Fun in the Sun...room

I haven't written in a while mostly because I've been focused on other things...Fantasy Football, Ryan's birthday, and the coming school year (Raymond starts Pre-K next month). However, today I am moved to write about the beauty of a sunroom.

Playing with Friends	Racing Around
Happy Ryan	Ryan's Birthday Party

Our sunroom is very much our play room. It connects to our family room. We've had 3 small events at our house. During these events the adults hung out in the family room while the kids played in the sunroom. We could watch the kids without tripping over their toys or being disturbed by excess noise. And the kids could play without hearing "quiet down" or "put that away" every few minutes.

But the sunroom is also a very peaceful place. In fact, every morning Raymond looks forward to sitting in the sunroom and enjoying his cereal amidst the warm gentle breeze. He especially loved it when Gran sat out there with him...and the two of them began almost every day out there while she was here. It really was a touching scene and it always made me smile.

No maintenance for me to call...

Having lived in an apartment for the last 3 years, I've gotten used to calling maintenance for every little repair. And I mean LITTLE. I've called maintenance to change a light bulb for me that was too high to reach without climbing on furniture.

But now there is no maintenance for me to call!!!

So, today I unclogged the bathroom sink. I got out my trusty Plumbing 1-2-3 book from Home Depot, took apart the pop-up drain, cleared the drain out, and put it all back together. Now I feel empowered! I think I'm ready to renovate my whole bathroom. OK...maybe that's a bit of a jump...but I do feel like there's a lot I can do myself if I'm willing to learn.

I think I'll go watch DIY Network now. Goodnight!

Chapter 1: The Beginning - Late June 2009

Anthony and I decided we were ready to start looking for a house at the end of June 2009. We've had our Realtor picked out for years (yes, she's that awesome), we had our finances in order (well, close enough), we knew what neighborhoods we were looking at, and we knew what we wanted in a house. Anthony did a quick search online and came across a house that met all of our criteria and then some, but it needed lots of TLC and was a short sale.

So we called up Lauren, our Realtor (who was about to take a week long vacation) and had her contact the sellers' agent. After quite some difficulty due to unresponsive tenants, Lauren's assistant, Pam, got us in to see the house on June 26, 2009.

We loved the house. It had everything we were looking for. 4 good size bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a living room AND family room, a dining room AND eat-in kitchen, and a SUNROOM!!! Not to mention a 2 car garage with extra space for a work bench, hardwood floors and ceramic tiles throughout, and a nice size front and back yard. And lets not forget that it's in a nice little neighborhood, conveniently located near the highway and shopping, and it's zoned for great elementary, middle, and high schools.

Never mind the filth and funk so bad that we wouldn't dare set our only child, Raymond, down for fear of what he might touch (or worse, what might touch him). Never mind the pictures of naked ladies, the joints laying around, and the absolutely gross toilets and tubs (the tenants were 4 bachelors in a rock band!!!). Never mind the great big FAKE RAT sitting atop the kitchen table!!! Hey, at least it wasn't real!!! Right, Nick? (Sorry, that's an inside joke between us, Lauren, and her husband, Nick)

In fact, we later learned that Pam called Lauren while we were viewing the house to tell her how absolutely horrible the house was. So naturally Lauren asked her what we had said about the house, and Pam shrieked with disbelief, "THEY LOVE IT!!!"

And yes, I said "only child." This was all pre-Ryan. Once upon a time we thought we would close on this house before he was born!!!

Well, to make a long story short, we submitted a bid the very next day, and after a brief price war with a few other buyers, had our offer accepted.

We returned to see the home a second time on July 7, 2009. We had a chance to chat with one of the tenants about the house and the neighborhood...both of which he loved. Below are pictures from our second visit (I caught the tenant's derrière in two of the pictures...sorry!). If you would prefer to view these pictures on Picasa, click here.

Shed in Backyard	Sunroom and Ivy "Thing"	The Deck (it's since been demolished)
The Pool (we had it removed)	Wires All Over the House	Living Room View
Living Room	Kitchen	Kitchen
Family Room into Sunroom	Master Bedroom	Master Bathroom and a Closet
Bedroom 2 of 4	Bedroom 3 of 4 (in all it's red, yellow, and green glory)	The Garage

To Be Continued...

P.S. Anyone in need of a Realtor in Hampton Roads, contact Lauren Conner at William E. Wood. Her contact info and bio can be found here.

Sick of Unpacking

Today's entry is about unpacking and how absolutely horrible it is. OK...so yes, this is just me venting to anyone who cares to listen. And I suppose that anyone right now is just my husband, since he is my one and only follower. Hmmmm... I suppose I need to send out an email telling family and friends that I've started this blog so that I can gain a few more followers.

OK...back to complaining about unpacking. We've been in the new home for about 3 1/2 weeks now, and there are still plenty of boxes to unpack. Not to mention, beds to put together, blinds/curtains to hang, cabinet doors to put up, furniture to move...and the list goes on and on. How will we ever get to the "real" work that needs to be done if the boxes won't disappear? Oh, well...I suppose I just have to be patient. Of course, anyone who knows me knows that patience is not one of my virtues.

OK, enough complaining! Right now Ryan is sleeping and Raymond is playing at his train table with Gran, so there's no better time like the present to get unpacking!!!

Welcome!

Welcome to 424 New Home Road! No, this is not our actual address, but rather a play on our new address. Our oldest son, Raymond, refers to our home as "the new home," and so we frequently find ourselves doing the same.

Our home is a cute little ugly house. Cute, because when I look at it I see it's potential. I see what it will look like in a few years. Ugly because it needs lots and lots of work. I will say though, it is not nearly as ugly now as it was a month ago...before Anthony put 10 coats of paint on it (you'll have to ask him about that one). It is amazing what a difference a coat of paint can make.

Right now we are still unpacking. We have replaced most of the windows and done some other, more minor, work. But the bulk of our "real" work remains to be done.

Some time in the near future I will post some photos of what our house looked like when we first saw it and what it looks like now (the only real difference being a cleaning and paint job). I might even give some details as to what we plan to change and when. I've never had a blog before, so it may take me a while to get the hang of things. So bear with me...and join us as we journey down New Home Road.