Happening this Week

The whole idea of waking up early because I am finally sleeping better has its benefits. By 7:15am today I packed two boxes (one was 95% of our spice cabinet) and put the ingredients in the bread maker for some fresh bread (traditional white bread…added Rosemary). Today the carpet installers come to lay new carpet in the four bedrooms and two rooms in the basement…pictures to come!

I have grandparent assistance again so William doesn't have to wait around with me for the installers. Once the carpet goes in and tack strips with nails aren't all over the place, the house will be a much safer place for him to be. It also means I can bring a box of toys so he can be there with us without us being so worried about his safety.

Hopefully I can unload a few kitchen related boxes while I am there by myself. There is much more cabinet space in our new home which is exciting but also a little daunting. We do not have an official pantry, but there is a long refrigerator height door with pull out shelves and plenty of additional cabinets for food if needed. I would rather limit our food to the refrigerator and "pantry" as I do now, because as a family of three it is enough and prevents food from going to waste if hidden in the back of a cabinet. Also, in our current home, I have a linen closet in the dining room. Our new house does not have a formal dining room, so there is not a linen closet either. So, I will be storing tablecloths, napkins, servingware, etc in kitchen cabinets as well as the buffet that was in our kitchen.

Also while at the house I hope to assemble William's birthday banner since his party is next weekend! Also want to cut the food tent cards and maybe put some new white paint in the bathroom closets. We will see…I have been told to take it easy and my feet, hands and knees are also asking me to lighten up!

Also happening this week: DirecTV, satellite internet installation and hopefully some slow unpacking/transfer of items from once house to the other since we just live up the road.

Lessons Learned in Reno: 1st Weekend

On Friday we started working on our new house! My husband picked up the flooring at Lowe's and we spent some time that afternoon enjoying the place we will call home (or "my farm" if you are my two year old).

Lesson 1: Main living areas look better WITHOUT carpet.

Living room on Saturday morning

Living room on Saturday evening

Lesson 2: Old mauve carpet looks best thrown out on the front lawn!

Photo of the carpet and pads from the two upstairs bedrooms

Lesson 3: Paint trim white! On Sunday we went and picked up a new gallon of Valspar White semi-gloss paint to start painting the trim throughout the house, mainly the bedrooms. New carpet will be installed on Tuesday so painting trim before carpet is installed is much easier and allows us (or me) to not have to be super exact.

Lesson 4: This house is going to be where we live for many, many years and raise our children. It is a wonderful feeling. It is so relaxing to walk outside and not see neighbors, only our land. I so like people, but it just seems so "zen."

Lesson 5: (No photo). We are lucky to have grandparents nearby to keep William while we work on the house. He spent both days this weekend with my mom and had a wonderful time. We missed him lots, but couldn't have gotten as much done as we did without her help.

Weekend 1 achievements:

- removed all carpet (about 1900 sq ft worth) and brought to the local "beauty spot" to dispose of it

- laid our beautiful new floor in the living room

- removed all of the window grates and cleaned the inside of the windows

- painted all the floor trim in the master bedroom and started the other large upstairs bedroom
- removed the floor in the entryway in preparation for our new floor
- in the laundry room, we removed a handful of boards with nails hanging out (as hooks), a large MDF bookcase once used to stack shoes to the ceiling and a broken wire rack

We Bought a Farm!

Believe it or not…we bought a farm! We just closed on the property eight hours ago after making our initial offer in September. Surprised we are moving again? Some of you may have been with me since 2009 when I started writing about building our current home. But yes, we are moving again. Only 2.5 miles up the road, but technically it is a new town (same school cluster) and 13 more acres of land. Eek! 

So this will mean one of two things for this blog. 1) I will be sharing lots of DIY and home improvement projects because we have a new place to start and make our own. 2) I will not share as frequently because I have an almost two-year old, am 33 weeks pregnant, moving and trying to make the house "ours" somewhat before baby arrives.

I am not going to share any pictures of the house itself yet, but for now, enjoy the view :)

What a Beauty!

Above are some still shots from last week's "house razing." Now that our first new home is in place, I can't imagine it not being there! We have gotten some very kind compliments from oru neighbors about how wonderful the house looks, how happy they are that we are moving in, etc. It means alot because our community (consisting of about 15-20 homes) is very close knit with a variety of residents. Some folks lived on their land in trailers for many years, others just moved in, while some have been there for 50+ years. We have enjoyed getting to know them over the last year and can't wait to actually be their neighbors.