Get off MY lawn!!

Hiya Friends!

We closed on the house Tuesday! Hooray!!! I'm a grown-up!

Rob and I went over and hung out in our house just to hang out. Then, in the backyard, we met the crazy, barking neighbor dog. It jumped up on the fence, broke a slat and sent Rob and I scurrying away. So task #1 for the house? Replace the fence!

The contractors will be starting work on Monday then once their work is done, we can move in for real! The contractor said it was ok to paint and move stuff in as long as it doesn't in their way to get there work done. We took one load over yesterday and put it in a corner of the basement. I imagine we will take more over tonight, look at some more paint, pull up carpets and look at our wood floors again. We are thinking of getting them refinished but that =$$$$. Did you notice the # of $ signs in that sentence? That is the estimate I have right now. Yikes!

I'll post some pictures once we get some stuff done to the house. Some questions we have are:

1. what is the best way to clean the deck? 
2. what is a good color to paint the kitchen?

We are open to suggestions. :-) 

But does the carpet match the drapes?

RC and have an ongoing disagreement regarding the carpet in the new house. I know you were expecting some racy blog post on more personal topics but alas, it's still house related. Womp...womp...

The house has these great original wood floors, carpet in the first floor bedrooms and the strangely enough, the upstairs bathroom. I personally like the carpet. RC hates the carpet. It supposedly makes him sick to his stomach just looking at it.

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This green one is my favorite.

Perhaps I am too retro in my thinking....

NOT as enamored by this bad boy. 

 

The rusty brown leaves something to be desired....

 I truly love the green. The brown not so much. Aren't plain wood floors cold? Don't you need rugs and shiz to keep your furniture from scratching the finish?

We also looked at appliances that we need to buy. Here is my crazy idea: I want....drumroll please....an upright refrigerator and full upright freezer. Yes. Two separate units. I figure why not just buy them separately since we would only end buying a freezer anyway if we went with a traditional fridge. This just cuts out the extra appliance. What do you think? Genius or corn-fed folly?

Push back....

We pushed our closing date  to August 16, which just happens to be the first day of school for the damn kids. It still gives us two weeks to paint, rip out carpet, get contractors in and redo the floors before we have to be out of the current place.

The seller actually asked if we would be willing to push it back and offered a king size bed to sweeten the deal. He also wants to sell his dining room table which seems like good deal; we're just waiting to see how much he wants for it.

I meet with the contractors on Friday so they can do some measurements and prepare some bids for the work we are getting done. Exciting!!

RC and I adopted a new beagle named Bailey last night from a guy in Omaha.

 

Meet Beagle Bailey

She kinda fits right in doesn't she? Nana asked how Lucy Goose was reacting.

She seemed...unconcerned...relaxed...exhausted

According the Lee, the guy we adopted her from, she was some older lady's dog who was moving and he only had her about 5 months. She's bigger than Lucy but approximately 6 years old. Two old lady beagles seem fun, don't they? Bailey is getting a trip to the vet this afternoon (I don't think she's been since living with Lee) for some shots and a nail trim.

I'm sure both of our lady beagles will enjoy our soon to be new backyard.

RC and I are thinking about paint colors and appliances. Not the color of appliances but wall color. We LOVE these and if we could afford to get the fridge, stove and dishwasher set, we would be happy for many of our days. Of course the $11,000+ price tag is the only thing holding us back but whatever. One day we'll have some extra money to maybe printed out some pictures of these appliances and hang them somewhere in our house.

Inspectyerparts...

We had the total home inspection on Friday afternoon and while I wasn't able to be there, Mr. C was and got to speak to the inspector.

The good: the foundation is great for a house this age and dry!Hooray! Not much is needed to be done that grant money doesn't cover.

The bad: we'll need a new roof in about 5 years or so and the garage needs a new roof sooner rather than later.

Overall, they weren't deal breakers but we probably need to start looking at cost and where to cut down so we can put that new roof on before winter.

We close on August 4 and our lease expires on Sept 1. That will give us plenty of time to get things fixed, walls painted and floors refinished if we do that while cleaning the apartment at our leisure.

Mr. C and I plan on starting to pack and clean this weekend. Once the children get back, they can get to work on their rooms. Exciting!! Anyone have color suggestions?

Neighborhood pictures!

For those of you who want to know what a ghetto in Lincoln looks like, here is your chance. Behold, the terrible ghetto streets of Lincoln, NE!

Looking West.

Looking East. Park is at the end of the block.

View of the 'hood from the front sidewalk

Looking across the street

Another view heading East. To the right is big grassy field.

Street behind the house.

This is a park

Houses across from the park. 

Are you ready to come for a visit? We can BBQ on our DECK.

Hooray!!

Submitted an offer this afternoon which was fairly low PLUS I asked for a seller paid home warranty and BOOM! Offer accepted no negotiations!

Totally unexpected but a wonderful surprise! I should have asked for a pony. Closing date is August 4!

Sneaky pictures of the new house.....

View from front room to dining room

Look! No water in the basement and straight walls!

Laundry room

Kitchen

Sweet Deck

Backyard

View from the deck to the garage

West side of the house

Walkway from the front of house, East side

Stairs up to the front porch

Front view

Basement on the move

Front bedroom