Picture of the Day

We were in the right place at the right time today.  We had heard rumours of them.  And today when my folks and i went out to lunch, we saw them.

This is the roaming herd of Roosevelt Elk in our town.  They are beautiful, but very destructive at times.  They were in a pasture, near Newalkum Creek, just a few miles away from our new house.  Hopefully we won't see them up close in our yard, but it's nice to know they are here. 

Christening

Welcome to our new home.  Take off your coat and stay a while.

Come grab a spot by the fire...

Chairs?!?  What chairs?  There's a perfectly good floor to sit on, isn't there?

This moving hasn't been as smooth as creamy Skippy, due to the old owners needing more time to pack their stuff.  We were able to get in this afternoon, just in time for dinner.  So we unpacked some plates, and broke out with the beef stew. 


The First Supper

Thankfully we were able to share it with my parents!  Cookie excitedly stocked the new pantry with the groceries we brought over from the old pantry.

And just as a friendly reminder because i care to spare you from the same fate....

REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR SUNBLOCK, my friends!!

Melanoma Battle Wound

Will be extremely glad to get the all clear from the doc so i can enjoy this baby





The Bedrooms

The good thing about being stuck in the house during an ice storm is that you have plenty of time to pack AND plan decor in a new home. :)  The thought of snow shoveling the chicken run occurred to me yesterday, until i went outside and a huge tree branch fell in front of where i would have been standing. I said to myself, "Self, i think wasting many minutes on Pinterest looking for inspirational bedrooms would be much safer."  And so i did.  And now i think i have a plan.

We hit the Ben Moore Paint Shop a couple weeks ago.  I don't want to get carried away with repainting the new house, for several reasons: 

1. The best decorating ideas come after you've lived somewhere a while, eh?
2. I really don't want to squelch my family and friends helpful and generous intentions by forcing them into manual labor, while i sit around like a CEO of a hedge fund operation, sipping tea and recovering from surgery in the new kitchen.
3. We need all the extra money we can squirrel away for a tractor for Moose by summertime.
4. We also have a boat load of painting to do at the old house so we won't be featured on an HGTV show about homes that no one would buy just because they are afraid of buying a house with a bright blue rec room. :)
5. Moose and i really don't agree on colours very often--he's a tan kinda guy, while i am more of a grey gal.  Sometimes, us trying to pick out paint colours can be like mixing oil and water.  And i love him all the more for it! 

After a few different discussions, we settled on a nice safe colour:  milkyway

I hope it's intense enough not to look dirty and grey on all our dim-lit days here in the rainy PNW--it's what i dispise most of all the ceilings we painted white.  On dark rainy days, it looks like we've made a habit of lighting torches in all of the rooms, the smoke discolouring the corners. I also hope that we can turn up the oomph in the rooms with colours in other things.  The last thing i want to get embroiled in is spending hours at the mall trying to match new bed sheets to a colour painted in one of our bedrooms.  I think, nee, *know* i would rather chew on a wad of tin foil.

While we are still in negotiations, this is what i hope will be Cookie's room.  Out that door is a balcony that overlooks the farm and has a small view of the top of Mt. Rainier.  So, my theory is--since Cookie will be a teenager someday--what teenager would want to go to someone else's house when they have a rockin' bedroom like this?

Although Moose's point is a good one too...this has the potential of becoming the teenage equivalent to the Crocodile Lounge--and located right above the bedroom that Moose and i hope to inhabit after Cookie is old enough not to need us when she sleepwalks.

When we first looked at the place, she loved the paint scheme in here because it is very similar to her lighthouse themed room now.  However, then we took her with us to the paint store.  Rotten idea!

She now has visions of purples and bright pinks for her room, we've come to an agreement that we will paint everything Milkyway first, then revisit colour at a different time.  And maybe by adorning a garage sale dresser with all these funky colour combos.

This is the second bedroom.  The sunsets will be streaming in that window there.  The window also has a brick ledge (from the chimney on that exterior wall.)  I can't wait to put a pumpkin there in October!

One thing we aren't too certain on is the colour in here.  While it looks nice, it's not my style.  I am thinking if this becomes our bedroom, i will scour my own photography and see what kind of inspiration i can glean from there.  These are candidates.

And so are these.

Thinking of something that i could photograph or have photographed that would look awesome in bright red frames.

Anyway, it's a start, and i can wait to get started on it...

next week's the week!

Hooray!

Greetings from Snowy Puget Sound

This past weekend we had a reasonable, seasonal snowfall for our area.

And while we in the greater Western Washington area aren't known for our driving abilities in even just a 1/2" of white stuff, we do know what to do with it once it sticks to the ground!

Cookie couldn't wait to get out and play in it.

Official Snowman Construction Team

 Soon all the foot-drag "skiing" and snow angel making gave way to snowman design.  Cookie dubbed our snowman "Hot Enchilada Guy".


"Why, yes, our snowman is wearing a sombero."

  In an unfortunate accident, our dear H.E.G. lost his head, and so, he was transformed into a smaller version of himself.

And once a snowman is made, you know what time it is...

"Put 'em up, put 'em up."

Commence pelting the parentals with snowballs...yeehaw!



Moose cleverly trys to defend himself with the ice "shield" from the birdbath.



Since then, another storm has made it's way here.

It started around 1 a.m. and has been snowing ever since.  We've received about 4-5 inches, but it's still snowing.  Maybe we will get that predicted 9 inches.

The 243rd St. Bunny Hill is open for business one last time for us. :)

Thank goodness at the new house, the Bunny Hill is right on our property--and isn't a thru street.  Although, the new bunny hill may actually qualify as a Black Diamond Trail, as it is pretty steep and has a fenced pasture as a stop guard.  Nothing a few bails of hay can't help though. :)

And you know whatelse is cool about the new house?

They are supposed to get 12-18 inches of the magical white stuff!

(which incidentally does nothing for those of us trying to move, however it will be something to look forward to again in the future!  Hoorah!)

The Floorplan

Here's what we have to work with.  It's so quaint, yet thankfully not a dollhouse. :) 

The 1st Floor



The 2nd Floor

Now that we own the place, i can breathe. I wasn't going to believe it until someone started demanding monthly payment from us. And now they are. :)

This was the first house i've ever purchased (the one that we live in now doesn't count, because Moose did all the hard work before i moved in.) I can't believe how nerve-wracking it is to sign all that paperwork in just a few minutes. Ei yi ei!! I will never buy another house without a lawyer present, i tell you that! Maybe they could help me research "boiler plate" contracts in the real estate game, helping me not feel so lost come time to sign things of which i do not know. Thankfully, Moose purchases properties in his work, so he is familiar with the process and jargon. Never have i felt like such a housewife!

As a side note, did you know that an expired Costco card counts as a "second i.d." when applying for a home loan? :)

In the negotiation with the sellers of the home, we agreed to allow them to inhabit the house until they could find a new home of their own. After they move, we'll need to paint the upstairs bedrooms before we move our furniture in (with much help as i'll have a bandaged left wing at that point.)

Then from there, it is anyone's guess really.

And with a yard like this (just in time for planting season to start), who knows what'll happen next!

a sloppy rendition of the property

The Fortune Cookie Knows

I've been slightly apprehensive about believing we were moving.

We've had so many opportunities to own neat houses blindside us, because we were sold on the idea that just because we were liked them, they were as good as ours.

However, we've been going out to favourite haunts in our area, as though we won't be here much longer.  Just last week, i had a hankerin' for some Chinese buffet, and we visited the local place that everyone frequents because basically it's so bad, it's good.  You catch my drift?  I mean, really, who would think that a pan of tater tots resting between the egg drop soup and the Mongolian beef is authentic Chinese cuisine?  However one of the reasons why people love this place is their propensity for comfort food--personally, i feel no one holds a candle to their Korean glass noodles.

They do have fortune cookies, which i've always curiously suspected are more hyped Americana than traditional Chinese cuisine.  Coincidentally, this was my fortune.

How did it know?

Because 9 days later, we are the proud new owners of this beauty.

picture courtesy Windermere MLS



And so the moving adventures of

Whit, her man Moose and their little Cookie Monster take flight!

Finally proving the ol' adage that if you pack it, you will move it. :)

Hope you'll stay tuned...

Contents of My Dream Home

Someday, i'd like a cottage, maybe a shoppe of our own.  And i ***love*** to use this porch from a little house in Sumner as inspiration. 

Things i'd change:  remove the screen door and paint the front door as red as a British phonebooth.

P.S. 26 more days :)