Eversmashing
Our Fabulous Adventures... getting ready to move to the other side of the pond!
Summer '09
7/18 - YARD WORK DAY!!
Today was our big day of yard work! Jon got to use his new lawn mower and I armed myself with my gloves and clippers and set to work on taming our jungle!
I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't take more "before" pictures, because boy oh boy did we see a HUGE difference after we were done! Of course, it took over three hours, so it's a good thing you could tell it made a difference!
BEFORE - This area on the side of our house was taken over by these viney plants. They're okay visually speaking, but they made it nearly impossible to get into that corner to clear out the dead branches that had fallen from the trees there.
7/17 update!
And we own the house! Our closing was today and everything went fabulously! Yay us!
7/13 update!
We moved in! That's the good news... the bad news is that it's going to cost us a pretty penny for "rent" until our closing date (please keep praying that happens soon!) So far we've got the kitchen mostly unpacked and the waterbed put back together and filled. Whew! It feels good to have a roof (of our own!) over our heads!
7/9 update!
Yesterday we finally got allllllll the rest of our stuff out of our house in WI and loaded up our cars. We're currently staying with the Parentals, and plan on leaving out of here tomorrow morning. Our closing date is "hopefully Friday, probably Monday, worst-case-scenario Tuesday."
Amidst all of our packing of our cars, Jon still found time to save the world... well.... a bunny's world. The poor little guy had fallen into our basement window well, and was frantically trying to find a way out. Jon hopped right in, scooped him up with a towel, and let the poor little guy go. Yay for our hero!
7/3 update!
It's moving day!! The movers are on their way (due to arrive any minute!) and after finding someone to supervise the storage of our items, we decided to stick around this side of the lake for a few more days to avoid the holiday traffic and wait it out until our closing date, since the sellers weren't willing to let us move in early. Please pray for a smooth and safe trip!
7/2 update!
Tomorrow is moving day -- keep us in your prayers! We may wait to head out after our stuff on Saturday, but either way we're expecting to arrive in Rockford this weekend! Still waiting on our closing date, since it got pushed back once again (assessors and inspectors are done, but the loan still has one more department to go through), but we're hoping to work out a deal with the sellers to move in a few days early. Wish us luck!
6/29 update!
Well, the movers are hired, we've been told we're still set to close on Thursday, and our current house is a complete disaster zone with boxes taking up the entire living room. We've already taken two loads of stuff to Goodwill and have another pile ready to make its way there tomorrow. Fortunately, everything seems to be falling into place... keep us in your prayers; it's going to be a crazy week!
6/15 update!
Today was the big inspection day! We were very pleased to discover no surprises (whew!) and nothing major that needed to be done -- just a few minor things. One step closer!
6/14 update!
We got to see our house again yesterday, and with the tenants out of it, we were able to get more excited planning what we were going to do with it and how we were going to arrange our stuff. We also put down our deposit on the house (yay!) and started our homeowners' to-do list!
6/9 update!
We have an accepted offer! We're aiming for a closing date of July 2, so that Jon can be ordained and installed at our new church on July 12. We're very excited, and looking forward to going to see our new house again on Saturday, to get measurements for carpet and a finalized "to do" list before move-in!
6/8 update!
We put in an offer, and yesterday it was countered. They offered a whole bunch of stuff (landscaping, painting, carpet cleaning, etc) that we don't necessarily need, and the price was still more than we'd like, so we countered again and are now in 'waiting' mode again... hoping to hear back soon!
6/4 update
Well, we've found a house in which we're very interested, and are hoping to put an offer in tomorrow! We were fortunate enough to be able to check out some places on our way back from Ottawa this weekend, and we're very excited about preparing to move to Michigan!
Check out the house we'd like HERE.
Today was our big day of yard work! Jon got to use his new lawn mower and I armed myself with my gloves and clippers and set to work on taming our jungle!
I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't take more "before" pictures, because boy oh boy did we see a HUGE difference after we were done! Of course, it took over three hours, so it's a good thing you could tell it made a difference!
BEFORE - This area on the side of our house was taken over by these viney plants. They're okay visually speaking, but they made it nearly impossible to get into that corner to clear out the dead branches that had fallen from the trees there.
AFTER - Ta da! Now it's ready to be used for strawberries, herbs, or whatever else I feel like planting back there! No more jungle!
BEFORE - The corner of the house was pretty overrun by shrubbery. Scary!
BEFORE - The corner of the house was pretty overrun by shrubbery. Scary!
AFTER - Though the bush in the center still needs work, the others are trimmed back to a much more reasonable size. Whew!
BEFORE - The northeast corner of our lot had a mysterious "clump" of trees surrounded by whatever random plants which were growing at knee-height between them. What a disaster!
BEFORE - The northeast corner of our lot had a mysterious "clump" of trees surrounded by whatever random plants which were growing at knee-height between them. What a disaster!
AFTER - I cut down all of the dead vines that I could reach, and Jon mowed down the "undergrowth" between the trees.
BEFORE - The back of the garage was bordered by some lilies and vines that grew out about two feet over their wooden border. Besides that, it was impossible to even see what was under the deck because of the vegetation growing along the edge.
BEFORE - The back of the garage was bordered by some lilies and vines that grew out about two feet over their wooden border. Besides that, it was impossible to even see what was under the deck because of the vegetation growing along the edge.
AFTER -
Ahhhh... much better!
The opposite side was equally overgrown, but is now mown back nicely, and no longer has tree branches hanging down by the corner of the fence.
BEFORE - Our shed was overgrown as well, with liles pretty much blocking the entrance. The back corner behind it was quite a jungle.
Ahhhh... much better!
The opposite side was equally overgrown, but is now mown back nicely, and no longer has tree branches hanging down by the corner of the fence.
BEFORE - Our shed was overgrown as well, with liles pretty much blocking the entrance. The back corner behind it was quite a jungle.
AFTER -
Hey, there's a path to our shed! Oh, yeah, and our yard-clipping pile is quite large... heh.
Though it's still quite jungle-like behind the shed, it no longer has tree branches hanging down all around it, and the edges have been trimmed to the wooden borders.
BEFORE - The north side of the yard was overgrown as well, particularly in the corner. Yikes!
Hey, there's a path to our shed! Oh, yeah, and our yard-clipping pile is quite large... heh.
Though it's still quite jungle-like behind the shed, it no longer has tree branches hanging down all around it, and the edges have been trimmed to the wooden borders.
BEFORE - The north side of the yard was overgrown as well, particularly in the corner. Yikes!
AFTER -
The corner is sooo much more cleaned out now! Now we just need to plant some more grass seed around there and clear out more of the dead branches.
Here's the view looking towards the garage... much neater after cutting back nearly two feet!
I trimmed back my "guard peonies" as well... now they won't attack everyone that tries to go through the gate.
Hey, we have some ferns!
One of my big projects was trying to de-tangle our grape vines from the fence/tree/other plants that were around it so that I could prune it and pull out the dead tree branches.
This particular vine is monsterously huge!
The corner is sooo much more cleaned out now! Now we just need to plant some more grass seed around there and clear out more of the dead branches.
Here's the view looking towards the garage... much neater after cutting back nearly two feet!
I trimmed back my "guard peonies" as well... now they won't attack everyone that tries to go through the gate.
Hey, we have some ferns!
One of my big projects was trying to de-tangle our grape vines from the fence/tree/other plants that were around it so that I could prune it and pull out the dead tree branches.
This particular vine is monsterously huge!
I think we even have some sunflowers in here!
Oh, and here's a pic of our side yard... ahhhhh... neat and tidy!
7/17 update!
And we own the house! Our closing was today and everything went fabulously! Yay us!
7/13 update!
We moved in! That's the good news... the bad news is that it's going to cost us a pretty penny for "rent" until our closing date (please keep praying that happens soon!) So far we've got the kitchen mostly unpacked and the waterbed put back together and filled. Whew! It feels good to have a roof (of our own!) over our heads!
7/9 update!
Yesterday we finally got allllllll the rest of our stuff out of our house in WI and loaded up our cars. We're currently staying with the Parentals, and plan on leaving out of here tomorrow morning. Our closing date is "hopefully Friday, probably Monday, worst-case-scenario Tuesday."
Amidst all of our packing of our cars, Jon still found time to save the world... well.... a bunny's world. The poor little guy had fallen into our basement window well, and was frantically trying to find a way out. Jon hopped right in, scooped him up with a towel, and let the poor little guy go. Yay for our hero!
7/3 update!
It's moving day!! The movers are on their way (due to arrive any minute!) and after finding someone to supervise the storage of our items, we decided to stick around this side of the lake for a few more days to avoid the holiday traffic and wait it out until our closing date, since the sellers weren't willing to let us move in early. Please pray for a smooth and safe trip!
7/2 update!
Tomorrow is moving day -- keep us in your prayers! We may wait to head out after our stuff on Saturday, but either way we're expecting to arrive in Rockford this weekend! Still waiting on our closing date, since it got pushed back once again (assessors and inspectors are done, but the loan still has one more department to go through), but we're hoping to work out a deal with the sellers to move in a few days early. Wish us luck!
6/29 update!
Well, the movers are hired, we've been told we're still set to close on Thursday, and our current house is a complete disaster zone with boxes taking up the entire living room. We've already taken two loads of stuff to Goodwill and have another pile ready to make its way there tomorrow. Fortunately, everything seems to be falling into place... keep us in your prayers; it's going to be a crazy week!
6/15 update!
Today was the big inspection day! We were very pleased to discover no surprises (whew!) and nothing major that needed to be done -- just a few minor things. One step closer!
6/14 update!
We got to see our house again yesterday, and with the tenants out of it, we were able to get more excited planning what we were going to do with it and how we were going to arrange our stuff. We also put down our deposit on the house (yay!) and started our homeowners' to-do list!
6/9 update!
We have an accepted offer! We're aiming for a closing date of July 2, so that Jon can be ordained and installed at our new church on July 12. We're very excited, and looking forward to going to see our new house again on Saturday, to get measurements for carpet and a finalized "to do" list before move-in!
6/8 update!
We put in an offer, and yesterday it was countered. They offered a whole bunch of stuff (landscaping, painting, carpet cleaning, etc) that we don't necessarily need, and the price was still more than we'd like, so we countered again and are now in 'waiting' mode again... hoping to hear back soon!
6/4 update
Well, we've found a house in which we're very interested, and are hoping to put an offer in tomorrow! We were fortunate enough to be able to check out some places on our way back from Ottawa this weekend, and we're very excited about preparing to move to Michigan!
Check out the house we'd like HERE.
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