Not sure where I’ve been… I mean, obviously I do know where I have been, I have been everywhere but on the blog. I’d say I’m sorry but I honestly didn’t miss it. Of course, I miss y’all, but I haven’t missed blogging.

I don’t know what made me stop blogging but I think I may be back at a sort of random- unplanned – rate. Don’t place bets on how often I’ll be blogging in other words…

I think part of what made me stop really caring about updating so often was how “planned”  blogging had be come. Like, I needed to check my self and my content and plan out in advance so subjects weren’t too close together… ridiculous I worried about that, I know, but it’s true.

I think my other hesitancy to blog came from the fact I didn’t KNOW who was reading. I knew some people because of sweet comments or tweets or my mom would tell me. But then I’d see big view numbers and would really wonder who the hell was reading my lame football game updates. Were they people I even liked? Were they people who were just being creepy? Were they people I don’t talk to anymore and just read to talk about me? (Totally something I would do, so of course this was my worst case scenario.)

I guess now I’ve decided I don’t care anymore who’s reading. I just miss blogging about what’s new.

So after 167 days, what’s new with me? Well… we got a new puppy, I love her. Her name is Peggy and she’s crazy. Finley loves her too. Albie and I still work together and we’re the cool nerds who carpool together and lunch together. The house is good- not much done to it other then some landscaping cut backs and I think we feel settled. I got a fancier phone, I’m on instagram, we went to Vegas, and I’m coordinating weddings for fun. I’m still drinking my wine like the boxes are going out of style.

Thanks for your patience, I’m glad to be back and hope y’all are still out there :)

We have been immersed deep into College Football and all the emotions that go with it. Our team has won against a team ranked in the top 5 and lost to another unranked team with a last play hail-mary. Since I am the world’s worst blogger I’ll just entertain you by smooshing the 4 home games we’ve had so far into one post.

First up: NC State vs Tennessee in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game! This was a funnnn tailgate. We got the tickets with a group of friends from college and had so much fun. Albie told stories he shouldn’t have and we all drank more then we should have. It was so good to catch up with them and to get out of town for a weekend. My team did loose (womp womp) but overall it was a GREAT time!

After an away game at UConn that we won, we finally got to have our first home game of the season against South Alabama. My mom is hosting two high school exchange students this year and this was their first real experience with tailgating and college football so it was fun to show them what it’s like. This was also the first tailgate where we brought a TV. I don’t know how we tailgated without for so long, it’s so fun to have all the other games on!

Our military appreciation game this year was against the Citadel and it was an absolutely gorgeous night for it! Luckily we won this one too, we were actually super nervous after hearing how badly they beat App the weekend before.

I completely forgot to take pictures at the tailgate and for most of the game but I did get a picture of our big pretty flag at half time!

Our September 29th game was at Miami but I’m not 100% sure our team knew to show up. It was awful. Watching it on TV was even worse because you feel like you have to tune in. I luckily had somewhere to be during the second half of the game and missed our attempt to come all the  back to tie it only to loose by a hail-mary at the end.  booo

After a pitiful away game I can’t say we held out much hope for our home game against Florida State this past Saturday. We packed the car and headed up with lots of beverages and a new satellite for our TV. I knew we were in for a good time when a police office tried to give us a ticket for doing wrong before we even got to the tailgate… (long story, bottom line, no ticket. Also, note to self: do not talk back to a police officer, they don’t like that.)

We ended up keeping the game within reach the whole time but it wasn’t anything to write home about until the final couple of minutes. We ended up beating #3 ranked FSU and it was a BLAST. We were so pumped after the win that we didn’t end up staying with some friends and ended up driving all the way home. Getting into bed at 3:30 in the morning was well worth it though! Good win!

Thank goodness this weekend is a bye and next weekend is away. I think I actually need a bit of a break!

Albie and I have settled into a routine again now that he’s been here more then a month and it works for us. We are carpooling to work like a couple of nerds who like to save money and we are back to grocery shopping and meal planning together. Finley loves his back yard but still hasn’t fully grasped that when we let him out the back door he doesn’t have to wait on the porch for us to tell him to go ahead and play – so we’re the mean fur-parents who laugh at him standing on the steps through the kitchen window before chasing him off the porch.

We’ve started the tailgating season off nicely with a weekend in Atlanta where we watched our beloved Wolfpack loose to the Tennessee Vols (Its heart breaking y’all… no one wants to loose their season opener!) and We’ve been gathering all the materials needed to watch some HD TV at the tailgates, which is totally necessary obvs.

We have done absolutely squat on updating the house or painting any more rooms since the shower and unfortunately the weeds in the yard have started to come back from where I painfully picked, what I thought was, every last root. I’m most proud of my ability to park in the garage with the other car and stuff all around. “Learn to park in the garage” was on my list to do before closing day and even if Albie argues my skills lack from time to time, it’s been good so far. (We love not having to put the top up when we get home!)

October has a couple of weddings lined up and one of them is in VEGAS! Flights have been purchased and the hotel is booked! Now if only I had more sparkly clothes to wear…

I’ve been reading again which has been fun – I flew through the Fifty Shades series but started to find Anastasia and Christian annoying at the end. I LOVED Gone Girl and The Paris Wife. Am still working through South of Broad since I just keep that in my beach bag,but it’s good so far!

Anyway- I do plan to get some pictures posted and off my camera before they’re lost for forever so I promise, I’ll be back! I’m not gone :)

First weekend in August we went to the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival again. This is our third year but first not living in town, so figuring out the driving logistics around a day drinking event was fun. Spoiler alert: I was the DD.

It wasn’t too bad. It was really Albie’s event since I am much more a wine and fruity cocktail girl, notsomuch a bourbon at 1 in the afternoon girl. It’s also a group of his friends that go so I’d prefer to drink my gallons of water in the shade and look forward to a glass of wine at home at the end of a couple hour drive.

I also got to host my first shower this weekend for my good friend Amanda who is due at the end of September. I had the BEST time planning this shower and it kind of took over my life. I hunted for anything that would fit the theme and crafted like it was my job. It was so fun to finally see it all come to life on Saturday.

We had a great time and I hope to get more pictures from people soon so I can do a full post on all the details!

Today also marks the 18 day point on the countdown until our Season opener for NC State football! We are so excited to see them play in Atlanta as a part of the opening weekend kick off games but nothing gets us more jazzed about the season then having the fed ex man deliver these goodies over the weekend:

And last but not least, today is Albie’s first day at his job. He seemed excited about it this morning, complete with wearing a tie and leaving 30 minutes early even though we are super laid back here!

I’m so proud of him for sticking out this job search for so long for us. It will be so nice to settle into our routine this week. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t want to leave so early every morning, if he wants me to carpool with him I’d have some serious adjustments to make.

Yay for August!

There is some serious planting I want to happen and the backyard is missing tons of grass, but it’s finally to a good clear starting point.

My “before” shots are all from May, the month we found out we got the house. Since we didn’t close until July 2nd, these pictures really just show the 1 month we’ve owned the house:

Front of the house in May 2012

Front of the house July 2012

The big things we got done on the front in the 1 month we’ve been here are:

• New Roof: HUGE difference right?? This was obviously a splurge but it’s going to be worth it in the long run. We did upgrade to architectural grade shingles and went with an “Onyx Black” color opposed to the gray color.

• Painted front door: The door before was faded, dirty, had holes in it from where the old numbers used to be, and was really just a mess. So I spent one weekend sanding, primer-ing, and painting 3 coats of Behr Ultra “Holly Berry”. It was HOT that weekend but the fresh red paint paired with the new hardware made an immediate impact!!

• Painted shutters: This I did not do my self. We are not “ladder people” and there are some high windows on the house. We hired a guy we knew from high school who teaches/ coaches so he does odd jobs in the summer. He did a great job and for a bargain!! He bought us new hardware and I supplied the Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black in a Gloss.

Shutters before and after they were painted!

You can see how the old hardware was rusting straight down the front. Forget the fact that these were so faded I didn’t know what color they were supposed to be, that rust KILLED  me. They look so much better now!

• Power Washed: We found a guy on craigslist who was more than half the price of the other quotes we had gotten. While the house is SO.MUCH.CLEANER. it’s still not perfect. We’re told we’ll have to plan on washing it every year so the cheaper price at least made a big difference for this year.

• Landscaping: We hauled out soooooo many dead bushes and limbs off of trees. We layed some mulch and mowed the lawn. It doesn’t seem like a lot but the neighbors have literally been commenting on it since we moved in. I think it was so over grown it was just hard to see anything. The weeds looked like trees and shrubs looked like tumble weeds. HUGE “shout out” to everyone who helped with the yard – it’s brutal hot and we cleared a lot of debris!

You can even see a big difference on the front corner of our lot:

Corner of front yard in May.

Corner of front yard in July.

I mean, REALLY?! You can see the road now! While I am super pumped about this, I have now been told by 3 different people how upset I have made all the little kids on the cul de sac – apparently this was a key hiding spot and I “ruined” it. So sorry guys!

Speaking of landscaping, here’s the back yard’s progress:

Looking out from the back deck in May.

Looking out from the back deck in July!

From the fence in the back yard, looking toward the house in May.

Looking from the fence, towards the house in July.

Obviously I am going to melt into a puddle just thinking of how hot it was every day outside for all that work. I am so glad it’s done and already brainstorming ideas for what plants I want and where they’ll go. Fun!

I have spent the last year and a half waiting for what was next – when would the house sell? When would Albie move to Wilmington with me? When would Albie get a new job? When would we buy a house? When would closing be?

Then a lot of those answers started to look like JULY. So I could not count down to July fast enough!  Once I got word that the house was ours at the end of May I could not WAIT for closing the first week in July. Screw June! And sure enough because I wished June away, it went.

July was good though – bought the house, started some big projects and fully settled into a new routine in the house. Although that left me home alone all week just like before – so with this big mortgage looming over us I think we started to want to time to slow down a bit, at least until Albie was FINALLY able to find a job here in town.

Luckily for us, July also brought good news on the job front too.

So… August means that my Husband and I live under one roof again. August means we’ll work in the same city. (um, possibly car pool to work?) August is the last month before the mortgage payments start. August is the last month of Summer and is the start to the countdown for college football!

I’m thinking I wont be wishing this month away as much as I have every other month for the past year and a half :)

For real, I think hosting this baby shower is just the kick in the pants we needed to give some deadlines for house projects. I wanted the yard in check, living room painted, house cleaned, shutters and front door painted. I don’t want to jinx my self but I actually think it will all be done by the time I host in 2 weeks!

I haven’t had a day without a long to -do list and enough sun light for some pictures but I did think to grab a picture of ONE of my TWO debris piles:

We don’t have any plans to plant anything for the time being so the yard is looking a bit nekked, but it’s a good start! Can’t wait to get my act together and share before and afters!

Since the yard has been de-cluttered, I am finally getting serious about baby shower prep:

Somehow Pinterest has given me about 15 too many ideas and they’re all DIY. Poor Finley is not amused with all the paper and scissors and cussing when something looks weird.

I promise I’m not leaving blogland but I just have the hardest time committing to any sort of blog post right now. Hope y’all are doing well :)

• Penne & Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

.

.

This was my first real attempt at eating sun-dried tomatoes. I am considering this a victory in the trying new things category even though it may not seem all that adventurous to y’all. This was also my first time cooking with evaporated milk, not sure what it adds that’s different then a heavy cream but it was good and the sauce was easy so I’m a fan.

We grilled some chicken the night before this recipes so it was easy to add in and make this more a full entree than just pasta.

• Slow Cooker- Salsa Chicken

.

.

This one we liked, and it made a lot of food, but for some reason I don’t remember being wow’ed by it. I think I feel this way with most “slow cooker” recipes though. I think maybe it’s because I feel the need to still stir and fuss over them.

This one made a lot of leftovers that I mostly sent back with the husband to eat throughout the week.

• Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage & Tortellini Soup.

.

This recipe had my interest peaked because my friend, Jenny, introduced me to tortellini and I liked them! But we make so.much.pasta. in our house that I wanted another way to eat it. We also don’t have a a big repertoire of soups. This was good… no leftovers to really  because I read the instructions wrong and we had to half it, so I can’t speak to how it re-heats. 

• Parmesan Chicken Wings

.

.

Chicken wings had been on sale one week and despite the fact I don’t like “saucy” wings I thought we’d give them a try. Albie kept with a more traditional wing method but I went with these and dipped them in an embarrassing amount of ranch that was DELISH. I loved these and may be adding them to the menu plan again soon now that I’m looking at the picture again.

• Bangin’ Grilled Shrimp Skewers

.

.

This recipe is from, gasp, a healthy website. I don’t find my self on websites helping me to make recipes have lower calories that often but this shrimp recipe was super yummy! We served this with rice and we doubled the sauce (thus, making it unhealthy) and they really were a non-fried version of the Bang Bang Shrimp. Yum!!

• Stuffed Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce

.

.

We actually made this one over the weekend and it was really good, but the sauce is what made it. This sauce was a like a spicy “white sauce” and I think I could put on just about anything.

We did not end up “stuffing” the salmon since I read in the comments on the recipe that someone didn’t think it added much, so we did the full marinade and the sauce and I think we got the full effect.  Our salmon did come out a bit dry, but I can’t decide if that’s because we cooked it the full time and then broiled the top to toast the sesame seeds a bit more or if we had thin cuts of the fish.

Either way, this had a great flavor, but the sauce totally stole the show and I’m pumped I have so much left over to eat this week.

When we bought our last house, everything came with the house and they were great. We didn’t blink an eye when the buyer of ours wanted to keep them as part of her purchasing our house since we figured we’d get whatever came in the next one. Unfortunately due to the fact we bought a short sale and the situation the previous owners were in, they were not able to include the appliances. Major bummer.

This left us in kind of unknown territory. Neither Albie or I had ever purchased something like a fridge, let alone a washer & dryer too. First off? My expectations of how much something would actually cost were WAY off. I thought a new, nice, stainless fridge was TOPS around $1,000… uh, wrong, think closer to $2k. I also thought I could get a reasonable washer & dryer for around $800, total… not EACH.

We spent a couple days going to every appliance store in town, local companies and big box stores. We learned a lot about what we were looking for – we wanted stainless steel fridge to match the stove/oven and we wanted a High Efficiency Washer and Dryer, still tossed around the idea of a front loader or top loader.

We read reviews to appliances like it was our JOB. We were on Consumer Reports every day trying to find the best appliances for our money and once we liked certain ones, we used the week before the 4th of July to cash in on some sales and bought all 3 from Sears.

We went with this french door 25 cubic feet Whirlpool Gold fridge:

We knew we wanted the freezer on the bottom since we liked that in our last house, but were impartial to the french doors or one door on the fridge. After talking to one salesman we realized our island was too close to the fridge and we would actually need french doors. We also were hoping to avoid the water/ice station int he front of the fridge because I had read people end up having problems with them down the road and I tend to like the fridge to be clean and plain looking on the front.

We do have a TON of capacity in the fridge and you can see that even after a trip to the grocery store we still aren’t using all the space.

The freezer was a bit more challenging to get organized only because I have been doing this cash budget and couponing so a lot of food is getting frozen right now. The drawers are easy to use and we LOVE having an automatic ice maker. We don’t use much ice but it’s nice to have since the last house didn’t have one even though it was a pretty new freezer.

This fridge did come with a water filter on the inside and it’s super tiny but easy to use. Since we seemed to have lost the Brita in the move, I guess I’m glad it came with one!

Full disclosure: We were able to score this fridge as an “open box” at Sears which is what made it affordable to us. We also had a great salesman who was able to squeeze some other deals for us. All said and done we were able to steal this fridge, delivered and installed, for about $1,000 (right at the budget point!) and saved over $900.

For the washer and dryer we went with this LG washer and this LG dryer.

The digital displays made us nervous before we got them just because if it can break, for us it probably will. But so far we really like them! These really are like tiny computers – they sense your load size and disperse enough water to just wash what’s in there. They have pre-set load cycles that you can select for both the washer and the dryer.

It’s weird to look in and not see the agitator but it seems to wash the clothes really well without the mildew problems that front loaders seem to have.

We have only had them a week or so, but they have had a work out with all the laundry that came out of the move so I feel comfortable saying we’re really happy with them.

Full disclosure: These were not open box, just plain ol’ good deals thanks to the 4th of July sales. We got both of these, delivered and installed, for right around $1,100. We saved about $600 on these thanks again to our awesome salesman and some good price hunting.

And just for fun here is our stove/ oven that we did get with the house:

When we first went through the house we weren’t sure we’d like the double oven, but it is so cool! Since it’s just us and we’re normally only making things on a cookie sheet everything we need can be cooked in that top tiny section. It takes less than 5 minutes to pre-heat to 350 and cooks really evenly. We have not needed the larger section yet!

Obviously my appliances may not be that super interesting to y’all but I wanted to put it out there in case anyone else is in the market for some.  Also this could count as a sneak peak into the kitchen now that we’re all moved in. I promise to have some “after” pictures soon!

Now that I have these though, I want to keep them super clean. What do y’all use to clean your stainless steel appliances? Also anything good for class cook tops or can I stick with Windex?

These pictures are from the MLS listing and I’ll be back through hopefully tomorrow with some pictures now that we’re all moved in.

Front of the house

Living Room from the back looking toward the front

Living Room looking from the front to the back

Kitchen coming through from the living room

Kitchen looking into the living room

Dinning Room

Master Bedroom

Second Bedroom

Third Bedroom

Fourth bedroom

Back of the house and back yard

Thank y’all so much for your tweets, texts and emails with Congrats! We’re very excited about it and can’t wait to get into a routine again. Albie is still in Raleigh but continues to look for a job here, so happy thoughts are welcome while we keep at this long distance thing.

You can tell from the listing’s pictures that we have a wee bit of painting to do since we don’t have any need for those 2 little kid rooms. And it’s almost funny to look at all of these and see how empty it feels since we don’t have a lot of furniture. But as everyone keeps reminding me, we have plenty of time to work on our projects and fill it up!