Progress so far.......

A fuzzy picture of the back of the house. The other day, the snow was all the way up to the windows on the deck- melted fast I guess!

This is a shot of our driveway- it starts right where I am standing and goes all the way down to the end of the trees.
This is what it looks like if you are facing the back of the house and look to the left. That little blue box is our recycling bin buried in the snow.
And this is what it looks like if you face the back of the house and look to the right. Right now there is a little temporary fence for the dog to run around.
I am VERY proud of my work in the laundry room (and sore!!)! I scraped off all those gross tiles and adhesive. It was a tough project- but now the room is ready for Felix to paint and put up all new shelving. Then I will put down the new flooring.
Those black diamonds all over the floor are markings from the original floors that were down- I dont think I can get it off. It should be ok, I think the new tiles will lay right over it.
Not as much progress was done on the vinyl slate- it seems as though it is really cemented down there! Hopefully our contractor will have it up by next week.
Our new home, the construction zone.

Pretty, huh!

Well, we closed on the house last Tuesday December 18th. It was pretty painless, we signed a ton of papers, handed over a pretty check, and got the keys! Luckily the big noreaster that hit was BEFORE we bought the house, so the sellers plowed our long driveway for us so we could get to the house. There is a TON of snow everywhere. But that doesnt stop us!!! We have begun work on the house- we have a contractor helping us with our floors and the roof. We have been VERY lucky to find hardwood floors under most of our current gross flooring. Here are the results from day 1 of remodeling!

Guest room floor. Carpet is pulled up to find red vinyl tile that we are chipping away at. Underneath.... hardwood floors! Yeay!!!

1st floor dining room & in front of kitchen. Under this vinyl slate is hardwoods we are digging up!
Living room floor. This was the easiest room- just pulled up the carpet, and beautiful hardwood floors! (ok, I exaggerate- they are about 4 different finishes of wood and textures right now, but at least no vinyl to chip away at!) There is about 1 foot of vinyl that goes all the way down the room, looks like it might have been a patch of some sort- we have to do more research to see whats underneath.
This is our problem area. Where the living room ends and the kitchen area begins- floor is sinking a bit and there is weird patch work done on the floor. We have to fix that and put some more wood floor down. Then pull up the rest of the vinyl in the area and hope the wood floors are ok.
This little beauty is my own personal project. It is the laundry room floor. Those are nasty carpet tiles that I have been scraping up off the floor. And I think those stains are dog pee- it stinks! And if anyone knows the smell of dog pee.... its me!!! The lovely cat box and cleaners were left there by the old tenant. Along with her dirty (and filled) litter box in the basement. DI-O-SGUSTING

Cassel Wedding in Miami FL

This past weekend we went to FL for Felix's friends wedding in Miami. We actually flew into West Palm Beach to visit with my family on Friday night, then drove to Miami on Saturday morning and stayed at the Samson house before the wedding. The wedding was so nice, on the beach in Miami- meanwhile, a big nor'easter hit Boston so our Sunday evening flight back to Boston was cancelled. So, we just headed back to West Palm and I spent the next day shopping with my sister while Felix got some work done at my parents house.

Bowling

Felix was supposed to play in a fun little bowling game at work, so last weekend we went to the bowling alley with Kristy & Matt for a little practice game. My fond memories of bowling Friday nights when I was in high school did not hold true this time... it was quite boring!!!!! But I won our first game!! Go me!!!!!!

Oh how I love my love!

Felix surprised me this past weekend with a little get-a-way trip. Our apartment that we are renting has a small problem with the pipes in the winter, and sounds like a musical ensemble at night, making it a bit difficult to sleep. So, Felix arranged for us to stay at a hotel in Newport last Saturday night, and a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant out there. It was also our "6 month wedding anniversary!!" I am a very lucky girl.

listen....... no pipes!!!!

Almost There......

Just a quick update! We have completed the inspection, and while we have A LOT of work to do, we were happy to hear the report that nothing was too bad that it couldnt be fixed! We will have to get a new roof put on before we move in, and fix a minor leak in the master bathroom. Other than that, nothing too major! We are working out some final details and hopefully will close on December 18th. Then- we will work hard to get the house ready for us to move in by Feb 1!! I'm looking forward to seeing everything come together, I think it is special that this will be our first house together that we get to work on to make it just perfect. Here is a sneak peak......

The entrance to the galley kitchen. We (meaning, my dad!) have plans to expand this wall and make the kitchen bigger with nice new cabinets and appliances. This picture shows the entrance to the kitchen, and on either end there are wooden "pantry" cabinets.

The huge laundry room on the 1st floor- I want to lay big black & white checker tile down and clean it up so that maybe I will spend more time doing laundry than I currently do!

This is a shot of the living room from the front door entrance. We will be putting down hardwood floors. There is a nice bay window to the left of the picture (you cant see it).

This is a shot of the dining area (where we are going to expand the kitchen into) and behind that is the "sunroom" that we will be turning into the dining room. Even though they say the paneling is high quality pine, I think I am going to take down the paneling and add crown molding near the ceiling, painting the trim off white and the walls a nice beige. Im not sure what is behind the paneling though, so we have to wait and see. The sunroom has 6 windows-- that will make a beautiful bright & sunny dining room, huh!!!!
Looking into the master bedroom on the 1st floor. See the bay window? The wall to the left has all closets, and the wall across from the bay window has a walk in closet and a bathroom. I hope to put in a new vanity and new tile in the bathroom.
This is bedroom #2 upstairs. Just needs some new paint on the walls and taking down all the shelving that is up.
This is bedroom #3 upstairs- I'm hoping there are hardwood floors under the carpet. We are going to take out that built in desk that is to the right of the room.
This is the 4th bedroom upstairs. Very bright & sunny, I love it! Maybe just a new paint job.

And this is the bathroom upstairs- I really like it, it is very bright and clean, and I like the floor tile. The bathtub is the clawfoot tub/shower.... should be interesting.

Of course, I couldn't leave out a picture of the chickens that hang out in front of the house. They belong to the current tenant, so hopefully they will be gone before we move in!!!! However, they enjoyed following us around outside the house during the inspection!

Could It Be The One???????

I think we may have found our home!!! I saw this house with my parents on the freezing cold icy rainy Saturday that they were here while Felix was coaching water polo- Felix went to see it on Monday, we put in an offer on Wednesday and heard it was accepted on Thursday at noon!!!! We are now anxiously awaiting our inspection scheduled for Saturday before we sign on the dotted line.
It is an old farmhouse colonial in north attleboro, built on or before 1900- lots and lots of trees, about 1/2 acre of land, very quiet area. It has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Right now- the kitchen is just a tiny little galley kitchen with no appliances yet, but dad said it should be pretty easy to expand it into my beautiful kitchen I've always dreamed of- complete with a center island and stainless steel appliances!!!! I have a very limited memory of the actual details of what the interior looks like, but if all goes well with the inspection, I will have tons of photos of the inside to post soon!!

This is the front of the house- cedar shingles on the outside and lots of trees and brush that need to be cleaned up.

One of my favorite parts- the back of the house with a beautiful deck. The driveway comes up alongside the house all the way past the house.

Mom & Dad visit Boston

Dad only LOOKS like a Harvard fan here- it was so cold, that was the shirt he was wearing UNDER his Brown shirt, but he ended up leaving his Brown shirt in the car when we returned to watch the 2nd game.

Brown boys all lined up in their new robes.

I tried to get a pix of mom & dad watching the game- for some reason, mom looks invisible.

Last weekend, mom & dad came up to watch Felix's water polo games. In between the games we went house hunting- they got to see all the fun I've been having searching for the home of our dreams. The arrived Friday night & while Felix was in a hotel with the team, I went out to dinner with them at the famous Bertuccis- then the next morning we watched water polo, drove down to North Attleboro and saw 5 houses, then back to Boston for a quick bite to eat and another game of water polo. The next morning we drove out to meet Felix for breakfast and say hi to the team- and then mom & dad headed out to NYC for some fun with friends and family (dad had to work though.... no fun for him!). All in all, it was a wonderful, educational, and exhausting visit!!!

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we celebrated what has turned into our "annual event"..... pumpkin carving! It was very fun- unfortunately Felix was coaching late tonight, so he missed the festivities, but the carving continued. A few of our friends came over with fun snacks and pumpkins in hand. I made a small pumpkin with a heart & bow & arrow through it. It is the tiny one all the way on the left in the pic.

And of course- Matti provided most of the entertainment for the evening acting like the crazy animal that he is.......

Amy & Ariel Wedding

This weekend (5 day wedding bash) was great! Felix had a water polo tournament in MD, so we sent Matti to the kennel and I flew out to Arizona on Thursday morning for Amy's wedding. It started with a great bachelorette party Thursday night, then Friday morning walk thru rehearsal followed by a "bridal party brunch" filled with massages & manicures, then off to Amy's parents house for an open house. Saturday morning I went with Amy and some friends to get their toes painted and then finally made it to the hotel to meet up with my parents, where we went on a 30min car ride with my Uncle who lives in AZ to have lunch together, then Sat evening was a really nice Havdalah service at Amys temple and dinner with wedding guests. Finally the big wedding day arrived on Sunday. It was very nice- it was an Orthodox wedding, and there was a lot of Jewish traditions and dancing.... it was very nice.

Could It Get Any Better???

Mom bought me, Steph, and herself a WebCam!! So now, we get to spend quality evenings looking at each other while we talk. It was pretty cool- one night I got to see Ava walk for the first time. Thanks for the gift mom!!

Felix talking to Mom & Jackie

Little Monster... I mean Matti

Here is the little guy in action! The slippery wood floors really throw him for a loop!

Gavin at 21mos old, reciting the Presidents.

This is my nephew Gavin when he was 21mos (he is now 3)- reciting the Presidents. I just learned how to upload videos to my blog, so I thought I would post this one since I am so proud!

My Niece

I have been meaning to post this picture forever! This is Gavin's little sister, 15-month old baby Ava, my little niece in FL.

My Wish List

Before we started house hunting, I wrote out a wish list of what we would be looking for in homes. 3 bedrooms, 1-2 bathrooms, a backyard, a laundry room (or at least somewhere to put a washer/dryer). I thought these were pretty basic... not asking too much. Boy was I wrong! While I can be optimistic and say that we have so much flexibility since we are not set on one specific town, I can also say... we have SO MUCH flexibility since we are not set on one specific town that I am driving ALL OVER MASSACHUSETTS trying to find the perfect place to live! Nothing has really seemed to be just right yet. While I can get over the horrific paint jobs, or the odd "built-ins" that these older New England homes seem to have, I hate to be picky with some of the non-negotiables.... like - enough room for your knees when you are sitting on the toilet! (my realtor posed for the photo shoot).

I know I have started to jump the gun- daydreaming of how to decorate our new home while we haven't even found one yet, but one of items on that list is to get a red couch. I am a bit scared to have that be a permanent decorating decision, so we decided to look for a red couch cover first. It's hard to find one that will fit a sectional! (It's hard to find a new home that will fit one too!). Any thoughts?

And of course, enough kitchen storage for all of our beautiful wedding gifts. I can't wait to unpack our china and our regular dinner dishes. Right now they are beautifully displayed on our make-shift china cabinets in our current dining room. (still in their boxes so they don't break when we move).

And of course- my never ending wish that my little devil dog wasn't so darn cute! Because I can never get mad & punish him when he does things like this......
...pulling the toilet paper from the roll across the house!

Coach & Mrs. Felix Mercado (and proud baby sable...not ours!)