Home Sweet Home

Ok, now that I have calmed down about the moving process, here are a few pictures of our "new" place.  First, I will give you a little background on the house.  It was built in the 50's by my Ballam grandparents and is the home in which my dad grew up.  It has had two owners since that time and we are excited to have it back in the family.  It is in really good condition, considering it is 60 years old, but it has some work to do (mostly paint and carpet issues).  And now....for your virtual tour. (High definition photos taken from my cell phone :))

This is the front of the house.  As soon as the weather warms up that bush in front is the first thing to go!

This is the living room and my favorite room in the house.  It originally had carpet when my grandparents built it, but the last owner ripped it up and found these beautiful hard wood floors.  I loved the red wall above the fireplace, but it didn't really match my salmon colored couches so it had to go. (For those of you thinking of painting a wall dark red...you will regret it if you ever have to paint it back.  I'm on my 3rd coat of paint with primer and think it needs one more!)

This is the kitchen.  Not sure what color the walls are.  Peach?  Anyway, though we are mostly moved in, we do not have a fridge or oven so I am off the hook for cooking!

The last owner used this room as her bedroom.  We will use it as a guest room for now.

This is our room . We were surprised to see that the last owner left us some sort of futon-bunk-bed.  We moved it to the guest room for now.  John was excited to see that there is a built in cupboard to hold a tv (which we do not have ;))

Here we have our master bath, painted a crazy chocolate brown color (on my list).  There is a tub and laundry shoot to the right that you can't quite see.

This beauty is an office in the basement.  As you can see, it has the original carpet :)  The closet used to have sliding doors but no one seems to know what happened to them.  John has claimed one desk for his computer and I get the other for my sewing machine!

We were also surprised to see the last owner left this bed in the basement bedroom.  (Pretty sure she just didn't want to lug it up the stairs)  

You may be surprised to hear that this is actually considered a "full bath".  This TINY bathroom has a shower (not tall enough for John to stand up in), a toilet and a sink.  Amazing!  Not sure who decided to put the brown tile with the bright blue but....oh well.

John has claimed this room as his "man cave".  We now have our tv and new couch down here and it is nice and cozy.  His ping pong table will also find a home here once we find someone strong enough to carry it down. (Izzy likes it too)

And last but not least, the patio/backyard.  We are excited about this, as are our dogs!  We aren't sure if the waterfall in the pond works but will figure that out once the rain stops!

There is also a nice big pantry in the basement where our washer and dryer will go.  Hope you have enjoyed your tour!  I will post "after" pictures soon!

Times when moving is stressful

Here are a few things I have come up with today

• When it takes multiple days to load and unload boxes even though you packed all week
• When you arrive at your new home only to find it smells like smoke
• When you open the drawers in the bathroom and find mold
• When you only have one small car and have to borrow
• When your new home has no fridge or oven so you have no food
• When your gas won't be turned on for three days and you have no hot water
• When you have a huge stack of homework to do, but can't find it in the rubble
• When you go to use the bathroom and the toilet won't flush
• When you realize the previous owner left a nasty broken fridge for you to dispose of
• When you realize she also left a nasty queen size bed 
• When you have to change the locks on the doors
• When you have to help your husband carry his plasma tv down a flight of stairs (no pressure)
• When you take your puppy over to see her new home and she immediately poops on the floor
• When the power goes out when you are unpacking
• When the rain prevents you from moving anything else and you have to just blog about it

I know you are all jealous now.

I will post pictures as soon as I have a chance!
Here is a picture we took when we first arrived

Sunday Drive

Today John and I decided to take a little drive to Brigham to see the new temple. It is beautiful! (much more so than this picture)

Me Time

I have been super stressed lately and I may have figured out why.  I have been trying so hard to be a good wife; cleaning the apartment, cooking dinner, doing laundry etc.  I have had this mentality that if I can just take care of my family everything will be perfect.  Well, last night I began thinking about myself and how little I am taking care of myself these days.  For example, I am about 9 months overdue for a visit to the dentist, 3 months over due for getting my hair done (it's scary), I've cancelled my last diabetes doctor visit and my last two gynecologist visits, and I've needed to go to the chiropractor for the last 2 months or so.  Now these things seem pretty unimportant right?  Well...I think it's time I do something for myself before I go bald, my teeth fall out and I can't walk.  :)  I think I'll start with a hair cut.  Here is a picture of me after one of the 3 times I have gotten my hair done since I got married.  

One of those days

Today has been one of those days. You know, where you wear your gym pants inside out all day. Or you clean your carpet and the dog runs in and pees on it. Or when you clean out your fridge (your least favorite job) and the garbage bag has a leak and drips nastiness all over. Or when you are excited to have your husband finally home, then remember he is going to dinner without you and all you have to eat is ramen noodles, which you had for lunch. *sigh* Yep. One of THOSE days

Refinish Fun

This weekend I did a fun little project. John and I got this honey colored coffee table from his grandma when we got married. We have enjoyed it, but the finish had issues and it didn't match our other furniture so I decided to paint it. I used a special primer do I wouldn't have to sand it so that saved me some time and stress!

Baby J

I think I need one of these in my life.

Exciting Times!

I haven't posted much because, well, not much  has happened until recently. I just finished my Level III's, which basically means I took the most intense courses of my life this semester.  The first 9 weeks of the semester were spent in course work, and the last five weeks I was in practicum at Woodruff Elementary.  I was in Mrs. Martineau's first grade classroom and loved it so much!  So many adorable children!  The weeks I was in course work were really hard on me and made me doubt whether I wanted to really be a teacher.  I had one teacher in particular that was very negative about the career and just made me feel crummy all the time.  It was so nice to finally be in a classroom and remind myself why I have spent the last four years studying education!  Anyway, I had a sad last day.  One cute little girl named Maizee gave me three hugs when the bell rang.  I went to high school with her aunt and before she left she asked me "Could you find out where my aunt lives and go to her house?  Then you can call me and I'll come over and see you."  So cute.  They also made me a little Thank You Book.  Each student wrote me a note.  Some of my favorite sentiments included "Thank you for teaching me about a fraction", "I want to know if your teacher is nice", "I like your clothes" and "Happy Birthday Tyson".  (It was also Tyson's birthday that day and one student must have been confused.  I will miss the little cuties, though I will not miss having to explain why human beings cannot eat crayons and erasers.

The most exciting thing of all is that John and I purchased our first home!  It was probably the most stressful thing I have ever experienced and I am so glad it's over!  The home we purchased is the home my dad grew up in, in River Heights.  He has wanted to buy it for the last 30 years and it finally went up for sale.  He was so thrilled that John and I were interested in it as well!  We will all be co-owners, with John and I owning that majority of the home.  The woman who sold it to us gave us a run for our money this week and we didn't think we would end up with the house.  So, we were thrilled today when we were able to smooth everything over and sign the papers!  HOME OWNERS!