Once again I have abandoned this little blog...
July was a big month for us!
We attended my 20 year (how has it been 20 yrs?!?) high school reunion in my hometown. Kevin was a very good sport and went even though he knows almost no one I graduated with. I stressed about what to wear, who I'd talk to, and even wondered why I wanted to go (I had no interest in the 10 year). I still can't explain why I wanted to go, but am glad we did. It was great to see people who I'd grown up with, some I'm still in contact with (or at least Facebook friends with), others I haven't seen (digitally or in person) since 1997. I have to hand it to those who came solo as being very brave; I don't think I'd have done that.
The following week - July 25 - we sold the townhouse! We actually signed the papers to sell in the same room that we signed the papers to buy it. The real estate market has been weird this summer, but we are so glad we could sell it - and met the new owner briefly. Its a great area, just no longer best for us. At one point we considered renting it out, so glad we didn't have to pursue that....
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Summer birthday
I just realized this has been sitting in my drafts since early July...oops..I want to get it posted as soon we'll have some vacation entries (I hope)...
We had our first true party at the new house, and it was a success!
Our goal was to be ready to have people over by Kevin's June birthday, 2 months after we moved in, and we did it.
Decorating is still a work in progress, I could say it is because we've focused on the additional furnishings we needed and that is true but also because decorating just takes me a long time.
In time for the party we added:
real patio furniture -- we shopped all over and Kevin finally found this one online, magic words *no assembly required* (pillows and end tables were HomeGoods finds)
a guest bed! Frame is new, the mattress is actually our old one, but its still a nice one -- and though I was skeptical at first a king really fits in the space and lets us use our previous comforter, which I still love. We gave ourselves a deadline for this one since my brother came in from out of town for the party, and we wanted to have a guest bed to be able to host in the future.
The part was great fun -- it poured rain all morning so we were a little worried, and some folks weren't able to make it due to the weather, but we had a good time visiting with all who made it and the kids (5 total) played well together in the pool.
We chose a Mexican fiesta theme -- catered fajitas was the best way to go. I was able to just pick it up that afternoon and we didn't have to worry about cooking. We kept it in the oven and got it out when it was time to eat. It even came with all the fixing - the chips and queso were used just as much for nachos which I'd have never thought of but our guests enjoyed. We thought we over ordered food but not one piece of meat was left; we also had margaritas (with marg glasses!), beer, sodas, and waters; and the grocery store cake was a hit too...I'm still not sure where the birthday candles I bought ended up. I think birthday boy was relieved to not have to blow out candles.
Kevin spent his actual birthday (Sunday) resting from too much sun, drinks and not enough sleep so we've had to postpone his birthday dinner, but we'll do it another day -- as he recently said he'll get to have his birthday in July.
We are really excited to be able to have people over again.
We had our first true party at the new house, and it was a success!
Our goal was to be ready to have people over by Kevin's June birthday, 2 months after we moved in, and we did it.
Decorating is still a work in progress, I could say it is because we've focused on the additional furnishings we needed and that is true but also because decorating just takes me a long time.
In time for the party we added:
real patio furniture -- we shopped all over and Kevin finally found this one online, magic words *no assembly required* (pillows and end tables were HomeGoods finds)
a guest bed! Frame is new, the mattress is actually our old one, but its still a nice one -- and though I was skeptical at first a king really fits in the space and lets us use our previous comforter, which I still love.
The part was great fun -- it poured rain all morning so we were a little worried, and some folks weren't able to make it due to the weather, but we had a good time visiting with all who made it and the kids (5 total) played well together in the pool.
We chose a Mexican fiesta theme -- catered fajitas was the best way to go. I was able to just pick it up that afternoon and we didn't have to worry about cooking. We kept it in the oven and got it out when it was time to eat. It even came with all the fixing - the chips and queso were used just as much for nachos which I'd have never thought of but our guests enjoyed. We thought we over ordered food but not one piece of meat was left; we also had margaritas (with marg glasses!), beer, sodas, and waters; and the grocery store cake was a hit too...I'm still not sure where the birthday candles I bought ended up. I think birthday boy was relieved to not have to blow out candles.
Kevin spent his actual birthday (Sunday) resting from too much sun, drinks and not enough sleep so we've had to postpone his birthday dinner, but we'll do it another day -- as he recently said he'll get to have his birthday in July.
We are really excited to be able to have people over again.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
settling in
We've been in our new house just over a month, and the boxes are mostly unpacked (and more importantly we know where things are). There is still a lot to do, but it already feels like home. The backyard is the most private and quiet we've ever had, and looking around it I still can't quite believe its ours...
I'm glad it is relaxing, since we're still stressing about selling the townhouse, we know it will happen its just been a weird market in Houston this spring.
We had our first pool party yesterday -- Kevin's brother, wife, 3 nephews and niece, and their dog all came over for the afternoon. The kids' reactions to the house were hilarious - "is this real?", "are you rich?", "can you leave it to me when you die?" (where do their ideas come from?) . They had all been at a swim meet that morning, but still swam most of the time they were here, we also took the opportunity to find a nearby meat market and try out their fajitas -- delicious, since Kevin had pounded them out. We should've bought more! We had hot dogs for the kids, but the two older boys wanted the fajitas --- have to remember as they get older that they want the adult food more and more. They also ate the entire dozen mini ice creams we'd bought....swimming makes them hungry! better them eating them than me :) We hope this is the first of many get togethers in our backyard and can't think of a better group to have been first!
Some random house observations from the first month:
I'm glad it is relaxing, since we're still stressing about selling the townhouse, we know it will happen its just been a weird market in Houston this spring.
We had our first pool party yesterday -- Kevin's brother, wife, 3 nephews and niece, and their dog all came over for the afternoon. The kids' reactions to the house were hilarious - "is this real?", "are you rich?", "can you leave it to me when you die?" (where do their ideas come from?) . They had all been at a swim meet that morning, but still swam most of the time they were here, we also took the opportunity to find a nearby meat market and try out their fajitas -- delicious, since Kevin had pounded them out. We should've bought more! We had hot dogs for the kids, but the two older boys wanted the fajitas --- have to remember as they get older that they want the adult food more and more. They also ate the entire dozen mini ice creams we'd bought....swimming makes them hungry! better them eating them than me :) We hope this is the first of many get togethers in our backyard and can't think of a better group to have been first!
Some random house observations from the first month:
- the first night, we realized there is no door between our bedroom and bathroom ..down the road we'll have one added, but was funny to realize we'd never noticed that missing door. The main adjustment we've made is that I use my hairdryer in a guest bath in the morning
- there are so many light switches! we still don't know what some of them do, but are slowly figuring most of them out
- We have a back door doorbell, and its a different tone than the front door (front is ding dong; back is just ding), It'll take me a long while to remember that we have two, when I think doorbell I think front door
- our driveway is tough to back down with its curve, but so much easier than backing onto a busy street!
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
moved
We moved! and this time i mean it, its the last move for the foreseeable future.
Moving day was chaotic and nearly gave me a panic attack (since floor cleaner guy got started way late and was barely getting going as our moving truck arrived), but everything got moved, and weather was agreeable (but hot for April).
I have still not learned to give myself enough time to pack**, so a fair amount of stuff (including the whole pantry) wasn't packed in time for the movers -- but our priority (heavy furniture) did all go. I spent a good part of last week wrapping up stuff at the old house (and storage unit), I can happily say that all of our stuff is now at the house, and we are unpacking, funny to realize how much of our stuff can stay in boxes for days (weeks?) and we won't miss it -- kitchen, bedroom, bathroom were definitely the priorities.
getting to spread out again and needing to get some additional furniture means pictures will have to wait, but we are loving the backyard! we even got into the pool, pushed a week due to a cool front the weekend we moved in....
**this time it was also hard to pack as we had to balance packing and keeping the house presentable for showings
Moving day was chaotic and nearly gave me a panic attack (since floor cleaner guy got started way late and was barely getting going as our moving truck arrived), but everything got moved, and weather was agreeable (but hot for April).
I have still not learned to give myself enough time to pack**, so a fair amount of stuff (including the whole pantry) wasn't packed in time for the movers -- but our priority (heavy furniture) did all go. I spent a good part of last week wrapping up stuff at the old house (and storage unit), I can happily say that all of our stuff is now at the house, and we are unpacking, funny to realize how much of our stuff can stay in boxes for days (weeks?) and we won't miss it -- kitchen, bedroom, bathroom were definitely the priorities.
getting to spread out again and needing to get some additional furniture means pictures will have to wait, but we are loving the backyard! we even got into the pool, pushed a week due to a cool front the weekend we moved in....
**this time it was also hard to pack as we had to balance packing and keeping the house presentable for showings
Friday, April 7, 2017
TGIF
I think I say this each time I try to sell a house -- but as soon as we move I'm not making the bed again for
I don't think it feels real to us that we are moving, partly since we're holding off on starting major packing (it'll start right after open house), and so we've just been doing the no-fun part of moving - trying to get utilities set up, movers, papers galore for the lender (rocket mortgage makes me laugh because no way can it be that easy!)
We'll be busy this weekend with showings and hopefully make it to the art car parade for some fun, and time outside - gotta soak in this spring weather for the brief time we have it....
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