16 Things I Love About Our New House

We have been in our new house for about 4 months now.  We painted the main living areas, we have kitchen tiers on the way and have hung our first bit of wall art.  We plowed through our savings buying furniture, appliances and window coverings. There are still lots of plain bare walls that need to be decorated and too many white walls that could use some color but we have what we need and I'm really just glad to be here.  It takes money to decorate a home and therefore it will also take some time.   What a journey it has been from house hunting, home building to house closing.  We stuck it out in my tiny studio condo for 6 months but it was well worth the wait.

1.  Overall Space.  I can be at home and not see Mj all the time. What a concept!  People need space and we absolutely did not have it in the tiny studio. We were on top of each other and it magnified clutter and anything else that bugged me times 10. He can be upstairs in the loft doing homework and watching baseball and I can be downstairs watching House Hunters. We can be apart and then come together.  Mj's untidiness is spread out so I can tolerate it for a little bit longer then usual.  Peace.

2.  Decorating fun. I now have all of these rooms to decorate which is great once I figure out what the heck to do with them. I may not know exactly where to start but I love the possibilities.

3.  King size bed.  We squeezed into a little double in the studio.  I wanted to save money and hold onto the old Queen bed of Mj's that came out of storage but he really wanted to up size so I agreed.  Most of the time we end up on one side or the other but it's nice to have the space.  I can lay spread eagle on the bed with room to spare and I actually have to roll over a few times to shut of my alarm if I'm on Mj's side!

Plenty of room and I love that we each have our own night stand.

4.  Double Vanities.  Again, space.  I have my own side to do what I need to do in the bathroom and he has his.  We each have our own cabinet under our sinks.  Mine is full and his is not.

I like having my own side

5.  Toilet Room.  Our bathroom has a separate little room and door for toilet.  It even has a window-don't ask me why!  Not that we've never seen each other on the toilet but we love the extra privacy.

6.  Thermostat.   Sometimes it gets a little chilly for me because I am chronically cold but that's what blankets and sweaters are for.  I no longer have to sweat through summers with only an AC Wall Unit or hope for a cool breeze to come through the windows on hot nights while trying to sleep.   When we come home from work it does not feel like walking into a sauna.

7.  LG fridge with ice maker. This sucker was not cheap but I have to say it's worth it. I still can't figure out how this unlimited supply of water magically comes out of my fridge but access to ice cold water anytime without having buy bottled water and keep up on our water supply is great. I think I'm even drinking more water because of it.  And I kinda think ice is cool.

This fridge is the BEST

8.  Sectional with Ottoman.  We searched high and low for this cozy yet modern couch.  When you push the little square ottoman into the corner of the sectional it creates this lovely little bed like area which is perfect for cuddling while watching movies.  I can't get enough of cuddling with Mj so this works out quite nicely for me and I think he's OK with it too.

Modern, comfy and cuddle friendly

9.  DVR baby! I know I'm a little behind on the technology here but this is the first time in my life I have ever had this and I love it. I don't have to rush home to watch anything and I can watch various TV shows at my convenience-and fast forward the commercials. Online viewing of shows helped before but this really takes it up a notch. Not that I watch a ton of TV but it's just super convenient to have.  It's also the first time I've had a flat screen TV which of course was an Mj contribution.

The TV console has lots of storage to "hide" crap.  So does the coffee table.

10.  Dining room space, Bar Area & Kitchen.  We actually have a place where there is room for us to sit down and eat dinner together the good old fashioned way.  It's not right in front of the TV but we can  still see it because we have an open floor plan.  When one of us is in the kitchen cooking (ideally Mj) the other one can sit at the bar and chat.  The condo kitchen had next to no counter space and was really not functional.  I was totally uninspired to cook there so I didn't.  I vowed I would start cooking when I actually had space to do it and I did.

A table to enjoy meals together

Functional cooking space

11.  Garage.  No more searching for a parking space and having to pass up most of them because I suck at parallel parking.  I no longer have to worry that my car will be vandalised yet again.  No more carting loads of grocery bags from the car down the street, through the gate, and up the stairs into the condo.  We don't have to get into a hot car and we don't have to haul our trash out to a stinky dumpster because our trash bins are right there.  It also provides more storage for crap that we should probably throw away but won't.

12.  Extra closets & rooms.  Yes.  Back to space-which is quite a  beautiful thing.  The clutter in the condo was driving me mad.  The master closet could use a Closet World make over to make better use of the space but it is a walk in and way bigger then I have ever had before.  There is now a whole extra room for Mj to leave his folded laundry for weeks at a time and toss his clothes on the floor instead of hanging them up.   I don't have to see it so I don't nag him about it.  Well,  not as often anyways.  Win win situation.

13.  Laundry Room.  I used to do laundry once a month.  Or even longer if I could get away with it.  I know it's terrible but I was so over hoarding quarters, staking out the washer/dryer, and carting loads of heavy laundry up and down stairs to the laundry room.  Laundry is fun easier now.

The bobble head bride and groom was a wedding gift.  Really.

14.  Backyard.  It still happens to be a pile of dirt pending landscaping.  This project has been totally left to Mj and he assures me that progress is being made.  We'll actually have a place to sit outdoors and relax.  It's small but we did not want any grass cutting so that's fine.  There is room out the front door too where I can actually stand there in my pajamas and check the weather and not be seen by every single neighbor.  The condo didn't even have a balcony.

15.  Recess Lighting.  This was what I felt was an Mj upgrade splurge but like most everything else I'm glad I agreed.  It came included in some areas but we addeded it every where it didn't except the 2 spare bedrooms.  I like the modern look it gives the house and we don't need lamps.  Some of our lights even turn themselves off after a certain time period if we forget.  The light switches are all on dimmers which can save energy and is really good for setting the mood...if ya know what I mean!

16.  Community.  I still don't know any of my neighbors but our little neighborhood is like an oasis in the middle of the little city we live in.  There are only about 42 houses spanning 3 private roads.  I don't walk out my door onto a busy street.  I feel comfortable taking a walk if I want to.  There aren't random hoodlums roaming around or broke down sofas in any front yards. I feel so much safer.  We have an HOA in full effect that I might come to hate at some point but it does wonders for curb appeal.  We are only about 5 minutes from the condo but it makes all the difference in the world.

Are there some things on my wish list that we didn't get?  Yeah.  We couldn't do all the upgrades we wanted like granite or hardwoods.  We could use a little bit more counter space and cupboards in the kitchen.  I wish we had a linen closet but there is room to build one.  I also wish we could have afforded to buy more centrally located.  And while I'm at it, I would really love it if I could get my mortgage sliced in half!  But really, I'm not complaining one bit.  It's brand new, it's OURS, and I love it!  According to Sandra Rinomato on HGTV's Property Virgins, whom I trust completely, if you like 90% of the house you should really consider making it your home because no house is perfect in all ways and there will always be something that you wish you could change.

Building the Home

Home Sweet Home

Home Renovations

Wedding Advice From A Budget Bride

Pre Wedding Pics In The Park

As a bride who has been there these are some words of advice that I would pass on to other brides beginning that adventure called wedding planning. Thanks again to Jacin of She Said Yes  for allowing me to put this very post on her awesome blog where I was allowed to guest post while she is away.  She is at this very moment basking in the glow and joy of her own wedding on her honeymoon.  I hope she is having a blast and I can't wait to hear about it when she gets back.

1. Choose your favorite colors for your wedding.  Even if you have to change the shade depending on the season.  The whole experience of putting my wedding together was enriched that much more as I shopped for everything in my fav color PINK! Pretty Pink flowers, pretty Pink dresses, pretty Pink party favors....you get the idea.  It is so much fun to watch your wedding come to life in your favorite color.  If your groom doesn't like the color too bad.  We already know who's doing all the work so he'll just have to get over it.
   
2. Don't sweat the small stuff because they really don't matter. Trust me,  I know.  I am the bride after all who discovered her cake was the wrong color as she waltzed triumphantly into her reception venue.  Did it ruin my night?  Heck no!   I didn't even try on my shoes or my jewelry with my dress before hand and it was just fine.  You may not believe it at the moment as you toil over yet another project or laboriously search for just the right shade of pink for your name cards but at the end of the day or night you will remember the moment you said I do or how wonderful you felt in your dress more then you will remember if you had napkins with your names on them or not.  Get what you can afford and if it's not in your budget forget about it. You probably don't really need it anyways and it's not likely to make or break your wedding. Of course you have to fret a little.   You are a bride after all and this is important but don't feel bad about things you can't afford, obsess over mundane details or overburden yourself with projects that you don't really need.   My only DIY project incidentally was my centerpieces.  If you are just crafty and enjoy it great.  Pick and choose what's important.  If that still means a zillion projects on your to do list then so be it but don't say I didn't warn you!
3. Don't wait until the last minute on anything.  You might think you have time but you don't.  Your wedding will sneak up on you like a thief in the night and you won't know what hit you. Luckily, I didn't do this but I can only imagine how stressful that would be.  I saved links to all my research so when the time came to act on something I had only to go back to it and didn't have to start from scratch to make decisions or move forward.  I planned ahead and did a little bit here and there even if it felt "too early" so by the time the wedding rolled around I was not totally overwhelmed.
4. Utilize a day of planner.  If you can't pay for one hire a friend.  I rolled my eyes at that one.  I certainly don't need a planner. My wedding is simple.  What would I possibly need a day of planner for?  But simple turned into me rushing from the moment I got up and barely being able to take a breath until just before our ceremony started.  Even if I had a friend who was in the know on my simple centerpiece set up that would have helped a lot.  If I had it to do over again I would still not budget for one but I would have a friend be responsible for day of details instead of trying to do everything myself.
5. Don't take pictures right before your wedding.  I take that back do it.  So, I guess this is just a word of advice that it can really press you for time AND that it's really cool to have that private moment where you see each other for the first time.  It doesn't have to be at the end of the aisle with all eyes on you to be special.  I cried when I saw Mj outside our hotel before we went for pictures.  We didn't do engagement photos and it's not like we are ever going to wear those outfits again so I'm glad we did but it sure was difficult to squeeze in. What limited time I had prior to the ceremony was now cut that much shorter while we were at the park.  I guess that's where #4 hire a friend planner idea would have come in handy.
6. Make time to relax the day of.  See #3 & 4 above to assist you with this.  One of my bridesmaids who couldn't make it to the rehearsal dinner drove in and out of town just for that one day. So busy was I setting up, getting made up and taking pictures that I didn't even have a chance to sit down and chat with her. I would have loved to enjoy a leisurely glass of wine and chat with my bridesmaids and my sisters that day.   There was no leisurely shared girly moments of anticipation.  Instead, I was a whirlwind.  I got an early start but still it was go, go, go and the reception was more of the same so I really missed out on just getting to BE and take my time in the moments leading up to the ceremony.
7. Wear comfy shoes.  We've all partied the night away with a huge smile plastered on our face and an extra awkward bounce in our step as we try desperately to disguise the limp resulting from those hot shoes rubbing a hole in the heel of our right foot. Just don't do it on your wedding night.  If your dress is big enough your shoes will hardly be noticeable at all and it's one less thing to worry about.  I wore a pair of cute silver gladiator flats that I found at Macy's and my feet were not a source of discomfort at any point during the night.  Granted, I might have been too tipsy and happy to really notice if they did hurt but still.
8. Stick to your budget.  As much as I LOVED my wedding I don't want to associate that day with financial burden and debt. If you start to feel a longing sense of sadness as you peruse wedding magazines filled with pictures of things you can't afford see #2 above, turn the page and get on with planning YOUR wedding.

My beautiful PINK Bridal Bouquet

Babies Are More Then Just A Cute Picture

My nephew DJ gets cuter every day

Looking at those little arms flailing about, that joyful little baby expression and those bright eyes makes my heart melt.  Literally.  It's in a puddle on the floor right now so I don't even know how I am typing this!  If this pic doesn't make you want one of these I don't know what will.  That's just the thing though.  Babies are more then just a cute picture.  I am not a kid person.  Never have been.  I absolutely did NOT expect to be this enamored by my little nephew.  I can't stop talking and thinking about this precious little boy and that kind of scares me.  I don't want children.  At least I don't think I do.  Until I hold him and look at his pictures and feel those maternal instincts tugging at my heart like never before.  Babies are so full of life.  Sometimes a little too much of it at 2:00 am when my sister would kill for another hour of sleep but still.  When you look at their little faces you just see so much hope and possibilities.  They are so innocent and have so much living ahead of them.  It really is a beautiful thing. And as a parent you get to be a part of that.

But they will not always be babies.  They grow into terrible two's and angry adolescents.  I have to wonder.  Do I just want that cute little baby to call my own and not everything else that goes along with it?  There is so much time, energy and money that will go into making that little boy a man.  Is that something I want to take on for myself?  I am determined to think logically here and not be swayed by emotion.  My head says "Hell no I don't want any kids," and my heart says "Yes." But only some of the time.  Having a baby changes EVERYTHING and I'm not so sure that I want everything to change.  I actually kind of like things the way they are.  Mj and I are free to do or not do whatever it is we please.  We can travel or just go to he movies without thinking twice.  The house is quiet and the only person I have to pick up after is him! What effect might it have on our relationship? I think I'm tired when I get home from work now?  Well, the work never ends when you have a little one.  Being a stay at home mom likely would not be an option.  Going back to work would be so hard and of course there are astronomical child care expenses.  Any extra money right can go towards savings, retirement or just ourselves right now but that would not be the case with a child in the mix.  I can't even afford ballet lessons for myself so how am I supposed to feed, clothe, support a child AND pay for their extracurricular activities?  They want and need so much and I would want to give it to them.  Sometimes people jump in without considering these things.  People just assume that having a child is what they are "supposed" to do without really considering the option of doing the cost benefit analysis and simply deciding not to.  That it might not be the right thing for them.   People worry, me included-that a life is incomplete without a child but I don't want to do something just because that's what everybody does and I THINK I might be missing out.  I wish I just KNEW for sure either way what I really wanted.  I'm not getting any younger here.

I need to baby sit this little guy to see what it feels like but even still I will never know the full enormity of what it is to have a child of my own unless I actually had one.  That's the tricky part.  It's natural for any woman to have doubts and fears about having a baby but because I am not a woman who has always wanted to be a mother I have to be very careful here. I have to think with my head and not my emotions.  It can't be a passing fancy or just a moment.  It has to be a desire and a need in order for me to move past those normal doubts.  And then there is Mj of course.  It has to be a joint decision.  He is still at "HELL NO" and despite those maternal feelings I didn't even know I had, most of me is still there too.  So for now the answer to the baby question is still no.  Whether or not that changes remains to be seen and in the meantime I'll just have to direct all of that revved up maternal energy towards my sweet little nephew.  Which won't be too hard-I mean...just look at him!

Wedding Wednesday: Processional/Meet the Bridesmaids

I got to watch everything unfold from the back without anyone knowing.  When I took my first peak at the scene that was my wedding ceremony I had my second cry of the day.  All of those RSVP's sitting in my shoe box at home had translated into all of these people sitting in one place at our wedding.  It was so surreal.  It was finally happening.  The six months of planning and a hectic morning had finally come down to this.  I watched Mj walk his grandma then our mom's down the aisle.  Then our bridal party walked down the aisle to take their places at the front. 

Mj and Grandma.  He went back and got my mom and his mom. 
I got them both to wear PINK!

Our bridal party.  The girls-Eb, Fe, Jan, Lil' sis.



Eb is one of my closest friends and the only one of my bridesmaids who lives here and actually got to come to my bridal shower.  We met about five years ago when we both used to work for the same company.  She is as forgetful and fun as she is sweet and giving.  I love having her as a friend.  Fe is the one friend I made in college and actually stayed in touch with.  She lives in Atlanta but she told me from the start that she would make it for my wedding.  She was only here for one night.  I wish I had been able to spend more time with her.  Jan is my oldest and closest friend.  We met in 8th grade English class.  We are such opposites it's a wonder that we were even friends.  I was always the quiet conservative one and she was the wild outspoken one who dated older guys when I had never even been on a date.  We did cheerleading and gymnastics together in high school and stayed in touch through college even with all the craziness going on in our lives.  She is in No. Cal finishing out her time in the Army AND getting her Master's degree.  She drove for hours here and back to be at my wedding for just the one night and I barely even got a chance to talk to her.  Without her this wedding would not even be happening since she is THE WOMAN who introduced us.  Thank goodness she did!  Last but not least is little sis and MOH.  My how this young lady has grown up.  She is 10 years younger then me and I used to change her diapers.  She used to be painfully shy but now she is a beautiful well spoken young woman about to graduate from college in San Francisco.  The only person not up there that I wanted to be was my big sis.  She got pregnant and didn't know if she was even going to be able to come.  Then she found out she could and I was just happy to have her there. 

I didn't have a bachelorette party.  I don't have a lot of friends.  I'm kind of over "going out" and so the idea going to party downtown just to say I did for my bachelorette party was not appealing.  After reading about some of these awesome girls weekends that other bride's had I kinda wished I'd been able to have that.  How amazing it would have been to spend a weekend or even a day with all of these ladies.

   

Mj watching me approach.  Our officiant
may have been nervous the night before
but looks confident here.
He is my bridesmaid Eb's husband.

One of my favorite moments of that day was walking down the aisle with my dad.  He just so happens to have been the target of my only bridezilla moment of the day but I put that behind me as we walked arm in arm.  I drank in everything around me.  The melody of the beautiful music we chose.  The vibrant colors all around me.  All of our friends and family seated together.  The beautiful stark white arch and my handsome man standing there in his tux waiting for me.  Sometimes when people are nervous they rush but my nerves were gone and for the first time all day I felt no need to hurry.  I wanted to take my time and savor the moment.  I need that moment because everything before and after was truly a blur. 

I couldn't stop smiling!

I love it how this pic caught my mom in the background between Mj and Dad.

A great start to the festivities.

You May Kiss the Bride......

Let Her Eat Cake

Having a baby is no joke.  You first must host this child inside your body for 9 months and watch your stomach get bigger then you ever thought possible.  Your body goes through all kinds of changes, hormonal and everything else in between, and then you have to either push it out or have it surgically removed.  The miracle of life is beautiful and all but still-I shudder at the thought.  My poor big sis went through a lot to bring her little man into this world.  She had a hard time getting pregnant in the first place, had a miscarriage, then had fibroids removed to try getting pregnant again.  Once she did get pregnant again those fibroids grew right back with a vengeance causing her painful early contractions.  Then on top of that-gestational diabetes.  Not just the kind that requires diet modification.  She had to actually do daily insulin injections.  She LOVES to eat and HATES needles so this was very hard for her.   But she did it so she could have her healthy baby boy.

The Pastry Chef goes to work

Mj volunteered to make her a sweet sugar filled cake after she had the baby.  He doesn't make the kind that comes out of the box.  He makes the whole darn thing from scratch including the frosting.  The last one he made in June was one of the best cakes I've ever had.  He is very serious about his cakes.  He does research to come up with just the right recipe and he wants it to be just right.  Big sis requested double chocolate so he spent Friday evening making it so we could bring it to her on Saturday.  It turned out just lovely!

Double Chocolate Cake 100% from scratch

We drove to mom's house where big sis is staying on Saturday afternoon.  We all oohed and ahhed over this cake and my mom went out to get ice cream and milk to go with it.  The three of us went to a late lunch and when we got back it was CAKE time and this cake did not disappoint.  The bad news is that she might still have diabetes even though it is supposed to go away after mom delivers.  She is waiting on her test results right now.  The good news is this little guy gets cuter by the day.  We do plenty of oohing and aahing over him too.

He is so sweet!  Four weeks old.

DJ hates his pacifier.  He eats and then his eyes get all droopy as he falls asleep.  His yawns are so big and he makes the most adorable funny faces.  Even Mj finally broke down and wanted to hold him.  As cute as he is he is a lot of work but big sis is embracing her new role as a stay at home mom and I know she will be a good one.

New mom and baby.  Two weeks after C section.

As for that cake.  As good as it was I'm glad it's not in our house because I already know I would eat way too much of it.  I already have my birthday cake request in for April and have already decided that I don't care how much of that one I eat.

The Name Change Shuffle

I changed my last name at the Social Security office and the DMV and it wasn't until after that I felt an unexpected twinge of loss, sadness even-and I can't quite seem to put my finger on why.   After my first marriage I changed my name and never questioned it at any point.  Maybe it's because I'm older now?  After the divorce I didn't want to go through the trouble of changing it back so I never requested that as part of the divorce decree.  I didn't think it would be a big deal to do it later but was shocked and angry to find out that the court wanted to charge me $300 dollars to change it back!  I didn't want the hassle at first but it wasn't long before I felt sort of icky having the ex's last name.  I needed a fresh start.  Fortunately, they eliminated that fee and I felt such sheer relief at getting my own name back that I hardly minded all the phone calls to switch everything out. Again.  I vowed never to change it again.  It's just too much work and I truly believed I would never marry again anyways.  That icky feeling and need to reclaim my maiden name alone tells me that there's something in a name....even though I don't quite know what that something is.

I didn't consider not changing anything.  We are married now.  I want my name merged with his.  Now, if I didn't like his last name I might feel differently.  I have a Bachelor's degree in my maiden name but I haven't done anything awesome like write a book or win a Pulitzer prize with it, unless you count winning the Sectional gymnastics championships in high school.  Which you don't.  Nor have  I established any kind of "career reputation" with it.  You'd actually have to have a career in order to do that.  I don't feel attached to my maiden name for feminist reasons.  The basically chauvinistic concept that it is women who are expected to change their names and not men is not lost on me but I accept it.  It's certainly not about the principal of it for me.  I considered hyphenating but I couldn't really come up with a real reason why I wanted that other then that I felt it would make the transition easier. If I kept both last names then I could interchange between the two seamlessly as needed.  I started reading up about how the hyphen can be a problem during name searches and how no matter what you need to use only one official name anyways to prevent any issues down the road.  I guess just don't feel adamant enough about retaining my maiden name to go the hyphenated route.

It's hard being two people at once.  I don't know who anyone has me on file as.  I carried both drivers licenses just in case because all my credit cards didn't match the new license yet and they punched a hole through the expiration date on the old one.  The last step was putting in the paperwork at my job-which I still don't think has gone through.  Now that I have officially made the change I am actually three people.  There are certain things that I don't want to bother with and/or don't even know how to go about switching.  What do you do about real estate and property titles?  My condo and timeshare are in my old married name.  My car title is in my maiden name.  I will need to change my passport which will then have a 3rd name amendment added to it.  Unfortunately, I don't have any international trips planned so I suppose I can take my time on that one.

Verbally identifying myself as myself with my new last name still feels strange.  When they called my name at the doctor's office it was almost like they were calling someone else and when I see it in print it almost takes me by surprise for a second.  So what's in a name?  I'm still not sure.  My maiden name is me.  I like it.  It's who I have always been.  It sounds natural to say it and it's what I am used to.  On the other hand, I am honored to take Mj's  last name.  It feels special for us to share that and it's new but I already like it.  I'm sure that I will come to own my new last name and take comfort in it as I do our relationship itself.  The reality is that I don't even  think I want to be the person I was before I met him.  He changed my life for the better and there is no me without him so despite any conflicting feelings and brief sense of identity crisis I might feel as a result I know that it's the right choice for me.