We're officially moved in

Other than a few technical things like paintings and my desk - we are completely moved in. 

Thank God. I was starting to really reach an unmanageable amount of stress.

This weekend will be the first I don't have to work my butt off the whole time. It will be nice. 

Here and There is undergoing some changes

Some of you who read this blog also read my work blog, Here and There . Those of you that don't should still read this update:

Hello there, readers!

Soon, the Here and There blog will have a new name and a new logo, but I'm here to tell you not to worry, and assure you that the change is good. 

Here and There was first conceived with the ideas of travel and entertainment in mind, but with the economy not doing so great and my posts ever digressing from the original idea, the new blog name and logo will be much better suited to its content. (And you will still have access to all my old posts on the new blog.)

 "Quarterlife Crisis," as the new blog will be called, will cover life issues and topics of interest for young adults in their 20s. I should know, because I am one of those people. 

Life in one's twenties can be very similar to life in one's teens, or it can jump ahead into adulthood with the start of a blossoming career, the purchase of a new home or the building of a family. 

My goal is to make my posts more informative for readers by incorporating current events and advice as it pertains to young adults. I'll also be covering topics of interest ranging from local entertainment to lifestyle choices like vegetarianism or an interest in practicing yoga, and some of the same topics I've already chosen to write about here.

Please do lookout for the change, and I hope you'll stay with me.

~Laura

I'll add the new address once "Quarterlife Crisis" goes live, which could be tomorrow or it could take a week or so, depending on how busy corporate and our IT guys are currently.

Once the change is made, most of my posts at "One Too Many blogs" will remain similar to a personal journal, and less personal topics will be covered over there. Stay tuned!

Move-in day, Part I

Friday, I got home from work early because of working over my 8 hours every day earlier in the week. With all that extra time on my hands (it was only around 3:45 p.m.), I called my parents and asked if they would like to start moving. I need my dad's truck after all.

They came over, but they didn't seem to be happy about it. Instead, they were super stressed out and everyone was getting grouchy. I really honestly don't know why they were all so worked up - this day was a free day, and we had planned to get mostly everything moved on Saturday. I figured it was time we wouldn't have had otherwise and I saw it as an opportunity to take it easy for some of the weekend - something none of us have been able to do since I bought the house.

Move-in day was quickly gearing up to be one of my top 5 all-time worst days. I'm pretty sure my mom's still pissed, but I can't help it if I want to do things my way for the first time. I don't think it's that much to ask since it is my house after all. I don't think that makes me less appreciative of their help.

Here it is, 1:47 a.m. and things are still in boxes strewn about the house, but that's because we don't have all the furniture in place just yet and we have to clean everything off as we place it. I did get the rest of the blinds hung.

We still have the apartment until March 31. It kind of sucks that we moved so early because we did pay for those 11 days in a prime spot downtown (and they weren't cheap days) and we seem to be wasting them. We still have some things down there... like lots of clothes, kitchen stuff, one couch and one dresser. We still have lots of cleaning to do so that Julie can come check everything out on Wednesday.

The other part of me is glad to be here tho, typing this from my pretty blue office. Photos once the boxes are gonzo.

Luv!

'Vacation' wrapup

The house is almost complete.

I spent my entire vacation trying to get things done and spending more money than I ever thought possible. Now, we'll spend this week and weekend moving everything in and start on the apartment.

Thanks to people who've helped out since Feb. 20 - David, my mom, Jim and Nancy Inlow, Brian Inlow, James, Justin, Amy, etc. - but especially my dad who has damn near lived at the house trying to get each and every little thing done while trying to save me money where he could.

Here are some of the photos I uploaded to Facebook, a few of my most recent pics as well as some from the beginning so you can get the big picture.

For those of you not on Facebook:

living room

walk-in closet with original wood paneling

black guest bedroom

Gas leak

We had a gas leak, which is now fixed and was covered by my home warranty. It cost me $50.

 

Nothing bad enough to blow up the house, but the heating and cooling guy had to pull down some ceiling tiles in the basement to expose the pipe, which we will have to replace. That basement room needed a total makeover anyway.

 

The good news is, the smell that we thought was just the guy living there before us was gas, and now it's gone.

 

Oh joy.

 

On a side note, the flooring is done in the guest bedroom, office and living room. Those rooms are effectively complete, except for some touch ups here and there. Will load pics later!

Herschel J. Barkington, Esq. 1994-2009

Even though it happened days ago, my dad broke the news to me just last night - Hershey has died and gone to doggy heaven.

Dad said he hadn't been doing well lately, and had the warm weather just come a week earlier, he may have made it a while longer. 

Hershey lived his 15 long years outside, so even though others may have thought it cruel, he didn't know another life and seemed to be a happy dog most of the time. He was healthy for years, and never appeared to get sick until one year he started having seizures. That was a scary time. I was always afraid to check on him, for fear he might be dead. We treated every day like it could be his last. After a visit to the vet and a week or so of recooperation, we discovered that he had come in contact with some insect repellent and it had been poisoning him. He recovered quickly when we removed all traces of that stuff, and he was healthy again. That was one or two years ago. 

This year, near the end, it became harder for him to cope in the cold weather. His old body wasn't absorbing nutrients like it should have. To help him out, my dad started feeding him lower-grade steaks, which he loved. He continued losing weight but still got that look in his eye and panted happily whenever he would have a visitor. Still, I could see the strain it was putting on my dad...

We were in the process of trying to move him over to my new place, where he could have stayed inside until the weather warmed up. With my dad spending most of his days tinkering over at the house, at least he would have been near a friend. But when my dad finally decided to pack Hershey up and take him over, he appeared too weak to be moved. He was always afraid of riding in vehicles anyway. 

My dad checked on him one last time the day he died before heading to my place to work. He had developed sores over the last few days from refusing to get out of his doghouse, so my dad tried to doctor them. When he returned from my house, Hershey lay in his, calm and peaceful. I can't imagine how hard it was on my dad, and all I can think of is how the poor puppy died alone.

I regret that I hardly visited him these past few years. When I did, he would 'roo and wag his tail like crazy. I would pet his head and he would walk in circles - he preferred to be petted on his back. I remember his cry when I had to walk away... that will haunt me for a long time, but maybe I deserve it. 

Luckily, he had a constant companion in my dad. My dad did his tinkering right next to Hershey's home. He had a lawn chair set up out there where he would take his breaks and play with him. Boy, did they love each other.

I hope Hershey had a decent life and I hope he is peaceful and happy wherever he is. 

RIP baby puppy. We're sorry things could have been better for you and we will miss you like crazy. *Tears*

I'm getting free money for my house

Thanks to President Obama's economic stimulus plan, I no longer have to pay back the $5,300 tax credit I have coming to me as a first-time homebuyer.

I filed my taxes on Friday, and today got a message about an amendment I need to make regarding the law change.

Before, I was eligible to get 10 percent of my purchase price back on my 2008 taxes, but I would have had to pay 1/15 of it back every year for 15 years by having it withheld from my taxes. Kind of a pain, but a pain I was willing to deal with in order to get my house fixed up to comfy standards.

Now, as long as I stay in the home as a main residence for three years (the Madison County grant stipulation is 5 years anyway), I don't have to pay back a cent.

Thank you, America. Such a load off my financial mind.

Me and the tall guy

Yeah, we tight.

Our walls have colors

Peep our new slideshow:

This weekend David's parents came and helped us paint. Then his brother Brian joined us and we got a lot done.

The guest bedroom is ready for flooring and then it will be done completely. We're thinking a light grayish carpet. The white trim and charcoal (black/navy looking) turned out exactly as I had hoped, and everyone is the most impressed with this room. It's funny because it started out the ugliest room in the house by far.


The office, formerly a dirty white with a sparkly yellow closet, has been painted a bright blue. I hear blue is good for creativity. The wood-colored fan is being painted white, because we like the contrast in the windows. This room is getting wood laminate for flooring and it'll be done.


The living room is a work in progress. When we first painted it "melted chocolate," it looked a bit like I pooped in my hand and smeared it on the walls. We went back to Home Depot and dropped another $25 to go darker, duller, like we'd originally envisioned. It's DARK looking and shiny in the photos, but that's because it wasn't dry when I took these pics. It'll look cool with a lighter couch, some sweet lamp lighting and some bright furniture. Trussit. It was a yellowish-tan color, same as the kitchen, but we decided it and the hallway needed some patching, and we went in a different color direction.


After all this painting, my aunts came over and suggested we paint the master bedroom. We weren't going to, but then I realized I was shaping up to like it the least out of every room in the house. We started putting the base on Sunday but gave up for the day when we ran out of supplies. Because we're going darker in just about every other room, we've decided on some shade of tan. Great Northern RIP.


Be on the lookout for more photos and updates. One more week till my vacation and we'll really see some results.