Pictures, Neighbors, & Painting

I can't believe we have lived in our house for over 1.5 weeks! It has finally hit me that this is OUR house. I get to wake up in this house EVERYDAY. It's a really cool feeling to finally feel like we have a "home". This is different than how it felt in Jackson, because we just rented. I can do whatever I want (with Steve's approval) to the house and no one will care (again, other than Steve).

Moving into an empty house sounds pretty easy. However, I've soon discovered all the nooks and crannies of the house that have collected lots of dust over periods of time. For instance, there are glass chandeliers in 4 different rooms that were so caked in dust, the glass looked opaque. I spent about 2 hours cleaning the big chandelier (hangs over the stairs) one day last week. I counted over 729 glass beads and pendants (which I wiped each by hand):

(I didn't take a before picture, although I should have. You wouldn't believe the change in look a little cleaning did!)

I have been working pretty diligently at unpacking all the boxes. The kitchen was priority number one, closely followed by the master bedroom at number two. After I got those two rooms done, I put up some Christmas decorations (Christmas tree inside, nativities, stockings, nutcrackers, and lights outside). Then I set up our guest bedroom since Steve's sister will be staying with us a few days a week.

(Kitchen all unpacked. There's lots of cabinet space to hold my plethora of cooking items. The lay out is a little weird for me. The appliances are all on one side of the kitchen while the cabinets span the wall on the other side. There is talks of remodeling the kitchen, way into the future, so maybe I'll get to change the layout some).

Now that most of our items are unpacked (I haven't even touched the "office" or boxes in the living room) I have begun the painting. I decided to start with the living room since we need the wall painted before we mount our tv. The room was originally a dark navy color. So far I have primed the walls because it will be painted a lighter orange/neutral color.

(Before shot of the dark paint. Layout -- The big open window is behind the camera, sunroom to the left, fireplace to the right, and entrance to the foyer to the right).

(Another before shot with dark paint. Layout -- fireplace to the left, entrance from the foyer is behind the camera to the left, the Christmas tree and windows are to the right)

(Here is the scenery of the backyard as seen through the big open window in the living room.)

(Here is the fireplace in the living room after the walls have been primed. Color will go on next week!)

(Another shot of the living room after the walls have been primed. The living room already has a different personality now that the dark navy paint is covered.)

Other accomplishments from the week:

**Bought a leaf blower/vacuum (haven't gotten to use it yet due to wet weather)

**Christmas cards/letters completed and sent out

**Set up & leveled the washer & dryer (which is a tricky situation with homemade pedestals and an uneven tiled floor)

**Tried out a church but got the times wrong and missed most of the service

**Have gotten to know the neighbors more

We are sandwiched in between two delightful neighbors. Both sets have lived in their homes for 30+ years and know everything that goes on in the neighborhood. They have also showered us with warm welcomes from home made cookies and soup to a beautiful poinsettia plant. Steve and I are excited to get to know more of the neighbors and be involved in the neighborhood.