Carpet, a kitchen, and a final move in date!

Wow, I haven't done an inside the house blog in awhile, and so much has changed! We have carpet, we have a kitchen, and we have a fireplace!

Here is the view of the kitchen with our stove waiting to be placed.

Here is our nearly completed bathroom.

View from the family room into the kitchen.

From the kitchen into the family room.

We are getting more and more excited every day. We also have a final closing date. We close on March 12th and will move in on the 14th. We are hoping to use the 12th and 13th to get some painting done! Can't believe it's only 14 days away.

Henry

This is Henry. He is our newest family member. We think he's pretty cute. Henry is a 6 1/2 week old Border Collie/Blue Heeler mix. His interests include whining while he eats, chewing on shoes or ropes or toys or fingers or anything else you might put in front of his mouth, he also likes cuddling. Welcome Henry!

See ya!

We spent Sunday evening with some wonderful friends celebrating and saying goodbye. Well, technically we did a lot more celebrating and a lot less saying goodbye, since that's the sad part. We decided happy hour at Portland City Grill was just the right setting! If you've never been there, you have to try it...great happy hour with an even better view of Portland from the 30th floor!

As I've mentioned before Tracy and Tyson are leaving (this Thursday) for Peru for over two years. Although I am in total denial that we won't see them for two years I am so excited to hear about all their adventures. Jeannie, Tracy and I have been great friends since college and even got to share a house in the booming metropolis of Lafayette, Oregon. We have such fun memories and always have a blast when we get to spend time together. I feel so blessed that our husbands enjoy time together as much as we do!

A few moments from the evening...

We had to get the spacing just right :)

We did it! Girls...was this the good one??? Funny, when I looked at them again, they all looked the same. Maybe the last 9 pictures Erik took weren't really necessary!

Boys being boys...

Boys being well, I'm not sure well behaved boys?!...

Friends, we will miss you so much! We love you!!

Painting, landscaping, and more...oh my!

Yet another Sunday after church spent at our new place! Well, at our place and at Shane and Kim's. Thanks for the yummy food friends! Quite a difference, huh? We were so excited to see the landscaped yard. Somehow it helps complete the picture.

Our fireplace and painted mantel, as well as our painted wall. Although, this painted wall will likely soon be a new color.

I'm a little nervous to ask this question because Erik and I have gone around and around and continue to have differing opinions. But, I've decided to be more open minded (Erik, that does not mean you win..at least not yet). Here's the debate. As you might or might not know, we have a ridiculously large flat screen television (it's what happens when a girl leaves town for a weekend and a boy is in charge of purchasing a TV). Anyway, the debate we are having is where to place the television in this room. One of us thinks the TV would look lovely on the beautiful dark stained table it is on now in front of the wall to the left of the fireplace. However, one of us thinks there is no better place than on our mantel. What do you think? Where would you put the TV? On the wall screaming for something to cover it, or on the mantel who is anxiously looking forward to the placement of the beautiful apothocary jars one wonderful sister in law (and brother) got us for Christmas?
I think the thing we were most excited to find this weekend was this...


An awesome backyard! We are so thankful that we have a large backyard with room to hang out, run around, play, and of course bar-b-que! We love it!

What do these dates have in common?

February 25th, March 11th, and March 16th. They have all been closing dates on our house at one point in time! The funniest part is that none of those dates will be our actual closing date, so we'll add another to that list. So, for all of you who told me not to be disappointed if they delay it, you were right!

It is looking like we will move in sometime during the week of March 23rd, which is such amazing timing because it is Spring Break for me. It will be wonderful to have some days to get organized, paint (any volunteers :), and just enjoy the house!

As for a house update, I didn't take another picture, but they have poured our back "patio" if you can call a 5 foot by 7 foot area a patio! They have also started leveling the ground for landscaping.

T minus 5 weeks

In five weeks...our lives will change. I am so excited for that time, I can hardly stand it. In five weeks (plus or minus a few days) we will be able to live in this amazing house! As we get closer and closer I am more and more thankful that we get to enjoy this place. I am constantly thinking of the memories we will build and create in this house. I am constantly thinking of the stories we will tell of "our first house" when we are old and gray. Have I mentioned how blessed we are?

Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have a husband who is willing to endure my constant conversations about refrigerators (we bought one this weekend...I heart my new fridge big time), carpets, where we should put furniture, what colors we should paint walls. I know there are about 100 other things he would rather be talking about, but he continues to listen (or fake listening really well:) Erik, you are wonderful!

So, here it is, or at least the most current version. It has sheet rock, which means that walls look like walls and rooms look like rooms. It is painted, and I am SOOOO pleased with the color. I am so excited to see my rusty red door. I am so excited to see grass and plants. I am just so excited.