Renovation

This is a picture of our carpet cleaner we bought a month or so ago! (I put it together by myself)

Anyways, we were not originally going to buy one but it was onsale and we had some gift cards so we thought - hey, why not! And I have to tell you....I am SO happy we got it!

We used it at the house to clean the carpets before we moved in and it was amazing! Well actually it is amazing and gross! It is gross when you throw a bucket of very dirty water away...but it feels great afterwards knowing that your carpet is - infact - CLEAN!

We also used it on the apartment carpet before we left and were amazed and disgusted at how dirty that carpet was. We had had a few bad leaks in our apartment during our nearly 3 years there and even though we used carpet cleaner and stuff to clean the areas....when the carpet cleaner itself went over those areas you could just see all the grossness coming up! ICK

So I think this was a GREAT purchase and something we will use. We won't be cleaning the carpet every week, but maybe every 4-6 months we will pull it out and clean - it is well worth the time!

Come last Sunday we were out of the Apartment for good! YAY!

So we are just about out of the hell hole know as Bateson's Palace. I can't wait to be done with this apartment. It has never felt like home, just a place to live and now that we actually have a home I almost get angry every time I step foot into the apartment. Our landlord has been a dick the last couple months since we told him (and he was never like that, we even invited him to our wedding b/c he was always a good friend to T.) but now that we are leaving his true colors are coming out. So we are renting through January and come this Sunday we will be done with the apartment forever...and that is an AWESOME feeling!

We would have been out of the place sooner but we are doing ALOT of cleaning because a very good friend of ours is taking over our lease. Since we know our landlord won't clean, we want to make sure that everything is in good shape for our friend....otherwise if it was anyone else we wouldn't care. So we have been over there after work the last few nights cleaning.

As we look at an empty apartment I do have alot of great memories tied to this place. I have met many of my current friends there, I met T. there, I had many many parties and lots of fun there....but those days are over. One by one our friends moved out and on and T & I stayed. Now we are just ready to begin a new chapter in our lives together and away from this place.

Just a couple more days and we are done, we can officially relax in our new home!! YES!!!!

So I am a little embarrassed by this but T & I have come to the realization that we have WAY too much JUNK! We just finished moving the last of this junk out of our apartment and now it is taking up a good portion of our basement (as well as a storage unit). Who should have that much stuff - it is ridiculous!

Before the move I would look around and knew we had alot of stuff but I thought part of it was because we just didn't have a big apartment and therefore it wasn't as much as what I thought. HA, yeah right - boy was I wrong! It feels like we just keep moving and moving and moving stuff. Stuff that we have not even gotten into for the past couple years (at least). It is truly embarrassing! Two people as young as we are SHOULD NOT have this much stuff!

So over the next few months we are going to go through every single box and get rid of things. Some things I am sure T will sell on ebay, others will be given to Goodwill. (So it really isn't ALL junk - just alot of stuff) I just think it is ridiculous how much the two of us have collected and I want to get rid of it now so we don't have to worry about it. I think it will feel good to get rid of things and start over (in a way). I want to have that show Clean House or something like that come in and help us get rid of this stuff! I feel like are stuff is taking over our lives - UGH!

P.S. I think I still have more stuff at my parents and T. has more stuff at his parents!!! RIDICULOUS!!!

So here is a question for all you nice people, how close are you with your neighbors? We have been working and/or living at our new place since December 1 and I have yet to be greeted by a neighbor (well except for the condo person who stopped by for a quick minute to drop off the rule book – but she had to do that). Now not that I am expecting to be or necessarily want to be friends with my neighbors but I find it weird that no one has even looked our way – infact we really don’t see people out in our neighborhood, possibly b/c it is colder and a bunch of older people live there. Anyways - what surprises me most is that our duplex neighbor – the person we share half a side of a house with, hasn’t even come over and T & I have only seen her pulling out of her drive way once. Am I expecting too much? Should WE be going around to the 6-8 houses in our circle and be making nice? Or should we just not care and continue doing our thing? What is proper neighbor protocol – because we just don’t want to be “those” neighbors who everyone else gets together and talks about. Infact – rumor has it from the previous owner of our place that the condo association was not happy that a “younger” couple was moving in b/c this was a quiet/family neighborhood. HAHA – so I guess our late night drug and alcohol parties where we invite 50 people over till 6 in the a.m. will have to stay to a minimum!


I am not looking for a Desperate Housewives neighborhood where everyone knows everyone’s business and we all hangout – but I also don’t want to be the black sheep of the neighborhood…..I just want a house of our own where we do our own thing and when we see a neighbor we both smile and wave and carry on with the day (ah….how perfect that would be!)


So once again I ask should we just carry on as normal and not worry about it, should we be making the first move and introduce ourselves to our duplex neighbor, at the least? I guess I always thought people brought you cookies when you moved in…that just be on TV! hehe

Ok, we have officially been living in our new place since December 22 and over the past 2 ½ weeks have a list of things I love about our new place or have a re-discovered love of doing!


1. Having one and a half bathrooms – two toilets comes in handy!
2. Having a garage
3. I once again like doing the dishes
4. Laundry will be fun once we get our washer and dryer (thanks again M&M!!)
5. Putting clothes away in our new dresser (usually I just kept them on piles on our floor)
6. Having adult neighbors – even if I never see them
7. Not having to fight for a parking space
8. Not hearing our neighbors above us or across the hall
9. How easy it is to get on the highway from our new place
10. How close we are to Wal-Mart (I know not everyone likes Wal-mart…but it is nice being as close as we are!)
11. Seeing our cats enjoy the new place (they run up and down the stairs chasing each other, love the new furniture, and really just seem happier since the move)
12. Paying my mortgage – I know this will get old but I did enjoy writing that first check this month!
13. Coming home and having this place actually FEEL like home
14. Having my family spend the weekend at our new place
15. Having a dining room
16. Having friends come over and say they feel comfortable and relaxed at our new place (that is how I want everyone to feel when they come over!)
17. Going to the store and buying stuff for our house
18. OUR NEW FURNITURE!!!
19. Having two a two-story home!
20. Having a basement – even though I would prefer not to go down there often
21. Our painted walls – they look fabulous ;-)
22. Going to the mailbox to get our mail AND that UPS will actually deliver and drop off at our place (they were not great living in an apartment!)
23. Cooking
24. Trash Day (every Thursday!)
25. Having a bigger kitchen with tons of cabinet space
26. Building a home and starting a life with my wonderful husband!

I know there is TONS more, but that is good for now! I truly LOVE our place, it feels perfect!

So our washing machine is broken. It was never used by us (came with the house) and I imagine it was not in great working order before we got there! It is fairly old and I don't think worth fixing with our home warrenty. The motor runs but it doesn't spin and there is some rust in the washer....so it is time for it to move on! It isn't that big of deal because besides the washer and dryer all the other appliances were brand new....so if we have to spend a little money on a washer it is all good!! We have some gift cards from Best Buy we may use - which is nice! Right now we are heading to the laundry mat to do our clothes (blog to come on wrestling kitties).

So if you have any suggestions on good brands of washing machines to get (mid-level) please let us know!!! Also, where can you dispose of old appliances that no longer work? I don't think the trash man would like to see that!!

Sorry I have neglected this blog for awhile, but I am back!!!

So here it is, our semi-finished dining room!! We still have white drape things on order which my parents got us (thanks mom and dad!!!), put the white base boards, light & electrical covers up, hard wood floors (eventually) and do the chair rail and crown molding….but here is the paint finished room with our fabulous new furniture! YAY! I absolutely LOVE this room (it is so pretty and worth all the aggrevation) and I am also SO very happy that it is pretty much done! P.S. I am done painting until this spring – NO MORE!!!!

Also - does anyone know where we can find some nice wine racks for ontop of the server? We are looking for silver ones, but can not seem to find any....well we haven't been actively looking, just looking when we are out and about! But if you see any (that are silver/iron stackable or hold at least 12 bottles) then please let us know!!!