the adventure that is life: 2013

Packed In

>> 12.28.2013 – house, moving, ny

I wish I was updating this with- "we moved in!" But, nope, we only moved out stuff in. Actually- I shouldn't say only because this was pretty huge that we were allowed to do this. All our stuff was set to arrive today on the moving truck and the price for storage would've caused us to go about broke. Thankfully we talked with the attorneys and realtors and even though they STILL can't get ahold of the one seller we were able to move our stuff in the house. There was still some stuff left in the house from one of the sellers so we had to work around that and section everything off but we got all our stuff in and the pictures below show what it looks like. Well, no, it looks worse than this. We have more stuff filing the whole room, but you get the idea. We couldn't put stuff in the garage or much of the basement so it was all stacked in the DR and LR and some parts of the bedrooms. It's been and adventure and it seems that it's still going on. We also had to extend our rate lock last night and we need to get our stuff signed by the 13th or we might lose the decent rate we got. It's just a mess. A mess that I can't wait to have all cleaned up!

Merry Christmas!

>> 12.25.2013 – Christmas, ny, sophia

Merry Christmas from.....

Our hotel room! Yep, you read that right, hotel room. Yes, we arrived safely in NY and were all ready to close on our house Monday when we found out the sellers weren't. In fact, one of them left on a ski trip instead of closing on the house. Yep, all our stuff is in a moving van on the way out here but will we be able to put it on our house when it arrives? Probably not. I guess in NY they often write the contract as "on or about" whatever date you choose for closing. This gives the seller or buyer up to 30 days from that closing date to actually close. I'm praying they don't push it that far because staying in hotel rooms much longer will be my undoing. We are staying at a hotel in NJ because it's cheap and allows pets. Yep- 2 adults, kid, and dog all in a tiny hotel room. I brought a small tent along with plans to set it up at the house for Sophia to play in until the moving truck arrived. Instead we set it up in the hotel room so she can have her own space. Best.Christmas.Ever or NOT. We opened presents this morning and took Sophia to see Frozen in the afternoon. Both things she loved. We ordered pizza for dinner since nothing else was open and we tried to just enjoy being with each other. In the mean time we have weirdos across the hall that seem to be running a kennel in their room. I saw them take 3 dogs in the room and I'm pretty sure they are living here. They even have a Christmas wreath on their door. I'm also convinced, after watching too many drug shows, that they are totally doing drugs in their room. Anyways. This was supposed to be a jolly Merry Christmas post but I don't have much jolly in me right now. You can enjoy some hotel Christmas pictures instead. And let's hope next time I write a blog update it's from our house....

Home Stretch

>> 12.12.2013 – moving

This is my attic:

And that picture above is why I haven't blogged a single word. Boxes everywhere. We're in the home stretch of this whole moving thing- phew. Next Thursday the moving truck comes and all out stuff heads out to NY! Ahhhh. We head out next Saturday and the house is supposed to be all ours on the 23rd. I can't wait! I'm tired of living in and among boxes yet also like that I have a great excuse for an insanely messy house!

New House!

>> 11.23.2013 – house, New York

Ben and I were in NY for a few days and....

...we found a house! Ahhhhh. It's a 3 bedroom with a normal kitchen, hardwood floors, great landscaping and flowers and way up on a little hill. By way up I mean I wouldn't want to drive down the road in snow or ice- it's really steep - and nothing like where we live now- or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter! The only downside is a shared garage with the the neighbors- weird right? The property line goes right through the middle of the garage. So we are going from a big 3 car to a 1 car but if that's all we have to make this place work we will. I'll take that over the basement kitchen any day! It's 30 min north of NYC and feels a world away. Small town, super hilly, super pretty. I'm excited. A few months ago there was no way I would've thought I would ever feel this way but I do and I can't wait to settle in this new place. It's cozy and quaint and will be perfect for us. Our house in IL closes on the 20th of Dec and the house in NY on the 23rd- granted all goes smoothly with the loan and all. Of course, now this leaves us with a month to pack- wowzers- I need to get to work! I'll show more inside pics once we get the place and make it our own:).

under contract...

>> 11.08.2013 – moving, ny

So..remember how we put our house on the market last Monday? Yeah-it went under contract 4 days later-WHAT!? Yes-you read that right. We had the inspection today and are waiting to hear back from the buyers so I'm a bit nervous about that. The garage needs a new roof and I'm sure that will be a negotiating point but I'm not sure what else they found. Thankfully it sounds like they still want the place. That leaves us with a closing date of December 20 and Ben starts work January 6. AHHHH. This is all happening so fast-but a good fast. We fly out in a couple weeks to look at houses and the area we hope to live. We've looked online at some houses we really like but not being from there have no idea what type of area they are in. I'm just so ready to get all this on the move and get this house sold and get moving. I feel like December 20 is really far away yet really really close at the same time. At least the 3 of us get to go out to NY together and I don't have to stay here with the house...that was one of the biggest hurdles. Right now there is lots of packing, figuring stuff out, and nights spent talking about all the money we will be spending....ugg...

Garage Sale

>> 10.19.2013 – me, moving

So I held my very own and very first garage sale and it was a success! A success in the fact that I got rid of tons of stuff. We have a 3 car garage and both sides were packed with stuff. It was embarrassing how much stuff I just didn't need but also a relief to know it was leaving our house! I marked it all dirt cheap- like 25 and 50 cents dirt cheap- and marked it lower as the morning went on. Clothing went to 10 cents and books to 5 cents. Eventually I just made it free. I made about 137 bucks which wasn't bad for how cheap it all was! I only had to take a a few boxes and bags to Goodwill and that to me was a success! One lady came back a second time and told me after she left the first time she thought- I like this girl- she has great prices- how it should be. And I said- yep- I agree! Now my whole body is tired and achy after the busy morning and I can't wait to sleep!

So the reason I had the garage sale is because... Ben was offered- and accepted- a job at Steinway which is located in.... NYC. So... That means... We are moving. And here is where I scream because I am so overwhelmed with all this. But I'm excited and looking forward to another life adventure. If you had told me a month ago I would feel this way about moving I would've hated you and never believed it...but I've had time to think it over and process it all while we have figured it all out and I think I can do it. I actually want to do it- I know- what?! I must admit part of me is scared out of my mind to leave what I have known so well the last 10 years up here in Chicago but life can't always be an easy, smooth road and I think this is a bump that will eventually turn our smooth.The timing couldn't be more perfect wirh insurance and the such so it's really what we needed to do. Our house will be on the market soon and I'm hoping it sells fast. Ben starts at Steinway in Januaryband Sophia and I will stay back with the house- hoping it sells fast. Or maybe it will sell and we will all go out in January- I just don't see it being that easy- but who knows. I'm going to miss family being close, my church, the comfort of everything we have here and I don't expect it to be an easy transition but I'm going to make the best of it and look at it as an exciting new adventure. I mean NYC- hello! How awesome to be able to explore there all the time and mountains, hills, the ocean.... I love munIllinois flat lands but I'll be back often enough to get my fill so I'm going to enjoy the new scenery and things to do to the fullest. And I must admit I'm excited for a new house- a new place to fix up and make our own. This time around we know what we need and want in a house so we won't be choosing one with something such as a kitchen in the basement...;)

So the next few weeks and months are going to be crazy around here. I'm dreading it all... I'm just ready to get this move done and over with and start our new life as New Yorkers. Crazy.

34

>> 10.11.2013 – birthday, me

So I turned 34 yesterday.....what?! I know-crazy to me too. I had a great day and much of that was thanks to my little best bud Sophia. She tells me multiple times a day I'm her best friend and it's the cutest thing ever. Of course, we are together all day every day so how can we not be best friends?

The weather was perfect yesterday-sunny, 75=perfect fall day. I had a groupon for a pumpkin patch down in the south suburbs (which was not worth the regular price if I had paid it-thank goodness for the groupon) and we drove down there in the morning. There weren't a ton of people there and Sophia got to do all sorts of random fun stuff

After the pumpkin patch we found a local forest preserve, put a few blankets down and had a great picnic lunch

It was an awesome day and we topped it off by going out for Mexican. Ben was awesome and got me donuts in the morning.....we try to eat healthy around here and haven't had donuts in a long time...so it was a nice treat. He also got me this awesome doxie from Jonathan Adler:

And these giant safety pins to hang on the wall....so fun!!

Sophia sings Katy Perry

>> 10.01.2013 – sophia, video

Sophia has always been a fan of Katy Perry and I caught her singing along in the car the other day...

The Door

>> 9.23.2013 – family, sophia

Once again-not posting very often-whoops. Life is a bit crazy and full of some un-knowns right now but we are still having fun and doing all sorts of stuff around here. I decided to finally strip the paint off the back of our bathroom door. It was painted white with I don't even know how many coats of paint. It was ugly, you could see dirt and dust collecting on it and I was up for a challenge. Last week I took it off the hinges and went to work. I don't know why I didn't take a picture before I started but here it was after a few coats of stripper.

After I started this project I realized too late how much work it was going to be. After a few coats of paint were removed I decided to keep going even though it has now been 2 weeks that we have been living without a bathroom door. Thankfully we have a bathroom in the basement but it's getting a bit old to be bathroom door-less. So I stripped the door and then tried putting a coat of stain on it.....and it looked really great when the stain was wet. After it dried it was another story-the remnants of white paint showed right through the stain. So I brought out the stripper again and used a wire brush to really rub the white paint out. I also sanded off as much as I could and wiped it down with mineral spirits. After that the door looked liked this:

Not too bad-huh? The door knob was also painted white and I was able to strip that to return it to it's normal color. So that brings us to today and I finally decided to put a few coats of polycrylic on. The only issue is that the grooves on the inside of the squares still have remnants of white paint that I have worked on over and over to remove and they just don't want to. I'm going to see how it looks with the clear coat and go from there. All I know is that we need a bathroom door and I'm hoping to put it back up tomorrow-white paint in the grooves and all.

Sophia and I went down to visit Fisher for a few days and tried to hit up some garage sales-which were disappointing but I guess I really don't need more stuff sitting around this house anyways. We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa the rest of the time.

I also can't believe that fall is already here. Summer went way too fast and it was a weird summer weather wise. We took the pool down last week and it was a bit depressing. I love swimming and I love warm weather...sigh..

Almost 3

>> 9.08.2013 – birthday, sophia

Sophia will be three this week so we had her birthday party yesterday. It was princess themed and the whole dining room exploded in pink and princess decorations. I put a bunch of balloons on her bedroom floor and also hung up streamers on her door.