Top Ten

I wasn't sure what the heck to use for a top ten post.  Most random iPhone pictures?  Favorite movies?  Most ridiculous Wikipedia articles?  Well, since I really haven't been a good blogger in the time that I've had this little corner of the Internet in my control, I've decided on a list of the top ten things you, my dear reader, don't know about me.  Maybe you do know some of these things.  Probably not.  If you're friends with me on Facebook, then yeah, you probably will know these things since that means you most likely know me in the real world.  Anywho....enjoy today's post!

1 - I've moved a lot.  As in, I've lived in eight different states, but moved much more frequently than that.  For awhile there, it averaged one move every eighteen months.  And no, I was not a military brat.

2 - Speaking of moving and living all over the place, this is actually my second time living in Ohio.  The first time was from 1991 - 1996.

3 - I wasn't allowed to listen to TLC when CrazySexyCool came out because their music was too blatantly sexual.  Same reason I couldn't listen to Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughtta Know."  I was allowed to listen to Salt-N-Pepa and Boyz II Men.  Yeah, because their songs aren't blatantly sexual AT ALL.

4 - Chloe is not an only pet.  She also has two kitty sisters, Pandora and Lluvy.  They prefer to hide from me, because Chloe follows me everywhere and likes to attack her siblings.

5 - I'm on the leadership committee for the Columbus Young Professionals Club aka CYP.  That means I get to hang out at all kinds of fun events and schmooze and network and just have fun.

6 - I'm also one of the date participants for the CYP's annual charity fundraiser, Date 2 Remember.  See?  I have my own personal profile! If you happen to live in the area and want to go to the event, get in touch with me for cheap tickets!

7 - I'm not a good sand volleyball player, but I love it.  I'm usually on at least two teams every summer at Flannagan's.

8 - I'm running the Cap City half-marathon in May of this year.

9 - I'm deathly afraid of turning 30 in 2014.  We're talking panic attack level of fear.  My mother was the same way but refuses to admit it.  I was not allowed to mention her birthday at all that summer.

10 -  My favorite movies are Shakespeare In Love and Fight Club.  Seriously.

There you have it, folks!  Hope you enjoyed!

Staycation

One of my absolute favorite blogs is 'Sota Is Sexy.  Katrina is hilarious and always keeps me entertained.  A few weeks ago I won a giveaway for an adorable state charm necklace, and of course, I chose Maryland.  I may officially be from Ohio now, but Maryland will always be my first home.  Anyway, we're Facebook friends now, and I noticed last week that Katrina was looking for guest bloggers.  I offered to write a post, and it'll be up on her blog this Friday!  Trust me, there will be a link to that post.  I wrote it from Chloe's perspective too.  Should be amusing!

I've officially been Ohio now for a little over two years.  Kind of hard to believe....I've been so used to moving frequently that it's a shock to the system to be in one place for an extended period of time.  I still don't get excited over OSU football, and I still get amusement out of how vanilla this town is.  Thankfully I've discovered some new things to do and see out here.  I do wish I had a few more girl friends, since I'm still pretty new out here, but I suppose I'll get there eventually.

This week is Staycation 2012.  The original plan was to go to Cape Cod for the week and see the Falmouth Road Race, but gas is expensive and flights aren't cheap either.  Monday I did basically nothing, Tuesday I took a ton of stuff to the Goodwill store and did some shopping, and today?  Today will probably be pretty low-key too.  Volleyball is tonight, so I'll probably go to Flannagan's early for some relaxing by the pool before the game.  I've been enjoying the break from work, but I am itching to check my work email!

Normalcy

I think I'm going to try a personal little challenge.  Rather than this blog being solely about the trials and tribulations of first-time homeownership, I think perhaps I'll write about some personal stuff too.  Maybe?  Anyone?  Bueller?

Let's see....had my wisdom teeth out two weeks ago.  It was awful.  I survived off smoothies, pudding, and Jello for about 10 days.  I did a serious happy dance when I finally got to eat a Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich on Friday night.  So what if I've had two more since then?  IT'S WORTH IT!!!

Chloe survived her own surgery.  The vet is extremely pleased with how the paw looks, and I'm extremely pleased with how quickly Chloe returned to her normal crazy Min Pin self.

The heat wave we've been experiencing has been excruciating.  Thankfully it hasn't been too humid (at least, not by my standards of humid).  And during last week's storm, my house only sustained minor damage and I wasn't without power for too long.  Kudos to Home Depot on Trueman Blvd for allowing Chloe to come along with me on Saturday morning!  The only damage to the house was the loss of a few roof peak shingles, some siding was pulled off (and landed in my neighbors' yard), and a gutter was pulled away from the roof on one end.  Now if only the guy my realtor recommended to fix everything would be able to come out today or tomorrow to look over everything and give me a repair quote!

I seriously thought I posted this last week!  Ooops!

Ah crap

I did not intentionally disappear for nearly two months.  I've been a busy bee!  Holidays, social life, work-life changes, etc. have all kept me constantly running since I last posted.

Sadly there haven't really been any changes with the house.  I've purchased gray paint for the bathroom, so the warning of "Oh yeah, the bathroom is REALLY bright" will be a distant memory sometime in the near future!  My friend Steve, as a Christmas gift to me, will be painting the wall against the stairs and the upstairs landing to match the living room.  I'm really looking forward to that!  He's going to try to get it done for me next week before my parents come to town for Christmas, so we will have to wait and see what truly happens.

I'm really looking forward to the holiday this year.  Well, for now.  Having Chloe be absolutely exhausted will be nice, plus I get to see my parents and have some delicious food prepared for me!  I think mostly I'm just excited about the days off, especially Thursday of next week.  Why?  I'll probably get my hair done, go to Skully's for Ladies 80s, and maaaaaaybe go see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Since my blog is a bit boring right now, I suggest you go check out Little Crazy Home.  My friend Linda just started this, and she's truly had the time and commitment (and cashola) to get a LOT done!  I'm particularly impressed with the bedroom and octopus bathroom.

summer time

And once again, I've been BUSY!  Chloe has been enjoying the summer weather, spending as much time as possible outside or at doggy day camp (sometimes both).  We did take a week-long vacation down to southern Maryland to visit my family for the holiday, where all sorts of fun was had.  It was nice to take a break and visit with people I hadn't seen in close to a year.  My parents' dog, Tug, didn't get along with Chloe, so they took turns going to the kennel down there.  Neither dog seemed to mind too much!  I did fail to really take any pictures.  Oops!

My full-time job has been very busy recently, and there are some changes currently going on that require me to spend time doing extra things on my computer at home.  But hopefully it will all be worth it in the end!  I was also asked to be a sub for a friend's volleyball team in mid-June, and after a couple games, I was asked to be on the same friend's team for the Summer II session.

 Not my team!  We were on a different court and a different night from when this was taken by the Columbus Dispatch for a great article on things to do out here in summer.

The team did terribly during the first session, but the second session should be much more fun and exciting.  It's been great just being out there doing something active and hanging out with everyone.  This year seems to be turning into a much more social and interesting year than my first one back here in Ohio.  I think this is the most social I've been in years, now that I think about it.  I guess having a regular Monday thru Friday job is working out quite nicely!

No new house projects recently, but plenty are in the works.  I'm planning to start saving up for an addition to the house too!  Eventually I think I'd like to expand on the back and add a bathroom on the first floor, which would mean my kitchen and dining areas would both be expanded as well.  Maybe I can get a butcher block countertop island?

I'm in love with Dana's kitchen in her old house.  Photo from House*Tweaking.  Totally check it out for some amazing inspiration and all the DIY work on the new house aka The Underdog.

That's all for now, folks!  Off to go practice a few more things and rescue Chloe from getting wrapped around the seating area on the porch.

As promised

Bear with me, this one may get long!  There are lots and lots of pictures too.

 After a great little surprise at work, I rewarded myself with this Huffy Cranbrook Cruiser from Wal-mart.  I had been thinking about getting a bike for a couple weeks since I was tired of wasting gas whenever I needed to run short errands in Hilliard.  There's a bike lane on the main road!  I hardly ever see people using it.  I hardly ever see anyone on a bike out here, but I've always been one to go against the grain at times.  I didn't want to shell out more than $100 for my first bike in years, just because if I didn't commit myself, I wouldn't feel bad about the money.  Good news though!  I love my bike and have been going on short rides around my neighborhood every couple of days since I brought this home.  My only complaint about the bike is that it didn't come with a basket or a bell.  I did pick up this Wald 133 basket (quick release) that just hooks onto the handlebars yesterday.  If that doesn't work out, I'll track down the grocery basket that attaches to the frame.  And maybe one day I'll get myself a Schwinn Cream or another attractive cruiser!

 Remember my rant about my storm door?  My step-dad was kind enough to solve that problem for me once again last weekend.  I gave him a small list of little things to fix throughout the house when he was here, which were mainly things I wanted to do but didn't know how.

 This always baffled me.  I love this thing because I put the shovels, brooms, etc. on here.  But it never made sense why it blocked the electrical outlet once you put stuff on it.  It's been relocated to the other side of the garage and placed at a much friendlier short girl level.

The light works!  YAAAAAY!  I thought the fan was broken too, but it turns out that it's just really quiet.

 This hook was relocated next to the front steps.  The petunias have since been moved to the steps because they were weighing down the hook and pulling it forward.  Oops!

My poor tree.  I put some Round-Up all over those weeds and started pulling and trimming, only to discover that some of these weeds have roots an inch thick and are buried deep into the ground.  I tried digging them up but it's pretty much useless.  I need to borrow my neighbors' clippers with the longer handles so that I can trim these buggers low enough to the soil that I can place Weed-X over them and cover it all with mulch.  The weeds on the back side are about three inches tall, and I can't cut them with my little hand clippers because they're so thick.

I found out from some neighbors that the previous owners last year just stopped paying attention to yard work.  They would mow but that was about it.  I thought at first that the insane weeds around the tree out front were due to negligence on their end, but with how thick some of these are, I'd say it's been a few years since those were addressed.  I'm the fourth owner of this house, so I think it's been an issue since owner number one.  Each owner would do something to address the problem, and it finally ended with someone putting down a mulch-looking pad of sorts on top of the weeds and hoping for the best.  My poor little tree!  I'm going to work on it as best I can this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, it's the Columbus Pride Festival today!  I'm bummed I can't go.  I'm working the weekend part-time job (the one that pays for gas and groceries) during the afternoon and may just stay home tonight to avoid looking for parking in town tonight.  Parking is always annoying on weekends, but I'm sure it would be even worse today.  People are coming from all over to attend this.  Perhaps Chloe and I will go for a bike ride to get sushi tonight?

To end this looooong post, enjoy some puppy pictures!

BLOG FAIL!!!!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH my gosh!  Where did we go?  Did anyone even notice?!

Probably not.  But for a quick summary......I've been busy, mostly with work.  The personal life has taken a nose dive (yet again) while the professional life has gotten better (yet again).  This always happens.  One area is doing really well while the other isn't quite so lucky.  But I'm content with where I am right now.

Chloe and I have been busy bees around the house.  My step-dad came for a visit last weekend, so we were able to get a lot accomplished.  This time I promise pictures will follow!  I just haven't gotten them off of my phone yet.  But things about the house have been moved, repaired, decided upon, etc.  The best news of all though?  I finally got a real bed!  No more air mattress, thanks to someone's little nails poking a hole in it I believe, and no more sleeping in the guest room.  Nope, there's a real queen-sized mattress in my room and it's glorious!

I'll be back with a real post with pictures about everything we've done around the house later tonight or tomorrow.  Expect to see a long post where I vent about my yard too, because it's coming like a tornado.

Mismatched

I'm not sure if my kitchen cabinets have always been two different colors.  The house has been around for 20 years and just about every major appliance is the original, so it's highly possible that the cabinets are 100% original.  I could be wrong but.....

 With flash....

 Without flash......

 

Perfect shot of the two-tone look.....also, the light AND fan about the stove both do not work

Hard to believe there used to be a bigger light there.  I can't decide what I think about this one.

I mentioned in the last post the colors I'm leaning towards for the cabinets and counters, but any ideas for wall colors would be welcomed.  The wall with the stove will be painted, as well as the wall that overlooks the living room and the piece that juts out.

 Looking into the living room.  Hi kitties!

 More lovely cabinetry....

And this wall....but the clock will probably end up in the laundry room.

I initially was planning on painting the kitchen a bright orange-y color, but instead the living room ended up getting the brighter treatment.  I think once the dining table is finally cleared off, I might even show off pictures of that end of my kitchen!

To paint or....paint

Let's talk about that taupe-y color that was all over my house for a minute.  I'm not kidding when I say it was ALL OVER my house.  Living room, one upstairs bedroom, second floor landing and the wall leading up the stairs, bathroom, and even the basement (but in a lighter, more do-able shade).  I liked the color initially, but after less than a month, I felt like it was too dark.

After my mom came to visit in early October, I knew I wanted to paint the bathroom.  It was a good place to start because it was a small room, right?  Kind of.  Painting around a toilet and towel racks was no easy feat!  But I took a long, skinny, windowless little room and seriously opened it up.

 The previous owners really liked this color, but the room seemed longer and skinnier than it really was.  Don't you just love the generic cabinet, counter top, and sink?  Oh, and the light fixture!

 Not the best "after" picture, but it'll do for now.  Adding two paint colors to the wall and a curved shower curtain rod really opened up this room.

I used Behr's Mint Majesty for the main color in the room.  I can't remember the name of the blue color above the shower, but I think that may get covered with the main color.  It doesn't quite "flow" for me.  I have tons of other ideas in mind, particularly pulling that mirror off the wall and replacing it with two smaller mirrors, replacing the light fixture, and eventually installing a new counter top, cabinets, tub, etc.  Okay, a lot of that room.  It's a little outdated, but we'll come back to that.  I'm doing what I can afford now for the room, and little tweaks can do a lot!

Next up, the living room, which felt small and cramped as the days got longer.  My chocolate brown couch was blending in with the wall.  It took me one night to find the right color, Behr's Chai Latte, but it took me almost a week to paint the room!  Three out of four walls were repainted in here, only because the fourth wall is the one heading upstairs.  Awkward angles combined with short girls don't mix!

Much better!  Next up, I'm tackling the two bedrooms upstairs and the office.  Chloe will also get to do some art projects for me, so I'm sure she'll enjoy that!  Speaking of the puppy, she's gotten awfully big since I brought her home!