Finally...YES!

We've finally moved! All of our things are out of the old house and into the new. Which means that Erin is very upset with me because we were just getting things straightened out and now I've brought more boxes and more things that need a home. Oops. ;-) This is a shot of our living room looking into our dining room. As you can see things look much different with a fresh coat of paint on the walls and no brown trim. And we've got some books on the shelves and some photos displayed. It's starting to look like a real home, MY HOME. Ha! Love it!
So, we're getting there. Things are still kind of everywhere and we keep losing things (not my fault I swear!!), but it's still going good. As Erin put it the other day, "the house is a mess and it needs work, but I love being there". I think that just about sums up how I feel as well. The kitchen is atrocious, there are no upper cabs and only one base cab and counter, the bathroom needs attention and all of the windows in the house are painted shut and need new ropes for the counterbalance. BUT it's my house, all mine. I can turn on all of the lights, open all of the doors and turn the a/c on full blast and no one can tell me not to. :-) And soon, Leonard will be here and he'll be sleeping in his very own room, Alexa will be sleeping in her very own room, Erin (the most wonderful and gorgeous wife ever) will be sleeping next to me and all will be right with the world. That is going to be an amazing feeling.
Man! And Erin is getting so big. Leonard is growing so fast these days. And her stomach has started to do that really creepy but awesome alien thing. He's such a rolly polly little thing, I swear. We've got a future USA Olympic soccer player in there, honest!
Life is very good at the moment. Erin and I are both extremely excited about finally being in our new home and expanding our family together. More to come soon, I promise.

Ciao.

Almost Done

Saturday we spent the entire day moving our stuff from the old rental house to our brand new, not so shiny home. Ash and Erin's family came by to help out, and we could not have done things as quickly or efficiently without them. It really is amazing to have so many people who really care about you and want to help out as much as they can. That is a good feeling.
And, so now, we are living in the middle of a sea of boxes and old newspapers. That isn't so fun, but it's coming along. Sunday Erin and I spent the better part of an evening arranging the living room to our liking. She's still a little aggravated by the brown window trim that I have yet to paint...oops. ;-) It will get done soon, no worries. And then yesterday we got Alexa's room mostly set up and got most of the kitchen stuff moved from the other house. That was nice. It's starting to look like our home finally and that is AWESOME. I also mowed my lawn for the first time. I almost cried. MY LAWN got mowed by ME. How cool is that? I was telling Erin about when I used to live in St. Marys I would mow my lawn every Sunday morning and then I would clean the garage and then clean the house. It was such a nice feeling to do those things and to invite people into my clean home. That's an amazing feeling. We'll be having dinner at our place this weekend to say thank you to everyone who helped us out this last week. I get to cook in my new home for the first time! :-) I'm very excited about that.
This whole post may seem really scatter brained, but that's how my life has been for the last couple of months. You should take a day and live inside my head...it's even more confusing. Anyway, pictures will come as soon as we get the boxes out of the middle of the floor.

Ciao.

So amazingly tired

We bought the house on the 14th. That was such an amazing day, a happy day. Since then it has been nonstop painting, cleaning, painting and moving of boxes. This weekend will be even more hectic because we're moving the rest of our stuff. Or, rather Ash and I are moving the rest of our stuff. Erin can't really do a whole lot being pregnant. I wish I was pregnant....ok, not really. I'd rather lift heavy boxes. :-) I'm so exhausted! But this weekend will be over soon. And it's Easter weekend. Always a big weekend for me, since my birthday was Easter Sunday. How cool is it to have your birthday on the day Christ rose from the dead? And people born on a leap year think they have it lucky! ;-)
As we're almost finished with the house stay tuned for some awesome photos in the next week or so. And I think we'll be having a small party at the house for close family and friends and whatever neighbors want to show up in the next couple of weeks. So, if you're in the area, keep your calendars clear.
We've also had some sad news in the middle of our excitement. My Aunt Sandy has passed away. She had been struggling with cancer for quite some time and finally lost her battle. Everyone please keep my family in your prayers. Especially my Uncle Billy and Cousin Jeff. They will need everyone's prayers in the coming weeks.

Ciao.

Progress #1

Here are some photos of the work that we have done since Saturday morning. You've seen the "before", this is set #1 of "during". We're not quite there, but moving along nicely.
















From Living Room looking into the Dining Room
















Master Bedroom
















Leonard's Room

















Kitchen

Tonight we'll be spraying the trim in the living/dining room and getting a second coat on the kitchen. Then we just need to finish up Leonard's room and paint Alexa's room and the bathroom. There is also a large hole above the fireplace to repair and I think we're going to put up a new mantle. That will be the extent of our remodeling for now. Some tasks for the not so distant future are refinishing the hardwood floors and repairing the window sashes so they open. It's a work in progress, but we are so proud to be homeowners and we know that you'll all love the finished product. Stay tuned for more photos to come.

Ciao.

A New Start

The Russell's (that's us) have purchased their first house in Riverside just a few blocks from 5 Points. Isn't it gorgeous!? It was an interesting and extremely stressful process to get through all of the paperwork, inspections, correspondence, and finally closing, but it was worth it.
The house itself was built in 1918, in the Craftsman Style. It has a brick pier foundation, 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. The living and dining rooms are divided by built-in wood shelving/posts. The kitchen is horrendous, but we'll remedy that eventually. There is a fenced rear yard for Eddie and we couldn't be happier! A special thanks goes out to all of our family who have helped out so much to make this possible. All of the shots we have right now are "before". I'll be posting some more photos soon of the "during" and eventually the "after". We're in the process of painting right now and hopefully, with a little grace from God, we'll be completely moved in by this Sunday.
As you can see the original color scheme left a lot to be desired. But the built-in shelves and the open plan made that a small thing to get over. This picture is from the living room looking towards the dining room. This is our bathroom. When we first went to look at the house I was immediately sold just by seeing the claw foot tub. Erin of course made me look at some of the other rooms...I kept coming back to the bathroom. :-)

And here is me about 1 1/2 hours after we finished signing a mountain of paperwork yanking out the "for sale" sign IN TRIUMPH!! :-) Erin laughed at me...not really anything new there.
But then, we had to take Erin's picture also. HAHA! She is so cute. Anyway, the house is all ours now. We are painting and filling in holes and cleaning and all that jazz. As soon as I can I'll post the "during" and "after" photos so everyone can compare. It's really going to look amazing when we get the walls painted. Already there is a huge difference in the amount of light that gets into the space. So stay tuned!

Ciao.

Brief Update

We're on our way to the mortgage company to close on our very first house. It's a beautiful 3/1 home in Riverside built in 1918. It's a craftsman style with a nice big porch and I can't wait to start on the renovations! I'll post pictures and more about our journey to this moment after the keys are in my hand and I can throw the "for sale" sign into the bin.

Ciao.

Some sad news

I talked with Bopchi this morning. Popop has had another heart attack and is in the hospital. Bopchi has gone this morning to be with him and get the details from the doctor. This is obviously not good since Popop has only been operating with about 20% of his heart muscle for several years now. Erin and I both are keeping him in our prayers and we ask everyone who reads this to do the same. We had just seen him at Christmas and he seemed active and attentive, which was good to see. Let's hope for a good report. Besides, Popop can't go before he let's me beat him in at least one pool game.

Ciao.