Our First Home Repair

There are lots of small things that we need to do to our home (add screens to some windows, put up some shelves, keep organizing, etc) but we have been able to put them on a To Do List until now. The sink in our master bath almost completely stopped draining. It was getting really gross.

We went to the store and got a sink plunger and some Drain-O. Travis tried with all his might and even used half the bottle of Drain-O but nothing happened. Then he removed the stopper, which involved unscrewing something under the sink (as opposed to the normal kind where you just unhook it). Turns out all the gunk was glued to the stopper and in the pipe right around it. We didn't have a way to get the gunk out but I had an idea- my crochet hook! Sick but functional. He pulled out a lot of nastiness and cleaned off a lot of crap out of the crannies of the stopper. Now it's flowing like a river again, thanks to my husband, the wonderful Travis!

Here's a picture of the travesty:

And We're In!

We slept in our new house last night!!

We have been boxing up and carrying things over from the apartment to our house the past few days. I think I have burned a crap ton of calories going up and down the stairs over and over again. Friday we loaded the cats up (Pepper went easily, Penny was NOT happy) and headed over to the house. We put them in the bathroom with the essentials plus a scratch pad, a toy, and their favorite blanket from home so they might feel more comfortable. Penny jumped out of the carrier right away but Pepper was very apprehensive and decided to stay put where he knew it was safe. Then we left to get the Budget truck & go back to the apartment to meet the movers. We were very nervous that we wouldn't have a spot that was convenient at all for them & the truck but thankfully, there was a good spot. Whew! There have been times that we have had to park a block or so away during the day and even more at night. Can you imagine lugging a couch 3 blocks up a hill? I don't think so. They would probably quit on the spot. Anyway, they got things loaded up while T packed up more in the kitchen and I swept up the massive amounts of cat hair that kept magically appearing. Then we all drove to the new house. While they unloaded, we had the terribly difficult job of telling them where to put things. This was actually a little difficult because we hadn't decided on some of the things. I was proud that we only changed our minds on 2 things. We had mentioned to the movers in passing how the seller seemed to have left in a hurry and we were looking forward to hearing all about him from the neighbors. Before they left, one of the movers, who is actually a medicine woman (remember, this is Portland) gave us advice on how to clear the old owner's energy from the house and infuse it with our own. I thought that was really nice of her. We used August Movers. I think they are by referral only so if you need movers, let me know. They were great!

Pepper & Travis say "Hello! We're tired!"

Penny says, "I've been on this chair for hours since moving in! It's my favorite!"

So, tonight as we were eating dinner at our dining room table, I was looking around at this house and just smiling. This is my house. This is my family's home. This feels right.

It's Official!

We did it! This morning we met with our realtor, Jenny and the title company representative, Ruth to sign about 200 pages of paper. I think they told us 40 separate times that we must maintain insurance on the home. I did feel slightly smug because, even though I felt like much of the whole process was in legalese mumbojumbo, our realtor AND T thought that our loan was an FHA and I knew it was a conventional. Doesn't really mean anything in the long run but I was proud that something stuck :) We ended up needing to bring less to closing that we thought, which was a nice surprise. Soooo- heart attacks were averted by all!

Then, more fun started. T went to work. I got busy switching over the utilities into our names and getting them ready to turn off at the right time at the apartment. A little after 5pm, I met Jenny at the house so she could give me the keys. She's funny. She handed me the keys and said, "Well, shall we look inside and make sure there's no hobos living in it now?" Haha! She even offered to take us for a beer after we get settled. I thought that was nice of her.

I got started looking around the house checking on what we had asked the seller to fix. Pretty much everything looked good. When T got off work he made his way over. We figured out exactly which keys went to which doors and then- all of the sudden it hit me. I got so excited and started jumping up and down and clapping- we get to live here!!! For as long as we want!! We get to raise our kids here!! We can do whatever we want to this place! For someone who, since moving to college has only ever rented, this is super exciting!

Of course, we also made a list of things that need to be done- getting rid of the cobwebs taking over the back door, reinforcing the railing at the top of the stairs, changing some light bulbs- but still, we are basking in the excitement. We will never buy our first home again. That's worth celebrating :)
-E