Finally Home

Silverwood!

2009-07-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

I went to Silverwood with my sister, her boyfriend (Phil) and Kamron last weekend to be a Nanny. It was a blast! I can't wait to go again and actually enjoy some rides and the water park.

This is Poliwog Park inside Boulder Beach, a place for kids to splash around. There are a few really small slides, the water is very shallow (a foot or so deep) and that big bucket on top fills with water, then dumps over the whole thing!

I haven't been to Silverwood in years and now I'm thinking that I need to go back every year. Next time with Mike for sure! He hasn't been yet, but I'm thinking this is the year. I missed the train ride this time and that has always been one of my favorite attractions. Apparently, they have added real live bison or buffalo to the train ride. They also have a little "hillbilly skit" in the woods and you get to ride around the whole park while the conductor gives a history of the park. Silverwood also has a "ice rink" where they have live shows, there is (I think) a magician or some sort of act at the Pizza place. There are carnival games, and a carousel too.

Kamron's and my first stop was at "Tinywood". There are rides here for the little ones. I didn't get a picture of the roller coaster, but Kamron loved it. It's just a simple oval with a slight slope on one side. There is also a fort to climb around it as demonstrated here by Kamron...
Below the fort. What kid doesn't love these springy rides...

Kid friendly ferris wheel. Kamron was so cute, he asked the operator..."does this go fast?" He was very worried as this was the first ride he had to go on alone... He cracked me up when he would smile for the camera all the way around, but when he got to the bottom, close to the operator, he would go back to serious face, then back to smiling after passing the operator.

A little pilot!
After Tinywood, we did the bumper boats! I forgot to get a picture. Oh, what a blast! We were soaked when we were done. Even if you don't want to go to "Boulder Beach", there are several rides to get wet on. There are the bumper boats (with water squirters), the log ride (for 4 people) that goes up a roller coaster track then comes splashing down, and "Thunder Canyon" a raft ride for up to 8 people taht goes through some rapids and a cave... Kamron and I were going to ride "Thunder Canyon", but he had to go potty, so we had to get out of line, then it was time for food and rehydrating, both inside and outside.

BOULDER BEACH

Kamron bobbing around in the wave pool. This kid has no fears. He bobbed around in here for quite a while all by himself...
a picture of the whole wave pool... The waves come on and off at maybe 10 minute intervals, so there is time to relax and float around.
Sachi, Phil and Kamron waiting for tubes so they could float the "lazy river". One day I will ride this and stop at the swim-up bar. Oooh, what a way to spend a day...

The water slides!

I don't know these people. I tried to get a picture of Sachi, Phil and Kamron coming down, but I missed the approach. This looks like a blast!
Kamron going down the big slide. After two runs, they told him he was too short (by half a stupid inch) and couldn't ride it any more. He was devastated and started crying. He wanted to leave right then, but he snapped out after finding "polliwog park" and the "wave pool"

This slide has 8-person tubes!

Tubeless slides. These are the fast ones. Also the one Kamron was too short for...
More tube slides for one -three people

The Roller Coasters

Snapped these pictures of the roller coasters from across the street in the parking lot. The tall one is one of those things where it pulls you to the top and drops you...

Those two towers are part of the new roller coaster "after shock" where the track is above you and you are in a car dangling from it.

Like this! This was taken at a vertical part. Not sure if I could do this one. Sachi said she probably would do it again, but Phil LOVED it!

The Garden Grows 4

2009-07-04T16:07:00.003-07:00

Goodness! I am so far behind on my posts. I have been cheating and creating a post on a day that I have something to post about, so that when I get to posting, it will show as posted on the day it happened. Trouble is, I haven't gotten around to posting those pictures and I want you to see what the garden looks like now, not two weeks ago....

So here are a few pictures of how great the garden is doing. I am SOOOO proud of our garden. This is our first year having our OWN garden and we're learning a lot of lessons as we go. For instance, next year, we won't plant a whole packet of lettuce seeds in a 3x4 area. The lettuce grew like crazy, and we've been eating a lot of salads as well as giving lettuce away, but it was just getting too crowded. The other evening, I dug up about half of the lettuce and thinned out the rest. This weekend I will plant a new crop and this time I will thin it when it is 2 inches tall as the instructions point out. We also cut down a lot of other plants so that they will have more room to grow. We will still have PLENTY of veggies, but I feel bad killing perfectly good plants. We cut down about 6 corn stalks, 9 bean plants, 12 basil plants, and pulled up one bunch of carrots to transplant into rows for, hopefully, better growing. The carrots we planted ended up being in 2 giant clusters from the peat pellets and peat pots we started them in. Next year, the carrots will all be planted in rows, and started 1 seed per peat pot...

The corn and Japanese cucumbers are doing great! We have 2 eggplants growing that will be ready to pick soon! See picture further down...

The (american) cucumber plant is huge and has a bunch of baby cucumbers growing.

Tiny baby cucumbers!

Broccoli! All 4 plants have a baby broccoli. Will each plant only get one head? I have no idea. This is the first time we've grown it...

We picked one cherry tomato last weekend. I cut it in half and we each had half on our salad. Very tasty and fresh! We have several more cherry tomatoes growing and a few romas too. I forgot to snap a picture of the romas.

The gorgeous Japanese eggplant. There is one more about this same size, I'd say these are about 4 inchces long right now. I'm not sure how we'll eat these. Maybe a tempura, maybe pickled. I need to read up on some ways to prepare them...

The garden grows 3

2009-06-22T20:13:00.001-07:00

The garden is coming along so nicely! I get so excited when I see the area getting greener and greener as the space fills up. Everything is doing really well, and we don't have any pests to speak of!

The flowers are all doing really well too. I'm surprised since the dirt in around the flowers is eroding away through the rocks every time we water. So I've been trying to lightly sprinkle the water over them from high up to minimize the water impact. It seems to be working. Next year (or maybe later this summer), I'd like to do something to keep the dirt from eroding through the rocks. I'd also like to get some mulch for around the flowers, bark or rock chips...

But before we get to that, we need to finish the sprinklers. We got a GREAT start on them this weekend. My dad and Phil came over and we got the first (main grass area) zone done and started the side grass zone on Saturday. After we finish that, hopefully next weekend, we can get the grass started and edge out some flower beds! I am so excited to finally have the back yard looking like a back yard. It is so hot and dusty back there now. I CAN'T WAIT to have grass!

Corn and Japanese "Ichiban" eggplant

Tomatoes. Still just one roma growing. There are many, many flowers though, so I'm expecting more tomatoes any time....

The lettuce keeps growing and growing and growing.... And it's so tasty. We've been eating a LOT of salads. I still think I may need to pull up half of it and start a new crop (spaced better) before this gets too out of hand.

Green beans. Doing pretty well. There are a lot of new leaves growing. No flowers yet.

Green beans closer up....

Left to right: carrots, basil from seed, bell peppers, basil from starter plants... The basil is doing incredibly! We have been picking it and putting it in a lot of salads and I added it to a homemade salad dressing. So yummy. It did start flowering, :( so we had to "pinch off" many of the tops of the plants, but that should keep them growing leaves for a lot longer. At least while we wait for our seed basil to get bigger.

The broccoli seems well. It's getting very big. I have no idea how long until we actually have "broccoli", but the leaves are getting massive.

The cucumber plants we got from Mike's work are getting big. I'm worried that the cucumbers, zucchini and squash are WAY too close to each other....

Butternut squash. I hope this grows well. I would love to make some butternut squash ravioli or soup.

My sad zucchini plant. We started this from seed in March. It's green and has a flower or two, but the stem looks dead. I don't get it at all....

I can't believe that my seed lavender is growing. It growing very slowly, but I think it's going to make it. I LOVE lavender. I put a few of my larger plants out front in 16" pots and put lighting in them. I'll put pictures up next week.

The flowers:

Don't remember what these are called, but they're the ones that I posted last week that had a few buds on them.... They bloomed beautifully!

The blue camanula. Still blooming. I love this one!

Cactus thing with tiny flowers. I had no idea it was going to get flowers. So cute!

My "lotus blossom" is still growing babies.

Not sure what this is doing, but I like it!

Summer is here...

2009-06-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

We know summer has arrived in the Inland Northwest when we get the first big thunder/lightning storm...

I took this video on Friday night from our back deck.

10,000,000 Strong For Giving Cancer The Bird

2009-06-20T08:41:00.001-07:00

10,000,000 Strong For Giving Cancer The Bird

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I'll Miss This Kitty

2009-06-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Sachi and Phil got back from their vacation on Wednesday night. Or technically Thursday morning (they were delayed getting in until after midnight). Mike was awesome and went to pick them up for me since I was already exhausted from driving to Missoula and back plus working a full shift, and he didn't have to work in the morning. The kitty was sleepin with me, and hesitated to come out when Phil called for her. Mike had to shake the food container. She wanted to stay and sleep with me, I just know it. She was so sweet and I love having her around. She was a biter, but I haven't know a kitty that wasn't. I'm sure she was just teething and will grow out of it.

When I came home from work yesterday, I called out "where's the kitty?" (more or less as a joke since I knew she wasn't there), and I burst into tears because it made me sad she wouldn't be there anymore. I'm going to look for a kitty today. We really need one. It was nice having something to cuddle with that would follow us around the house.

I'm super excited to get sprinklers in this weekend and *hopefully* grass. It looks like it may rain though. Yikes....

The Garden Grows 2

2009-06-14T19:39:00.001-07:00

I was at Target yesterday to pick up a prescription, but the Pharmacy was closed for lunch. I had about 20 minutes to kill, so I wandered back to the "seasonal" section where they have the garden and outdoorsy stuff. There, I stumbled across a garden fertilizer that looked EXTREMELY interesting. The brand is "Terracycle" and the fertilizer is all natural and contains worm castings. Mike and I needed to get fertilizer for the garden anyways, and I knew it would be a while before I got to the Nursery in town that we usually like to buy from, so I bought this stuff. A gallon container only cost $8.99. A steal for an all natural fertilizer. We fertilized the entire garden with half of the gallon and it should feed for 3 months. I went online to check out this company, and I LOVE them!! All their packaging is from re-used (not recycled) products. This fertilizer came in a USED gallon milk jug, the liquid fertilizer comes in a USED 20 oz. soda bottle that has been fitted with a spray nozzle, which is really cool. Each bottle is different, you can tell which was a Coke bottle, which was a Dasani... On their website, you can sign up to collect used candy wrappers, drink pouches, yogurt containers, corks, etc., etc. I can't say enough good things about them. Check out the website and watch the youtube video below... I think you'll agree, they are AWESOME!

This week's stand-outs in the garden:

The lettuce is growing like CRAZY! I'll never have to pay for a bag of lettuce during the summer again. This is great! The top right is the starter lettuce, the rest is from seed... just 4 weeks along...

I've begun haresting the leaves of the starter lettuce this week. Mike and I both had a salad on Friday night with homemade meatloaf, and tonight I had a HUGE salad alone for dinner. It was so tasty and fresh. I can't wait to use it in tacos, or tuna salad wrapped in a giant garden fresh lettuce leaf...

The basil plants we got from Mike's work are growing so fast. I harvested some the other day for a tasty pasta salad with balsamic vinaigrette and it already grew back to where I could pick more rihgt now if I wanted... Basil is by far my FAVORITE herb. Mike grew some in a hydroponic container at the apartment and we used it in everything. I'm hoping to dry some to use this winter.

Progress

2009-06-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time working on the backyard this weekend. I had planned on digging the trenches for the sprinkler system, but instead got things "leveled out". I had big piles of dirt at the edges of the "wall" I dug out, so I spent a few hours yesterday moving the dirt with a shovel and raking it out. Now the upper part of the back yard is pretty level. And as close to level as it will probably get. At least now, we won't be mowing on a huge slope. Today, I shoveled and raked a little more and cut the stairs cleaner. After Mike got off work, we went to Walmart and bought 10 retaining wall stones to edge and define the top step. It's a baby step toward getting that wall and stairs done. I mostly wanted to see what the stones would look like.

Yesterday, I bought most of the sprinkler supplies and my dad is coming to help out next weekend. I can't wait to have the sprinklers done and the grass started. I want the grass to be established before Janna, her kids, and Sophia come up here in July. They need some space to run and play. Plus it's just hot and dirty out there now. The grass will keep it cooler and prevent dirt from getting tracked into the house.

I lent my camera to Sachi to take to Vegas and San Diego, so these pictures were all taken with my phone....

The new stones marking the top step. I'll have to pull at least a few of these out to dig the sprinkler trench through, and probably to level them more...

View from below...

and above...

Cat sitting

2009-06-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

We must buy a kitty!

We are kitty sitting my sisters cat, Sylvia, while Sachi, Kamron and her boyfriend, Phil are in Vegas and San Diego with my parents. I volunteered to cat sit at our house, so the kitty wouldn't be lonely... It also gives us a chance to see if our house is big enough for a kitty and if we have a decent space for the litter box. Turns out, yes and yes... I took a door off of the cabinet in the main bathroom and put her litter box there. So far, there is no odor and I think she likes the privacy there. She also runs around like crazy, loves hanging out by Mike's computer, is VERY curious about the toilets, and makes the CUTEST little whimper noises when she sleeps. She's a licker and a nibbler, but I think its cute. So... one of these days when we have the money, and the back yard is more done, we're getting a kitty!

Mike even loves her. The first night here, my sister warned us to keep our door closed because she likes to climb all over them when they're asleep. Mike was busy cuddling with her while he was lying in bed and didn't want to put her out, so she slept with us, between our pillows. Mike is crazy about her, and it's making me feel more like he is ready for a (human) baby... But first, I gotta get this yard work taken care of. No way I can do it while being pregnant.

Getting into trouble... I think she knows more about the computer than I do. She steps on it, and all kinds of crazy things pop up...

Akward position for sleeping on Mikey's lap...

Sleeping in my lap...

The garden grows!

2009-06-07T10:17:00.001-07:00

I am amazed by how fast everything in the garden is growing. We added a few more plants this weekend and now the garden looks like a garden. Well everywhere except where the potatoes are planted. Out of the 15 pieces of potato that we started, only 1 survived. I still need to look back at the pictures of what I planted where, to figure what we ended up with...

The window-box lettuces that we started from seed in March. I think they need thinned. The ones we started from seed just a couple weeks ago are growing much more rapidly...

Overview of the (back box) lettuces, newly planted green beans, (front box) beets (very small plants on the left), broccoli, butternut squash, zucchini, cucumber, carrots, basil, bell peppers, more basil, and tomatoes...

Tomatoes!

Green beans...

Newly planted corn and Japanese eggplant (they'll grow long and skinny)...

The big lettuce that was not started from seed...

The lettuce (mesclun) that was started from seed...

Broccoli...

Our first roma tomato! Originally, I had thought it was a cherry tomato, but if it were it would be ripe by now. It's about an inch in diameter...

Basil! These are some of the plants we bought from the greenhouse at the hospital Mike works at....

Peas! We have peas! Probably 10 or more...

The flowers:

I forgot the names of most of them and I think the tags were thrown away when my sister was helping to plant them...

Purple ground cover viney thing... When we got it, it had tiny purple/blue flowers on it. Very pretty...

Campanula. Currently my favorite. Gorgeous flowers...

Supposedly this grows similarly to a strawberry and also produces fruit you can eat. Mike bought me 2 of these...

No idea what this one is called. I think it's related to "hens and chicks". I'm pretty sure it didn't have the babies growing on it when I bought it... I LOVE this one. It reminds me of a lotus blossom or something you'd see on a lily pad...

Nora Barlow. According to the picture on the tag, this is going to have amazing pink flowers...

Don't know the name, but it's getting ready to bloom...

The landscaping:

I spent an evening and an afternoon digging to level out the lower part of the yard to get ready to (someday) put in a retaining wall to separate the upper and lower back yard. I can't wait for this to all come together!

View from the deck...

The steps I cut into the hillside. Eventually, these will be re-shaped and covered with brick paving stones...

View from the side of the house...

Landscaping...

2009-06-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry for the lack of posting. I have been so busy since the weather got nice. I've been getting very tan from being outside on all of my days off and a lot of evenings after work, but Memorial Day, my sister and her boyfriend came over to help with some landscaping and ideas and I was in the sun for 11 hours.... I got the sunburn of death and was my back was as read as a lobster. For about 4 days it hurt to touch it, move my shoulders, back, arms. I couldn't sleep... then it peeled (yuck) and now it is VERY itchy.

Our garden is coming along nicely. We have peas, tomatoes (cherry, roma and grape), basil, peppers (bell?), broccoli (from starter plants. I think all of our seed starts died), cucumbers, butternut squash, carrots, beets, potatoes (maybe? we planted late and may have lost them. There are sprouts coming up, but they may just be weeds.), TONS of lettuce (mostly spicy mesclun mix and 2 starter plants), lavender (both from seed and starter plants).

We moved rocks that were in the retaining wall on the side of the house (where the peas are planted to build up the garden area.) This is what my sister and her boyfriend, Phil, helped with. I'm so happy with the results, and it didn't cost anything! Except for the flowers, seeds and plants. The rock was already in our yard. What a score! This weekend we're planning on getting the sprinkler system started and start the retaining wall that will divide the upper (back yard) from the lower (side/front) yard. I can't wait!

The veggie beds. The back bed is lettuce (and Kamron's basil cravass). The front is (left to right) broccoli, cucumber and butternut squash, carrots (in pots, then a row of the ones we planted, but died), bell peppers, basil and a cherry and roma tomato plant. The bed to the right has potatoes, but they're not worth blogging yet.

Broccoli, cucumber, butternut squash, carrots.... Carrots were from seed, the rest we bought as started plants.

Rainbow bell peppers, basil, cherry tomato, roma tomato...

Our first cherry tomato!

The lettuce bed... with exception of the two plants on the upper left, everything was started from seed just 2 weeks ago...

The started lettuce plants. These were looking pretty wilty just after planting, but now they're looking mighty delicious.

I didn't think our seed lavender was going to make it, but I was wrong. They're growing. Slowly, but surely...

The seed lettuce we started in March? We've transplanted a couple times. I didn't think it was looking very good, but after we transferred it to this window box (outside) it took off! I can't wait to pick salad from my back deck and be eating it within 5 minutes. Maybe I could grow my own blue cheese dressing. hahahahaha

Lavender starter plants we got from Mike's work. They're starting to bloom and man-o-man do they smell amazing. I'm still looking for a place to plant them in the garden....

The peas are flowering! Peas are a favorit snacking veggie for us, so I can't wait to start harvesting some of these. We're going to have a ton. We probably have 20-20 pea plants out there. They're turning yellow for some reason, but otherwise looking good. I need to have Mike look into why they're yellow. Nutrient deficiency?

I've got a lot more to write about, but for now it is off to bed.

Some things to look forward to:

Hanging baskets. Both beautiful and a pain-in-the-butt
Yard Sale! $$$
Kamron's garden
Kamron and Amaurey together again (at long last)
The flower garden
Re-planting the tree

Garden Expo!

2009-05-11T17:16:00.001-07:00

My mom and I went to the annual "Garden Expo" on Saturday. It was a blast! There was a ton of neat stuff. Admission was free and there were far more booths and vendors than at the "Home & Garden Show" that was at the Convention Center that cost 8 bucks a ticket. This was a one day only event and I'm bummed that I didn't know how awesome it was going to be until I got there. Next year, Mike will definitely be taking the day off and we'll be saving up some money to buy some neat stuff. They had booths with the MOST GORGEOUS Japanese Maple trees in varieties I have never seen before. There was a lady selling beautiful outdoor furniture, trellises and arbors made from willow branches. There were a couple booths with handwoven "african" baskets, perfect for harvesting veggies and herbs from the garden. There were several booths from lavender farms. I actually got some great tips about growing my own lavender from one of the ladies. Apparently lavender doesn't need much water. This particular lady has 12,000 lavender plants and only watered them 3 times last year! I got a lot of information on "sustainable living", with recipes for environmentally friendly homemade household cleaners, and too many tips to type out now. There was a place focused on water conservation that was GIVING out wildflower seeds that require almost no water or fuss.

I was bummed to learn AFTER we had left and the next day, that there were seminars and things going on throughout the day that I would have LOVED to be a part of. One was about Japanese Ikebana (flower arranging). One was about composting, with everyone getting a free compost bin to take home.... Argh!! Next year....

My only purchase (besides a Mothers' Day gift for my mom) were these "Tillandsia" or "Air Plants". They require no soil, and you don't fill a vase with water either to grow them. You only need to dunk them in water once or twice a week, then shake them off and put them in whatever bowl, trinket, knick-knack or whatever you have lying around. You could even glue them to a log... After blooming, they will sprout "pups" at their base and once they have reached half the size of the "mother", they can be pulled off (like a banana) and arranged elsewhere. I am amazed by these cool plants. Possibly an indoor plant that I won't kill???

No water in this arrangement...

The plant in the teacup should grow and bloom to look like this...

The one on the right should bloom like this... just more purple-y...

I think the grassy one will stay grassy looking.

The Garden Comes Together

2009-05-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

i've been piecing this post together since Saturday. It may not make a lot of sense...

This weekend was all about the garden. On Mike's days off he picked up the lumber for the 3 stand-alone beds and we got them put together on Thursday, with more digging and leveling on Friday. Friday after go off work, I picked up some stuff from the garden supply store and got to work. Here is what things are looking like now...

Side yard before... even before the fence...

Side yard after. Today we put up the trellis netting for the peas and other shade-loving, climbing plants.

And more after. Sunday evening we planted the starter peas against the trellis netting... I'm not sure there will be any room for anything but peas. We may need to extend this bed and add another trellis...

If they all survive, we'll have pea farm! I can't wait.

Weedy back corner of the yard before...

New vegetable garden corner. Here I plan to (someday) create gravel or bark with stepping stone walkways in between the boxes. Our planting beds are 3' x 8' and built out of 2" x 8" boards (not sure what kind of wood, but not pressure treated). We spent a lot of time digging to break up the very hard and rocky soil and make the area for the beds a little more level. The backyard is VERY slopey. On Sunday, I planted potatoes (russet, yukon gold, and fingerling) in the single bed, in the half closest to the camera.

These are the bags of nutrient rich amendments I picked up at "NW Seed & Pet" to add to the dirt we have to make it so things can grow. We picked up 2 bags of this "Harvest Supreme" natural & organic soil amendment with 15% chicken manure. Then picked up one more bag on Sunday evening...

We picked up 1 bale of Peat moss. This was enough for the 3 beds AND the "side yard" bed.

We got 3 bags of "Whitney Farms" organic planting compost. This stuff was cheap! 3 bags for $12. We'll probably pick up another 3 bags sooner or later. (picked up 3 more bags on Sunday evening).

After mixing the soil for the three beds yesterday and getting them put together, I realized that I had completely forgot about getting any kind of nutrients or soil for the side yard bed. I went to WalMart for other stuff and found this "Miracle-Gro" Organic Choice garden soil for only $4.44 a bag. So I grabbed two bags for the side yard and added to that some peat moss. I'll probably need another bag or two of this soil to build up the bed to the height of the trellis so the peas aren't reaching up far for the netting. (Purchased compost and soil amendment to fill in instead, see above).

Here is a picture of how big some of the rocks we dug up in the yard were. We think there may have been a road or something where our house is in the past. After digging about 6" down, we found asphalt that we had to chip at to break up and pull out. It wasn't everywhere, but in the one perpendicular bed, it seemed to be the worst.

My sister gave me some petunias that she had gotten from her boyfriend's mom and I planted them in this hanging planter that my mom gave me. I still have a bunch left that I'm not sure what I'll do with yet.

It's all coming together!

2009-05-03T10:20:00.001-07:00

Today, I found something to fill the big empty wall space in the dining room. I REALLY want to put a china hutch there, but for now, the giant Chinese wall hanging does nicely.

Is it me, or is does it feel like this arrangement is staring? Yes, I know the frames are crooked, I fixed them later.... I think maybe the frames need to be spread a little further apart.

The main/guest bathroom

Our dogwood bush is blooming! At least the two surviving clusters are.... So sad.

Bill (Gramma's boyfriend) gave us even more gnomes..... This is Gnomad and Gnomette.

Today was very productive for me. I did all the laundry, then folded it and put it all away. Even the socks!!! I hung the pictures above the buffet and added some other decorative pieces. I hung the giant Chinese art thing in the dining room and a couple "coat hooks" in our closet to use for robes. I attempted to arrange photos for a big wall collage between the dining and living rooms, but got discouraged due to the sheer number of framed photos I have, and I get nervous about putting holes in the wall. Even though this is OUR house and we can do what we want....

The thing I'm most excited about was actually cooking dinner! I made us Japanese noodle bowls with "buckwheat soba noodles" and sliced steak marinated with soy sauce, peanut oil, grated ginger root, cilantro and green onions. It turned out pretty good, but not the same as when I've made it before. I swear sometime during the move, I forgot how to cook. It is so frustrating because it is something I really enjoy doing.

Sunshine, Finally!

2009-05-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

It was so nice outside today and I only worked a half day. Hooray! When I got home, I made Mike lunch, then potted more of our veggies. Mainly peas and mesclun. After Mike got home, we planted our 2 "Blue Ice Bog Rosemary" plant/shrubs in the front yard. I love the way it turned out.

The "BIBR", should grow to be about a foot tall and three feet wide. And it's hard to see in the pictures, but from April-August, there are cute pink "flask-shaped" buds.

I absolutely loved being outside in the sun. At the apartment, we were never motivated to go outside, sell, Mike went outside to smoke, but that was about it. Now, all I want to do is be outside, digging or planting or sweeping off the driveway. I say, "bring on the nice weather!!"

Although, I'm pretty sure I've already got a sunburn from today. It's OK though, the pretty yard and peas in pots are well worth the burn...

The Fence Begins...

2009-04-30T21:03:00.001-07:00

The neighbors started building the fence between our yards on Monday. They are being totally cool about splitting the costs. They bought the 4x4 posts and concrete and got most of them set on Monday. Today Mike and my dad went out and picked up 2 pounds of nails, 38 fence clips, 19 8' 2x4s, and 110 6' 1x6s. Enough to get us about 2/3 of the way. Mike and dad worked a good part of the day today, and the neighbor (Kurt) will pick up where they left off on Saturday. We are all keeping our receipts and we'll compare at the end and settle up any differences.

There's a rock "retaining wall" here keeping the neighbors' yard and water from sliding into our yard. I am going to plant some of our veggies here. It's almost an instant raised garden bed. Yay!

And it's very long...

My hubby and dad hard at work. Mike is nailing the boards to the fence and dad is cutting the "dog ears"

This is how far they got today. Really, the important half is done. There is just a few gaps where we can see through the fence, but that is because we need to go back and cut some of the boards down to fit the smaller sections. But that is for another day. We ran out of nails and there a couple posts on the end that still need cemented in.

Mike's nail of shame. Dad will probably give him hell for this little guy forever. "No bent nails!" It'll get pulled out and replaced, but as Dad says "you're (Mike) probably not the first to do that..."

You can see how the gap at the top is wider than at the bottom. Apparently, the neighbor is a VERY amateur fence builder.... Those posts were not level, or lined up straight. Argh!

Another gorgeous sunset tonight.

There was quite a bit of confusion today regarding the design of the fence. Brandy had told me that they wanted a "good neighbor" fence, and that was great for us too. If you look it up on Google as I had, you would find that the "good neighbor" fence is commonly a "shadow box" fence with staggered 1x6s. From straight on, it looks solid, but at an angle you can see through it. This is what we planned on building and started building today. Brandy came over and told the guys that is not at all what they were talking about, but instead had meant a fence where the boards are solid facing one neighbor for 8 feet, then solid facing the other neighbor for 8 feet, etc., etc. This was completely foreign to all of us, but apparently where they come from in Califronia, that is totally normal. In the end, the solid side faced us. I was so frustrated today that I declared to Mike (over the phone, I was at work) that I was done and to just build it solid side towards them. I don't know how the rest of their conversations went. But everything seems OK now... They seem like OK people, I really don't want to ruin a good neighborly relationship over a fence.

Finally feeling like home

2009-04-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

We're still not completely unpacked. I think it will be an eternity before we are finished. The neighbor, Brandy, said it takes about a year to really get unpacked. Yipes! That simply won't work for me. I had been trying to adhere to a all cardboard is to be gone by (last) weekend rule, but I faced a fierce bought of exhaustion and think I'll extend that rule out a week or two. Most of the stuff that isn't put away is decorating stuff. I don't want to put it all up, just to take it all down to paint, but who knows when I'll get around to that anyway. And I suppose, it's really not that big of deal to take down a picture and paint around the nail or over a nail hole...

I got things unpacked and cleaned up enough for some pictures the other day. Just the main areas, living room, kitchen, part of dining room, laundry room.... Hopefully, the rest will come this weekend.

Oh, the kitchen.... How I love the kitchen. Still, I have no desire to cook. I think it's because I am so caught up in unpacking. Also, I am lost at the grocery store. The last few weeks before the move, I didn't buy much for groceries since I wanted us to eat what we had so there was less to pack... and we were quite broke saving everything for the down payment. Now I don't know what to buy and I can't remember what we used to keep as staple and go-to foods. I've been slowly stocking up, but it seems like there is still so much missing in the pantry...

Of course this wasn't planned, but our old knife block and set of knives matches our new kitchen and stainless appliances PERFECTLY!

...as does the coffee pot. Not pictured is our "stainless steel" toaster that we bought about a year ago...

Very blurry picture of the laundry room. Fairly spacious. I like it. I also like that we have a place to drop our keys, purse, jacket and shoes before we enter the main living areas. Hooray for not cluttering up the kitchen counter witk keys and stuff! Although Mike still sometimes does.... He isn't quite trained all the way yet....

Oooh oooh oooh! This was a collaboration between my sister and I. I love the way the fireplace turned out. Before we moved in I really had no idea what to do with that space. We could have put the TV up there, but that's a little too high for a TV in my opinion.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, and more cherry blossoms!

The living room... Nothing fancy, but I do love the new drapes we got. That was a top priority. I couldn't stand not havin something to cover the front windows with at night. Every time I went in there when I was unpacking, I felt like I was on display. Not any more! They're fairly sheer, but they get the job done and cheaply too! The photo collage on the right still needs to be hung, but it has some tricky hangers on the back that I am not sure are level to begin with.

Side table grouping....

I got the bell from my Grandma. Supposedly (this is a Japanese legend) , you're supposed to ring it to get God's (or one of the 7 Japanese Gods') attention when you need to speak to him (or them).... Something like that. I like it because it's something I remember from my childhood. She has the neatest stuff.

The buffet I got from my mom. This will house all my entertaining platters, dishes, table cloths, and napkins. It also fills a great void that was in the dining room. Now if I could only find a nice china hutch on Craig's List...

The new curtains for the dining room. These were a steal. We already had the curtain rod, and the drapery panels were only $5 each at Wal-Mart. Originally, I paid $15 each, but a few days later when I was in there, I noticed that they had been reduced even further, so I went to Customer Service and got some money back. Yay! These are the only two pics of the dining room so far. Somehow, the dining room table has become half toolbox...Ugh...

Settling in...

2009-04-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of post during the last couple of weeks. We have been so busy packing, moving, and unpacking. I have been absolutely exhausted. I feel like I didn't stop working between Thursday the 16th through, well, I'm still working at unpacking....

We are still over-the-moon excited about our new house. Every day I find something new to love about it and pinch myself to make sure this is all real. I never dreamed that our first house would be so perfect. Mike says it doesn't feel like home yet. But there is still a lot to do to make it "ours". I want to put some paint on the walls and there are a lot of pictures and other miscellaneous decorations that need to be put up. Also, the dining room still feels big and empty. All we have is a table in the middle. It is a sizable table that fits the area well, but the space surrounding it is very empty. My mom is giving me an old buffet that I will put on one side of the dining room, then I hope to find a china hutch for the other side, or possible a corner unit. We also need to find some shelving units for the office and build Mike a desk. He's got it all designed in "Google". It's actually pretty neat. It will be made out of kitchen counter-top and will sort of "float". And it should cost under $200.

We're not unpacked to the point of reveal pictures, but I will tease you with a few pictures I've taken over the last week. Hopefully, I will have reveal pictures tomorrow. I have to work late tonght, but I think I'll take tomorrow off and unpack, unpack, unpack....

Kamron thought he could be sneaky and get moved into our house. ;) He was a great sport during the move and helped move all the things he could and even helped with bigger stuff too. The highlight of his day was running through the sprinklers!

We started transplanting our veggies earlier this week. I can't wait to get them in the ground. Only a couple more weeks until our frost threat is over. Here are the peas. Still doing great!

And here are some of the zucchini. Also doing very well. You can see they are developing their "true leaves". There was a small tragedy during a wicked wind storm last night when some of the plants were blown off the front porch. Luckily it was only a few of the pots. Most of them should be fine.

These are a couple of gnomes that my grandma's boyfriend, Bill gave us. He also bought us a girl and boy gnome sitting on a log bench that I don't have a picture of yet. They are so cute. Yesterday, I named them (lying down) Gnomie, (sitting) Gnomer, (boy on bench) Gnomad, (girl on bench) Gnomette. Hahahahahaha. I told Mike that I want to keep buying silly figurines and keep adding them to the front yard, just to see how far I can go before the HOA brings the hammer down. I don't think I actually will, mostly because those cheap little fugurines are actually quite expensive.

I took this picture of the sunset on Wednesday night. Isn't it beautiful?

Garden update

2009-04-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our little babies are 11 days old today! They are growing so fast and I am convinced it is due to me talking to them and encouraging them to grow. Mike just thinks I'm crazy.

Left to right. 2 rows lavender, 2 rows peas, 1 row beets, 1 row carrots, 1 row basil, 1 row mesclun, 1 row zucchini, 1 row broccoli. It looks like pretty much everything has sprouted and is doing well. We'll need to get these into larger containers soon. Hopefully this weekend when we get moved into the house. Hopefully not long after that.

The majority of this tray is mesclun (left), then peas (the darker green plants), then lavender on the right (a very late bloomer).
The peas are doing great!

One freak pea plant is over 7" tall. Not much for leaves though.

The majority of the peas are 3" or taller

The zucchini is averaging 5" tall.

I can't wait to harvest. I also want to grow so much more, but that will have to wait til we get into the new house and settled in...

Happy Birthday Soren!

2009-04-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

To celebrate his birthday, here is a photo journey of Soren's life...

Just a few days old
7 months old. Thanksgiving '07
December '07
February '08
June '08

December '08
April '09

Soren will be 2 on Friday! I made this afghan for him and mom is taking it to Seattle with her tomorrow. I'm very proud of the scalloped border. I did it without a pattern!

It's our yard and we'll do what we wanna

2009-04-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

Gramma bought us this bush at Costco this weekend. It's a Dogwood Bush. The branches will be a deep red in the winter and in the spring there will be clusters of white flowers. It should grow to be 8' tall and 6' wide. We haven't decided where to plant it, but I'm thinking of putting it in the front corner of the lot by the utility things. We'll have to put in some edging and bark, but it would look nice there without blocking the view of the house. I've got spring fever big time. I can't wait to play in the garden.

Our bush.

This is what it should look like in bloom.

The icing on the cake

2009-04-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today was our walk-through with the "builder", Mark, who was actually just a guy that was appointed by the builder. I think he's the designated inspector...

We didn't find much at all for them to touch-up or fix before move in. Here is what we did find:

Secure "bollards". The things that go in front of the water heater/furnace to prevent us from crashing into them with our car.
Stain front steps to match porch. Install toe-kick on bottom back step of deck. Paint toe-kicks.
Replace a piece of siding on the side of the house.
One electrical outlet is mounted funny.
A couple of paint touch-ups
The master bathroom counter was a little loose.
Cut exposed wires from foundation.
General perimeter clean-up.
Replace damaged weather stripping on garage door.
Install fan control knob on fireplace.
Install new locks on exterior doors.

I think that's it for fixes. Really not much at all. Mark was telling us that we could probably start moving things in early, at least into the garage. I'm going to call Brad tomorrow to see if that can be arranged. I believe that all we need to do is make sure our insurance is in effect.

I am so excited, like over the moon excited. This house has turned out so much better than I ever would have expected our first home to be. I always thought we would end up buying a major "fixer-upper", in a bad neighborhood, no garage, 2 bedrooms, one bathroom. I never had very high expectations about our first house, and that's probably why we hadn't started looking until now. And we weren't even planning to buy a house now... Today, when we saw the house "finished", I was giddy like a school girl. I can't wait to move in. Even Mike was admittedly excited, which is EXTREMELY rare.

One of the great things about our meeting today, was learning all the ins and outs of owning a house. We now know how to:

turn off the water to the house or between the street and house.
turn off the A/C unit (also found out it's an energy efficient model. Yay!)
turn the furnace off or on and change the filter
operate the water heater (turn it off or on, change the temperature, or set it to "vacation") mode)
open vents on the outside of the crawlspace
turn fireplace on or off and light the pilot light
operate the sprinkler system

The number one highlight of the day was seeing all of the appliances installed. We had seen the sexy refrigerator and the washer/dryer, but seeing everything in the kitchen was amazing. It looks so good. I am so happy with the way it turned out. It feels gourmet.

Naturally, I forgot the camera, so these pictures were taken with my phone.

Professional, gourmet looking kitchen:

The "bollards" that are being installed in the garage.

Kami, Kami, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?

2009-04-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

...with silver bells, and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row. Isn't this a cute little retro picture. I was reading about this cute little nursery rhyme, and apparently it has some strange roots with the Catholic church and one line may be about a former Queen of Scotland whose husband cheated on her. Read about it here...

Tray 1 overview. Isn't it amazing what a difference a day makes?
(O=Organic)

Left to right: Lavender, Peas (O), Beets, Carrots (O)

Left to right: Carrots (O), Basil (O), Mesclun (mix of lettuces), Zucchini (O), Broccoli (O)

Tray 2.
Left to right: Mesclun (a little over half of the tray), peas (O), lavender
I am so excited to get this stuff planted in the ground at the house. We can't really plant until the middle of May, but at least we can start getting the ground ready when we move in. Then, by the time we're done preparing the soil, it will be time to plant. Yay!

We were supposed to do the walk-through with the builder today, but we had to reschedule because the plumbers couldn't get the sink in by this afternoon and the cleaners still need to do their thing. We'll do the walk-through on either Wednesday of Thursday.

Keep reading

2009-04-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

I added 5 posts today. Keep reading.....

Chicken and Dumplings

2009-04-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I made chicken and dumplings for dinner. I've made it once before, and man, is it delicious. It's also super easy, cheap (I keep most of these ingredients on hand) and very nutritious (3 T. butter is more than necessary and skim milk can be substituted). The dill dumplings are to die for....

This is the recipe I used.

Ingredients

Serves (at least) 4

3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 medium carrots, cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces
3 celery stalks, cut into 1/2" pieces*
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, or 3/4 Teaspoon dried dill weed
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas

*=Added by Kami

Directions

In a Dutch oven (or a 5-to-6-quart heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid), heat butter over medium. Add onion, carrots, and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly; season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken in pot; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup flour, dill, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. With a fork, gradually stir in 1/2 cup milk to form a moist and soft batter. It should be just a little thicker than pancake batter and should easily drop from the tip of a spoon. (Add additional 2 tablespoons milk if too thick.) Set aside.
Stir peas into pot. Drop batter in simmering liquid in 10 heaping tablespoonfuls, keeping them spaced apart (dumplings will swell as they cook). Cover, and simmer until chicken is tender and dumplings are firm, 20 minutes. Serve.

The finished product:

Roni and Soren come to visit

2009-04-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Roni, my cousin from Seattle and her boy, Soren (2 on the 17th), came to Spokane to visit this week. We didn't get to spent much time together, just hung out at her parents' for a bit, went shopping at the mall, she cut my hair, and the next day they came out to see the new house.

Here are some pictures from their visit.

Soren wasn't mad in this picture. I'm not sure why he looks that way. But the picture is hysterical.

Roni bought Soren this hat that is just like his dad's. So cute. But it makes his head look twice as big as it really is. Poor kid has a HUGE dome....

He's really coming into his "terrible 2's" with a bang, but damnit, he's adorable!

Field Trip

2009-04-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

After visiting the Home & Garden show, yesterday, Mom, Kamron and I went to the Fire Station to visit my dad. Kamron wanted to see the fire trucks, so dad took us on a tour of all the trucks. This was the first time that Kamron got really interested in the trucks and all of the tools. It was really fun listening to him describe what he thought certain things were used for. Kids have the greatest imaginations.

Here are a couple of the cutest pictures ever!

Can you tell which handsome fella is the real fire fighter?

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

My Birthday was Friday. It was very uneventful. I had the day off, but everyone else worked. I hung out at my parents' house and watched TV for a while. I went there to add some music to my cousin's (Roni) ipod. She was in town with her little boy, Soren, from Wednesday through Friday. Then I went to JoAnn's to buy some yarn. Then I met Roni and Soren, and we went out to Medical Lake so they could see our house. Then we went to see my mom at her (and Mike's) work. Roni had never been out there, so we did a tour of the kitchen and my mom's office and stole some candy. Then Roni and Soren had to head back home to Seattle.

After I got home, Mike and I had dinner. Nothing special, just (all natural, uncured) hot dogs.

A little later, my mom, Sachi and Kamron showed up with cake. Earlier in the day, I saw Kamron and Sachi told him it was my birthday. He got so excited, then he became very concerned and told me that no one got me a cake. They hadn't even ordered one. It was so cute what a big deal it was that I didn't have a cake. So that was why they brought a cake over. I would have been fine without cake, but Kamron insisted.

The Cake. Scrumptious. White cake with raspberry? filling and super tasty frosting. From Albertson's.

A gift from Roni. The back says "Birds of a feather, flock together." I am so loving birds right now, they're so cute and springy.

The gift from my mom, specially decorated by Kamron.

He's so good at drawing skulls and cross-bones.

The gift from my mom. A "green pan" broiler pan. No pan cleans up easier than a "green pan". I have a couple "Martha Stewart" "green pans", one of which is a grill pan. And I've got a "green pan" wok, that my mom gave me for Christmas. They are absolutely wonderful. They are non-stick without all the bad stuff that comes with "teflon". These are FTFE free and made without the use of PFOA. They are more efficient than traditional pans, using 20% less heat and time to cook. I'm slowly piecing together a set of "green pans" to replace my other pots and pans. Although, I don't think I can ever give up my cast iron.

Carpet and Appliances

2009-04-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

I went out to the house today for the appliance delivery. My jaw dropped when I opened the door and found carpet! I had been at the house yesterday afternoon around 2 and there was no carpet. I was very surprised when at 10 this morning there was carpet. Not just in the living room, but in all the bedrooms too. They were done installing and gone when I had arrived. So apparently there were carpet gnomes in the house installing overnight or late in the evening or early in the morning. The carpet is like the finishing touch on the house. I just sat in the living room waiting for the delivery guys in disbelief that this is our house. I can't believe that we are going to live here. It really is the perfect house for us.

Here are a few pictures of the carpet. The color is called "grain" and it is sort of speckled with a darker brown/beige color. It is almost exactly what we have in the apartment now and is great for hiding dirt.

This is how it looks next to the vinyl that is in the dining room, kitchen and laundry room.
And next to the vinyl in the bathrooms.
The second highlight of the day. New Appliances. I am most excited about the SEXY refrigerator. It fit in the space perfectly!

The laundry pair. There is room to spare for a ironing board or possible a laundry tower. Eeeeee! :) I have to take measurements, but a tower would be wonderful. Its another place for storage, but the real reason I'd get one is for the pop-out rod for hanging laundry when it comes out of the dryer or hanging clothes to dry.
We are so excited to move. This next 2 weeks is going to drag on forever. We are meeting the builder at the house tomorrow for a final walkthrough. Then he will work on fixing the items on the punchlist that we create. I'm hoping that we can start moving boxes before the closing date to get them out of here and to make moving day that much easier.

What a surprise!

2009-04-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

Mike drove by the house today and sent me a picture saying "we got a tree". I looked at the picture and it looked like there was grass too. I had to ask "grass too? Is that our house?" and he replied "yes". I couldn't believe it. The front landscaping was not part of our deal. We had to choose either the A/C unit or landscaping. We chose A/C and it was installed a couple of weeks ago. So, unless they decide to dig up the yard, it looks like we get both! I'm pretty sure they can't charge us for it now. The contract has already been written up and signed. The only downside to this is that now we HAVE to buy a lawnmower. Whereas before it would have been a few months before the lawn was long enough to need mowing. Oh well.

More good news. I was going to be working in Anchorage, April 25-May 1, then May 11-22, then May 24-June 12. Almost 6 weeks! I was coming around to the idea, only because we could use the extra money since we're buying the house. But now I'm probably only going for the first 2 legs of the trip and even that is questionable. I'm excited to be able to be home and get everything unpacked and actually LIVE in the house. Yay!

Here is the front yard. They did a good job. Now we don't have to worry about buying a tree right away. I'm not sure what they put in, but sooner or later, I'd like to put in a Japanese Maple or a pink Dogwood tree. Hopefully more sooner than later. It also looks like they put in a bush or two and some tall grasses. I didn't think to check, but I hope they fixed the stones in the front walkway and didn't move/lose them. I check tomorrow when I'm there for the appliance delivery!

OMG!

2009-04-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off posting this, as it is big news and I wanted to be more sure about it.

Last week my period was a week late. I chalked it up to the stress of moving and didn't think twice about it. Today I realized that another week had gone by and thought I'd better get a test to take and ease my mind. Well, I didn't get the negative I was thinking I would get, but instead it was POSITIVE! We're pregnant! I'm calling the doctor to schedule an appointment tomorrow to be sure, but I've been late in the past and never been pregnant. I feel really good about this being an accurate positive. We're very overwhelmed right now with the move and my trip to Alaska, but we have 9 months to figure everything out. It will all be fine, I'm sure. I'm super excited about being a mom, especially now that we'll have a house and yard for the kid to grow up in. Even Mike has been coming around to the idea of kids. I don't think he was expecting one quite so soon, but he'll warm up to the idea...

I know I'm not usually a non-picture post-er, but after I got the camera out, I decided no one would want to see a stick I peed on... Yuck!

APRIL FOOLS!! :P

Just when we thought winter was over...

2009-03-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. :(

Eeeeek!

2009-03-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

We got our "farm fresh" eggs today. They are all different colors. Some are speckled, some are dark brown, some are light brown, there's even a GREEN one! They even came in generic (no logo) egg cartons. We saved our last egg carton to give to the egg lady for next time. No sense in using a new egg carton every time. Reduce, re-use, recycle! I never thought I'd be the hippie type, but here I am....

These are our eggs...

Speckles!

The crazy green one.

We cooked one to try. It looks just like a grocery store egg. It seemed like it was harder to crack though...

I took a video of Mike trying the egg, it turned out pretty hilarious. I'll try to upload it tomorrow. We decided that it tasted like "egg". Mike got over his fear pretty quick. But I have to say that once the eggs were in the house, I got pretty nervous about eating them. They look so different. I think the egg we tried tasted different from the eggs we normally get from the grocery store, but that was probably just in my head. Also, I don't usually eat the yoke, so that probably had a lot to do with it too.

I'm very excited about our venture into growing and eating more "organically" and cutting out bad preservatives in our diet. I think moving to the "country" is going to be a big change for us, but it will help us to slow down and enjoy each other and our family, and not depend on big chain restaurants, fast food (although we really don't eat out much now), and shopping. We've decided not to subscribe to cable when we move into the new place. It's an unnecessary expense and a lazy trap. (We will have an antenna for local digital channels and we can always stream TV shows from Hulu or something). We're just going to have to occupy ourselves with more productive activities like gardening, crocheting, cooking, walking... Things that are cheap and healthy. I'm feeling really good about this move.

Waterfront Park

2009-03-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

After looking at the house today (nothing new to report), I drove a couple miles around to the other side of Medical Lake, to "Waterfront Park". It was SO COOL!! I can totally see us taking the kids there to play. I think Mike's sister and her family would love it. I can't wait for them to come visit. This is the PERFECT picnic place. They're having an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter. I wish we had kids to take... :( You can read more about Waterfront Park on the Medical Lake homepage link in the "my links" bar on the right side of my blog...

Here are the pictures I took of the park today. I had my camera, but forgot to put the memory card back in after my last upload, so these were taken with my phone...

The lake is still mostly frozen...

Sandy beach.

Awesome play structure.

Swings! I can't wait to take Kamron. He and Mikey had a blast on the swings at the park by our apartment last fall.

Covered picnic area. there is also a TON more picnic tables that are not covered and grills to use (not that I would, creepy....). And you can reserve areas for parties and whatnot...

Ah, the conveniences of modern life...

It's Spring!

2009-03-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Time to get the garden started. It has been soooo nice outside lately. The temperature has even got up into the 50's! But we're in Spokane, so it's nowhere close to time to put plants into the ground. Around here, the rule is to wait until the leaves on a tree are the size of a "squirrel's ear" or the snow has melted off the top of Mt. Spokane, or until Mother's Day... That's about 2 months away. Waaaaaah!!!! All I want to do is dig in our new garden, put in our lawn, plant our HOA mandated tree in the front yard and build the fence.... Since we can't do ANY of those things for a few weeks, I stopped by the Wal-Mart in Airway Heights (the nearest shopping to Medical Lake), and picked up some starter stuff. I got a "Jiffy" greenhouse dome with peat pots for starting plants, organic starter potting soil and some seeds. I wanted to get all organic seeds, but I didn't see everything I wanted in "organic". So I picked up a few packs of non-organic, but if I see them available in organic when I find the other veggies I'm looking for, I'll pick them up and start them a little later. Did I say organic?

Here are some pictures of our planting stuff....

I can't wait to have a salad fresh from the garden. We watched a show last weekend about growing "mesclun" a delicate mix of tasty lettuces. It will be so nice to step outside with a pair of scissors and come back in with a salad. I love salad, but it seems every time I buy a bag, I end up throwing half of it away. I'm also really excited about the beets. I need to look up how to turn them into "pickled beets".

My idea for the lavender is to transplant it when it becomes sizeable, into a planter box to put on the railing of the front porch. It will smell so nice and be really relaxing to sit out there with a cup of cofee in the morning, or with some tea before bed. I would really love to grow enough to be able to clip some to being inside. Ahhhh....

Some other veggies I'd like to grow:

English or japanese cucumbers
Bell pepper (green, red, yellow)
Sweet peppers (like they sell at Costco)
Green beans
Butternut squash (for ravioli?)
Roma tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes (red and yellow/orange)
Spinach
Herbs (chives, cilantro, parsley, oregano, thyme, dill)
Potatoes (fingerling, yukon gold, purple)

Of course, this is all dependant on space. I would like to have a back lawn too.

New Appliances!

2009-03-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

We bought appliances for the house today! They won't be delivered until April 4 :( I am soooo excited to see them IN the house and I am actually really looking forward to doing some laundry. Our fridge, dishwasher and clothes washer are all energy star. I don't believe Best Buy carries Energy Star clothes dryers, microwaves, or ranges or that they are even on the market at all. As a bonus for buying Energy Star, Avista (the local electric/gas company) is offering rebates. For the appliances we purchased, we will receive $100 in credit on our account. Yay! I'm really trying to be green wherever we can in our new house. I noticed that the windows are Energy Star and the house is very well insulated. We would like to get a new stand for our TV, and probably new desks for the office. I'm going to yard sale like crazy this spring to find pieces that I can re-use and re-finish. It's a lot better for the environment (and the wallet) than buying new...

Here are pictures I grabbed online of our appliances and links to their information on bestbuy.com...

Refrigerator

Twin-cooling means no odor transfer between freezer and refrigerator. We gave up "water in the door" to save money, but there is a filtered water spout inside and an ice maker and tub in the freezer (it even comes with a handy ice scoop). I'm super excited about the "french door" design. It seems soooo spacious, and there is no bending to get veggies out of the crisper. The bottom freezer is also more efficient since "cold air is heavier than warm air". Samsung also makes some of the most energy efficient models. This one should only cost about $50 a year to operate.

Range

This range is self-cleaning. I know, big deal. But this one is different in that it is "steam" self-cleaning. The lower heating element is hidden and there the bottom is concave (?). To clean, you pour 1-1/4 cups water in the bottom of the oven and press the self clean button. The oven heats up to 350 degrees (as opposed to 700+ on a conventional oven. Hello energy savings!) and steams the yuckies on the inside of the oven. Then, when the cycle is over, you wipe any of the baked on yuckies from the bottom of the oven. Presto! I really had wanted to run a gas line to the kitchen and get a gas range, but it was getting a little costly. Booooo.

Microwave

Just your basic, everyday 950 watt microwave. I believe this is "silver" not "stainless steel". I'm curious how it will look with the stainless range. I guess we shall see....

Dishwasher

I thought this was a pretty basic dishwasher, then Mike told me it was way cooler than the one we have now. The new one has a "sani-rinse" cycle and a hard food disposer. Cool!

Washer

I was really wanting a "steam" washer and dryer, but again, cost prevailed.... These are awesome though. "Vibration Reduction Technology" means it won't sound like a train coming through the house during the spin cycle... Samsung also has a cool "silver care" feature, where the water runs between 2, 99-point-something percent silver plates to kill bacteria or somesuch fancy scientific jibba jabba, when using cold water!.... The yearly operating cost of this machine is around $12 with a natural gas water heater. And with the silver care, we won't have to use hardly any hot water, so maybe less than that...

Dryer

It's a front load dryer... There's a child lock-out.... We also got the pedestals to raise the washer and dryer up so I don't have to break my back to load and unload and they're great storage!

I hope I haven't bored you to death with my appliances. In the next couple days we should have farm fresh eggs to blog about. I was telling my mom last week that I would like to find a farm in Medical Lake that sells fresh eggs, and she told me her co-worker sells them. I've known this lady practically my whole life and did not know this. So my mom ordered 2 dozen! That's a lot of eggs. I can't wait to see/eat them. I will take photos and blog all about my experience. I'm anxious to see Mike's reaction. He is nervous that there might be a real live baby chick in one....We shall see.

New Link

2009-03-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

I added a link to the "my links" section to the right. Click on the link to find out everything there is to know about Medical Lake, WA, our soon to be new home...

Gotta love that fresh country air

2009-03-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

I went out to the new house today to check out progress. It really doesn't look much different than last week. The trim is done and they've cut the vinyl to size and put a metal trim/border around those areas. The plumbers were there earlier this week, but I don't think they did their stuff since we haven't bought our dishwasher yet. I took some more picture, measurements and wrote down more issues for the builder to fix before move-in.

After I was done at the house I went for a little drive down the "dead end" road behind the house. I took these pictures while driving about a half mile to mile down the road. Some of them are blurry, but the countryside out there is beautiful. I can't wait to go for walks/jogs there.

In the distance, you can see the tower for Fairchild Air Force Base...

Cows! Very blurry cows...

You can see our house in the lower right corner of this picture.

There's a park just a couple blocks away. This is in the other direction towards the highway.

In other news... Today we had a big family get together at the "Golden Corral" so say goodbye and good luck to my cousin, Kenji, who is leaving to join the Air Force next month. Kamron was being his spunky self and I snapped these pictures...

On the road again...

2009-03-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

For work yesterday, I had to fly to Billings, MT, work less than 4 hours, then fly back home. My flight left Spokane at 7am and I landed back in Spokane at 10pm. That was a LONG day. I'm not complaining though, I did get paid for the entire day...

Since I'm sure you're tired of reading about our house buying experience, here are some pictures of Billings. Nothing exciting, I took these while driving to the airport on my way home.

What a gorgeous day! Such a breath of fresh air getting away from the snow.

This must be where they get the term "big sky"

It's hard to tell in this picture, but this is a casino. They are EVERYWHERE in Montana.

The downtown area is cute. It reminds me of Boise, ID and Anchorage, AK.

The airport is on top of a huge plateau called "rimrock". It was quite a climb to the top...

The airport is small, but very cute and NOT BUSY at all!

On the plane, I had plenty of time to crochet. I made one and a half dishcloths. I finished the second one today. This was the first time in over a week that I've been relaxed enough to crochet. We've been so busy thinking about the house and meeting with different people, signing our lives away, picking out carpet and appliances....

Moving Right Along

2009-03-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

So everything is moving fairly smoothly. We had a bump in the road earlier this week when the Mortgage guy called and told me that we didn't qualify for the USDA Rural Housing Loan (where we wouldn't have to make a down payment or pay Private Mortgage Insurance) because we make too much money. I never thought that I would ever be denied something for making too much money. How ridiculous! Our only option now is to apply for and FHA housing loan (which bears a greatly lower down payment requirement than conventional loans at 3.5%). After a near meltdown (on my part, not Mike's), we spent the latter part of the week coming up with down payment money. We got that all taken care of and now things are back on track again. We picked out carpet on Tuesday and that should be installed on April 2, and the air conditioner was installed sometime this week. I've also been window shopping for appliances all week...

Mike and I went to the house this afternoon. I wanted to measure for window treatments and appliances. We also wanted to check out all the changes. It already looks a lot different. Most of the trim has been installed. It looks a lot more finished and like a real house.

We also got a chance to meet one of the neighbors; the wife on the east side. Her name is Brandy (or Brandi). She was excited to have neighbors. She asked if we had kids and was a little sad that we didn't. Her son, Brandon (8), stepped outside and Brandy told him we were the new neighbors and we didn't have kids. Brandon was back inside as quickly as he had come out. It was actually kind of funny. The neighbors also have 2 dogs, a boxer(?) named Odin and a bull dog(?) named Gidget. Cute dogs, barked like crazy, but they're inside most of the time. The neighbors are also very eager to go in halvsies on a fence. They've been living there almost 2 years and have had a "chicken wire" fence up temporarily until some neighbors moved in. Brandy said that they have been through the house (they often left it unlocked during construction), and she loves the dining room. I told her thats one of the reasons I fell in love with this house.

I took a TON more pictures today. This may seem kind of repetitive, but hopefully, you can see the changes... Tomorrow, I'm taking mom, dad, grandma, Sachi and Kamron to see the house. If there's any more progress, I'll take more pictures.

Brad put up the "SOLD" sign today. Yay!

Front entry. I didn't realize how big the coat closet was before. It's going to be great for our Christmas Eve parties.

Front window. 95" wide. The window treatment for this one is going to cost a fortune. I'll be searching for a deal on this one forever.
I like the tile on the fireplace. Fairly neutral. This should go with just about anything.
Front bedroom.
Back bedroom.
Master bedroom.
Master bathroom. Identical to the main bathroom.
Both bathroom sinks are the same. Pretty standard...
Dining room. I forgot to get a picture of this last week. Its huge! I would like to buy the sideboard that matches our dining room table and maybe a china cabinet.... but that's a ways off.
Kitchen. The sink and garbage disposal will be installed soon and you can see the trim and doors are going up.
Kitchen countertop. I don't think the lighting is right. It is really more beige/tan.
Just a drawer...
Or is it? I love love love having a pull out cutting board. Its one of my favorite things about this apartment. It adds quite a bit of counter space and is a perfect place for making sandwiches.
Lazy Susan. There are two. This is the larger one. I can't stand that the hinge is on the right. Every time I've tried to open it, I go for the wrong side. I think I'll ask the builder if they can change it and the cupboard that is above it.
Small pantry.
Large pantry.
Master closet.
Ceiling texture.
Door to the attic and standard bedroom/hall/closet light fixture.
Cable/Phone box in the garage. This is where the cable and phone comes into the house and splits into the rest of the house. We won't be having land line phones, so we're going to turn the phone jacks into "cat5" jacks to network the whole house. The phone cables are actually "cat5" cables so we won't have to go into the crawlspace and run new cables. Bonus!

....and now that I've left you hanging for a day

2009-03-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

We got the house!! I could not be happier. It was so worth not getting any sleep the past 2 nights. First there was the tossing and turning and wondering if we should make an offer. Then there was the tossing and turning and wondering if the builder would accept our offer or if there would be a counter offer that we wouldn't be able to afford....

The only hassle we got, was the builder wouldn't do both A/C AND front landscaping. We kind of thought that might happen. We chose A/C. No contest. And the deal was done. I was so nervous this morning. I knew that Brad was meeting with the builder to present the offer at 9:00, so I was constantly checking the time wondering when he would call and trying to keep myself busy. Luckily, he didn't keep us waiting long. He called with the good news at 10:30.

Something else we had in the offer was for the interior doors to be white, but when we went to look at the house after signing the offer, we noticed that the doors and trim had already been delivered, so we were afraid that the white doors wouldn't happen. After talking to the builder, Brad said that (the builder )was going to talk to the superintendent about it. When Brad called back, he didn't have an answer about the doors and trim, but said the superintendent was at the house and that the tile had been installed around the fireplace already and we wouldn't get to pick our tile after all. AAAAAARGH!!! This was bad news after seeing yesterday that the vinyl had already been installed and we wouldn't be picking that out either. So, for now it looks like we're only going to get to pick out the carpet. The vinyl isn't something I would have picked, but it could be way worse. I have a picture to put in this post. I haven't seen the tile around the fireplace, but they say its an earthy-beige color, which is OK. Hopefully its not glossy.

And now for a bunch of pictures. Mike and I went through the house after signing the offer yesterday. It was nice going through, just the two of us. We really got to look at everything. And we'll get a 'construction" key soon, so we can check things out whenever we want. Yay!

An overview of the front of the house. I really like the color. The gray is bright and the white really pops. I also like how the house sits "up" on the property. There is a house with the same floorplan down the street and it looks miniature the way is is situated flat on the lot....

I love the front porch. I can't wait to watch our kids play in the front yard while I drink some coffee or lemonade. We already have a cute little "bistro" table and chairs that I think will look great out there.

The inlaid stone walkway that was my first clue that I would love this house.

Check out the outdoor sconce! Very nice.

THE KITCHEN!! Still not quite sure if there is more cabinet space than what I've got now, but there are 2 lazy Susans! And I love that the breakfast bar is low enough that we can put our extra "pub table" chairs there.

Upper cabinets...

More upper cabinets...

Lower cabinets...

More lower cabinets...

And even more lower cabinets...

Large pantry off kitchen in laundry room... Isn't it fabulous? The picture doesn't do it justice. It really is huge. The size of a closet. 5 feet or so wide...

Small pantry in kitchen. We'll probably use this for things like: spices, cereal, baking supplies... That's the laundry room to the right.

View off the back deck facing northwest...One of the best things about this property is that the back is on the Medical Lake city limit border. There will likely NOT be any more buildings behind us in the time we live here.

North... Won't this be great watching the "Airshow" in the summer. Fairchild Air Force Base is only a mile or so to the north-northeast. We can walk to the edge of the base and get just yards away from the landing planes.
IT IS SO COOL!!

Northeast... There are also some farms in the distance. In the paperwork, they actually had to disclose that there were farms within 2 miles and that there may be "undesirable smells". So far we haven't noticed any odors, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Back deck. Say it with me... Bar-B-Q!! And my dear hubby...

Almost full view the back of the house... Check out the rain gutter!! No drips on the head while bbq-ing... They're installed on the front of the house too. A rare treat in a new construction home...

Cozy fireplace!

Back bedroom...

Front bedroom...

Dining room light fixture...

Bathroom light fixture. Same for both bathrooms...

Entry light fixture...

Vinyl that is in the front entry, dining room, kitchen, and laundry room... We didn't get to pick it, but it's growing on me. I think it will look a lot better once there is carpet and trim too. We'll probably put a rug over it in the dining room too...

From a distance, the leaf pattern is a lot more subtle...

I actually like the vinyl in the bathrooms...

Bathroom counters... Not bad... At least it's neutral so I can decorate any way I choose.

Crawlspace. Heck No, I didn't go down there. Mike took this picture and a few others...
No basement. Sorry Janna :(

Those are all the pictures I have for now, but the house is being finished very rapidly. I'll add more pictures just as soon as I can. hopefully, we'll have the construction key soon.

This post was called "I'm the world's most indecisive person and looking at more homes just makes thing worse..."

2009-03-07T16:00:00.001-08:00

But now it's titled "OMG! We're going to make an offer tomorrow!"

I went house hunting with Brad today and found a lot of good stuff... and some really awful stuff. House 1 and 2 from my "house hunting online" post were both VERY nice. Here is a little recap of those...

House 1:

This is the floorplan. This is the same layout as the giant house with the daylight basement that we looked at last week minus the basement. The house was very nice. It was barely lived in. A single girl lives there now. She is moving because she is in the Air Force and well, that's the nature of the job. She is after my heart with paint. There is a lovely green accent wall in the living/dining room and the master bedroom is a really pretty blue. this house also has a HUGE backyard that is enclosed by a white vinyl fence.

House 2:

This house had a very interesting floorplan that I have never seen before. There was a sweet old man there having an estate sale. He and his wife are moving because she has alzheimers and they want a warmer climate. They added a lot to the house. They expanded the patio and put an aluminum roof over it. They built a storage shed outside with power! The back yard is HUGE. There is a front "living room" and in the back there is a "great room" that includes the kitchen, dining room and family room with 2-sided gas fireplace. It is very open. They also took out the one-piece shower in the master bathroom and replaced it with a fully tiled shower. They also tiled the backsplash in the kitchen and put a ceiling fan over the kitchen counter. Overall, it was a beautiful house, but I had a hard time envisioning Mike and I living there, with all the "old people" stuff already there.

After we left each house, Brad had me nickname the houses and write any notes on the printouts that he ad given me. House 1 became "painted walls", house 2 became "marine or astroturf" (due to the astroturf covering the front porch). Other houses we saw include "stinky dog house", "icky smoker house", and "I think the people that lived here did meth".

We also drove through, I think, every new community in Medical Lake, Cheney, and Airway Heights. If we were to build, I think we would do so in a community called "Crystal Meadows" in Cheney. It had a very California/Nevada feel. All the homes had stucco siding. That isn't something that you see in Spokane. We walked through one house that was for sale, but it was unfinished and it was hard to envision the finished product. Fortunately, they had a model home/sales office THAT WAS GORGEOUS! All the homes in Crystal Meadows have white trim (which I love since living in this apartment), 6-panel doors, and A/C! They also have a lot of lots (hehehehe) available. We could build in a cul-de-sac! There is a golf course nearby, but also a truck stop and industrial area... Crystal Meadows has a lot going for it, but I''m not completely sold. Check it out for yourself...

Crystal Meadows website

I like the "1396" floorplan and the "1550".

The 1396 would require some layout changes. I would turn bedroom 4 into a dining room by taking out the wall/closet adjacent to the family room. Then I would shorten the kitchen and add cabinets/counter space to the wall adjacent to the master suite. I would also extend the laundry out into the garage to make a room out of it. I am not a fan of laundry "closets". The master bedroom is also kind of small. This plan may require too many changes...

the 1550 is very similar to "the Washington" floorplan that I've fallen in love with at Fox Ridge. I think if we were to build at "Crystal Meadows", this is more likely what we would go with. But I would take them "the washington" floorplan to see if they could make the kitchen/dining/living room flow more like that. I also like the very large master suite.

Another nice thing about living in Cheney, is that it is a little closer to Spokane, but still SUPER close to Medical Lake.

So, I bet you're wondering about the offer we're going to make tomorrow...

Brad called me this evening to tell me that the buyers he took out after me are interested in "the Washington"! OH NO'S!! He told them that he already had a buyer that was interested and first in line (that's us).... Earlier today I told him that that was still my first choice, but I'd like to see the builder put in A/C. He didn't think they would do both A/C and pay closing costs for $174,900. But when he called this evening, he said he thought an offer of $180k to include closing costs and A/C would be a solid bet. But before I offer, I'm taking my parents out to Crystal Meadows in the morning to see if they think we should forego 'the washington" and skip straight to building in Cheney...

Keep your fingers crossed that the builder accepts our offer and this whole process is over.....

Happy Birthday, Sophia!

2009-03-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sophie's 6th Birthday

Today is Sophie's 7th birthday. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I remember when I first met her and she wasn't even 2!

Usually we go down to Vancouver/Portland for her birthday. Her mom throws a party every year. But this year, we can't :( Mike just started a new position out at the hospital and a new schedule. He is working weekends now and it was way too soon to ask for time off. Fortunately, we just saw her a few weeks ago.

Come to think of it, we haven't even heard any plans of a party this year... Sophia's mom just had a baby boy last summer and has seemed a little pre-occupied with him. I really think Sophia feels left out. She was sooo sad when we had to take her back home after our visit. She said her parents are boring and so she just stays in her room and bangs her head on the wall. Doesn't that just melt your heart? I feel aweful for her and wish so badly that she could live with us.

Here are some pictures from our most recent visit with her...

House Hunting Online

2009-03-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

I spoke to Brad today and he's calling back in the morning to make plans to go house hunting :) I suppose I outta come up with a list of things Mike and I want and need in a house...

Needs:

3+ bedrooms
2+ bathrooms
Large pantry
2 car garage
Floor plan for entertaining
Laundry room (not closet)
North/South facing

Wants:

Living Room AND Family Room
Basement
Big backyard
walk-in closets
double vanity in master bath
A/C
Large covered front porch
Ceiling fans in living room/master bedroom
Vaulted ceilings
Rancher
Wood floors

Neighborhood:

Park
Walking trails
Homeowners Association

Here are links to a couple houses I found online...

House #1

$180,000
3 bed/2 bath
.19 acre
built 2007

House #2

$177,500
3 bed/2 bath
.17 acres
built 1996

House #3. A killer deal!

$162,900
4 bed/3 bath
.22 acre
built 2008

Crafty

2009-03-04T19:46:00.001-08:00

Last year, I picked up a "polymer clay" hobby from my Aunt. I made a bunch of jewelry; mostly pendants. I sold one on my Etsy site and my sister sold about 8 at her work.... but that's another post. I was looking for a new hobby that wasn't so time consuming and didn't anchor me to a table and oven when my sister told me about "amigurumi", adorable, little, crocheted animals. I bought all the supplies; yarn, crochet hooks, doll eyes, yarn needles, stuffing etc. I youtubed how to crochet and got started. I had a really hard time relaxing and not making the stiches so tight that I couldn't get the hook through. I managed to make a couple little squares, then gave up on amigurumi altogether. My sister still rocks. She's made a cat, bunny, lamb, hippo, and more. I still like crocheting, so I started making afghans. And haven't stopped...

This is the first afghan I made. Actually it isn't finished. I still want to add about 6"-10" and a border. I made it by holding together 2 strands of yarn in brown and blue using a half double crochet stitch throughout. It's pretty big. I've used 24 skeins of yarn so far and it almost covers our queen size bed.

I made this one for my sister in law when I heard she was diagnosed with lung cancer. I thought it would be nice for her to have something cuddly and colorful while in the hospital or chemo. it's lap size. Roughly 36"x50"? I used a multi-color yarn using a single crochet for the main body and double crochet in the "golden" stripes and all the way around.

This is my current project. I found this pattern and absolutely had to make it. Unfortunately, I still don't know how to read a crochet pattern (ch sl st hdc dc sc... yikes!). So my mom deciphered the pattern and showed me how. This time I held together a strand of beige and a strand of dusty purple. The afghan is basicly a giant "granny square". It's been a really fun pattern to work with.

This one turned out so great! This is an afghan I made for Sophia. Her birthday is coming up. I need to hustle to get it in the mail. The colors I chose are perfect for a little girl. When we visited her a couple weeks ago, she said that her favorite color is "baby" blue, so I put that color in the middle and around the border. I think she'll love it. It's pretty lightweight, so she'll be able to use it as a "coverlet" over her existing bedding and not get too warm. I also plan on making a heavier afghan for next fall/winter.

I love to crochet. I can literally sit and crochet for hours. It's a great hobby to do when I'm on a plane or a long road trip. And our living room is so cozy with a basket of yarn by the sofa. I can't wait to learn how to read patterns so I can do more creative/unique designs.

Relief

2009-03-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

The mortgage guy (his name is Ron) actually CALLED ME today. I was at work, so he left a message. I called him back and his receptionist went to put me through just as he picked up another call... I left him a message and he called me back! This guy is good. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to call a business or company and didn't get through or no one called me back... It's very frustrating sometimes! Anyway, he was very nice, had a lot of information, was extremely patient while I scrambled to look up the information he was asking for, and answered ALL of my questions.

My friends and family have all recommended their realtors and mortgage lenders. But naturally, "I don't have his card... I have his information at home...blah, blah, blah". Thanks for the help anyways :) I am so glad that the first realtor I met turned out to be extremely nice and helpful. Not to mention, NO PRESSURE! Walking through homes with Brad feels like walking through a house with a friend/relative that happens to know a lot about real estate. I hope the rest of the "house hunting" and actual buying goes this smoothly. I've only talked to Ron once, but I am not nearly as scared about this whole ordeal as I was just yesterday. I am thanking my lucky stars that everything has gone this smoothly so far (knock on wood). I can only hope it stays this way.

I am amazed at how fast the pre-approval process is. Ron took our vital information...name, address, social security numbers, employment history, rental history... all over the phone and without so much as a pause in conversation, he had all the information he needed to know: what we would qualify for, how much interest we'd pay, and that our credit is just fine (YAY!) I was soooo relieved to know that our credit was OK and that we would qualify for a house in our price range with NO PROBLEMS. I didn't ask how much we could get. I figure it doesn't matter if we qualify for half a million dollars if we can't afford the monthly payments. I had him calculate the payments for between $160k and $175k and the payments were between $1100 and $1200 a month. SCARY! We're already paying $955, so an extra $150 to $250 isn't the end of the world. We can definitely cut back on some things. Cable TV for one, I have around $100 a month taken out of my paychecks for an ESPP, we don't need Netflix, Mike could probably do without WOW for a while, we would be saving on gas for his car, and my car gets the better gas mileage. Those things alone would make up the difference and it's not like we're "bone dry" after paying rent now. We just won't be able to nickel and dime the extra money away on soda, fast food, cigarettes, etc., etc.. We were scared to take on a $955 rent payment, and we're FINE, so I know we'll be OK with a little bigger house payment. Worst case scenario, one of us finds a second job, or we start selling plasma... or sperm ;)

I just want to shout from the rooftop, "OUR CREDIT IS GOOD!!"

A little tidbit about this post's picture; I found this photo on Brad's website. It's the "Washington" floorplan I've been raving about. I know it looks small from the front, but there's quite a bit of house behind the garage. I hope to post a lot of pictures documenting our house hunt. My camera should be back from being serviced next week :(, but I'll take the old one out with me this weekend.

Also, I posted a floorplan called "the cottage" to the "My Links" bar on the right side of the page. There's something about that plan that I love, but it definitely needs some re-working. Check it out.

House Hunters!

2009-03-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

We are unofficially official "house hunters"! After Mike was off work today, we went to look at houses in Medical Lake. We looked at a split level, the "Washington" which I am utterly in love with and a rancher with a basement that Mike really liked, but is about $30k more than we want to spend.

My parents were with us and agreed that the "Washington" would be a perfect fit for us now. We would have room for one child and a baby. Then it would be time to move. But I figure it would be 6-7 years before we would be too big for this one. It meant a lot to me that my parents liked the house that I had already set my heart on. They're very experienced in the buying a new home field. They've had 3 build from the ground up. It was very comforting having them with us. They know all the questions to ask and what to look for. My dad noticed that the "Washington" had nicer cabinets than what the spec sheet had listed. If we built the same house from the ground up, we would have to pay extra for the "oak" cabinets. And this house is already $10k less than building from scratch. I'm not in love with the oak cabinets, but I could always refinish them later... Brad did mention that if we built from scratch, the stain doesn't cost extra on the cabinets, but it does on base boards.

Tomorrow I'm going to call the lender back and get the application process rolling, then I'll call the realtor later this week and probably go out "house hunting" again this weekend. I really have my heart set on the "Washington", but I understand that I need to keep an open mind and look into the possibility of a older home.

I was pretty focused on asking questions and "ooohing and ahhhing" at the house, so I forgot to take pictures. The only one I got is of the front walkway. I mentioned the cool rocks embedded in the side of the concrete...

I am just bursting with excitement about being a potential homeowner.

I'm nervous about the whole mortgage process. Will we qualify? How much can we borrow? Will we be able to afford a house we like? What about property tax and homeowners insurance? How much will it cost to heat/cool? The cable company is a small local place, but the realtor (I'm going to call him by name now, Brad) said they offer high speed internet and High Definition video. The upside is they're probably cheaper. Comcast is absolutely raping us. $125/month for high def/DVR in one room, basic analog in one room and high speed internet... We will really have to tighten the wallet on any and all unnecessary spending. Maybe we'll cut digital cable and hook up an antenna... We may cut out Netflix and online gaming. No more take and bake pizza.... It would be good for us to cut out all that stuff anyway. Maybe it would help with eating healthier and that's already a goal for 2009!

Where to begin?

2009-02-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

Wow! My first blog post. I have no idea what to write. Even less of an idea of what to blog about. Currently, my family consists of myself and my husband, Mike. We don't have kids. He has a daughter, Sophia, (7 on the 6th of March) from a previous relationship that we don't see often enough. She lives in Vancouver, WA with her mom and we live in Spokane, WA. It's about a 5+ hour drive to see her. Most of my extended family lives here, my parents, my sister and her boy, Kamron (6), all of my grandparents, except for my Grandma Martha who passed away in 2007. I have a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins. I have been blessed with a rather large family. Mike's family lives in/around Portland, OR. His family consists of his mom and dad, his twin sister, Janna, and her family. She has 2 kids. A son, Killian (8), and daughter, Rowan (3). They are AMAZING kids. In Tacoma, is my cousin, Roni, her husband Joshua and they're little boy, Soren (little cutie is going to be 2 in April!).

I really can't wait to have kids of my own. I'm hoping to get pregnant this year. I know Mike is TERRIFIED about having kids. I can't figure out why, exactly. I figure he had a bad experience with his ex. Combine that with a pretty sad childhood of his own. I can understand him being afraid that his kid would inherit some of the sadness Mike felt as a kid, but I know I would be a great mom and Mike is a really sweet guy. I can see it when he is with Sophia. He is stern, and wants her to learn from every mistake, challenge and opportunity. He likes to play, sometimes... I think the biggest challenge for him will be to stop doing what he is doing to play with or help the kids. Mike likes to be alone and play/work/research on the computer. I think it will be especially hard for him to be completely selfless and put the kids first.

I have all kinds of fears of my own surrounding having children. First, money. I absolutely will not use government assistance. I've always been fiercely independent and would feel like an absolute failure if I couldn't take care of my own children. I'm not trying to be rich, but I want my kids to have proper nutrition, healthcare and education above all else. Then, toys and luxuries. I want to live in a safe neighborhood where the kids can play outside with neighbor kids without the worry of child molestors, rapists, kidnappers, thieves or bullies... I fear for birth defects. I've already begun taking folic acid to help during the pregnancy. I've told Mike that I want him to quit smoking before I get pregnant. I also need to lose weight. I bought some sneakers last week with the intentions of going on walks with Mike. I also need to get the "Wii Fit" out again. I just have no motivation to get up and exercise. I'm sure a lot of the "lack of motivation" is due to the rediculous winter we've been having. But I know I need to, for the baby.

We've started taking some baby steps towards buying a house! :) On Friday I went out to Medical Lake to visit Mike for lunch. On the way home, I stopped by an Open House out there that I'd noticed the week before. The realtor took me though 4 houses and there was one that I absolutely loved. I had looked at all the floorplans previously on the builders website, but this particular one wasn't one that I was crazy about. No basement. :( But walking through it, changed my mind It would be a GREAT house for entertaining. And mom is working on passing the Family Christmas Eve dinner to me...

This is a link to the builder's development website with info about the neighborhood, home features and lots:

http://www.markhamhomesinc.com/interior.php?page=index&id=5

This is the link to the house that I really love.

http://www.markhamhomesinc.com/uploads/WASHINGTON.pdf

It's a "spec" home, so it's already mostly built with just the finishing details to take care of... flooring, lighting fixtures, plumbing hardware. That, we would get to somewhat choose ourselves. The price is also reduced since we can't make any changes to the actual "blueprint" and all the wiring is done so we couldn't move outlets/lights around. The front yard of all these houses is landscaped with sprinklers. The front walk of the house I like has really cool stones/small boulders incorporated into the side of the concrete. It looks so cool. There's also a great front porch that would be great for sitting out front watching the kids. The backyard has a 10'x14' wood deck that is partially covered for rainy day bbq's. The back of the lot already has been fenced and the neighbor on the west side has fenced their side. The realtor figures that the family on the east side is just itching to split the cost of a fence with the people that move in. :) That would be a total score to only have to pay for part of one side of fence. We'd even be willing to do the labor. I'm also willing to stain and install our own baseboards and trim if it saves some money.

The north side of the property is on the Medical Lake city limits border with, I believe, Airway Heights on the other side. Currently there is only field on that side of the fence and the realtor says there aren't any plans for building there any time soon. From the backyard, you can see planes taking off and landing at Fairchild Airforce Base. The realtor says you can't hear them, but there weren't any coming in when I was there. I'll have to take his word for now. But it would be AMAZING to watch the "Air Show" in the summer. I'd have to invite the whole family over for a BBQ or something.

The house also comes with all the kitchen appliances (refrigerator, range, micro-hood, dishwasher). I'm hoping I can either have them remove the appliances from the cost of the house, so we can buy our own at Best Buy. With our killer discount, we could probably get better appliances for the same price, maybe less. Or maybe they'd take the cost of the appliances that they would put in, and make it an allowance to purchase our own. That would be ideal!

Mike hasn't seen this place yet, so I'm meeting him there when he get's off work tomorrow with my parents and possibly Grandma and Bill. That realtor might just pee himself when he sees this enrourage. ;) I'm going to take my (old) camera (the good one is in for service), so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of the house.