Paint, Clean, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Dana and I officially closed and received our keys on Wednesday of last week.  Wow, I can't even explain the feelings that came across us.  I have been trying so hard to not get my hopes up through the whole process because I didn't want to be let down in the end.  As we got the words to feel free to pick up our keys, it was relief, excitement, and a little bit of overwhelmnet.  We let out all our excitement on the ride over.  We screamed, yelled and high fived...yay!!  It is ours!

So, after getting over the excitement, we dove right in to getting all the things done that we needed to do to move in.  We began cleaning and prepping for painting our bedroom and my Bcat Threads room.  Those are our priorities right now because those are most crucial to get done in order to move in.  The rest will happen over time, and shouldn't be a problem to be living in the house while we are working on the other rooms.  Plus, the only thing we needed to do to these rooms is paint.  So, after spending many hours between Lowe's, Home Depot, and Ikea, we got all our supplies and began our new project.

Dana and I found that we make a pretty good team when it comes time to getting things done.  I would spend all the time painting all the trims with a paint brush while Dana would then follow with the roller to get all the main spots (for anyone wondering, we used Organic Soy-based paint, which has no fumes and is very safe for the environment).  In working so well together, we were able to get both rooms painted in two days, while also moving more and more of our items in and finding places for them throughout the house.  I can't wait to show you the final results as we finish each room to our liking.  Its going to look great!

Along with beginning our moving, cleaning, and painting, we have also had the opportunity to get to know our neighborhood a little.  As it turns out, our street is extremely friendly and safe.  We started by meeting our next door neighbor, Phil, who filled us in on the history of the neighborhood.  As it turns out, his house was the first built on the block and ours was built just two years later.  Both houses have only been lived in by the families who owned them, both being passed on to the children.  Phil seems to keep a good eye on everything going on, so I think he will be a good person to live next door to.  Then there is Frank and Vera.  We have only met Frank, but he was a very genuine and caring guy.  He was very close to the couple that lived in our house, and it seems like he is passing on that warming relationship to us.  He has already taken our garbage cans back to the house for us, and stopped over a couple times to say hello.  On the other side of our house (next door) is Gil and Ed.  We haven't talked to them as much, but Gil seemed to take a liking to Rocky, and they both were super nice and welcoming.  I think we will add a great dynamic to the neighborhood.

And, of course, Rocky has been tagging along and helping with this whole process as well.  When he saw me taking a picture of Dana, he ran over and started crying to me because he wanted his picture taken, too.  I said "sit" and immediately, he sat with his chest as far out as it would go to show just how manly he is, just like his daddy.  :)