Yes, I promised this post to a few people, oh, a year and a half ago? Hmm. I may be a bit behind.

I had a few people curious about the transformation of my house. If you’ll recall, I ended up getting a house that was covered in Pepto-Bismol pink: pink carpet, pink wallpaper in the master bath and upstairs hall, mildly pink countertops. It was bad. So I spent the first month of my home-ownership painting and having pretty much every floor in the house redone.

I wish I had more photos of the house ‘before’. I have a video somewhere that has all the rooms, but I’ll have to dig that up at a later time and post it. I’m also lazy and didn’t take any good ‘after’ photos before I moved all my stuff in. And I’m not going to take any now because, well, I don’t feel like cleaning. But I have a few I took at my housewarming and various other events that I can show you to compare.

First up, the living room and dining room.

You can see the horrendous pink carpet that extended all the way into the dining room. That carpet covered every floor surface in the house, except for the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the laundry room. It got ripped up. All of it. It was replaced by a nice, neutral-colored frieze carpet, except for in the dining room and the upstairs bedrooms. My parents installed wood laminate in those rooms, as well as the kitchen.

Here’s a similar ‘after’ shot, if you ignore all the people playing Guitar Hero.

I also painted the wall that you can’t see in the ‘before’ shot red.

Now for the kitchen. You can’t see it well in this photo, but it had some very ugly pink and beige linoleum.

This was, of course, replaced with the same laminate we put in the dining room. I haven’t done anything about the countertops yet. I may at some point in the future, depending on how long I think I’ll actually be living here.

And I just realized how much crap the doors of my refrigerator have accumulated since I first moved in (when the above picture was taken). Hmm.

I have no ‘before’ shots of any of the bedrooms. (And I don’t think I have any ‘after’ shots of the upstairs bedrooms either.) But I do have an ‘after’ shot of the master bed when it was actually clean! Woohoo! The carpet was obviously replaced and I painted it gold.

The master bath was covered in pink wallpaper. It was removed (which took FOREVER) and painted gold. I’m not in the habit of taking pictures of my bathroom, so I have zero pictures of it, before or after.

The upstairs hall also was covered in pink wallpaper. It was removed and painted red.

And here’s a ‘before’ shot of the loft/office. The house came with these shelves installed in this former closet, so I just made use of them and turned it into the computer area. I don’t seem to have any ‘after’ shots. (And I complain that I have nothing to take pictures of…)

I’ll dig up the video at some point in the future so you can see the bad wallpaper.

There’s a few things left at the apartment that I will be getting tomorrow, but for the most part, I am moved in here. The Internet is up and running (as you can tell); however, the digital cable is giving me a headache (between Ben and I, we have called Comcast about some sort of problem with the cable at least 5-6 times in the past 24 hours…I keep getting him to call them because he is way better at getting them to actually do something than I am). There are a million boxes everywhere, especially upstairs, since we are still working on the floors in the bedrooms (I am basically in a cave of boxes right now). I would take and post pictures of the chaos, but I’m not really sure where the camera’s USB cable is. It took me forever to find my phone charger so I could charge my phone that had been dead since the beginning of the move. Here’s to hoping I can get everything straight before the festivities this weekend. Thankfully, I’m only working three days this week.

Probably stupidly, I bought two second row seats and meet-and-greet passes to the Blue Man Group show. So, now in addition to the eight tickets I had, I’ve got two more and backstage passes. Invitations to all the parties are going out as soon as I can drag myself to the post office to buy stamps. So watch your mailbox. Kids are welcome to come to the afternoon housewarming party on the 17th, but you probably don’t want them sticking around past 7:00 or so, since that’s when the after-party is starting. For those who have asked, I am registered at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and have a TargetList at Target, and of course, there’s always my Amazon wish list which I recently updated.

I also (finally) started work on my Halloween costume. I went and bought fabric Tuesday, my wig came in yesterday, and I started cutting the pieces out and realized that I forgot to buy matching thread. So I’ve got to do that today and get a zipper as well. I have to have this done before Saturday night, so no pressure or anything. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to post any pictures or tell you what it is (although some people already know) until after Halloween because I’ve got to keep people at work in the dark.

As far as the house goes, I’ve still got to paint two more rooms, install the laminate, and then get the carpet guys in there. It’s ridiculous how much carpet costs. My mom and I are going to start work on the laminate this weekend. Hopefully we can get a lot of it done, then I can get the hallway and bathroom painted next week maybe and finish up the laminate so the carpet guys can get in there by the end of the month. I wanted to move in before Halloween, but so far it looks like it may be the weekend after Halloween. So that will give me two weeks to get everything put where I want it before the housewarming party. Thankfully, I’ve got a lot of three and four day weekends in November. I need some rest. Then I get to start thinking about Christmas shopping (which I’ve normally already started by this time of year, but I’ve got way too much other stuff occupying my thoughts at the moment).

I closed on my house on Friday and started work on it this weekend. My mom came up to help. We went shopping for paint, and I got a few samples to try out for my bedroom and living room, so I’m probably going to start painting sometime this week. I spent most of today stripping wallpaper from the upstairs hallway. It’s almost done, except for a small portion of one wall and the parts that I can’t reach. I’ll probably bring my step stool out there tomorrow to finish it up. We also priced carpet. I can’t believe how expensive it is! Does anyone know any good local carpet shops that aren’t too pricey?

For the curious, here is my French decorating plan:
Living room: Paris, red and black - lots of Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, etc.
Kitchen/dining room: French Bistro, red and black - French chefs, wine, etc.
Master bed/bath: French Boudoir, gold and brown
Sewing room: L’Atelier - signs of French dress shops, hat shops, dress forms, etc.
Guest bed/bath: French country maybe?, some shade of blue
Office/loft: ???

I can’t wait for it to be done. I just wish I had more money to do everything I want to it right away.

I was planning on having a birthday/housewarming party at my new house this year. I have been planning to have it on my birthday, since it falls on a Friday, and that never happens, and next year will be a leap year, so I won’t be able to have a party on my birthday day for many many years after this year. However, it just came to my attention that Blue Man Group is returning to Nashville, and having a concert on the night of my birthday. Thus my crisis. I can’t really afford tickets, but it was the most awesome concert ever, and I would love to see it again. So, I present a poll to you, readers of my blog. Please help me with my crisis.

Click the link below to see the poll.
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I put an offer on a fifth house last night, and they countered it this morning, not wanting to pay closing costs. So we raised the mortgage price a bit to include the closing cost amount, and they accepted it! (Well, verbally…still waiting on the paperwork.) I want the extra money to replace the hideous pink carpets that unfortunately cover every floor surface that isn’t vinyl.

So now on to step 2: the house inspection.

I didn’t get the house from my last post. It need a lot of work, and they were not willing to do it, and the loan I’m getting requires the property to be in good shape.

So I put an offer on another one, a little further out. However, my realtor told me on Monday that they were waiting to see if some other person was going to buy it before they would consider other offers. We were supposed to know something by yesterday, but I haven’t heard anything yet.

If I don’t get this one, I have another potential one in mind to put an offer on.

Thanks to everyone who is posting and calling with words of support. This is an incredibly frustrating process, and I really appreciate it.

I put another offer on another house on Monday, and I was supposed to hear back by noon today, but so far NOTHING. I guess I will call my realtor when I get off work. This is incredibly frustrating.

In other news, I am apparently going to Six Flags this weekend to roast in the hot sun of Atlanta. Luckily, the line for Batman: The Ride is mostly indoors, and that’s all that matters. But Ben, Wayne, Wayne’s brother, Chance, Kelley, Jon, Faithe, Matt, Karen, Sam, Brent, Chad, and maybe a couple other people are all going as well, so it should be pretty fun. Haven’t been since Fright Fest ‘05.

Then in two weeks it’s back down to Atlanta for Dragon*Con! Yay! I never did work on any new costumes though….

I put in an offer on the one with the blue countertops, but I don’t think they are going to budge either, according to their realtor. But nothing official from them yet.

I’m also considering putting an offer on another one that I saw last weekend. While not as perfect as these others, it still is quite nice. It has an nice open layout and a fireplace. The backyard would need to be fenced in and there’s no deck, just a patio out back. Also, the master bedroom is on the main floor and the laundry room is on the second floor, so I can see that getting kind of annoying. It’s also a little further drive. Hmm..

Anyway, for your amusement…this is what we did at work this week, lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0WhilimmKg

They came back with a counter-offer and wanted full price, which I can’t afford, and I had already offered my max amount (since there was supposedly someone else making an offer as well), so I didn’t really have any more negotiating room. So I had to let it go.

Hopefully I can find something in the same neighborhood that I like just as well. I know a few of the houses have similar floorplans. However, from looking at the pictures, all of the other ones have something that’s slightly annoying about them. There is one that looks to be exactly the same, but it has bright blue countertops in the kitchen. That would definitely have to go.

After this weekend’s house hunting excursion, I found a house to make an offer on. It is in the epitome of suburbia, so the neighborhood is good, albeit way further from work than I was originally looking. But if it gets too annoying, I can take the train, since it’s in Hermitage.

Anyway, it’s about 1400 sq ft with three bedrooms and two and a half baths. The living room has 20 foot ceilings and a fireplace and is connected to the dining area and open to the kitchen. The kitchen is also open to the den, which has doors leading out to the deck and fenced-in back yard. The main floor also holds the laundry room, a half bath, and (yay!) a two car garage. Upstairs, on one side are two small bedrooms and a bath, and the other half is the master suite, with two closets (one walk-in), a cut-out looking over the living room, and a nice bath with a garden tub. The whole house has lots of large windows to let in natural light.

The only work it needs, as far as I can see, is there’s some rooms where wallpaper needs to be taken down, and it needs to be painted (of course), and the fence has one little area that needs a repair.

So wish me luck!

Okay, now if the first stressful thing about buying a house is finding one, then the second stressful thing is once you find one, you’ll actually find two, and then have to decide which one to put an offer on first.

So, I saw another 8-9 houses today, and won’t bore you with the details on most of them, except for the two that I like.

House #1: close to work, has a garage (!!!), washer/dryer connections in garage, high ceilings, a skylight, fireplace, open floor plan, 850 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, walk-in closets, small backyard with a patio on the side and privacy fence (yard needs a little fixing up in back, nothing major), carpet needs to be replaced, neighborhood is okay (could be better, but not bad), crime website shows nothing happening in past month, easily affordable

House #2: further from work, no garage, cute front porch with swing, fireplace, smooth top stove, washer/dryer in hallway, hardwood floors, deck, cute backyard with picket fence, 960 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, standard closets, storage shed, neighborhood looks nicer, crime website shows a couple larcenies have happened in the area in the past month, would have to negotiate on price a little to be affordable

So basically, do I go with the already affordable cute contemporary house with the garage in the closer but not-as-nice-looking neighborhood, or do I go with the hopefully negotiable cute traditional house with the deck in the further but nicer looking neighborhood?

I need to make an offer on one tomorrow. Eeek!!!

I would like to say that the number 1 thing that no one ever told me about buying a house is how stressful FINDING a house is. I’ve heard that closing is stressful and all that, but I figured house hunting would be the fun part. I was wrong. I think I’m close to being the most stressed out that I’ve ever been in my life (other factors may be playing into this as well, but the houses take a major part of the blame). Anywho, here’s the summary of today’s house hunt:

House #1: Didn’t go in, didn’t like the neighborhood.
House #2: Was cute, neighborhood was okay, but was way too small. There were only two tiny closets, and nowhere near enough space to put my stuff.
House #3: Didn’t like the neighborhood, needed too much work, had no driveway.
House #4: Didn’t like the neighborhood, had no driveway, didn’t go in.
House #5: Didn’t like the neighborhood, didn’t go in.
House #6: Didn’t like the neighborhood, didn’t go in.
House #7: Neighborhood was iffy, house was cute.
House #8: A possibility. Neighborhood looked good, house was cute, had an open floor plan, a fireplace, three bedrooms, walk-in closets. The main problems were both the front and backyard were hills, and it would be a slow painful drive to work (would have to go through a school zone and then get on the Interstate, would be at least 30 minutes). Also, grocery stores were nowhere close by, and I would have to fence the hilly backyard.
House #9: Another possibility. Neighborhood was good, house was cute, with an open floor plan and a cute little den/office area. However, it was pretty small. Possibly not enough closet space, but it’s main problem was in order to get to the washer and dryer, you would have to go out on the back porch and in through another door. What a pain in the winter. I learned a few years ago that I didn’t like having to go outside to do laundry (when the laundry room at my apartment complex was right next to my apartment). Still, not necessarily a deal breaker, as it could (eventually) be fixed.

*sigh*

I started house hunting yesterday. It’s a bit sad to know that I can’t afford all of the things I really want in a house (mainly: garage, small yard, same size as current apartment, close to town, not in too bad of shape, and in a good neighborhood). I seemingly can’t afford ANYTHING with a garage, which sucks since that was something I was looking forward to the most. Yesterday we looked inside five houses:

House #1 - fulfilled close to town, small yard, and in a good neighborhood, but no garage, smaller than current apartment, and needed work
House #2 - fulfilled close to town, small yard, size of current apartment, and good neighborhood, but no garage and needed work
House #3 - fulfilled close to town, size of current apartment, and not in bad shape, but no garage, had an enormously hilly yard, and was not in a good location
House #4 and #5 - fulfilled size of current apartment, not in bad shape, small yard, and good location, but not close to town and no garage (they were also like duplexes and connected to another unit)

Hopefully, I will have more luck next weekend.

Also, I have been semi-planning my vacation for next year. I have decided that I want to hit all the highlights of Europe (well, some of them). After pricing how much it would cost to do this on my own, I have been leaning toward taking a Contiki tour with a group of other people since the cost is about the same (if not cheaper). I am thinking of doing the European Discovery tour next October (I know, over a year away…gotta save up money) which takes you through London, Amsterdam, Munich, parts of Austria, Venice, Florence, Rome, Lucerne, and Paris in two weeks. Sounds exhausting, but really fun. I figure if I discover I really like one or two of the places, I can always come back at another time to spend more time there on my own. I really can’t wait to eat authentic Italian food and see the Eiffel Tower up close and take a gondola ride up the Alps. Talk about a photo op. I’ll make sure to bring back some wine and Swiss chocolate and other souvenirs. I should probably apply for my passport now to make sure I get it on time, hehehe.

Since I’m on the verge of house hunting, I’ve been thinking a lot about my goals for the future. I’m trying to tell myself not to plan things that involve anyone other than myself, but that is sometimes hard to do. Like, I would like to have my first child before I’m 30, but that’s really not completely my decision (although I guess it could be, but I’d like my kids to have a father, not some random donor, lol). Seeing as I’m almost 26, I’m trying to ignore that clock in my ovaries screaming that I’m not even married yet (which gets louder every time one of my friends has a kid and has really reached a crescendo now that I’ve realized that I don’t have a single friend–male or female–who is not engaged or married).

So, to feel relatively in control of other aspects of my life, I have compiled a list of my goals that I can (hopefully) reasonably complete on my own. Yay, independence. *rolls eyes*

For 2007, I expect to:
- buy a house/townhouse before my lease is up in October - yay no more landlord, boo to yard work and maintenance
- buy a car as soon as I close on the house - since Ariel is falling apart more every day, I can only pray that she will last that long
- adopt a kitten and/or puppy - with Ben moving to Murfreesboro and me having no friends who live that close, I will need the companionship; idealistically, I’d like to get both at the same time, so they will grow up together, but getting a puppy completely depends on me having a fenced-in backyard, so who knows….getting a kitten either way, I don’t care that I’m allergic, I got used to Lydia quickly enough

For 2008, I expect to:
- pay off all credit card debt - I’ve gotten about halfway there this year, so hopefully I can finish it off next year
- take a vacation - I haven’t had a true vacation in over 5 years, I need one
- take off on my yet-to-be-announced part-time self-employment venture - more about this in a few months

I am not making resolutions this year, though I did fairly well at keeping the one I made for 2006 (to keep up with the news better). However, I do have several goals that I intend on trying to meet by the year’s end. These include buying a house around the time my lease is up (beginning of October) and buying a new or new-to-me car around November. I’d like to buy a car before then, but having car payments would severely lower the amount of a mortgage loan I can get. So my goal for the first half of the year is to get my credit cards as paid off as possible. This means attempting to be frugal with money for a few months, so I’m having to cut a few things. Like I doubt I’m going to continue my ballet classes until next year, probably not going to go out very often, and, well, just plan on coming to visit me if you want to see me. I just really, really want a house so I think I can make a few sacrifices for a little while. I might even consider getting a second part-time job to supplement the savings process.

I am, however, still planning on going to both MTAC and DragonCon this year, since tickets to both were purchased prior to me coming to this decision. Probably not going to make it to MomoCon this year and AWA is iffy (especially since it will be right when I’m trying to close on a house). I will be putting off a few costumes until I get the house, such as Presea, since I will need a large space (such as a garage or a yard) for working on her axe. The costumes I plan to complete this year are: FFVI’s Celes (Amano version), FFVI’s Locke (for Ben), Death Note’s Misa, and Dragon Quest VIII’s Jessica. The former three I hope to finish in time for MTAC and have Jessica in time for DragonCon. I’m only planning on working on one costume during the summer since I assume my spare time will be mostly taken up by house hunting.

Anywho, that’s my 2007 plans. Here’s hoping everything goes well!