The New Experience of Owning a House

Matt and I moved into our house at the end of May of this year. We are grateful to get rid of our one bedroom apartment. Don't ask how we managed to fit all that we did in there. In just the living room we had an entertainment center, bookshelf, treadmill, keyboard, hopechest, and a sectional couch. It has been nice to spread our furniture out in our four bedroom home. We had been looking for our home since January. Let's just say, I was sick and tired of looking at homes, but we found it.

One of the very first things we did was start a garden, even before we finished unpacking. I wanted to get a garden in before it was too late. Gardening is one of my favorite pasttimes, and I have very fond memories doing it as a child and teenager. Let's just say this year was a practice year. We did not get any tomatos, but we harvested tons of basil. We also were able to get a fair amount of green peppers, which we are still getting now. Mom helped me plant some lettuce, spinach, and onions when they visited in September, so I am hoping that her green thumb will help them to grow.

We also had quite an interesting experience with what we thought were hornets. Matt kept spraying them day after day. We had no idea how to get rid of them. I took a picture and sent it to my all-knowing Dad. He said that they were honey bees. The next day we were able to get someone to take care of them, but it is no wonder that my garden was doing the best during that time. We have also had an interesting fiasco with our water heater. The inspector told us that it was somehow connected to the sprinkler system. Thus, when the sprinklers came on, we could not get hot water. Thank goodness Matt normally takes his shower before me, so he could get the nice cold shock from the water. He would then rush to light the piolot light before he headed out for work. We now have that fixed as well, but it took Mom and Dad visiting for us to finally get it done. We replaced the water heater and put in more sofit vents. We are crossing our fingers as it has worked for about three weeks with no problems.

Another problem we were facing was the stench that came from our master toilet. I know that I am pregnant and smells are enhanced, but this was awful. I never used our toilet in our master bathroom from June to September. Matt would say, "Sweetheart, it isn't that bad." I would roll my eyes and tell him to try being pregnant. I am grateful that the toilet is by itself and can be closed off with a door. We finally got it fixed before my parents visited us in September, so they wouldn't have to share with me. It was a simple part called the wax ring that was missing. It took a whole 10 minutes to fix.

A project that I took on toward the beginning of moving in was painting the formal dining room. It was red with green sponge marks over the red. It looked like a 1st grader did it. I love to paint, so I was in heaven looking at all the colors I could choose from. You will have to decide for yourself whether it looks better.

I also painted the nursery, but pictures have been posted of it already. Matt and I worked on the molding together so that was definitely a new experience. It was not as hard as I thought though.

At first Matt and I disliked the wall paper in the kitchen, but now it isn't too bad. We will probably take it down and retexture the walls sometime, but for now it is fine. It looks bad in pictures but better in person. I love all of the counter space.

This is a picture of our living room.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.