The Best Laid Plans....

Our apartment looks like chaos. I bet if you looked up the word "chaos" in the dictionary, there would be a picture of our apartment. There are boxes everywhere along with tape guns, bubble wrap, permanent markers and random possessions. I can't wait to move it all out of the apartment and in turn make the house the new poster child of chaos. :)

Today Ben and I attempted to rid our apartment of some of the many boxes. We loaded up the Highlander and headed out to the storage unit. After unloading the boxes, we headed over to the house to commence cleaning day # 2. We had everything figured out; We were going to clean the rest of the kitchen (the upper cabinets, the appliances, and the floor), paint the pantry shelves and touch up the carpet with the handheld steam cleaner. I was thinking, "this won't take long..." I was wrong.

We arrived at the house at about 11:00am. I forgot to bring a sponge to clean the refrigerator parts, etc, so we ran up to CVS (right around the corner). After CVS we swung over to Subway to get something to eat. So we really didn't start cleaning until Noon. Long story short, we finished at 7:30pm.....and I didn't get the kitchen floor or upper cabinets cleaned. It took me a couple hours to clean the refrigerator alone! Cleaning by ourselves definitely made us appreciate even more having Mom and Dad there to help us last weekend!

But we are very excited to get into the house. Ben said that he likes the house more every time we go into it. And I feel more like it's really OUR house each time we go. We have less than a week to go until moving day, I can't wait!

Happy Birthday and Happy Cleaning!

Our visit with Mom and Dad has come to an end, but we are looking forward to seeing them in less than two weeks for the big move!

The visit started off with a surprise, as Mom and Dad weren't supposed to be arriving until 1:30ish on Thursday afternoon. I had planned on vacuuming that morning and then heading up to the store to pick up a few things (coffee, drinks, etc). I got up, showered, vacuumed and got sucked into watching Fried Green Tomatoes on HBO (I had never seen it before!) . So there I sat, in my robe and pajamas and my hair in a towel. I figured, "I have plenty of time!" Somewhere around 11:30, mom called and said they were a couple hours away and asked if they should stop to eat lunch or wait until they got in. She also said she would be calling when they were about 15 minutes away so I could turn the oven on for the roast. After I got off the phone I thought to myself, the movie should be over soon and then I will get up, do my hair, get dressed and run up to the store. I barely finished my thought before my phone started ringing, it was Mom....they were 15 minutes away! Completely took me by surprise! Luckily I was able to get myself presentable before they actually arrived. :)

Ben and I got our first housewarming presents from Mom and Dad. I got a bird feeder and a big bag of bird seed. Ben got a hose, a cool nozzle for the hose (it looks like a firehose nozzle), a stud finder and a laser level. We are very excited to put all our new "toys" to good use at the new house!

So on my birthday Mom and I went shopping while Dad wandered around places like Sears, Home Depot's Expo center (where he had bought a new granite counter top and sink for their half bath on Thursday) and Lowes. Mom and I found lots of good deals and I was so excited to wear a new shirt out to dinner that night. After Ben got off work we went out to eat at Bertucci's an Italian Restaurant in Herndon, VA. It was very good. The pics below are from the restaurant.

On Saturday we left the apartment around 9:30am and headed out to the new house where we put Mom and Dad to work cleaning, after we gave them a tour of course! I, unfortunately, did not take any pictures while we were at the house because we were so busy cleaning. Dad and Ben cleaned all the carpets (except the basement) and fixed a few things here and there. Mom and I had the joy of cleaning the bathrooms (yuck!) and part of the kitchen. We got a late start cleaning(2:30ish) and headed back to the apartment around 8:00pm. We picked up Five Guys for dinner, good as usual. By the time we got back to the apartment Aida had been left alone for 12 hours! But she is a very good dog and didn't have any accidents.

So Mom and Dad headed out this afternoon after Ben made them his homemade cinnamon biscuits. :) Like I said, we are looking forward to yet another visit in just a little over a week. It'll be nice to have both Daniel and Nathan here too!

Overall, I had a very nice birthday and after cleaning the house, it is finally starting to feel like our house!

Let the Moving Begin!

Well, it's official. We pulled up to the house today (to start our radon tests) and the for sale sign no longer says "for sale"....it says "SOLD"!!!! We were pretty excited.

We rented a storage unit in Stephens City right up the road from the house. We packed up the SUV with as much stuff as we could, filled a friend's truck with a bunch of stuff and headed out to Stephens City this morning to start filling up our 5ft x 10ft storage unit. We figure over the next couple of weeks we will be able to move a good amount of our stuff so that on moving day we will only be left with the big furniture but we shall see if that all works out.

After packing up the storage unit, we headed over to the house to start the radon tests we had bought. The tests will collect a reading over the next few days before we have to send them back to the lab. After that was all set up we headed out for lunch. We decided to try out "IJ Cannes" an American Grille restaurant in Stephens City/Winchester. The food was pretty good, I had a burger and Ben had a BBQ beef sandwich. Shenandoah Chocolate shop sits close by the restaurant so we walked over to check it out. Yummy.

The people at the restaurant and the chocolate shop were so nice. The owners of the chocolate shop talked with us and gave us information about the area and even told us about some spot in Washington National Park that only the locals know about. We are both very happy to be moving out that way. It seems like the people are a lot friendlier and that there is more of a neighborhood-like feeling.

Second Big Purchase....

This past weekend we had "purchased" our home inspection! Whoo hoo! Having a home inspection is not necessary, but highly recommended. We thought that an inspection was very important when making such a big purchase and would highly suggest anyone buying a home have an inspection as well. The inspector was very nice and very thorough. He checked every single outlet and every nook and cranny of the house.

Luckily the house "passed" the inspection. There isn't any big problems that need fixing, just a lot of little things. When the old owners were foreclosed on, they took just about all of the lighting fixtures and left the wires hanging out of the ceiling. So, we have to either cap off the hole or install a lighting fixture. They left wires hanging out of the back outside wall that went to a hot tub or sauna, so those will also need to be covered. In order to pass FHA assessment we have to fix these minor issues before closing.

Lately, Ben and I have been watching nothing but HGTV and TLC to get ideas for the house. We are very excited to move in and start to personalize our very first home! We have picked out paint samples and looked at lighting fixtures, but we aren't buying anything yet. We have our list of things we need and things we want. Although those two lists sometimes intertwine, we have our priorities in check....i think. :)

**UPDATE**
I just posted this entry not but 1 hour ago and I received a phone call from our realtor with the good news that the appraiser from FHA went through the home today and gave no restrictions for passing FHA regulations! So that means that, although we are going to cover the lighting fixture holes, we do not have any time constraints in which to complete that task.

First Big Purchase....other than the house....

Yesterday evening Ben and I made our first big purchase for the house. A Washer and Dryer....I know, we're livin' on the edge. We purchased a Maytag Bravos set after much research and debate. I decided from the beginning that I did not want a front load washer based on the reviews and reports I read on them. Coincidentally, LG front load washers now have a warning on them stating that they are not intended for use on a second or third floor. The vibrations are so bad that they need to be set on a concrete (basement) floor. I also read that front load washers are increasingly having issues with mold. And supposedly retailers are supposed to warn you of this problem and suggest that you wipe out your machine after every use.....definitely not for me. Besides, the laundry room at the house is not in the basement so that pretty much determined my decision from the beginning.

So we decided on the Maytag set you see in the picture above (but we went with the white color because it costs less than the colored washers and dryers...go figure). The washer is HE and both the washer and the dryer are Energy Star qualified. We are very excited and hope that we like them. Unfortunately there really isn't one washer out there that people/reviews agree on being the best bet. So we are hoping that we will have a good review of the washer. The idea is pretty neat with this washing machine. It doesn't have a central agitator thus giving it more room (4.7 cu ft!).

Along with our purchase, we got 3 years of Tide for free (something like $250 worth), a $100 mastercard gift card, and a rebate for free delivery. Plus the appliances were all 10% off. So good deal.

The set is due to be delivered on our closing date (March 20th). I will post my review after I get to use them!!!

House Photos

Here are some pictures I have taken at the new house! We are very excited and can't wait to move in! Yesterday we met with our mortgage broker and locked in a rate of 4.5% fixed so we are very happy.

Mom and Dad are coming to visit in a couple of weeks and we are anxious to show them the house. We plan on putting them to work helping us start to clean it. :)

We have our home inspection this weekend. Hopefully everything will be up to code and in good condition. We have our fingers crossed. And of course I will let everyone know how it goes.

That's it for now. :)

WELCOME HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited right now I can't type long but......Ben and I put an offer on a house and it was just accepted today after a month and a half wait!!!!! So anyone who wants to come visit after March 20th (our close date) we will have plenty of room!

~~~

Our first home. Now come the babies...just kidding. :)

~~~

Details to follow soon.

As Seen on TV

Ben and I went and got ourselves sucked into the vortex of what some may call a gimmicky product. We bought a Peticure. The Peticure is a nail file for your pet. It claims that instead of using a typical nail trimmer, that causes pressure and breaking of the nail, the Peticure gently files the nail down.

The store we buy Aida's food at (Wylie Wagg) just had gotten them back in stock and were almost out again so we decided to pick one up. They said that the peticure works really well so we figured we'd give it a shot.

The Peticure claims that you have to first introduce the product to your dog over a several day period. You need to have "positive treats" ready so your dog associates the peticure with good things. We are currently in that "introduction" period and will hopefully be able to successfully file Aida's nails soon.

We will give an update as to whether our purchase was in fact worth it soon! :)

"911, What's Your Emergency?"

I am going to try and make a very long story short....Here it goes:

Last night around 7 pm, I walked into the kitchen to do the dishes and noticed a smell. It smelled like a gas burner on the stove top had been left on without the flame lit. So obviously concerned, I called Ben in. He agreed that there was definitely a smell, but wasn't convinced it was from the stove top.

Ben pulled the stove out, turned off the gas, opened the window and turned on the exhaust fan. I did the dishes and then headed into the bedroom where the smell about knocked me down. Confused as to where the smell was actually coming from, Ben and I walked around sniffing everywhere as if we suddenly joined the canine species. Surprisingly, our master bathroom smelled the strongest. So we opened the windows and turned on the fan. Mind you it is in the low 20s outside.

We called the emergency maintenance number. We didn't want to call 911 because we weren't sure that it was gas from the stove. The maintenance guy came in and was like, "Whoa! It really does smell in here!" Duh. So after he searched around he found a garage that had a car that really really smelled strongly of gasoline. The strange thing was, the garages are not directly below our apartment and moreover, the car was not leaking. After going back and forth, the maintenance guy could not determine the owner of the vehicle and so he called 911.

With sirens blazing the firetruck showed up along with the shift commander. It was hilarious to see the people "rubber-necking" out of their windows and driving by very slowly. One woman was on the 3rd floor across the way and had her blinds pulled all the way up and her window open so she could hear what was going on!

They checked out our apartment, as well as the other apartments in our building. They broke into one garage to check another car, and somehow got inside the stinky car. They could not find a leak but were pretty sure that that car was the culprit. So the Sheriffs Department was called to determine the ownership of the vehicle to have it moved and further investigate the stench. They couldn't figure it out. The plates were from California so I don't know if that was part of the problem.

So the firefighters said they were going to leave the garage door open and if the smell got worse in our apartment, we were to call them back and they would tow the vehicle. Luckily, the smell seemed to dissipate and there was only a slight hint of the smell this morning. So hopefully, they will find the owner today and get the situation resolved. Otherwise we may be calling our good ol' friends at the fire department again this evening.

Other than my splitting headache this morning, everyone is doing fine. :)

A Round of Applause...

My title of this particular post refers to the great state of Virginia's road crew. And believe me, i am being very sarcastic.

I woke up this morning to the sounds of snow blowers outside my window. While that may not sound very odd to those who live in Ohio or Wisconsin, note that there are no sidewalks outside my bedroom window. Instead they were literally snow-blowing the parking lot. I remembered this from last year but thought perhaps they would have learned their lesson from before.

So I turned on the TV to find out that just about every school within a 25-50 mile radius of here was closed, including colleges and Universities. And you would expect to see several feet of snow, as this was what was required to shut down schools back in Ohio, but Nooooo. The snow doesn't even cover the grass which is peaking out everywhere. Virginians are pansies.

This evening Ben and I headed out to grocery store to pick up the usual eggs and milk. I figured that the snow had long since stopped so I assumed (you know what they say when you assume) that the roads would be crystal clear. Holy crap! The main road outside of our apartment complex looked like they never touched it; it was completely covered with absolutely no visible lines. Luckily the expressway was relatively cleared. Even Wegman's (the grocery store) parking lot was better cleared than that of the main roads. I suppose we'd be better off if the Wegman's maintenance team took over the city's road maintenance. Perhaps it is a lack of salt, lack of manpower or just the state's choice of sub-standard sand (yes, sand) to make the snow "melt," but anyway you look at it, the roads suck.

That's right, I am geezing. Uncle Larry can geez about politics, so I can geez about the weather and those damn roads. To be fair, this is the first snow that has stuck all winter...Even so, I do miss Ohio for their road crews, they were usually on top of things.

I have always maintained that all Virginians should be required to spend at least one winter in Ohio to learn how to drive.

Murder Mystery

Over the Holiday break, Sara hosted a Murder Mystery dinner at Aunt Debbi & Uncle Jim's house. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pics from the dinner.

Enjoy!

Christmas 2008

Here are some pictures from Christmas. We were both so happy to be able to come home for Christmas this year. It was really nice to see everyone and to spend so much time visiting. It has been sad to come back to our apartment without any of our family here, but it is certainly fun to go through the photos. I plan to have the rest of my pics up on the blog, like i said, by the weekend.

This weekend we are heading back out to Stephens City to look at a few more properties. One of the houses we are looking at is a foreclosure and would need a little work according to the realtor. But we figured with Dad being retired we are going to steal him to help us out when we find a place. :) And come spring I am going to steal (or borrow) Mom and Aunt Martha to help with landscaping. They know all about flowers and shrubberies and such. :)

I will post updates and photos as I get them. Love to all.

We miss you all.

Here come the Updates!

Only a little over a month behind, here are some pictures of the little Lima Beans (Caleb and Owen) at Thanksgiving. I am still working on Christmas, New Years and Dad's Retirement Party Pics but I hope to have them all uploaded by the end of the weekend....we shall see!

A Screeching Halt....

So I may be being a tad over-dramatic (I know what you're all thinking, "Stephanie?!?! Dramatic?! Those two words don't belong in the same sentence!" You're too kind.) Anyways, today Ben and I continued our search for a house. We met a really nice realtor that we like very much. She has been sending us lists of houses to go through and we have sent her the ones we were interested in seeing. Many of the houses we had showed interest in have been going under contract right from under our noses unfortunately. But today we headed out to Stephens City, VA to view 6 properties that we had liked from the listings Julie (our realtor) had sent us a couple days ago. By the time we arrived (10AM this morning) to Julie's house (also in Stephens City) 3 of the 6 houses had gone under contract within the past 2 days. So she had pulled a few more houses to show us.

House 1
The first house was actually right across the street from Julie's house. The neighbors there were all very friendly, they waved to each other while driving by, etc. It was a really nice neighborhood feel. But unfortunately the house wasn't exactly what we had wanted. The biggest drawback, for me, was that there was no basement. So we left for house number two.

House 2
House 2 was in a newer allotment and was brand new itself. It was a beautiful house. We both liked it very much. It wasn't too big and had an unfinished basement that had the rough in for a bathroom. The kitchen was stunning: granite countertops, stainless steel appliances (GE Profile), dark wood cabinets....I loved it. The master bedroom was enormous! The master bath was really nice. Everything was perfect. On top of everything else, the subdivision was offering special financing for 30-year fixed mortgages at 4.875%. As if that rate was not good enough, they were also offering $10,000 towards closing costs, and a special mortgage rate of 3.8% fixed for the first two years and the 4.875% for the last 28 years. The price had also been reduced $100,000. Perfect.

Houses 3-6
Nothing to speak of. Water damage on the ceiling in one, lots of cracks in the other, nothing that compared to House numero 2.

Lunch
The realtor took us out to lunch at a local Italian restaurant. The food was really good, and they even have homemade mozzarella sticks....yummy. I was sold. I loved the area all together, the neighborhood feeling was there that we miss so much from Ohio, the realtor could tell us all about the areas whether they were good or bad, how the schools were, if they were safe, etc. All things she isn't really supposed to tell us, but that we greatly appreciated and wanted to know.

Back to House 2
We decided that we would go back to the house that we both loved so much. We sat down with the sales consultant in the office and discussed numbers and the down payment. The down payment was $9,000. And we don't have $9,000 readily available. So we said we couldn't sign a contract at that moment but we wanted to see the house one more time. So as we went back to the house, another family was coming into the office to talk about the same house.

Ben and I talked all the way home about how we could come up the money so we could get this house. The whole time Ben is nervously biting his nails as I chatted away about what we could do where, all the while hoping that other family didn't buy the house.

They went into contract a couple hours later. I cried...stupid i know, but I let myself get really excited. And to be fair, I was upset not only because we loved the house, but because of what a great deal it was with all the incentives. We both felt like we really missed out on a wonderful opportunity. As the realtor said, if it was meant to be we would have gotten the house.....I just wish it had been meant to be. :(

Our search, for now, has come to a screeching halt.

The Hunt is On

Ben and I have started to look for a house. We have mutually decided that although we love our apartment, we would rather be paying towards a mortgage rather than paying rent. Our biggest set back is the location we can afford. In order to get out of the $400,000-$500,000 range, our house hunt has led us an hour West. That, of course, means a much longer commute for Ben. We like the area we are looking well enough, but we will be sacrificing certain things (i.e. Ben's commute time and being close to just about everything). Nothing has been decided, and we certainly don't expect to be moving anytime soon. With the housing market being so low we figured now would be a good time to buy a house, if we find the right house at the right price.

Just today we walked through a house in Winchester (the area an hour West of our apartment) that was on Apple Pie Ridge Road. We really liked the house. It is a small house but it sits on 2 acres. I will be posting photos soon that I took while we were at the property.

On Friday we are heading back out to Winchester to check out another property. And I will do my best to keep everyone updated on our House Hunt. :)

What's a Puggle?

Several weeks ago Ben and I were able to visit our friend Brett Custer back in Ohio. He had recently adopted a new member to his family. Brett named his new "son" Buster Custer. Buster is a Puggle, which is a mix between a Pug and a Beagle. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical on what the cross between those two types of dogs would look like, but Buster is absolutely adorable. Just see for yourself....

When it rains...

If you haven't heard already...there has been yet another chapter to Ben's Accident Saga. A couple days ago Ben woke up with a lot of pain in his right wrist. After insisting that he call the doctor despite the fact that he had an appointment scheduled for the upcoming Tuesday, he reluctantly made the call.

So Friday we found out that his pain was for good reason. One of his pins had broken. Unfortunately the pin broke in a "bad spot" as the doctor said. The pin was partially in the bone and partially in the joint, hence the pain. So after finding out that Ben and I hadn't had anything to eat or drink yet, the doctor insisted on doing the surgery that evening. Otherwise, Dr Miller said he'd worry about Ben all weekend.

So long story short, the surgery went very well. Dr Miller took about an hour to fish out the broken piece of pin through a small incision on the top of his wrist. The pin did not cause any damage to his joint. He will be in a small splint for the next three weeks on his right wrist. But he has a removable brace on his left wrist and will start physical therapy on Monday for that wrist.

Just another bump in the road. :)

As I promised...

As I have promised here are the rest of my photos from Wisconsin. They are mostly of the kids playing outside in the leaves. So enjoy the adorable Wisconsin kids...

Ben and I are planning on heading back to Virginia this Wednesday. He is getting his casts off on Tuesday (the 18th) as well as the pins pulled out (ouch!). Luckily it looks like we will be back in town for Thanksgiving so we are looking forward to seeing everyone again very soon. Thank you all for such a wonderful visit (in Wisconsin and Ohio).

And for everyone we don't get to see on Thanksgiving, Have a Happy Turkey Day! :)

On a roll...

So far I am enjoying my web album. I have been meaning to put these photos online. They are from the quick visit we had with the Lima family. Caleb and Owen are just the sweetest little boys.

I am still getting my Wisconsin photos in order and they will be posted asap. :)

Wisconsin Trip Part 1

Uncle Larry has helped me start Picasa Web albums. So enjoy this first round of Wisconsin photos. I have more photos from my other camera that i have yet to upload to the computer. So as soon as I get those organized, I will add them to the blog.

We really enjoyed ourselves in Wisconsin and wish we could have stayed longer. Hopefully we will be able to see everyone again soon.

Enjoy the slideshow. :)