Brian's Watermelon

While I was in Charleston last weekend we got a watermelon! It was quite large, this is what Brian did with half of it.

He made a wedding cake!

Parent's House Before:

My parent's house is amazing and wonderful but it was left in a state that is less then desirable to say the least. The seller, a real estate agent who should know and do better, did nothing, not even the minimum to get this house ready. There are multiple projects that have popped up that were really unexpected and it has taken two cleaning ladies 12 hours to clean most of the house not counting what my mom has done. While the house is much cleaner, there are areas that haven't been touched. It was quite disgusting....there was coca cola on the walls!!!

The outside we knew was going to be a project but a project that at least my mom would enjoy. My mom is a huge gardener so she was looking forward to starting fresh. But before she started fresh she had to clear the jungle:

I cant get this right side up: I *think* this is the entrance from the back yard to the front yard

Personal To Do List Update

July's goal was to buy all the wedding photos.....


Well I did that in May as well. I got a great deal from Shutterfly so I could not resist.

August's project is putting the pictures in albums and I picked up the albums last weekend at my parents and I will be starting that project on Sunday. I am SO excited!

I do need to start figuring out what I am going to make for Christmas presents and start making those as well....hmmm

Oh speaking of Christmas, I got a great deal again from Shutterfly so my Christmas cards have been ordered and are here. I am just waiting for November to get here so I can send them out :)

The House: The Loft

The loft is half of "Brian's space". I say that in parenthesis because I have had more say in what goes in and how the space looks then I should. I try to let him do whatever he wants but he keeps asking me what I think! I try to say "No, it's your room" but he wont accept that as an answer so oh well!

Brian's office is a mess so I am not sure when you will see that but the loft is presentable and is about finished as it is going to get for the time being. The rug you see was supposed to go into the dining room but it didnt fit so in the loft it went! It is a bit to big but we got it to work. The chest in the middle of the room was supposed to go to my parent's house but the movers didn't take it off the truck and Brian found it and basically claimed it :).  Thankfully they didn't mind :)

Attic door to the left, bathroom door is shut and office door is open

The wall leading downstairs, I need something geeky to put up there

You can see where the rug is too big

We are just waiting to by chairs/futon/seating and it is finished. Our long term plan is to bring cable up there and put a tv in there as well.

Finally the Nursery!

Otherwise known as Bailey's room!

Again probably one of the other big changes in the house. The nursery has furniture! Now we just need a crib and of course a baby! ;)

The bunk beds and dresser were my brothers. The wicker chair is another present from Ashley. We think it is perfect in this room! Mom and I are going to make a seat for it. The trunk at the end of the bed will be going in the loft and there are a few items that mom and dad haven't picked up yet.  The quilts on the bed are from Aunt Fergie on my dads side. My Aunt Cathy let me inherit this a little early among other wonderful things. The quilts are a little girlie so we are definitely ready for a little girl...we will need to go shopping for a baby boy!

Dining Room:

The dining room got furniture! Probably one of the biggest changes of the house. We do have to empty it out some but to do that we have to organize the loft. The dresser is being used as a china cabinet and we are not sure what to do with all those chairs...

The rug is going upstairs to the loft and the dining room table that is there now is the table we used to have in the kitchen. The small chairs by the wall will be distributed around the house. The chairs with the white seat and pretty back are our friend Ashley's. They went with the dining room table that is no longer and technically there are supposed to be four chairs even though the movers only gave us three. Mom and I are going to redo the seats and they will provide good extra seating. Where to store them in the mean time.....one of the big questions.

Living Room:

Quick update on the living room. Not much has changed except for the fact that we got an amazing carpet. It makes the living room feel so much like home and goes great with the furniture! This is another family heirloom except this time it has come from my moms side.

Breakfast Nook:

So with my parents move Brian and I inherited a lot of things we needed. We were supposed to get a dining room table but the table did not take the heat very well at all and is unuseable :( And the kitchen table my parents planned on using is too big for their kitchen so we got that to make up for the loss of the Dining Room table

So here is a picture of the new breakfast nook!

It looks much better since the table is circular rather then the rectangle. There is a leaf which isn't in so it is a little tight with 6 chairs. Not sure if we are going to put the leaf in and keep the 6 chairs around or find a place to store the extra chairs and leaf.

The old high chair was my dads I think and no that isn't a real baby and a real baby will ever sit in it. The baby is named Baby (I am so creative) who has been my baby since my brother was born 24 years ago. She (yes its a girl) has gone everywhere with me, college, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, everywhere.

Dinner time with the puppies!

Here is a short clip about what is like around  7am and 7pm each day....

The Furry People

Meet Benjamin and Bailey

Benjamin!

Bailey!

Prowling...

He slept for the first 2 days

Bailey claimed the nursery as her room

Parents...they have come and gone :(

Mom and Dad have come and gone and I miss them :( I also miss my furry friends Benjamin and Bailey.

Mom and Dad ended up getting late Sunday July 1st and we rushed to dinner at Caroline's.

The week was a lot of fun. I loved coming home to having them home, they even helped with dishes' and dinner! Mom helped me touch up the dining room and it looks great! I could not have done it without her!

We didn't do much of anything on the 4th. Didn't watch fireworks or anything. Just hung out and watched Top Gear. We knew we were going to have a busy busy weekend and didn't want to wear ourselves out.

They closed on Friday and we had a bit of drama with the movers. Well that is a BIG understatement. The movers themselves were very sweet and nice but the company was just awful. There are countless things broken which should not have been and would not have been broken if they were packed/stored correctly. The whole process took a lot longer then it should have because of shoddy planning and my parents are having to deal with filing a claim which probably won't get them anything close to what they deserve.

They are in the house though and we are working on getting both homes in order. Their house needs a lot more work then expected but it is perfect! They are going to love it once they are able to get past some of the surprises left for them. Brian and I took Monday off to help them move. We were going to go down this weekend but Brian's car is going to be in the shop and we have to wait for people to fix the roof. So we will be going down the weekend of the 20th. They have made a lot of progress and have great contacts so they should be feeling less overwhelmed soon.

It is not nearly as fun coming home with them gone :( They were here today to babysit the house while the first crew of people trying to fix the roof and mommy left me notes throughout the house. It was so fun finding them!

Phewf!

Still here...

Not dead...

Exhausted but alive and kicking.

Parents are in Charleston settling in.

Our house has been transformed...

I miss having Mom and Dad here....

Miss having my puppies

Work is a nice distraction from the lonelyness...

It is raining a lot and our roof is leaking...

Posts with more detail and pictures coming soon :)