Call me the Queen of Suburbia.

The exodus from Apartamento to the Suburban Castle (our new humble abode) went smashingly well. We have some amazing friends in our lives for helping us on one of the hottest days of the year so far. There were some hiccups, but I was Zen like all day. I know, shocking, right?

Two weeks in and we are getting the hang of the space. I'm still wrapping my head around the amount of storage space we now have. There are about 5 boxes in the living room that still need unpacked, so bare with me, but we have gone from this:


To this:


Another angle:


The tree tapestry seen in the last photo is the coat closet; this place is full of craptastic old closet doors, which now live in the garage. We also took off the ones in the master bedroom and the girls' room. Here is a peek at their room (as of Sunday):

I sort of want to hang a curtain of some sort on their closet...but I'm not sure? There is a lot of storage/toys going on in there, so I feel like it would be nice to close the curtain at bedtime. I have a cute black and white floral cloth shower curtain I'm not using right now, so I might pick up another tension rod and try it? Not sure at this point about that. Also, I am secretly ecstatic that I got to hang up the teen magazine posters in an orderly fashion; you should have seen them at the apartamento. It was chaos.

from the door:

I plan on getting two more sets of curtains to frame out the pink sheers, something purple I do believe. I think it will cozy it up a bit. We also want to get some of those over sized letters for the girls' to decorate and hang over their beds. I saw some cardboard ones at Hobby Lobby a while back, which I think is perfect, because if it does fall off the wall, it won't hurt them.

I have these on order from Amazon, for a project for the bedroom (more to come later). IKEA will also be getting a good chunk of my monies soon.

Since I love a good list, here is a run down of everything we still need to do/get:

Living Room
Curtains (IKEA sheers, for starters)
DVD Storage (Lerberg from IKEA x3 or 4)
Closet doors off; tree tapestry turns into curtain w/tension rod and clips
Switch out ginormous ceiling fan? Perhaps!

Kitchen
Island (buy or re-purpose something else)
Chalkboard Wall
Girls' Art Gallery-need to ID drawings for this and get sizes for frames (IKEA)

Laundry/Utility Room
Steel Shelving to create pantry storage
Hang curtain to hide furnace/Hot Water Heater (IKEA again)
Organizing bins for cabinets over washer/dryer

Hall
Hang Framed photos (size each with paper ads, hang papers on wall in pattern, nail through and hang up pictures)

Bathrooms
Get 1 small and 1 large rug for main bath, brown
existing large green one goes in half bath
Something for walls-one picture has been printed, just need a frame and I'm thinking of shopping what we already have for the half bath.

Girls' room
Hang up collage wall near Kiddo's bed
Organize toy bins/put in closet/take off closet doors to maximize floorspace
Curtains (still need purples, IKEA?)
Big Letters for over their beds
Spice racks as front facing bookshelves from, you guessed it, IKEA
DIY Canopies (maybe)

Master
Long and low dresser 6-8 drawers, I want to find old one and re-paint and get new hardware for
Bedskirt/new bedding
DIY project with Wallflowers-ordered
Prints off Etsy (frames IKEA, do you see a pattern here?)
Different curtains-eventually

I have yet to unpack my books and get the Expedit 100% organized, so that is on the agenda for tonight.

I love how this place is evolving and I can't wait to see what it will become by the end of the Summer. The husband and I keep saying this place makes us feel like grown ups; I feel like it is exactly where we need to be right now. We have the opportunity to acquire all the crap we need for a house, without having to worry about the upkeep on things. I think by the time our lease is up (in two years) we might actually be able to look into buying. Or not, but that is okay too.

The other day my sister says, "what's with all the talk of "projects"? When did you become so crafty?" I've been reading on the interwebs about all this stuff basically since I got married in 2009, now I have a blank slate to execute on, and I'm so excited. And you know what? I just can't hide it.

Letter.

Dear Apartamento:

I have never missed anyplace I have called home (excluding fleeting moments of missing my hometown/parents place) and I've called A LOT of places home in the past seven years. I am going to truly miss you, in all your hippie village glory.

Your walls are where the husband and I got engaged and planned our DIY wedding. You have hosted the hubsfamily Christmas 3 years running, and had countless gatherings of friends and family, both big and small throughout our stay. Every twice annual Street Fair that takes place in town brought us lots of visitors, plus I always got out on the streets early to avoid the crowds.

Your open concept layout has been amazing. I will probably miss that the most; being able to make dinner/do anything in the kitchen but still be engaged in whatever is going on in the living room.

But our time is up, my knees are achy from climbing those 21 steps of death every morning and night and to all good things must come an end. We need a yard for the girls, and less steps for the clumsy (ie: me).

(Plus we are gaining: an entire other toilet, a garage, yard and storage room)

Thank you for the memories, for being so well insulated (we never turned our furnace on through 3 Ohio Winters; our Vectren Gas bill was never over $20.) and hosting our lives for the past 3 years. I'll miss you.


Best,
Mrs. Melberry

(Browser)Window Shopping.

I've had an epiphany: Craigslist is like a cyberspace thrift store. I love thrift stores, therefore I love Craigslist. I spend many more hours than I'd like to admit browsing its pages, imagining random pieces of furniture in my (soon-to-be) ranch style duplex-condo-apartment-half house type of dealy.

I love me a good Craigslist browse.

Then I remember, we have no extra monies because of the impending move into said ranch style duplex-condo-apartment-half-house type dealy.

Sad face.

I really need to stop imagining where furniture will go in the new place. If I have learned anything in almost two years of marriage, its to stop having expectations, you won't be let down when things don't go as you imagined and reality can be better sometimes.

But it is so very hard.

I am so very excited about the new place. With its storage and multiple toilets and washer dryer hookups. Do you know what this means?! It means no more brand new tops shrunk in the dryer when my laundry doing husband forgets isn't told to leave something out. So Exciting.

A Change Would Do You Good.

I like to pretend I'll commit to new projects, and be consistent. Then I'm not.

The 40DaysMovement project sort of fell through, although I am starting the 30 Day Shred video today after work, and I'm excited to do so. I need a kick in the ass, and I know annoyingly fit Jillian Micheals will do it for me.

I want to try to resurrect the Snapshots project though, especially with all the stuff coming up for us. We'll see how that goes.

Oh well, call me a bad blogger, if you will. I do always come back, eventually, making up excuses (mostly for myself) about why I, once again, failed to stay consistent at posting. Or exercising. Or much of anything. Oh well. I'm going to forgive myself this time, and not dwell.

Besides, I mostly write this blog for my own little documentary purposes, even if they are meager at best. So I'm really only letting myself down.

Anyway.

Crazy-exciting news. We are moving. As of June 1 we will no longer be in our hippish-small town, but in Surburbia. I will miss our little town, but the 'burbs have their perks, both in the physical space we call home, and in a more general, accessibility of things. It is a ranch style duplex-condo-apartment-half house type of dealy. (I don't like the word "duplex" so I'm having trouble naming it.) It is one building, with two units. The landlord lives next door, and she is pretty cool, and we tend to keep quiet these days anyway.

The new place perks:
One story aka: no more 21 steps of death.
Garage. YAY.
Washer/dryer hookups meaning no more laundry mat.
Utility room. No more cat box in the ONE storage closet we have.
Side patio
Backyard
Ceiling fan in living room
Coat closet in living room ie: for shoes, coats and board games. (yay storage.)
Gas range, I grew up with one, and prefer it to electric.
1.5 baths, which is FANTASTIC since I have a husband who enjoys camping out in the bathroom sometimes, if you know what I'm saying.
3 bedrooms ( More STORAGE!)
Attic above the Garage...did I mention I'm really excited about the Storage?

I am now realizing we have basically be living with all of our crap in plain sight since we moved into together. Neither place we've lived has had ample storage. The amount of storage in this place is making me giddy. I thrive on a tidy home, and being able to store the less visually appealing things we own makes me so very happy.

Let's say it one more time: STOOOOORRRRRAGE! Yay.

This is place is literally within walking distance to the husband's work, a fishing pond and a huge playground. It is also a 5 minute drive to some really great friends. Target and Kroger's are right down the road.

I think it will be a great change for everyone, even the girls. We discussed the fact that the move puts more distance between them and us. The husband pointed out the way things are with both of them, being 1 hour away is no different than being one town away; we are (sadly) not included in their lives with their mothers and their maternal families. So he is 100% alright with us being closer to my hometown than his and subsequently, further from the girls as well.

New half casa, in iPhone photos (nothing exciting, since it's just empty rooms, but pics nonetheless):

Living Room, from front door, with husband in doorway to kitchen

Kitchen, side door to patio is left of Fridge, Hallway right of oven, Utility Rm right of Hallway

Full Bath, from main entry (one of the lights is out, hence the super bad lighting)

View standing in Master, looking through the half bath into the full (there are pocket doors)

The packing has began. And I have some plans to document the move. Good things to come!

Home: Update.

It has been almost a month since I set my goals for making the ol' apartamento more cozy and organized. Let's see how I've progressed, shall we?

Living room:
Large bookcase (think Expedit 4x4 from IKEA) for books and nonsense storage.
Couch/loveseat combo OR sectional. I've never owned my very own couch, and the blue and white checked monstrosity, while comfortable and sturdy has got to go. I am very thankful that the husband had it donated when he lost nearly all of his stuff in a fire long before we met, but the time has come to say goodbye.
Re-configure stuff on the walls and perhaps furniture arrangement
I broke down and ordered a tight fitting sofa cover in chocolate brown and bought some adorable new couch pillows on a great buy one, get three free sale at Value City. While I'm a bit sad about not getting whole new couch, our tax refund is looking to be a lot smaller than anticipated. I'm slashing the already tight budget I'd set for all of this. Such is life. Let's hope the cover shows up today in the mail and it fits correctly. Total cost (so far): $66.59

Bedroom:
Closet system- We currently have one extremely bowed closet rod and piles of nonsense below, so we need one. It will go with us when we leave, or the landlord can pay us back.
6 drawer low dresser- Two people and a four drawer garage sale find from when I was 16 does not compute.
Baskets for storage under nightstands.
Closet organization system is at the top of the list. The chaos that is our closet will soon be managed, as long as we can make it work in our budget for this month. Eating is a bit more important than closet organization. Sometimes. I am also going to try my damnedest to NOT forget a before photo, because it will be an epic before and after. You just wait.

Bathroom:
New Shower curtain
Shower organizational thingy-Right now we have two small ones and the clutter in there is suddenly driving me nuts. Both items have been purchased along with new shower curtain liner, pretty hangers and a fancy yet inexpensive suction cup soap dish for the hubster's bar soap. clutter managed, showering is fun again. Total cost: $22.96. I love TJ Maxx.

Girls' room:
They both need small, three drawer dressers. We have a clothes storage issue all-around in our home. Half of their closet is hanging clothes, the other half is Christmas tree/hockey crap storage. We have no storage besides unused kitchen cabinets. Before you call me the evil step-mother....we keep the girls' room door closed when they aren't over to conserve heat, so it is hard to put this stuff high on the priority list: I don't see it every day. Out of sight, out of mind might apply to their storage issues, although trust me, it does not apply to them, I think about what kind of day they are having every single day.

Little progress is better than no progress at all, so I'm happy with things. Stay tuned, living room/couch progress soon.

New Normal.

I squint through the darkness in order to see what the time is, and once again I've awoken just shy of a half hour until I need to get up. As I stumble still half asleep to the bathroom (since that's why I'm awake too early once again) the thought of a morning workout crosses my mind but quickly decide "not today" and head back to bed for another 20 or so minutes of sleep. One snooze button hit later, I'm in the shower and he's up and moving.

"I'm going to go start the cars" he says. I smile. "Okie" I reply.

We have been doing the morning dance around each other in our small apartamento for a month now. For the first time ever we have to be at work at the same time every day. I sort of love starting my day with him.

Aside from realizing we need at least a bath and a half in our (hopefully in the not-so-distant) future home, it has been strangely nice. It is easier to get out of the warm bed knowing your personal heater has to get up as well. And knowing your car won't be warm and/or not covered in snow when you go to depart. That is worth sharing the bathroom for.

His job is going well. He likes it, and it is a lot of take home work sometimes, but eventually he won't be the new guy and won't have to prep so much for the computer programs he is teaching the next day (because he will have already taught them). He is finally doing something he actually enjoys, for the first time in over five years. That makes me so happy for him. Add in the fact of room for advancement and profit sharing and I think my husband might have a career on his hands.

The 4 months he was unemployed I was constantly waiting for something epic and bad to happen, that we wouldn't be able to afford to fix. It never happened and here we are on the other side of things, wiser and happier than I could have imagined. I've been saying the lay off was a blessing in disguise; things really do happen for a reason.

So even when I'm dark and twisty, things aren't that bad, and I feel like they can only get better from here on out.

But wait, what happened to the angsty crap from last time? I would attribute that to really bad PMS....plus I'm working out again, and I've said it before, its my own natural anti-depressant. It's a wonder what sweating it out can do for your mood. If only I could stick with it forever and I would be rainbows and smiles permanently...ehhh I don't know about that...

Home.

The apartment we currently call home is approximately 1200 Sq. ft. of living space consisting of two bedrooms, one bath with an open floor plan living/kitchen/dining area. Until last week, it was thought of by me as a temporary space we are on the verge of outgrowing. Due to various reasons, including fiscal and personal, we are not ready to buy a house so I'm on a mission to transform the home of all our crap into a home that is truly ours. My husband and I decided we don't like moving much, so until we can buy a house, we are staying put. Might as well get comfy, right?

Now, if you know me, you know I am slightly handicapped in the arena of designing anything. Clothes, home decor, arts and crafts, etc...but I am trying to make a true effort to change this. But I need help. That's where the interweb comes in. It is chock-full 'o goodies.

Most of the inspiration to begin this transformation of our rental into our home comes from reading about a friend's own decorating adventures over at Turn Right at Lake Michigan. While they are renovating their first home (something I don't even want to think about undertaking...they have bigger balls than I) there are many interior design topics that come up, and that's what I'm going for. If home ren-o is your thang or if you just like witty banter, check it out (yes, I just said thang, it wasn't a typo).

Apartment Therapy has proven to be an amazing source for inspiration so far as well. Here's a snapshot of what I likey from them.

For the bedroom:

I have a weak spot for trees/nature worked into design and I love the wall mounted dressing area for its space saving abilities.

For the living room:





I find myself loving clusters of things hung on walls. It reminds me of collages I used to make as a kid and since we have high ceilings in the living room, why not? I also am digging the t.v. stands that double as shelving/storage. And I will have a sectional couch like the one above even if we have to eat ramen noodles all summer long. It would be perfect for our living room, and since the couch seen here is awful, our first large purchase will be a sectional:

Kiddo doesn't judge us for our post-fire donated couch and although its functional and pretty comfortable, its very ugly. (ps-she read that chapter book in two sittings! She's a genius I swear and please ignore my hubby's scruffy do...he even admitted yesterday he's overdue for a cut)

For Ms. Kitty:
Even though I don't know where we would fit this, I thought it was so smart...it's an IKEA hack, consisting of a $60 cabinet and a $13 kitty door.

Again, all these (and more!) can be found at the amazing Apartment Therapy.

I am going to try to use updating this blog as motivation to keep re-working our space at home. I will admit I forgot to take before pictures when re-organizing the space right inside what we use as the main entrance, but here is the after, with a fabulous shoe rack I got on clearance at Target for $6.50: (I apologize for the crappy blackberry photo as well)

The wall crap needs a do over as well, but for now at least my shoes aren't the focal point of the space. Maybe by next time I'll have the table removed from what is now a reading nook near the deck doors to nowhere (that's a whole other post) and I'll share that space, or just some pictures of the apartment the weekend we moved in...since not much has changed since then...but that is about to...well, change.

Til next time.

So it begins. Again.

It's official. I'm looking for a new job.

It is the least I can do while I trudge along in my miserable existence at my current place of employment. Please do not think I am not grateful that I even have a job right now, because I am, but I am also becoming increasingly unhappy where I'm at as each day passes. It is not a fulfilling job and I would really like to find something I enjoy doing at least half of the time, so we can maybe figure out where to look for a house AND so I can stop falling down the stairs of our second floor apartment before I break a hip or something.

I do not miss is formatting the old resumé. Or coming up with concise things to say in a cover letter. Or attempting to guess exactly what they want to see in my objective line but I will at least try, because then I can bitch about how I can't find a new job, instead of about how much I dislike the one I already have. Everybody wins!

To all you 20somethings still plugging away at your undergrad, NEVER LEAVE COLLEGE. It's a huge scary world out here, where student loans go into repayment, cars break down, taxes get WAY more confusing than they already are, and you can't even drown your sorrows beginning on Thursday night because:
1. you have to work on Friday, every Friday, and if you mysteriously always call off, they will catch on eventually
2. your body can't handle drinking like that anymore for one night, let alone a weekly 3 night bender. Now sporadic weddings and friends birthdays leave you feeling like death for the following two days and last but not least

3. You are generally more tired than ever before in your life. Probably because you work at a job you pretty much hate and its sucking the very life out of you one painful 8 to 5 work day at a time.

But hey, at least my car insurance is cheaper! (by about $20. Seriously.)

****

Today is one of those days I feel like I am 25 going on 50. I had a dentist appointment. I found a new guy, closer to where I live. I should probably mention I've been putting off finding a new guy for some time. Like a year. And a half.

So anyways, I went in for the preliminary stuff...x-rays and the like. I come to find out this dentist is ridiculously thorough. 18 x-rays, a dental exam and a periodontal exam later I find out I need at least two root canals and crowns and possibly another root canal and blah blah blah and a whole bunch of other things that I don't even know how to pronounce. So he advises I come in for a cleaning next week, and then we go from there, prioritizing the most urgent stuff first.

Thanks Mom and Dad for craptastic mouth genes (hey if you can't blame your parents, who can you blame?) If you know me, you know I'm pretty religious about my brushing and flossing. All I can hope for is they give me the giggle gas and send me home with some sort of Rx for a nice pain killer to help me forget the awful parts...since all the crap I need done will most likely NOT be able to be done all at once.

Being a grown up isn't really all its cracked up to be. Trust me.

All Before 9am

My list of accomplishments:

Successfully made two trips halfway down the (snow covered) stairs before going back up due to forgotten things.

Fell down half the stairs with my car key in hand (can't be attached to wad 'o keys, so its just a little VW key rectangle) making the key go flying into the snow (approx 6 to 8 inches) where it (hopefully) is still residing.

Realized I don't have a spare key since I bought my car used and the dealer wasn't given one from the past owners.

Changed into black dress pants that are about a half size too small, since the pants I was wearing got wet and my other ones that fit are dirty.

Woke my husband up crying hysterically about how I needed him to get up and help me look for said key along with grumbling to him about my fall and how I plan on calling the landlord and asking if the steps are getting re-done when we get our deck built in the spring, since I've fallen down them twice since we moved there in December of 2008.

Realized my work keys are hanging from my rear view mirror, in my car, who's key is somewhere in the snow behind my apartment.

It was a productive morning, to say the least, but damn my ass hurts.

TGIF

No, this isn't a post about abc's friday night line up from the 1990's (sorry to disappoint). It is my weekly list of random things I'm thankful for:

1. Veterans. My dad, brother, all three of my Uncles and both my grandfathers are/were soldiers. Patriotism is in my blood...even if I choose to support the soldiers but not the wars.
2. My little apartment. We don't have a yard, or even a deck, but we have someplace to call home. Plus living above a business lets us avoid expensive natural gas bills in the winter: we still haven't turned on the furnace and we probably won't. Yay for Amish installed insulation! (says the landlord)
3. The heater that came with my job. Without it, I would have to wear a snow suit to work because they also are avoiding turning on the heat at my work, however, I don't think they have good insulation, let alone, Amish installed.

Happy Freakin' Friday.

So this is the New Year.

I am a little scattered brained today. This week has confused the shit out of my sleep schedule and I slept like crap last night. Most likely because I took a two hour nap yesterday while fiancé watched one of the 15 college bowl games on tv (we still don't have cable, so I can't really argue when there is literally nothing else on) but I digress...

I am trying to get to a point....but I'm having trouble remembering what it was in the first place. Oh yes, the standard reflective New Year's blog. That is where I was going with this.

I love New Year's. I actually think it is a semi-neurotic girl's best friend. Here is why: you get a fresh start. The Calendar says so. It is a new year. Right now we all have 363 days in front of us (barring any freak accidents) to do with what we choose. Here is how I choose to spend 2009:

The biggest one that pretty much overlaps with the other small promises I have for myself is
1. stress management. I will strive to get a handle on my stress level and bring my normal state of being down a couple notches on the stress. Along with this, comes the
2. healthy lifestyle I want to continue practicing. Eating right and exercising has a HUGE impact on my moods. Last but not least, I want to
3. find a new hobby that incorporates the first two. As much as I love reading, its competely sedentary, makes me sleepy and hurts my eyes when I over do it. Other than that, I've decided only the extreme OCD truly claim cleaning as a hobby, therefore I will no longer do so (haha), I don't have much in the hobby area these days. There is a yoga studio literally next door to where we live, and in a couple weeks (after I've been active on a daily basis again for a bit...I don't want to hurt myself) I'm going to go check things out and join a beginner's class.

I am excited for 2009. If you can't tell from the fiancé talk, Boyfriend proposed on Christmas night and has transformed into Fiancé, woo! We are pretty much set on the end of August (Tabulous: you will get a full explanation on this at a later date) and I'm getting my first taste of real wedding planning. I have a binder going already with preliminary guest list and timeline of things needing to be done. So one year from now, I will be a Mrs. AND a Step-Mom. I am actually excited about both those things, strange as it may seem. I really do love Kiddo and Little One and can't wait to be an official, legal part of their lives.

Now I know things probably won't go exactly as planned and there will be times where I am stressed over things I shouldn't be, eating deep fried things and sitting on my ass, but we are all human and if I think I'm NOT going to mess up, I would be crazy.

Happy 2009. I hope everyone has a great NEW year.

Its November 14, 2008...what are you doing with your life?

Holy moley I am busy as crap right now. Lots of things going on all at once.

I had been calling about a ridiculously large, awesome priced apartment in town and finally got a call back from the guy. We went to look on Wednesday evening and I completely fell in love. It has two bedrooms, huge kitchen with a counter/bar area and dining area, big bathroom and the whole place is 1300 sq. ft if that gives you an idea of the size. The landlord told us its very quiet and extremely well insulated and the girl who is moving out heated the whole place every winter for four years with two ceramic heaters. We went ahead and filled out an application, and are waiting to hear back. I'll probably cry a little if for some reason it doesn't work out.

We also set up an appointment to look at this awesome completely renovated house that is for sale/possible lease with the option to buy, but it is way expensive and the guy didn't sound like he wants to lease at all (which is dumb since in the listing it says "call about possible lease option"). We are still going to go drool over it this evening.

I've been so busy at work this week. Its been a bit unreal but actually awesome. I wish I was that busy all the time.

The Master's Project needs to get finished ASAP, and I've been pushing to work on it a bit each day. I'm thinking about doing a long day in the labs tomorrow to try and punch out the rest of the data entry so I can actually start analyzing.

Boyfriend received a certain credit card in the mail last Friday for a certain jewelry store which I hope he uses soon :D

The more I think about wedding stuff, the more I want to streamline the whole thing and make it as simple as possible. Mostly because I feel a little sick to my stomach whenever I think about the nitty gritty detailing of most weddings. And I know this isn't going to go over well, but the more I think about it, the more I don't want a huge bridal party. I really just want MOH and sister and him to just do BM and one groomsmen but I doubt that will work since he has two brothers and wouldn't want to have to pick between them...UNLESS....my sister can be escorted by both his brothers and then just his BM! That just might work. I don't think he cares that much, but I guess we'll see.

argh...I've had shitty girl cramps for about 4 days off and on this week. Its a bit annoying. Ah well, life goes on.

I have too much time on my hands.

Today at work I have:
-found every house in town in (what I think is) our price range for buying and made a tidy list including address, price and number of bedrooms/bathrooms.
-found (the more realistic option) a spacious 2 bedroom apartment closer to downtown for not much more than we are paying now. I'm going to call the guy tonight for serious, and ask him one determining question: does it have a bathtub?
-found two realistic locations for our wedding. No, we still aren't officially engaged, but we might as well be. I felt weird researching things at first, since there is no ring on my finger, but it is only a matter of time (and money) until it is and I don't want to spend ions of time planning, so I might as well know what I want early.
-updated my offbeat bride tribe profile.
-checked MySpace a zillion times.
-visited Facebook a few times as well.
- I have NOT however, done much significant work. Not that I am complaining...I'm just worried one of these days they are going to bust me doing very little and realize they are paying all this money for me to organize my life on their time.

Oh well. I'm thinking over time, things may get busier, but who knows.