Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Last Part of the Year
Just yesterday and today, we have put up a bunch of Christmas decorations. You can view a few photos by clicking this link to our Flickr page. We put a few photos on there for you to check out, and we hope you like them.
As we approach Christmas, we're excited to once again be able to spend some time with friends and family. I'm hoping to post more on here as we approach Christmas, but if not, have a great holiday season!
-Bruce
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
This Coming Weekend...
Safe travels and we'll see you soon!
- Bruce and Anna
Sunday, June 14, 2009
June's Here and a Busy Summer is Ahead!
So, what's new? Well:
- Bruce's friends from Ohio Mark and Nicole came up to Aurora last weekend to hang out. We went to a Chicago Fire professional soccer game on Friday night, and then the Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox game on Saturday night. It was a great time and a nice visit.
- This weekend, Anna went down to get a haircut and to see her parents while Bruce took his little brother Austin to the Children's Museum and to lunch. It was a fun weekend.
- Anna is now working different hours since it's the summer, but now has the weekends off!! Woo Hoo! Big excitement from both of us.
What's on our plates coming up? Well:
- Next weekend, Anna's parents, grandma and Aunt Mickie are coming to visit on Saturday. That should be fun.
- July 4 weekend, we're having a cookout at the new house. We have a number of RSVPs so far, and if you're interested in coming out, let us know!
- Later in July, we're heading to Ohio for Scott Hehr's wedding, then Bruce will be at the Fraternity Convention in St. Louis for a week.
- In August, we'll be heading to Anna's 10-year high school reunion in Michigan City, a wedding in Ohio, the Jimmy Buffett concert in Chicago, Bruce will be in Toronto for three days for a conference, and then will be volunteering for the Solheim Cup, the women's professional golf equivalent to the Ryder Cup.
As you can probably tell, we have a crazy schedule this summer, but there are still a few weekends open. If you want to come out and hang with us, let us know and we'd be glad to have you (especially all you friends with new babies!!)
As always, thanks for reading!
- Bruce and Anna
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
New Fun Experience
I recently became a Big Brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Kane and Kendall Counties here in Aurora. I am completely excited to be doing it, and just got to meet my new little brother and his mom yesterday. It was really great, and they were both very nice.
Anyway, a neat little thing that I wanted to share. Things are still going well with the new house, Anna's job, my job, and everything else!
Hope you're all well...
-Bruce
Monday, April 20, 2009
Success - the Last of the Wallpaper is Removed!
Check out the video below:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A Fun trip to a B&B
Anna in front of the Belvedere
We were able to take advantage of the fact that there were VERY few people in town. That made our evening dinners easy, and we were also able to roam around downtown Saugatuck with very few others clogging up the sidewalk!! We shopped a little bit, went to the beach, and checked out the top of Mount Baldhead... Yes, it's an all too real place (see below)...
Anyway, we hope you'll take a look at the rest of our photos! We had a nice time, and will likely return to the area in the late summer or early fall to see what it's like at that time of year, in season.
Have a great one everybody, and thanks for reading!
-Bruce and Anna
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bye Bye Apartment...
You may be asking why we still had the keys and garage door opener for the apartment being that we have been living in the house for a month and a half. Well, it's because of spite...
They made us pay rent until the end of March, so instead of giving them the keys and garage door opener when we moved in early February, we decided to hold onto them so they weren't able to turn our apartment around and re-rent it for March while we were still paying rent on it. They were ridiculous in not letting us break our lease, so we made sure they weren't making anything on it.
The funniest thing is that we gave them a letter prior to moving out as we were required to do (need to give them 60 days notice), and we received a letter on the apartment door on Saturday when we went to pick up Anna's bike from the garage. Their letter stated "A maintenance person will be entering your apartment on March 16 or 17 to check your water and sewer, as it doesn't appear to be working..." The reason that's funny? Because we TOLD them in the 60-day letter that we were moving out in early February to move into the house, and that we could be reached at our new address if they needed anything... The reason the water and sewer company wasn't registering anything for us is because we USED NO WATER since we weren't living there...
We're glad we're done with that apartment complex - now it's a matter of getting our full security deposit back, which I have a feeling they're going to screw us on somehow...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
New Bathroom Decoration
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Long Time, No Post
PAINTING
We have painted the spare room, the office, AND the laundry room in the recent weeks, and have been enjoying the new new home. It's been a little over a month and a half, and we're completely excited to be here!!
We'll be sure to post new photos soon so you can check them out, and we will look forward to hearing your comments!!
- Bruce
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tours of the House
Bruce and Anna
Sunday, February 22, 2009
New Photos after Painting the Office...
We have taken some new photos of the house with some of the wall hangings up, so we wanted to share with you! This weekend was spent painting the office from its ugly yellow color to our off white. We also hung a number of things on the walls! We still have some things to hang, but we're getting it done little by little...
Check out the new photos by clicking here.
Hope you like them!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
New Look...
The Pink Monstrosity is GONE...
Since we also had our new bed delivered yesterday, we put our old bed into the old pink room (which is now the official guest room and is open for business) and we're all set.
This weekend, I'll be tackling the "so bright you need your sunglasses" office, so I'll share some photos from that once I get it done.
Have a good one everybody!
Monday, February 9, 2009
We're All Moved In!
Special thanks to everyone who helped make the move possible, including Bruce's Dad who did much of the painting and faucet changes, Anna's parents who helped us for a number of weekends as we were getting ready for the move by removing wallpaper and cleaning the house, in addition to on the day of the move by cleaning and putting up our bathroom fixtures, and Anna's cousin Liz, her boyfriend Tom and Bruce's brother Joel who were the heavy lifters! We appreciate all of your help!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Sunday, February 1
- Kitchen Ceiling (two coats)
- Foyer ceiling (two coats)
- Living Room ceiling (one coat)
- Kitchen walls (one coat)
We'll post pictures soon!
Bruce
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day #9 - More Wallpaper Comes Down
Speaking of living in the house, we are planning to be fully moved in February 7, 2009. However, we will still have the apartment until the end of March in case we do need to back that timeframe up a little bit.
Lastly, we're heading out tonight to look at new mattresses and bedroom sets to furnish that part of the house. That will essentially furnish two rooms - the master bedroom with what we buy and the spare bedroom with the stuff we currently have. Hopefully we'll be able to have this new stuff delivered by February 7 as well!
Thanks for reading, and we hope we can have you to the new house in the Spring or Summer!
-Bruce and Anna
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Day #6 - Wallpaper Removal Continues...
Above: Master bath above the tub - DONE!
Above: Where we finished yesterday
Lots more to do, but we're making great progress! Keep an eye on the blog, and we'll keep you updated on how the house is coming along!
-Bruce and Anna
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day #5 in the House
Above: Anna in the master bedroom with the clean wall...
I also shoveled the driveway and sidewalk in front of the house and cleaned the loft and stairs' woodwork.
We had a good day today at the house, and Anna will be there tomorrow during the day on her day off starting to peel in the master bath. Hopefully it comes off a little easier than the master bedroom paper did!
We'll continue to keep you updated as we continue the work on the new house!
-Bruce and Anna
Friday, January 16, 2009
Day #3 with the House
As they were doing their work, Anna and I cleaned the kitchen, as well as the baseboards and windows in around three or four rooms and the basement. So even with carpet installers in the house all day, we were able to get a good amount of work done as well.
The big project that we're still working on before moving in is removing wallpaper from the master bedroom and bathroom. It is not coming off easily, and we bought a steamer to help with this effort. We also have wallpaper in the living room and dining room, which we will likely have to complete once we move in.
Anyway, back to the house tomorrow evening to do some additional wallpaper removal. Should be fun! Thanks for following our progress...
Bruce and Anna
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We're Homeowners!
Following our hands almost falling off because of all of the papers we had to sign, Bruce went to the house and began doing some work - shoveling the driveway, removing child "locks" from the kitchen cabinets from the previous owners, and beginning the grueling task of removing wallpaper with hot water and fabric softener... That was not as successful a venture as he had hoped, so we're trying to come to a consensus on the next step - either buying a steamer to remove it or using one of the off the shelf wallpaper removal chemicals. Not sure which we'll use yet, but would love to hear your thoughts!
We're back to the house tomorrow night to continue our efforts, and we'll keep you updated on our progress as we move forward. For tonight, we're just happy to finally be homeowners!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Closing on the House...
It's also been a while since we actually got everything ready to close on the new house, and this Tuesday we'll finally be closing on it!! We are extremely excited about the chance to get the keys to our new home so we can get in there and begin doing some work to make it exactly what we want.
What we're planning on doing:
- We have our apartment until the end of March, so we'll be moving in slowly after the closing.
- We will be removing some wallpaper, painting, changing some of the faucets, etc. during the next month or so, and will be hoping to move in full-time in early-mid February.
- Bruce's Dad will be coming to assist with some of the painting, faucet replacement, etc. at the beginning of February.
- We will be hoping to have the full house furnished in the next couple months. We already purchased a new couch for the family room, which will allow us to use our current furniture for the basement. The next room to furnish is the master bedroom so we can use our current stuff in the guest bedroom.
Hope you're well! (Did you notice the new name of the blog? What do you think?)
-Bruce and Anna