Homeownerwhat?

People that read my other blog will know that Bill and I finally bought a house, after looking for quite some time.  We are so excited to finally find a house we love, and so far the past 2 months have been great!

We knew going in that there would be some problems with the house since it was built in the 1880's.  They had to bring plumbing into the house, and the basement is built on wood timbers and the concrete was poured around it.

Our house inspector was great, and he gave us several warnings, but honestly he is so meticulous that there is a point where its like "is there anything good about it?"  We had faith, we both fell in love with the house but there is no such thing as perfection!  Even brand new homes have their problems.

We have done lots and lots of painting, and because we were in deep in the bathroom I would have noticed bubbles in the ceiling.  But I didn't. I noticed it about three weeks ago.  I mentioned it to Bill and the response was more of a "oh yeah, huh." Type of thing.  Well, yesterday morning after having a windy rain the night before, I wake up to "Julie.  The bathroom ceiling is leaking and I don't know what to do so I came back to bed."  I said "I don't know what the hell to do either!"  Why isn't there a New Homeowner Manual?

There is no landlord to call (we have had this situation in previous apartments) and we don't have an association, obviously.  So I Yelp'ed it.  I didn't know what to do.  I don't belong to Angie's List (yet).  I typed in "ceiling leaking" and I found a nice man - Greg that were able to come out that morning, and gave us an estimate.    Something that tells you what to do, who to call, resources, etc?  I even texted my realtor who now lives in Indianapolis because we were so clueless.

Ironically, it was exactly a problem that I wish we were cognizant about earlier on.  As Greg was telling us, it was the flashing off the bedroom door to the deck that was all wrong, along with the door itself and window placement. Greg said there is no way they weren't getting leaks.

Just as our inspector said!

So, lots of money later, I'm sitting awkwardly in my living room as four guys go back and forth, one working on the bathroom ceiling, 3 upstairs in our bedroom doing god knows what.  My poor dogs locked in the basement.  Its rough, but its homeownership!  And honestly, if we didn't think something would happen we would be fools.  This is part of the excitment of having our dream, of having our house!

House Stuff & Our first holiday as homeowners!

I love love love love love love love love love love love and am totally obsessed with my pantry.  I painted it while Bill was at work, it looks awesome!

And it was Thanksgiving, three for me, two for Bill.  Yes - I had three Thanksgivings.  I really am not a fan of Thanksgiving, I find Americans to be so hypocritical in the thinking and advertising and marketing of the whole thing it kinda makes me sick.  And on a personal level, I'm not a fan of any Thanksgiving food whatsoever.  Regardless, we had Thursday at Tom & ManDee's in Michigan City with Vasso, Geo and the girls, then Friday I went to my folks per my usual Xmas decorations and dinner with my family, then Sunday we had Thanksgiving at Georgeanna's.  She is an excellent cook and her turkey was by far the best!

 Here we are!  Next year though, Bill and I will be hosting, and I will ORDER a smoked turkey :)

Homeownership - Week 1

Wow - I can't believe its only been a WEEK since we moved!
Really?  Wow!  Well, here is an updated picture of the bathroom - we totally rocked it:

It looks Ah-Mazing and we love it!
Lenny is having a hard time adjusting.  He got into the fridge - twice, and after I put baby locks on it, and then he got into the freezer.  I don't have time to run to Target, so here is hoping that packing tape holds!

Lenny also needs a major attitude adjustment - he hasn't been nice to people in the past, and I really hope he's nice when people come by tomorrow!  Bill and I disagree on all of this, of course, but I really think he needs to be on anti-anxiety meds....yes, for my dog.

We Bought a HOUSE!!!

Yes, its true!  Our (expensive) dreams are coming true!  We finally bought a house - which is something we have always wanted.
We closed on Friday, and started installing floors and painting right away.  YEA!

I'm so sad to say farewell and so long to my lovely Ukrainian Village and my wonderful friends and neighbors.  No one will be luckier then Bill and I to have had such wonderful friends and neighbors who were always there in our times of need, or a beer, or a party, or just to have a conversation with. I will always covet our friends and the times we have had.

Now we move onto Logan Square, with a yard, garage, 2 decks and a TON of work that needs to be done.....here we open the next chapter our our book.

Can we just have this house already?

Well, summer came and went.  No family trip to Milwaukee, no Julie & Bill trip anywhere, nothing.
I guess its fine - we have both been working super hard, and we are waiting - 10 more days to go - until we know if our house is 100% ours.

 The Bathroom will be the first big remodeling project when we have the money - its pretty lame.  I hate that tile! However I do like that little bench thing in the shower - but there is no storage at all in the bathroom, so the linen closet will temporarily be housed in the pantry in the kitchen.

 Master bedroom - converted from an attic.  It has a neat deck off the back which is a perfect extension of the bedroom, but the FIRST project is tearing up the carpet.  We STILL don't know what is underneath, but we will find out!  Also building a closet!  Its neat though, I really like having it as a private space.

 My favorite - I LOVE the kitchen!  I love the simple dark marble countertop and we will paint this coral color Turquoise!  I can't wait!!!  And Vasso's butcher block table will be perfect in here as an island.

Bedroom off the kitchen, AKA PANTRY.  This will be a great pantry - It will be awesome and BRIGHT!