picture of our backyard sometime soon. Also, I'll go more into detail to what we did to the house and the changes we made in another post - if ya'll want - so let me know!

Design On A Few Dimes

I thought I'd share a picture of our bed, since I've recently revamped that area.



Now, this is an iPhone picture and the color is all off. Just imagine darker, richer colors. Plus, not pictured is the chocolate brown bedskirt. That really adds to the overall look of the bed as well. Like I said, this is a bad picture and not to worry, I'll post actual camera pictures later this week. :) So, it's a preview.



Total amount spent: $40 (I already had the sheets)







Now, there are khaki colored bed pillows behind the chocolate brown ones and the throw pillows have that suede feeling to them - so they have some texture. The throw pillows are actually old pillows from our couch and I just covered them with pillow covers that I found for $10 a piece at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The comforter is also from there and was marked down from $99 to $19 (it's a Queen Size). Steal!
So, there is a little preview of what I've been doing. And yes, as the hubs would say - I like brown! Seriously, I never noticed it till this week - we have a lot of browns and reds throughout the house! ha!

Mumbo Jumbo

It's a crazy Monday morning, so I'm gonna do a quick bullet style post!

• I worked 7-4 on Saturday, while hubs painted.
• My dad went into the ER Saturday for heat exhaustion and dehydration. He works inside a factory that has no air conditioning and the actual temperature here has been over 100 F degrees. Add about 10 more degrees to that and you have the actual temp. for the factory, then factor in the humidity. It's no wonder he's sick. After getting 2 bags of fluids, some medicine, and spending about 3 or so hours in the ER, he's doing a little better, but he's still sick. Please pray he gets better and that fall comes soon.
• I found a bath mat that matches the shower curtain. Yay!
• We have one more wall to paint and then we are finished painting!
• The yard work is mostly done! We have curb appeal! ha!
• Tonight will be spent finishing steam cleaning the carpets, painting that wall, and taking things to storage.
• Hubs and I are both beyond exhausted and Wednesday can not come soon enough!
• We looked at more houses and still haven't found the one.
• I'm behind on Half Marathon training due to the house stuff, but I'm getting back on track this week.
• Grad School starts back NEXT WEEK. Holy crap.
• I received my notification about Jury Duty. Lovely. I'll be in "orientation" on my Birthday. Wow.