The To-Do List

Of our almost 9 years together, 2015 is proving to be the most difficult/challenging/rewarding.
Here's a glimpse of our to do list for the next 2-3 months.

Easy peasy, right?

The For Real Official House Tour

Moving is complete.

We've been in our house about two weeks now and things are starting to look more homey.

Thank God.

I cannot live in world where there are no pictures on the wall or curtains up.

Tay thinks I'm crazy.

I tell him it makes the place seem comfortable and home like.

He agreed.

After he said an endless slew of profanities pertaining to some curtain rods :)

Bless that man!

So, without further adieu , the for reals legit house tour.

The photos were taken with an OLD point and shoot.

I couldn't located any memory cards for the REAL camera (due to the moving), so these photos will have to suffice. If you want to see the house in person, come visit.

We have a guest room! And a 150 pound dog that will sit on your lap.

Its home :)

 The Norm shelf; which is hidden behind the front door.

It's where all his things are kept: leash, harness, collar, the Furminator (BUY ONE!)

 

A little decoration on my desk.

And old a$$ camera that has film stuck in in from 1978. No joke.

I've tried to remove it, no luck.

So instead, it becomes decoration. 

 How many DirecTv remotes does one house need? And no, we don't even have that many TVs.
We only have two and yet 5 remotes! Tay told me NEVER put the remote in the drawer, it'll get mixed up. Here's an idea...throw the others away? Tay says no, you never know when we may need them!

 The master bedroom.
It's not much, but then again, its only two of us, why do we need a jumbo space?
And it's summer and we both get hot. Hence only the sheet and light blanket on the bed. Now, when winter rolls around, the down comforter will be busted out!
And for the windows...they honestly do NOT make curtains that size.
Trust me, we checked. Everywhere. Target, Wal-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond.
So that's what we settled with.

 Chest of drawers with bridal portrait.
Tay didn't realize, but I cheated him.
The top three drawers are his and the bottom three are mine.
I told him, I don't mind bending down to get my stuff, you take the top.
He agreed.
Of course, now after he sees this...whoops!

 The backyard. With fat dog. See those two jumbo trees? I'm thinking hammock and Griswold style Christmas lights :)

 Garage entry. With a built in desk! That he have officially dubbed, the catch-all.
It's where the purse goes, the keys, everything.
And the tupperware container...Norman's supply of food.
A 25 pound bag lasts about two weeks.

 The rack that the purse and hat are hanging on was in the house I grew up in way out there is Silver City. I think my brothers want it, but I outsmarted them and stole it.

 The garage entry plus laundry room. The perk? here is a door and you can shut it and don't have to hear the washer and dryer going constantly!

 We own a bacon press. Something else I stole from my childhood home in Silver City. I always leave it on the stove. Tay thinks it decoration, I say nay nay Tay Tay it's a bacon press. And after the 9 millionth time of bacon curling up, he finally gets wise and uses the bacon press. Ingenious.

 The bar. I believe this is self-explanatory.

 Galley style kitchen. One thing that we've learned since being here. The kitchen is not big enough for me, Tay, and Norman. We continue to make mental notes. Forever home - big kitchen or just put up gates so fat dog can't come in.
And I apologize for the dishes on the drying rack, but we do live here.

 The backdoor.
The basket is the home for Norman's toys, though they never stay in there long.
And his jumbo sized water bowl, that always seem to be empty.

 An actual wood burning fireplace.
For right now, its home to our candles.
And pay no attention to the tub of photos...I'm "eventually" going to hang them.

 Really debating on getting 'because you're mine' tattooed on my foot.

 The living room, with the husband living in it. Watching Office Space.

 Both my boys, being lazy :)
Norman loves the floor, its always cold, but he can't seem to get a grip!

 We love board games. Especially Scene it! We don't have time to sit down and play, but we keep them on hand, just in case!

 The guest room. Antique iron bed stolen from childhood home? Check!
Handmade quilt from Taylor's grandmother? Check!
Eclectic albums above bed? Check!

 

The master bath. 

I love two sinks, but I've learned, it's not necessary. Didn't we learn to share in kindergarten? 

 Tay's office. Note: I had nothing to do with this room, aside from hanging curtains.
The little red couch in the corner is for Norman. When dada is busy studying, he'll curl up on the red couch. And when I come home from work, I plop down, love on Norman and talk to Tay about my day and his day.

 Some days he has to dress up. And his chair becomes the catch-all for ties and belts.

House Tour: Part Two

And the unofficial house tour continues!

Remember, once the house is in tip-top shape, i.e. curtains and everything is in it's rightful place, then the official tour will be posted.

 I'm a stickler for little tables everywhere. It's a great place to hide stash things that need to be handy, yet still out of sight. And of course, Norman's giant water bowl and his toy basket.

 

A little something I made out of Scrabble tiles a few years ago for the Skelton family Christmas.

In the end, Tay and I won it. Score!

And right now, it's making it's home between the two bookcases above the TV.  

Goodwill came through and had a chair for me.
I've been to 3 Goodwill stores in 2 days!
And this is my office space.
The house has a large front room that we have to idea what to do with.
So I stashed my office in the corner.
And yeah, now it looks like my maps have shifted. Ugh!

An office cheat sheet. And my old a$$ camera.

Tay was confused about the print.

"Does it really tell you something?"

"Nope, it's just pretty. Of course it tells me something!"

My desk organizer. 

Contains Sharpie's, business cards, and everything in between.

My armoire.

It's about 29 years old and was made just for me.

I love it. Her. I love her.

She's been a jack of all trades for my lifetime.

She started as a TV cabinet...yeah, I had a 11 inch TV with a dial.

Then when I went to college, it became a pantry.

When Tay and I got married, it became our bar.

And now, she's used as photography storage.

And my NEW office chair will not fit at my actual desk.

BUMMER!

So I just threw it under the red table instead.

I do plan on doing something to the chair.

I'm thinking a burlap cushion for sure.

And we love the Wizard of Oz.

Hence the jumbo print.

Tay played the Tin Man in a small production back home.

I bought it as a joke.

Its not funny now because every time we move, I'm the dummy that has to lug it around and hang it!

You win Tay Tay, you win!

Maybe just maybe if I can find the time this weekend, I'll start looking for some jumbo heavy duty curtain rods on sale. Along with curtains. And then the house will be one step closer to being complete.

Moving . . . AGAIN!

There she is.

The new dwelling for Mr. and Mrs. Taylor Skelton...

and Norman Ray Skelton :)

We've been living in a big ole nice house with a big ole backyard.

We could afford the big ole things thanks to having roommates. 

But, said roommate is getting married and bought a house for their new family, and the Tater Tot and I cannot afford to live in the big ole house by ourselves. 

Which means we have to move.

We couldn't even start looking until we were sure about my promotion at work; so its been a busy stressful month, but we have a house!

We get the keys next Thursday and couldn't be more excited. 

It's bigger than we need: 1500 square feet, 3 bed, 2 bath...

But we looked at it last year, FELL IN LOVE, filled out the paperwork and ended up loosing it.

This year though, she is ours! 

And hopefully, Tay and I will continue to rent this beauty until he finishes school (June 2015), and then move on to wherever he gets a job and buy/build the dream home! 

And, of course, once we get in to the house, I'll upload pictures. 

Moving has begun

Our house is an official disaster area. Our garage no longer has two parking spaces. My spot has been taken over by plates, DVDs, clothes, a ton of pictures, and every thing in between.

And this isn't even the half of it. I know we have/had a lot of stuff. Most things went to Goodwill, because it's the right thing to do. But things we couldn't part with need a new place in the new house. That will take an eternity.

We've slowly started disassembling our home; taking photos down, patching nail holes, covering them, and painting them, along with packing all of our belongings into boxes.

Speaking of boxes, God bless the Wong's for all the boxes - our neighbors now think we have a baby, due to all the pamper boxes, and that we are also alcoholics, thank you Stateline Liquor for all the boxes :)

And without further ado, the new home.

It still needs to be cleaned.

And cleaned a little more.

And then (fingers crossed), this house will become our home this weekend.

The living room, with french doors leading to our covered back patio.
That is fenced. Thank the Lord!

The other side of the living room.

Did you see the plantation shutters?

I love them.

I've always wanted them.

And now, I have them.

The kitchen. The floor is so-so, the backsplash is amazing, but the cabinets have to go!

Eventually, when time and the budget allows.

The upstairs. Which I didn't take pictures of because I didn't want to show you the nastiness. The previous owner's son demolished the upstairs. Is there a better word than demolished? Holes punched in walls, carpet stained to no end, possible urine on the wall?

Now you see why I decided to spare you the photos.

The upstairs painting has begun. The carpet has now been cleaned.

It's slowly becoming ours.

The master. I love. The plantation shutters make this room amazingly dark. Which will be great, if I can ever sleep in.

And lastly, the patio. Which is covered. And huge. And the yard is fenced. Oh happy day.

I'll, of course, update when the house resembles us.