Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A Bit of Catch Up




 
This post will have a lot of pictures.  We've been so busy the last two weeks, we barely have time to sleep!  And we are exhausted from doing this and that!






We moved into our new house June 15th and spent two and half days pulling staples, tack strips, washing and finishing the hardwood floors.  (The landlady/landlords were kind enough to agree to keep the hardwood floors.  It saved them a $3,000 expense to re-carpet the entire house)  Murphy's Oil Soap and Orange Glo for Hardwood Floors are what we used and we think the floors look GREAT!

(The bedroom is after-hallway is before)

(after)

Our furnishings arrived June 20th and we've been busily unpacking and organizing every since that day.












We've taken a day here and there to do shopping or go for a drive. We've been to the county fair.  I bought some California drought resistant plants from a local homeowner who was thinning out his garden.  We parked the "TOY" at an auto show in Ramona, CA while we went and ate at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  We bought a patio set, area rugs, washer, dryer, and refrigerator off craigslist.  We started looking for a church home on Sunday and are having a good time with that.






(hydroponics display at the fair)






(on a drive at sunset through the mountains)




(the new pets that came with our house)

(our craigslist patio set)

(my craigslist plants)

We're enjoying our folksie neighbors who are a joy to get to know.  One neighbor has brought me fresh eggs, fresh oranges, grapefruit and loaned me a juicer.  One neighbor is sharing his Kumquats and requested a jar of homemade marmalade. . .I'll try making some later this week.

(making grapefruit juice)

My husband started his new job yesterday.  It looks as if his first week will be catching up on paperwork and having a range day.  He brought home his most recent G.V. (government vehicle) last night and will be able to use it for his commute to and from work.  (I don't have a picture of it yet)

The weather has been gorgeous!  It gets about 80 during the day and 60 at night, here at our place.  The cooler air starts moving in when the sun goes down.  We're eating dinner on the patio and I have my morning coffee out there as well.

Today is a down day.  I'm going over to a dear friends house to soak up some sun, swim in a pool and relax in a hottub!

(some final pictures of a bit of decorating progress.)



(my, new to me, area rug. . .from craigslist)



(another new to me, area rug for #2 son's room-from craigslist!)







Well . . .that's about it from here, for now.

Have a great week dear friends!!


Monday, June 11, 2012

Somebody's Been Praying



You all have been praying, I can tell!

We arrived in San Diego on Friday evening tired but safe and sound.  We had driven about 2200 miles in 5 days.  We didn't stop too much to do sightseeing.  I guess we'll have to go back later and see the sights we think we missed out on.


My favorite parts of the drive were immediately west of Dallas/Fort Worth off of highway 180.  It was so beautiful there in the canyons with the mesquite bushes!


The other area I thought gorgeous was west of Hobb's,  New Mexico.  The mountains going down into the valley by Alamogordo and  White Sands, New Mexico . . . beautiful!!  I believe that area was called, Lincoln National Forest.




It was hot in southern Arizona and eastern California.  The temperature reaching 103 degrees.  We drove west through the Cleveland National Forest in California and it kept getting cooler.  By the time we reached our hotel around 5 pm Friday it was 71 degrees.  It has stayed that temperature for the last three days.

We hit the ground running on Saturday morning.  We drove by properties and called for appointments to view houses I have been watching on craigslist.  By noon Saturday we had driven by 6 properties and had an appointment to view a property at noon. 


(Home on working cattle ranch with cool aviary pens and corrals with donkey's!  Way too far out=long commute so this wasn't even a consideration. . .I just wanted to see it in person.  I still love the location.)

(this house was very small at 1100 sq. ft.  but the property would allow garden, chickens, and other animals such as horses.  We kept this one on the list even though I knew the house would be too small.  It also was in town, but rural on 3/4 of an acre)
 
(of course you know, this is the one I LOVED from the ad and pictures.  The property  management office was closed over the weekend so we were unable to view it.  We did drive by it, it was so surrounded by trees, all we managed to glimpse was the roof.  The commute would have been about 40 minutes and this place was very rural )


Our appointment at noon lasted  TWO hours!  We filled out a credit check and application and signed our rental agreement yesterday (Sunday).  We've NEVER EVER had a house hunt last only 3 hours.  We are so blessed and just amazed at answered prayer at every turn in our lives!!

May I also say, that though the house is not in the country-country, it answered every one of my prayer requests?!
  • country
  • acreage
  • cute house
  • ability to garden
  • ability to keep chickens
  • ability to keep a small animal, such as a goat or sheep for 4-H type of project


(that is a picture of our pasture/garden/ future chicken coop and the neighbors house where they keep 3 horses)

 

(breezeway/patio)

 

kitchen/dining

 

(den)

 

(My husband with one of the Landlords, Debbie)

 

This home was the longtime family home of a family of 6.  The home has been in the family since it was built in 1957.  The parents are both gone now and the 4 children are using this property as an investment property.  It had been UN-livedin  for 4 years as the family sorted through their parents things, dividing them up.  I've been watching the listing on craigslist since March.  We are not their first tenants as they own some type of apartments as well.  They've also been dis-allusioned by recently vacated tenants who left them with unpaid rent and a HUGE mess.  We are moving into their family home, so they are pretty firm in how they want the property to remain.  We wanted them to expose the hardwood floors . . . they will be buying NEW carpet for the entire house.  I wanted to paint at least a semi-gloss in the bedrooms but it will remain flat paint.  There are a few other quirky things but they are not unreasonable.  We're praying they loosen up with us when they get to know us and our steady rent payments!

I'm excited to decorate.  I've already decided on quilts for the bedrooms and which room will be which.

The Master bedroom is 14X22 with dual master closets AND a Master bathroom. (I've never had a master bathroom before!)  This bathroom has a bit of chocolate brown tile.

 

(This is the quilt I picked.  I'll sew up a turquoise dust ruffle and use cream colored sheets)

The room I chose as the office is the second largest bedroom at 15X15.  It will generously fit our big desk, my students home school desk,  all the bookshelves and a twin size bed.  I'll try to find a turquoise/robins egg blue bedding set to match the paint on my big desk.  This room also has dual closets.  One will be my craft storage area, the other for #2 son's Lego's.

The smallest bedroom is still a good size at 12X13.  It will fit a king size bed, nightstand and dresser.  This will be #2 son's room and the guest room for when we have company.  It has a good size single closet.

 

I picked the tropical duvet cover.  It has palms, a sail boat, deserted island and a beach scene.(you may find it here  I'll use maps and nautical accessories to decorate.

The main bath has two sinks.  Pink tile within the bathtub area and neutrally painted tile on the outside.  The house is full of closets and has a big linen closet in the hall I'll use as my pantry.  The carpet the landlady has picked is a semi shag in a creamy tan color with dark brown flecks.

It looks as if our things will be delivered to the new place June 19th and we move in on June 15th.  I'll be sure to keep you posted as to the unpacking and decorating progress.  We'll be without internet for the coming weekend. 

Thank you so much for praying for us.  We feel so blessed by God to have HIM answer so many prayers recently.

Have a great week!