New House

So we're buying a house. We've done a lot of things over the years to make this a possibility someday (Does living in a sorority house for 3 years ring a bell?), and it's kind of weird that the time has finally come. I spent months poring over listings, several hours on the phone with lenders, realtors, inspectors, etc. People always say this is a lot of work, and now I believe it. In fact, I'm so overwhelmed with getting our mortgage squared away, that I decided to go ahead and post pictures and remember that in a few weeks all of this mess will be done with. Well, I guess that's when we get to address the muddy lot that will be ours, but at least it won't mean signing our life away over and over on forms we don't fully understand.

The pictures aren't great, I snapped them on my phone. But without further ado:

The colors are actually brown, though they look olive in places in the pictures. I don't love all the paint color choices, but that's nothing that can't be changed if I feel so inclined.

(The kitchen has a few things the builders still need to finish.)

Really large family room

 

1/2 bath downstairs

Love having a separate tub/shower

Kinda wish we had separate sinks, but we'll survive

(Why does it seem reasonable to post a picture of my closet? I dunno.)

Master bedroom, but it doesn't really show much

One of the bedrooms. There are 5 total.

Kids' bathroom - I LOVE that both bathrooms have the toilet in its own room with a door

Walmart

We've lived in Ithaca for 4+ years now, and if there's one thing we've learned to hate along with Ithacans it's Walmart. Not because we're all worked up about fair wages and buying local, but because it's the WORST place to shop in Ithaca. The customers are gross and rude, the bathrooms are a biohazard, the employees are unhelpful and kinda gross themselves, and the prices aren't decent enough to make it worth the trip out there. We've had a hard time avoiding it because it's the one place you can get things like motor oil, paint, potting soil, and some chocolate all in one trip. By some miracle, Ithaca decided to let them convert it into a Super Walmart. (And by miracle, I mean the citizens of Ithaca heavily protested the arrival of Walmart to begin with, and almost succeeded from what we've heard.) So the past half a year, it's been even worse going to Walmart. You can't find a single thing you need because they've moving it all around, the parking lot has been torn up for ages, there are 40+ checkout stands but only 3 of them operational at a time, etc, etc, etc. We recently moved closer to Target, and sort of blissfully forgot about the existence of Wallyworld.

And then the other day I needed groceries AND household supplies. Camilla was having a really rough sleeping week, and I didn't want to drag her all over town if there was any chance she would miss a nap. I caved in and drove through downtown Ithaca (another thing I hate about this place--is it REALLY necessary to make ALL cars drive through the same narrow stretch to get anywhere?) and went to Walmart.

From the exterior, things looked decent. Parking lot nicely paved. (My Dad hates Walmart parking lots because they tend to be poorly planned. This one would please him.) The color is a nice natural brown color. There are two functioning entrances. We ventured inside.

And it was like we were magically transported back to Utah, the land of gigantic Walmarts. It was beautiful. The aisles were nice and large. The bakery, deli, produce departments were still not stocked, but they're getting there. But the best thing about the new Walmart? For the first time in Ithaca, I can buy the following items (which I've never been able to find in any store in this town):

Bulk bags of sugar

Bulk bags of flour

Bulk cans of Nesquik (the small ones don't last Mark nearly long enough)

I use this in some Mexican dishes, and haven't ever found it out here

Jiffy muffin mixes, in all their varieties--blueberry, raspberry, apple cinnamon, chocolate, banana, etc.

You must have this to make fudge, and you must make fudge when it rains, and this is Ithaca, so. . . you need a lot of this -- it's only a seasonal item in most of Ithaca

So judge me if you want for being a Walmart lover again, but if I can get all of this stuff in one place, the prices are good (I've been watching, they're mostly awesome!), and the employees have figured out how to efficiently ring up my groceries, then I'll be coming back. Regularly. 

Projects

I don't know if I've mentioned this recently or not, but I'm really into Craigslist. Just get me talking about what amazing deals I've found and you'll either be converted or really annoyed. Camilla has been a Craigslist Baby from long before she was born. I don't believe I've purchased a piece of furniture for her retail, and what I didn't buy secondhand I was given by somebody else. That's where this story starts.

A few months ago, Mark and I were driving to or from the mall or the church or some other location up towards North Triphammer Rd. in Ithaca in the evening. It was just beginning to snow. I had started to think about a dresser for our baby girl, as it was one of the few things left on my list. When all of a sudden, I saw a dresser on the side of the road with a sign that said FREE on it. (Seriously, I should have been wishing for a big screen TV or something. . .) I made Mark turn around and go back for a closer look. It was old. It had some weird rubber thing adhered to the top. But it was sturdy, and if we didn't take it home the snow was going to ruin it.

The dresser sat in a room in the sorority house for months, and almost didn't come with us. I mean, was it just gross to give your child something you found on the side of the road? We had a backup plan, and decided not to bring it with us when we moved out. The backup plan failed. I thought I would enjoy stripping the thing down and refinishing it, so we went back for it. Then I read about how much work it takes to refinish a piece of furniture. No thank you! So I settled for sanding it down a bit, painting it, and replacing the old knobs. I'm a little attached to it now. So thank you to the person who put this baby out by the side of the road just for me. I bet you regret it just a little bit now.

While I'm at it, this was another project I was excited to work on. Amazingly, it actually was completed, unlike most of the things I've started recently. Though now I wish I'd waited a bit so I could use the same orange paint to match the dresser. Oh well. I really like the expression on Camilla's face in this one. She seems just thrilled. And please don't tell me I'm a bad mother--Camilla was NOT sleeping in her (free) crib with 3 stuffed animals, 3 small pillows, and 1 large body pillow at the time this photo was taken. She was sleeping in her OTHER (free) mini-crib until recently (thanks, Mel--if you're reading this, we've LOVED the cradle and plan to keep it around for the next one).

Giraffes

I think I have an obsession. It all started with this:


This pillow got me through pregnancy. I had sciatica starting around 3 months and lasting (on some level) till the end. I was dependent on this thing to get any sleep. Mark hated it. He has since reclaimed the middle third of the bed, and even sneaks a foot or head onto my side if I leave during the night (can we say '3:00 am feeding'?)

Maybe it was all those months cuddled up to a giraffe pillow, but the next thing was the toys. Though most of them were gifts, they were highly influenced by me.


And of course some ridiculously adorable clothes:


When my due date came and went, I spent a lot of time being bored. And shopping online. I found the perfect baby book, and it even managed to arrive before Camilla did. (The ugly black spot on the front was made by said child when we were trying to get her footprints stamped at the hospital.)


And finally, I found a tutorial online to make the cutest mobile for Camilla. I have done all of the sewing; it just needs to be assembled. It will consist of ten birds sitting on branches hanging above Camilla's bed. I found a pack of coordinating fabrics at Joann's one day--can you guess which pattern influenced my purchase the most?


So if you were wondering why I chose the current background for my blog, you can probably guess now.

Trip Planning

So what do we do when the nation is facing financial doom and gloom? We worry a bit (or a lot), are grateful for once that we are still students (and that we are blessed with our current living situation), and then we buy things off of the internet. Plane tickets to Italy, to be more specific.

We only make large purchases with MUCH agonizing and drawn out discussion -- which is probably the way it should be -- and a trip to Italy has been on the table since before we were married. And we finally decided that if we find a reason not to go now, we'll always find a reason not to go. So we bought our tickets, and there is no backing out now! I can't believe it's a reality because I've wanted this for so long, but I have a history of planning lots of trips that never happen. And as I sit here thinking of all of those trips I wanted to take throughout my life, I realize that Mark is making all of those dreams a reality. (Washington DC, New York, Nauvoo, Italy, what's next?) Wow, I'm a lucky girl. And for all of those lessons on patience that Heavenly Father is always trying to teach me, it sure is great to be on the other end for once, seeing the rewards that come after the trial of our faith.

A Vibe. . .

We have had one crazy, exciting day. It started with an early morning trip up to Palmyra for a temple session. On our way home, we stopped at a car dealership in Waterloo to look at a Pontiac Vibe. We've been considering this as a possible purchase for over a year now, but only recently has it become a serious thought as one of our cars (who shall remain nameless) has been rather disagreeable for some time now. Everything we've read about Vibes has been positive and we felt it would be a great car to fit our needs. They get great gas mileage, have a lot of room for hauling things, aren't terribly pricey, are made by an American company (but have a Toyota-made engine which will last a long time), are loved by their owners, and are about the only car we both agreed that we liked the the look of. We needed to drive one to see if we liked it as well as we hoped we would, and today was the day! Much to our surprise, we became the owners of a 2004 Vibe after a little price-haggling and deal-making. We're still a little shocked about it, but so excited to have a reliable car that we both love! We actually won't bring the car home until Wednesday, but here are a couple of pictures off the internet of a very similar one for your viewing pleasure. 

The Lappy

This week we decided to go "look" at laptops again-- something we've done a number of times since the old one bit the dust a few months back. We had hoped to get one on Black Friday, but instead ended up with a new widescreen monitor for the desktop that Mark built last year. This left us in the same rut: we had one functioning (albeit very nice) computer and two functioning adults who needed to compute. Yet we couldn't quite bring ourselves to shell out the money for a new one. Somehow this week was different, and Mark gave in to my serious lack of self-discipline and we walked out of the store with a new Lappy. I am thrilled with my newfound freedom, and am rarely separated from this beautiful, word-processing, Facebook-ready, user-friendly piece of technology. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures on this computer yet, so I don't have any to post right now. Hopefully the next time I update this I'll have a few to throw in.

Topics of discussion for the week:

• The passing of our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. We love him and will miss him so much! We're very sad, but like everyone else, we're happy that he gets to be with his wife and loved ones again.
• Has Mark or Jenny broken more things since we've been married? Instinct would say that Mark probably has, being a guy and having a very particular wife who nags him about leaving Nestle Quik rings in his glasses. However, when I broke the bed this week, Mark informed me that I had surpassed him (if you count the oil lamp I broke in the trailer in St. Charles Canyon whilst we were calling it home). I was trying to put our new sheets on the mattress when my foot somehow went right through the piece of particle board I was standing on. Oops.
• How long will it take for us to break down and purchase Virtual Villagers? Mark almost bought it back when he got hooked on it. Jenny discovered it this week as a demo on the Lappy. She's hooked. (Remember that one of us has less will-power than the other? Hence the new Lappy.)