Pressure Washing

I am certain that when I was growing up I never thought I would be excited about having my house pressure washed. I mean it's just not something you ever think about. But when the outside of our house looked like this ...






... I could hardly wait to have it done. We were so excited! Notice that our porch no longer has a layer of mud on it. We can actually take Cooper out to enjoy it now!

Joys of Home Ownership...

A few months ago we started noticing water was leaking into our fridge. We pretty much ignored it as long as we could. Then it was enough water that it was getting on all of our stuff, and then it was turning to ice. Since the fridge was left by the people who owned the place before us, we weren't sure how old it was or if it was worth trying to fix it. We just decided to go ahead and get a new one. I was just too afraid of sinking a lot of money in the old one only to still have to buy a new one and Zach just really wanted a new, cool fridge.

This is what we decided on.



We've had it a few weeks now and we love it!!

This week we had another little home ownership issue...



This was the outside water faucet that is on the same wall as our kitchen. When Zach went to turn it on to wash off the patio he didn't know that it was also leaking water into our kitchen. A couple minutes later we had about 2 inches of water in our kitchen floor. We got some towels but when I put down the first beach towel and it was immediately SOAKED we knew we had a bigger problem. Thankfully, Zach's dad had a shop vac and brought it over. They were able to get all of it cleaned up pretty quickly.

I called the plumber who came out the next day and fixed the problem. For a small fee of course.

Seems like this home ownership stuff is kinda expensive.

Coffee Table Success

When we moved into our new condo every piece of furniture was something we already had or was given to us by our family. We were very blessed to not have to worry about furnishing our place right after we moved in. Gradually, we are purchasing pieces that we really want. Last year we bought some couches, bookshelves, and a couple accent tables for the living room. One of the next things we (mostly me) wanted was some new coffee tables. Since Zach's friend is moving into a condo this weekend and he needs/likes our coffee tables we are passing them on and getting our own.

The criteria for our tables were they had to be the right color, shape, and have drawers. Not to much to ask for, right. Wrong. We looked at practically every furniture store in our city and on the internet. By the time we looked at the last place, I was tired of looking at and thinking about coffee tables. I was much more interested in the life size zoo animals (giraffe, elephant, camel, etc.) and stage coach they had on display in the store.



We narrowed it down to two sets and finally decided on one. I'm not completely convinced that it's "perfect". I have a hard time visualizing furniture in a store set-up in my own living room. But I trust Zach and he's convinced they will work.

Who knew picking out coffee tables would be so much work.

Top 15 Things Learned as Homeowner

In no particular order...

1. Fire protection in this area is not included with taxes and must be paid separtely

2. The house payment that you start off with will adjust at the end of the year depending on your "equity"

3. When your puppy dog scratches the door facing off in your bathroom because he doesn't like to be left alone, their is no maintenance man to call and fix it

4. A coat of paint can make a world of difference in the "homines" of your home

5. Actually hanging pictures on the wall instead of leaning them against the wall also helps with the appearance of your home

6. When your house get dirty, their is not a "mom" to come behind you and clean it up...

7. Decorating is a never-ending and expensive and addicting task

8. Heating/air conditioning bills are high when you have one thermostat for a two story house

9. Cheap towel bars do not stay in the wall very well

10. Neighbors are not very considerate when they play in your yard (and hit your house) and let their dogs do business in your yard (and not clean it up)

11. Some people make fun of you when you pay your bills early, rather than on time (ironic huh?)

12. It's really fun to open all the windows in your house!! (with no a/c on)

13. The internet, dads, and husband are very helpful for fixing things (garage door, ice maker, toilet making weird noises, hole in wall from towel bar, etc.)

14. You can't pick your neighbors and if we could we would live in an area with no one else around...

15. For some reason, getting a paper delivered to us on Sunday mornings makes me feel all grown up

1 Year as Homeowners

After living in my apartment for two years, by myself, the thought of sharing it for an extended length of time was not terrible appealing. The apartment was a good size for 1 person and I filled it up with my stuff. Adding Zach... and all of his things, was not going to be an easy task. Not long after we got engaged we talked about where we would live after we got married. We decided to stay in the apartment for a little while (and move in some of Zach's things), but would look for a bigger apartment or small house/condo.

Zach's uncle is a real estate agent and offered to help us in our search. We told him the price range we were looking and the area we wanted to live in and he gave us a few choices. We never actually visited anywhere, we were just seeing what was out there. Around the same time, Zach had some friends who knew we were looking for a place to live. Doug and Cindy had some neighbors who had just mentioned to them that they were going to sell their condo and asked if Doug and Cindy knew of anyone looking for a place. They mentioned Zach and I and told us about it. Our first question was how much they were asking for the place and the price was just right! We knew the area and really liked the neighborhood so we set up a time to come look at their condo.

Zach and I fell in love with it!! We pretty much knew that we wanted it from the first time we set foot in it. We let them know we were very interested. This was around September/October of 2005 and they told us they were not going to be moving until August/September of 2006. They were going to build a house and that was the time it would be ready. That worked out perfect for us!! We got married in June and lived in the apartment for a little over 2 months before we closed. The couple allowed us to come over a couple of times to measure things and get a better idea of where we wanted things before we moved. They were very easy to work with and this was a huge blessing.

One year ago today, Zach and I signed papers on our first home. We moved a few things that night, with the help of Danny and Janice, so that we could spend our first night in our new condo. Saturday was moving day. Danny, Janice, Mom, Dad, Ben, Melanie, Jessica, and the new homeowners moved everything from Clarksville, the apartment, and Danny's on Saturday. It was a long day! Then came the unpacking of all our stuff. That was fun because we got to open/use our wedding presents that were spread between three places. Even with all of that, we still didn't come close to filling up our new place.

We love our place and I have really enjoyed "nesting" and making it our own!

The cleaned out apartment....


... To the new condo!


My sweet husband opening some of our new stuff!