Moving Right Along

We almost have a new house.  Despite some last minute struggles to get the mortgage company to get their act together, we'll have keys on Tuesday - only a day after planned.  We started packing today and are relieved that we don't have to pack it too well since most of it will just go over in the car.  Right now the plan is to take a load or two over each day and then move the furniture next Saturday and officially be moved in.  We have the townhouse until the end of the month so we're not in any rush to get it all cleared out and cleaned up.  I'm glad this is my last week of work before the holidays so I'll have plenty of time to get things unpacked and organized. 

Return to the Homeland

Last weekend we went back to Iowa for Andy's sister's fabulous wedding.  We flew in late Thursday and spent the night in Cedar Rapids with my mom and dad.  On Friday, we had lunch in Cedar Falls with my sister, Jackie, and then went up to Rochester to meet some of Andy's friends from IBM for dinner and drinks.  We were lucky to spend Friday and Saturday night at Jim and Val's house.  

Amanda and Cody's wedding was wonderful but before we knew it, it was time to head home again.  We drove back to Cedar Rapids and met our great friend, Alana, for brunch and then spent the rest of Sunday with my mom and dad before taking off early Monday morning.  It was a great trip but way too fast.  It went by so quickly, I kept forgetting to take pictures but here are two...

Here's one that illustrates what happens when my husband gets bored in a church:

 That's right.  He finds the word "beer" in the bible.  

On Sunday in Cedar Rapids, we went to Barnes and Noble so I could pick up another book for the trip back and realized we were just going to miss one of my favorite politicians (PLEASE note sarcasm).

I was lucky enough to have the entire week off from work.  Andy worked a short day on Tuesday and then a full day Wednesday.  I checked in with the loan officer at the bank and it looks like things are right on track so we're still hoping to close by December 12th.  

We had a mini-giving here yesterday and have been eating leftovers ever since.  Andy went over to Corvallis tonight for "gaming" with some co-workers.  I was told it might be an all-nighter so we'll see what time he gets home.  

Is My Husband Dream Barking!?!

The house passed inspection with flying colors.  There are a few fix-it projects and cosmetic issues which we already knew about.  The loan application is completed and in the mail so we're playing the waiting game right now.  Nothing else to do!  I suppose I could start packing...

Other than that, we're just plugging along.  The weather is turning a little colder and a little rainier but not as much as I expected.  There are still leaves on some of the trees and dandelions in the yard so winter has not arrived. 

We're heading back to Iowa this weekend for Andy's sister's wedding!  It's going to be a crazy fast trip since Andy doesn't have any  real vacation time so we're flying out Thursday afternoon and back on Monday.  Even though it will be a quick trip for us, we've never left Shadow for that many days with the dog sitter so we'll see how she does. 

This morning, I was woken up by what I call "dream barking"...that little puppy barking, paw twitching thing that sleeping dogs tend to do.  In my just-woke-up-haze, I wondered what Andy was dreaming about but then I woke up enough to look over and see Shadow laying on Andy's side of the bed, her head on his pillow, snoring and dreaming.   

Home Sweet Home (Hopefully)

We are officially one step closer to home ownership!  We just received word that our offer was accepted and we're now waiting for a home inspection...and of course, a loan from the bank.

A sneak peek at our new digs (fingers crossed!)

Entry/Living Room -- archway leads into the dining room/kitchen

Dining Room

So excited to have a kitchen that is bigger than a closet. 

Laundry room, 1/2 bath and office are off of the kitchen. 

The 3 bedrooms are upstairs...here is the master bedroom.  

 At the end of the hallway upstairs, there is this "bonus room" above the garage.  Andy is excited about having a place to put his speakers. I am excited that he's already thinking about how to hide all the wires and cords (I HATE those things).  The room has a funny shape but leads out to a second story deck which currently offers a nice mountain view...we're thinking this might go away as the neighborhood builds up, but for now, it's lovely.   

The house isn't perfect...there is some sloppy painting in a few rooms (it looks like Andy and I painted!), there isn't any hardware on any of the kitchen or bathroom cupboards, the yard isn't fenced, etc. but we like the layout and a lot of other things about it...and what we don't like, we know we can fix.  The yard is pretty bare which we're actually happy about (a lot of people have A LOT of landscaping) and there is a large side yard that is perfect for a garden.  We also have an RV pad...for the RV we don't have and don't plan on owning but it's a big plus around here.

So, even though we didn't even unpack all of our boxes, I'm regretting all the ones we did unpack. 

At least we still have the boxes.

Birthday Weekend

We used Andy's birthday as an excuse to finally go up to Portland to explore.  We had a great weekend and loved Portland.  Here are some highlights...

We started the weekend off with a birthday dinner at Deschutes Brewery.  The food was good, and I hear the beer was too.  Andy's favorite part, however, was the discovery of Sweet Aardvark's Aardvark Habanero Sauce.

After dinner we walked just a few blocks to hit Powell's City of Books.  This place is 68,000 square feet and has 9 rooms full of new and used books.  We spent a couple hours in there and could have spent much longer.  We'll definitely be going back!



On Saturday we got up and went to the Portland Japanese Gardens.  They are GORGEOUS.  They claim to be the most beautiful Japanese gardens outside of Japan and I can see why they get the bragging rights.

After the gardens, we headed to the Portland Saturday Market.  There are all kinds of local artists (including a lady who makes animal shaped whistles) selling just about anything you can imagine (see previous comment about the whistles).  Andy was impressed with the diverse selection of food and my adventurous eater tried the Himalayan food stand. 

 I'm not sure what all of that is, but according to Andy, it was "not too shabby" but noted that it would have been even tastier with the Aardvark sauce.

Fabulous Visitors and Dualing GPSs

We were so happy to have our dear friends Nana and Alana (aka Tunie and Rio) visit us fora  few days last week.  It was so nice to have familiar faces around here again.  Sadly, after a few nights of wine and Banagrams, they had to leave us.  Can't wait until they come back to visit (hint, hint).

Andy was in Plano, Texas from Sunday to Thursday to visit a customer site.  He worked 6pm - midnight or later while he was there because that's when the printer was running.  In case you don't know Andy, these are not his peak hours.  He's more of a 7am to 4pm kind of guy.  He's glad to be back in Oregon where there aren't any rent-to-own tire and rim stores around. And I'm very happy to have him back.

Work is a little stressful for me right now.  Not to sound old, but, kids these days are NAUGHTY.   Thursday was particularly challenging and we actually ran out of places for misbehaving children to sit in time-outs at the at lowest point.  THEN while driving to Eugene to pick up Andy at the airport, I got lost because the GPS on my phone was showing one thing on the screen but the voice (so I thought) was telling me something completely different.  I managed to drive all the way to Eugene (in a very roundabout way) before realizing that the GPS in the CAR was talking to me the whole time and a completely different location was entered in it so while I thought it was my phone telling me what to do, it was a different robotic voice  trying to take me somewhere completely different.  I was not a happy camper. 

We're continuing Operation: Home Sweet Home and are pondering one we saw tonight.  It's a beautiful house but doesn't have the lot size we were hoping for...trying to weigh the pros and cons is almost as exhausting as trying to get six 5 year olds to stay in time-out simultaneously. 

Coastal Anniversary

Hoping the phrase "better late than never" applies here.  

We celebrated our first anniversary at a little cottage near the coast.

We enjoyed another trip the the lighthouse (no fog this time!) and some impromptu whale and seal watching on the beach followed by massages.  It was fabulous.

This photo makes it look like the leaning tower of lighthouse  but it was the photographer (it was me....shhh, don't tell) that was leaning. 

 

Andy enjoyed the fish and chips from Gracie's.

And I enjoyed this sign at the nearby convenience store. 

 When we returned home on Sunday, Shadow seemed to be very upset with her raccoon.  And proceeded to behead it. (note the headless body in front of her paws).

The Monday after our mini-vacay, I started my job.  I won't lie...the first week was rough.  I felt like each and every one of the 21 kindergartners beat me up.  I was (and still am) exhausted.  There are a couple of kiddos that are trouble makers and there is a lot of general unruliness so we're working on that.  I weighed my options and decided that bribery was the way to go.  So, we started the "Button Game" on Friday....the rules are simple.  Good deeds get a button.  The button goes in the jar (not in our mouth).  When the jar is full, we get to have a "celebration."  I'm thinking I should have gone with a smaller jar...or bigger buttons.