Let the packing begin!

It's time...

Time to take back the house!! It has been a wreck since Bobby was born, and now that I am feeling a little more sane, it is time to start cleaning again! I have a chore list with different chores on it for each day. This way I won't be overwhelmed with cleaning, I just need to do a couple of chores a day. Bobby usually takes 2, sometimes 3 really good naps during the day, so that will give me plenty of time to complete my cleaning. Of course, just when I think I know his schedule, he doesn't cooperate, like this morning, when he wouldn't take his morning nap! Arg! But he is down (hopefully) for his afternoon nap now, so I'll get some things done. Wish me luck!

Today: Bathrooms! (Check! They are already done.)

Don't let this happen to you!!!

When we bought this house, only about 6 mos. ago, we put in new Berber carpet. Very nice and neat looking, but a nightmare to vacuum!! The very first day we moved in, I borrowed my dad's Dyson vacuum, wanting to get a really good clean before we put the furniture down. Well, right away, we had 2 spots where the vacuum grabbed hold of a carpet loop and PULLED!! AHHH!!! Not my new carpet! So...we had 2 small spots where we already had runs in the carpet. But luckily, they are concealable. I just thought it was the power of the Dyson. So...mental note: 'Do not buy a Dyson'. Easy enough.


Ever since then I vacuum very sporadically and with caution, for fear of ruining the carpet even more. Well, last night I guess I was feeling brave, and decided to vacuum our bedroom with our regular old vacuum. Bad idea! It grabbed hold of a loop, and pulled again!! 'NOOO!!!' It left a run about 6 inches or more long, very hard to conceal. I was so mad!

So I looked up online how to care for Berber carpet. Should have done that earlier, my friends. It says that you should never vacuum Berber with a vacuum that has a revolving brush, and the manufacturer should tell you this. Well, guess what? That is the type of vacuum we have, and no one ever told us this! Ugh. So we need a new vacuum cleaner, and we have one up for the taking...Hmph.

Bad Vacuum!

Bathroom is (mostly) DONE!!!

Finally!

The day I have been waiting for since we moved in this house! Our master bath is done!! Well, for the most part anyway. It has taken me and others** over a month to remove all the wallpaper, since I would just work on it at night after work. I never want to take down wallpaper again!!

We still have a few odds and ends to do, get towel racks and a toilet paper dispenser, and get a mirror. I want a white framed mirror. I toiled with the idea of using 2 mirrors, since it is a big space, but I really wanted 1 long mirror, and I found one at IKEA! So, I did have a mirror, I got this one, in white. But when Rob went to put it up, we noticed that the whole thing was bowed!! I was so disappointed. So I made the trek back to IKEA, in the torrential downpour (not fun on I-10 by the way...) yesterday to return the mirror. I had no problem returning it, but they only had 4 white ones left. No problem, you say? Well....3 of them were bowed also, and the 4th was shattered. :( I was bummed. But, the good news is, is that they should be getting another shipment of them next week, so hopefully I will get one then. After that, then the bathroom will really be done!
Before we moved in, we had the tile replaced, new toilet installed and the cabinets painted. All the rest (new paint, new light switch covers, new mirror, new medicine cabinet and new light fixture) has been done since we moved in.
Here are the pictures from before we moved in (yuck) , till today.

This is what it looked like before we moved in....

This is what it has looked like for the past month....

This is what it looks like now!

**Special thanks to: Kelly, Karen, Michael, Terry, Casey, Brian & Michelle, we could not have gotten this done without y'all!!

I love White!

I love white furniture. Can't get enough of it. I think it brightens up any room. On my 'Before Baby' list, I had some furniture that needed to be painted. Well...I am finally finished!! My aching hips and sciatic nerve are paying the price, but I am done!

The Hutch:

About a year ago or so, my mom gave me my grandma's buffet and hutch. I painted the buffet right when I got it, but never got around to the hutch. Mainly because at the time, we were living in our other house, and there was no space for it. So it waited patiently in our garage until I was ready for it. I had to first sand off most of the finish, then paint 2 coats of paint and 1-2 coats of sealer.
I took the glass out of the doors, I plan on putting chicken wire in its place, which I haven't done yet.

The finished (almost) hutch:


The Cabinet:

Next, I moved onto the cabinet/dresser that is going in Bobby's room. Another gift from my mom, she had painted it green when she was using it, and I had always thought it would go great in a baby's room someday.

This one, I did not sand, I just painted it with 2-3 coats of white paint. I think it turned out pretty good. Perfect for baby Bobby!

The Coffee Table:

Last, but not least, my coffee table. I bought it off of craig's list (of course!). It was custum made to look old, but the only problem was, was that the paint was constantly chipping onto the floor. The last thing I want is for Bobby to eat the paint chips, or for the paint to come off in his mouth while he was chewing on it! (All babies chew on furniture, right?)

So I decided to paint this white, as well. Once again, I sanded and gave it 2 coats of paint, then 2 coats of sealer. I think it turned out pretty well. If you would like to see what it looked like before, you can see that here.

I think I am through with painting for now. 3 more things to knock off my list!


p.s. For those of you who are freaking out about me painting, I was outside for all 3 projects, with a mask on. :)

Finally, some pictures!!

Here is the post I know you all have been waiting for!! We have now been in our house for about 3 weeks, and we are exhausted! We really love living here. Our neighbors are great!! :) Christina is doing manual labor for me!! She has already pulled weeds and hung up some blinds and curtains! Our house has pretty much been a mess for the entire time we have been here, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Before we moved in, we had all the floors replaced, new carpet in the bedrooms, and wood throughout the rest of the house. The carpet was so gross! I would never walk barefoot in there, and in some places, it looked like a murder may have taken place. I am not kidding. it was so stained, I could hardly believe it!! We also had our cabinets painted, and new countertops in the kitchen. The kitchen had Formica counter tops, and they were spray painted (yeah, that's right) a nice metallic color. The kitchen, guest room, and both baths had lovely wallpaper on them. It came off pretty easily everywhere except for in the kitchen. It was a nightmare! Two layers. We finally gave up and just textured over the remaining paper. It turned out pretty good. Judge for yourselves!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

GUEST BATH BEFORE:

GUEST BATH AFTER:

Check out that carpet! No way would I let our
baby crawl around on that!! Now you see the need for the new carpet, and why I am suspicious about a murder. (Not really, but how else would the stains have gotten that bad?? They only lived there for 3 years!)




Now, some of you may be wondering, 'why the heck did they buy this house, and what in the world did they see in it?' I know, because we have been asked these questions.
Yes, the house needed work, a lot of it, but we liked the layout, and the neighbors were a big perk. But we looked past the flaws and had a vision for what it could be. The main reason why we were moving was to get a cheaper house note, so that when we had kiddos, I could cut back my hours at work. And what do you know? We found out about Baby G (that is what I have decided to call the baby until we know what it is. :) ) the day after we got an offer on our old house! Talk about timing. We know this is in God's plan.
Baby G update: We heard the heartbeat on Friday. It was so cool. The doctor also heard a little kick! The heart rate was good and within the normal range. I go back the beginning of May, and in about 7 weeks, we will know the sex of the baby!! I have a feeling it is a boy, I don't know why, just a hunch. We'll find out soon enough!!

We are homeowners!

It is official, we are homeowners!! We closed on our house today, after much anticipation. We won't be able to move in until hopefully Thursday. The house needs some work, so we are having most of it done this week before all our furniture is in. We are getting all new floors, and new countertop and sink. It is going to look really good once it is all finished. Don't worry, I will post before and after pictures!

We actually got started on 'project Garza' this weekend. I use the term 'we' loosley. My husband is the greatest!! Due to my pregnant state these days, I could not be around the fumes in our house from paint/primer/wall paper remover. So Rob did practically everything by himself, along with our new neighbor Terry! He cut down a tree, tore up the jungle in the front yard, ripped out the current counter top (which was spray painted a nice metalic silver), ripped up most of the current carpet (more on that later), lowered the bar counter in the kitchen, took down wallpaper in the guestroom and primed it, and attempted to take down wall paper in the kitchen, which has 2 layers, so it is near impossible, so we decided to give that a rest for now and come back to that later. He is so great, I felt so bad for not being able to help, but he did such a great job, I am so proud of him!! Thank you !!

I will post pictures as soon as I am able!!

House

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Just wanted to let y'all know that we are getting our house appraised today, so please pray that it appraises well!! Thanks. It was inspected last Friday, and we got the report back, not too bad as far as I can tell. We haven't heard anything yet from our buyers, so I hope that is a good thing.
Also, we still don't technically have a place to live in a couple of weeks, but we are looking at a house tomorrow, and we have high hopes for it, so pray that everything will work out!!

So...about the last post...

Unfortunately, Rob and I did not get the house I was talking about in the last post. I got a little ahead of myself and posted before both parties signed the papers. grrr... The sellers decided to take another offer(after they already had a verbal agreement with us!!). We are bummed, and currently don't have a house to live in in about a month, but we know God is good, and will provide for us!! We do have one option, and are currently looking into that, so please pray with us that everything will work out!! Thank you my bloggie friends!!

Our first home together!

We did it!! Our offer was accepted!! Rob and I are officially purchasing our first house together!! :) I am so excited! If all goes well, we should close the first week in March and move in that next weekend. We will actually be without a home for 2 weeks, after we close on our current house. But my dear sister and bro-in-law have extended their home to us, and we are going to be roomies for awhile. What fun!! Just like old times(but with boys!! :) ). Now, I must continue packing...

SOLD!!!

We sold our house!! Whoo Hoo!! We have signed papers, and now have to wait for 10 days and then it is official!! We have a house we put an offer on, and are still waiting to hear back from their Realtor. Pray that we get the house we want!! We really don't have any other options right now, so this is it!! The house is in the same neighborhood as our good friends Terry and Christina and Rob and Kacey. Just one street before them!! We will close on our house Feb. 26th, so that doesn't leave us much time to pack. I already started last night, and probably will be packing every night from now until then. I'll keep y'all updated!

False alarm...:(

Well, the offer on our house did not go through, the couple backed out for some reason. Rob and I are really bummed about it, but we are confident that God will provide someone else will buy our home. We had 2 more showings yesterday, and 3 more today, which makes 9 and counting!! It is so weird coming home knowing that people you don't know have been walking around your house looking at all your pictures and in your closets. But, hey, if it will sell our house...

SELL BABY SELL!!! :)

4 showings, 1 offer!!

Our house went on the market yesterday around 4pm, we had 4 showings today, and around 7pm already had an offer!! That is crazy!! I will let you know what happens!

House update

I bet some of you are wondering where we are with the house thing. Well.... since I last posted about it, Rob had an idea to put our house on Craig's list. Crazy... I know! You know how we love Craig's list!! I was pretty nervous about it, but we went ahead and listed it!! The day after we listed it, we had 2 people contact Rob with questions, one girl came and looked at our house 2 times!! She did give us an offer, but it was considerably lower than what we are asking, and she did not accept our counter offer. So, selling on Craig's list was not in God's plan, but that would have been pretty cool though!! :)

Tomorrow morning, our Realtor is coming over to take pictures to officially put our house on the market. Yea!! I am really excited, but really nervous too! Hopefully it will sell pretty fast. This means we have to learn to pick up after ourselves and do the dishes!! :)If you're wondering where we are going to live, we have our eye on a few houses that fit our budget and needs. Please continue to pray that everything will work out well!!

Anyone wanna buy our house?

So after many months of deliberating, we have decided to sell our house. This decision is bittersweet for me, I love my home! But I really think this is what God has for us right now. We hope to be starting a family soon, and when God gives us some kiddos, I will be cutting back my hours at work. It has always been very important to us that I stay home when we start a family, so we want to have a smaller house note so we can make that happen. Please pray that our house sells, and that God will provide a house to fit our needs and our budget.

What a deal!

Rob and I finally have matching couches! Rob found our three seater sofa on craigs list for $50!!! Whooo Hooo! We didn't like the original slip cover, so our friends Phil and Cynthia who are moving to Austin gave the green slip covers to us!! She has the same couches , and is going to put a different color on hers. I think eventually I will paint the coffee table a different color, because it will look too Christmasy with the red table and green sofas. But for now, I'll just leave it, it adds to the holiday decor!

Like I said: 'One man's junk is another man's treasure...'

I love finding stuff! A few months back, Rob and I found a large mirror in our attic. When we were preparing for the garage sale, we decided to bring down the mirror to try and sell. Once we got it down from the attic, I had a brilliant idea: wouldn't this mirror look great in our guest bathroom? The answer set off a week of painting, drilling and minor remodeling! I have always wanted to paint the guest bath, so we painted the walls, cabinets, and put up the new mirror, new light fixture, new hinges on the cabinets, bath towel rack, and hand towel ring. The results are amazing!! It is now my new favorite room in the house.

Ta Da!!!

guest bath before.... boring and drab...

after...beautiful!



So our master bath wouldn't feel left out, we put up a new light fixture, painted the cabinets white, added new hinges, new toilet paper holder and towel ring also. It looks soo crisp and bright now! Hmmm... what's next?

master bath before...(this is a picture from before i moved in, i didn't have one from right before we painted.)
after...

HOA- - - Get off my case!!!

Dear HOA,
I have lived in my house for just over 2 years. I feel like we take good care of my property. Over the past two years I have received an occasional letter from y'all, telling me to mow my lawn or fix a fence. I understand that the Home Owner's Association helps to keep the property values up, and to maintain the aesthetics of the neighborhood. But I have received two, (yes, two) letters in the last two weeks!! Do you live right across the street from me or what? The first one told us to edge and mow and pull weeds. We had just mowed, so I got on my hands and knees and pulled some weeds. Then, today, we got a letter telling us we could not store our garbage cans in the driveway. WHAT?!? The date of that letter was on a Monday, and trash day is Tuesday. how do you know we weren't preparing to put the garbage out? SHEESH!! I feel like y'all are really reaching now. Are you stalking me?!?!? Cut the Garzas some slack!! I am not sure how long our garbage cans were out there, but they have been neatly in the garage for at least 4-5 days now.

I am afraid to do anything now! I feel like we are being constantly watched, and y'all think we bring the neighborhood down. We are busy people, but we try to mow and edge once/week, and I admit that I have slacked on pulling the weeds, but we have big plans for the yard, and it will soon look really nice, so please, HOA, give us a chance.

Sincerley,
The Garza Family

It is the holiday season!!

I love the holidays, I always wait anxiously until October comes so I can put out my fall decorations. So last week I had Rob pull out the boxes from the attic, and I put all my decor up. It isn't much, just enough to get you into the holiday spirit! I got these mini "pumpkins" from our trip to Round Top. They are so cute! They are actually called Putka pods, they are from India and resemble tiny pumpkins!! I saw them in many different colors, but I chose orange, perfect for fall!

New flower bed

Rob and I have been working on our yard lately, and we finally finished one of the flower beds in our back yard. It turned out really good! We lined it with paper that is earth friendly, but will still keep the weeds out, b/c I hate pulling weeds! We plan on doing another one, but that will take more time, b/c it will be longer than this one. And just wait until you see what is planned for our front yard! We would be working on that as I am typing, but it is yet another rainy day in Sugar Land.

Enjoy the pictures!

Before...










After...