We’re finally moved in to a point where I can sit down and write a blog post. It’s been a crazy week, with a lot of unexpecteds (which I suppose it to be expected? haha). The walk-through was the most never-wracking things for me, by far. As we were driving to the house, my husband was giddy with excitement, singing to the radio and trying to talk to me. But I totally just shut down and couldn’t explain why. We definitely had some ‘close calls’ with getting this house, and at times it seemed like it was never going to happen. Everyone kept trying to convince me that the walk-through was the easy part, but until we signed those papers, it was just hard to believe.
Moving in that night went quickly, and we had a lot of help. After everyone left, Dennis and I returned the U-Haul and picked up some beers to celebrate our first night. A wicked thunderstorm started right after we walked back through the doors, so we spent the better part of the night ripping boxes open, trying to find flashlights! Alas, the power did not go out, which was good because all we found was one tiny flashlight with no batteries.
We had expected to start with the living room and den and kitchen – the rooms which most people would see – and slowly work our way back to the office and bedroom. But what we found was that the bedroom carpet, the only carpet in the entire house, was completely disgusting. So we slept in the office the first night and on day two, my husband and father-in-law ripped that carpet right up to reveal the disgusting laminate tile underneath. With the carpet gone, my sister and I rushed to get that room painted, and day two ended with me in tears from being so overwhelmed and slightly PMS’ing.
On the third day, God created floors. Well, Dennis and his father did. They laid down beautiful Pergo flooring in the bedroom, and we were finally able to move our bed in and sleep in the room that was meant to be slept in. Meanwhile, the girls (sister and mom) and I were busy unpacking the kitchen. Seriously, there were a million boxes marked ‘kitchen.’
Which brings us to Friday. Dennis and his father finished the floors and we called it an early day. On Saturday, Dennis was throwing a bachelor party for his brother, but they both came home an hour later, because his brother had a phantom pain under his rib. So my sister, Dennis, and I had our first BBQ in our new home, complete with a pitcher of sangria.
From Sunday until yesterday, Wednesday, it has been all-blinds, all the time, in this house. No windows had blinds except for, fittingly, the bathroom when we moved in. So we went back and forth to Home Depot five times over four days to get blinds that fit. First of all, I didn’t realize that every single window is a different size. And then, they never cut the exact measurement that I asked for, which I didn’t realize until after I brought them back home. So blinds got hung literally one by one over the past few days. Just the living room is left, because those had to be special ordered. Four hundred dollars later and we will finally be able to take down those peel-and-stick paper shades that are now hanging.
We’ve gotten so much done in just a week, but we both keep forgetting about the upstairs! This was colonial that was made into two living areas – the downstairs, which we’re living in, and the upstairs, which is currently a two bedroom apartment. It’s in decidedly worse shape than the downstairs and days go by where we completely forget it exists. We just have to get up there and paint and clean – then the idea is to rent it out by mid-July or August.
All in all, we are thrilled to be homeowners. Every day brings something new to the table, but this is really such a great experience to share with my husband. He’s been so incredibly supportive throughout all of this, always looking out for me even when he’s not around. They (who?) say that if you can move together, you can do anything. We can definitely do anything.
