Christmas: A time for family (and housework)

 It was quite the busy week leading up to Christmas as you can see in our previous blog post.  Our first day of break was spent getting our home ready for our Long Island family to visit on December 26th and wrapping Christmas gifts for our Rochester and Long Island families.  We left that afternoon for Rochester to spend Christmas with all of my side of the family.

It was a very peaceful drive through the snow covered hills.

It's a big tradition of mine to always make the traditional Christmas cookies.  This year, there was NO time for that, sadly.  I had purchased some pre-baked cookies from Wegmans (always saving the day).  Liz, Brendan, and I decorated them on Christmas Eve!

Some of our favs: The Gingerbread Santa (by Liz), The Alien (by B), and the Injured Gingerbread Man (by Ash)

We had a great time visiting all of my family on Christmas, even if only for 3 days.  The day after Christmas, Mom and I went out and bought some great (1/2 price!) Christmas items for the house next year.  Although, I'm sure our movers would say we don't need any more x-mas items.

Lenz Christmas Tree

Ashley tuckered out on the couch with Duke on Christmas morning.

Although we loved our visit with the Rochester family, we were eager to get back to the house to do some final preparations for our Long Island family's visit, plus we just plain missed it!

Our new "queen-size" air mattress in our master bedroom while Brendan's family visited.

 This was one of 4 places we slept from December 23-December 29.  First at my mom's house, next on our couch (because we hadn't bought the batteries for the air mattress pump), then the air mattress (but too cold without a rug underneath), and lastly, on our old futon mattress (JUUUUST RIGHT).  We felt like Goldilocks!  I had some trouble sleeping because I couldn't shut my brain off.  For those of you who don't know me, or haven't realized it yet, I'm totally crazy when it comes to organization (or at least organized chaos).  Amidst the craziness of the holidays, we had boxes all over the house, unorganized and unpacked and I felt like I couldn't entertain and accommodate like the hostess I like to be!  If I could, I'd be Martha Stewart and Sandra Lee's apprentice!  I should be clear in saying that we are lucky to have a wonderful and easy-going family and they didn't expect anything but a bed to sleep in, food in their bellies, and most of all, some quality time with us.  All this pressure was simply me and my silly antics.  


The first full day (Dec 27) our Long Island family was up, we got right to work...well, after a motivating meal!  We ate at our favorite mom and pop diner, "Phil and Cindy's", for breakfast.  Then off to our old apartment we went.  We cleaned the apartment from top to bottom.  When we moved into the apartment, it was brand-spanking-new and we wanted to leave it looking as close to it as possible after living there for 3 1/2 years.  After about 4 hours of cleaning and sorting through some remaining items, we were finished.  Back to the house we went to enjoy some pizza and celebrate another Christmas!  We never thought we would be so excited to get Home Depot and Lowes gift cards, among other useful things for around the house!

Our Christmas tree with the Long Island family.

 On December 28th, my family came to visit from Rochester.   This was the first time my sister got to see our house and it was great to share it with her.  I made some baked ziti (well, technically penne rigate) and had sandwiches for lunch.  Yes, below you will see what I would say is a must have for anyone, a foldable banquet table.  I'd love two more for parties, to be quite honest!  They are so useful and take up little space when put away.  I almost started looking through boxes for a quick centerpiece to put on the table, but I was pretty sure I would have been ridiculed for that.

The Long Island and Rochester families together with the Jamestown family!

You'll notice the tablescape of paper plates and plasticware.  You can easily create this gypsy theme at your next luncheon by towering boxes and as the host/hostess searching throughout the boxes for various ingredients you need.  Warning: This theme may cause an increase in anxiety.  Treat immediately with a glass (or bottle) of wine, while making regular jokes.  Your guests will sure to be entertained by your obstacle course!



The next day, Uncle Gary came to visit for breakfast.  He often stops by for an hour here and there while on his trucking route.  Always a welcomed guest!

Uncle Gary and B in our Family Room (yes, the purple is temporary)

Okay, so you're probably wondering at what point will this post get to the progress of the house.  Well hold your horses, this is about the Ups and Downs and All-Arounds.  All of the above, would fall under the All-Arounds!


After Uncle Gary left, we got right to work.  By far the most exciting day of work at the house!  We had gone to Home Depot earlier in the week to get some supplies for working on the house.


I worked with Brendan's parents on putting together our kitchen pantry.  It's nothing special, but it'll do the job until we get a nice beautiful pantry to take its place.  A special thanks to Mom and Dad K for their help with the assembly!

Dad K giving me an extra hand, while I drill.

Mom K reading the directions to us.

While we worked on assembling the pantry, Brendan worked with Alex on changing the door knobs and locks around the house.  It was a relatively easy learning experience for Brendan.  Well, up until they hit a very stripped screw.  They spent about 10 minutes trying to hammer and cut the screw in order to remove the old knob.  Their hard work paid off and the doors look great and secure!  (Funny Story: While in Home Depot, I interrogated one of the employees about the security of the door knob and key sets.  I noticed that there are a couple duplicates of our same key/lock set and was quite nervous about it.  Long story short, the man had to explain that although yes it was possible for someone to get the key for our house, it would be nearly impossible for them to find us, unless they were following us in the store to identify the key number and follow us home.  Needless to say, I looked over our shoulder from purchase until we got home. Am I crazy?  Of course and you all love it!)

Changing the deadbolt on the front door.

Changing the door knobs in the back!

The final task of the day was to secure the pantry to the wall.  This is no easy task when you live in an old house with plaster walls.  I had to go with Dad K to Home Depot to purchase a deep-sensing stud finder.  This particular stud finder helped us locate studs (although not perfect) and also identify when there were electric wires in the walls.  Someone nicely pointed out that if I drilled into the wires, I could start a fire. (Always good to know.)  When we finally found a safe stud, I began to drill.  This was incredibly nerve-racking because you never know what can happen as you drill into a plaster wall.  It could crack or completely break away from the wall and come crumbling down.

Trying hard to find a stud with Alex, but only finding studs surrounded by wires!

I am woman. Hear me roar!

Success!

All complete and finished with tan liners

 

After the pantry was successfully assembled and secured, we took half of the living room boxes upstairs to the attic using a great method, an assembly line.  The extra space in the living room makes it easier to sort through, providing organized chaos, instead of just chaos.


It was an incredible week with our families.  We are so thankful for our Long Island family for driving all the way to help us around the house.  The moral support and advice were very helpful!

Brendan with his family on the front steps!

'Twas The Week Before Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a box had been moved, hoping for not a mouse.
The tree was all decorated in the family room with care,
In hopes that the Christmas Spirit soon would be there.

The couple was nestled all snug in their spare bed,
While visions of to-do lists danced in their heads.
And Brendan doing laundry, and I wrapping gifts,
Had just settled in, as boxes we began to sift.

When out in the driveway there arose such a clatter,

We sprang from our work to see what was the matter.
Away to the front door I flew like a flash,
Running to my grandparents in a mad dash.

They drove up from the sunny state below
To visit the new place before on to Rochester did they go.
Onto Christmas cookie baking for time may disappear,
A cookie exchange to be had with friends so dear.

 

A look at the backyard the snow came quite quick,
Making us happy with the house we did pick.

But it wasn't long until a dose of reality came,
And we ho'd, and hum'd, at a leak we needed to tame!

"Now Whirlpool! now, Maytag! now, Bosch and Kenmore!
On, GE! On, KitchenAid! on, on Electrolux and Frigidaire!
To the reviews we read! To stores we did call!
Price check! Price check! Price check them all!"

 

Buying a dishwashers would sure be much work,
 Waiting until after Christmas was the sale's perk.
Just the way home ownership goes,
Back to the wrapping paper and bows!

We relaxed in our car, listening to the radio's whistle,
driving to a house, whose light's flash as fast as a missile.
We sat with each other, as we enjoyed the sight,
Wishing "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

The Big Move

Ashley and I spent the days prior to the BIG MOVE packing, painting, and...panicking. Oh, and more painting. Ashley spent most of her time at the house, sanding and painting the kitchen cabinets, while I spent most of my time at the apartment, packing the place up!

 The little painter that could!!

We were a bit sentimental about packing up our apartment.  The apartment housed not only 3 1/2 years of great memories, but also the enrichment of our relationship. Our last night in the apartment was filled with last minute packing, but we took a break towards the end of the night to reflect on the end of this chapter in our lives.

We woke up the next morning around 7:30 and what to our wondrous eyes did appear, but...SNOW. Yup. It hadn't snowed all of December until moving day!!! We grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the house to attach the painted kitchen cabinet doors, lay down some sheets to protect the floors, and shovel/salt the driveway and walkway. When we got back to the apartment, we packed some more and picked up the Penske truck. To make a long story short, I accidentally booked the moving truck for Friday, not Saturday. I discovered the mistake Thursday night, made the switch in my reservation, called to confirm, and was told all was well. Unfortunately, I got a call on Friday that a truck wasn't available. I spent 40 minutes calling over 5 companies and NO ONE had trucks. Finally, they had one that was 30 minutes away. Originally, I was going to have to drive to get it, but a half hour before I would have had to leave to get the truck, I got a call that a local Penske operator had a 16 foot truck available. WOOHOO!!

Snowy apartment

Our friends showed up at noon. SEVEN people came to help us move and it went sooo fast. Dan stayed in the truck and organized everything we brought down to him. I was nervous about getting the couch and loveseat downstairs, but we got it outside smoothly.

Moving the couch...Whoops, I guess I should've helped more

Dan rockin' the truck organization...and the cool hat he's wearing

Everyone was impressed how fast things were moving. Unfortunately for them, they didn't realize we had an attic filled with boxes.  For those of you who don't know, Ashley and I love Christmas. Like, really love Christmas. Like, 20 boxes of Christmas stuff love Christmas. I passed everything to Pat who stood on the pull down stairs and he passed it off to Melissa. The jokes about my Christmas village were endless (Pat: "Here comes Christmas village box number 3, containing the Christmas prison, Christmas strip club, and Christmas firehouse) and we were laughing so hard! Quite honestly, I think we were laughing every minute of the move.

Christmas box #59 coming down

We started at 12:15 and ended at 1:30! Super, super fast. 

Had to fill some cars with boxes too!

Brendan's elves, or reindeer. On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, now Vixen!!

We got to the house around 1:40ish and loaded everything into the main floor. 

WE DIDN'T GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO CHAT...GET MOVING!!! :)

Move that bus!

Dan and I handed everything off to everyone.  The boxsprings were challenging to get upstairs to the bedrooms, but they made it work. The loveseat easily fit into the family room, but the couch was another story. The family room is in the back of the house. We brought it through the living room and kitchen, but the hallway was too narrow to get the couch into the family room. So, we went back through the house and around back and literally pushed the couch into the family room from the sliding glass door. We got the remaining items from the cars and finished at 2:30...under an hour!! God bless that synergy!

Living room, or as I like to call it, Box Land

Thank you to our coworkers who lent us sheets...we sure did need them

Ashley and I were sooooo thankful for our friends helping us out!! We saved a good chunk of money by having our small army assist us! Ash and I ordered pizza and wings for everyone and we enjoyed some soda and beer as we toasted our new place!!

Pizza and wings make physical labor somewhat bearable.

The gang headed out around 4 after many funny stories were shared.  In the meantime, Time Warner was at our house due to a last minute opening and hooked us up with cable and internet. Goodbyeeee, productivity.  

All smiles

For the rest of the day, Ash and I put together our bed, organized a few things, drilled the legs back on the couch and loveseat, and grabbed a few things from the apartment.

Git 'er done!

Speaking about the apartment, the day would have been FLAWLESS except for one minor incident that occurred as we were leaving the apartment. Ash's students collected money for a fundraiser and she needed to deposit the money. She handed me the box and as I walked to the car...I tripped. This is what resulted: (Keep in mind, this is at 6:30 at night in complete darkness.)

Show me the money!

Money. Everywhere. It was like when Scrooge throws money out the window to the poor children at the end of A Christmas Carol.  Ashley was laughing so hard she couldn't even pick the money up. After several minutes of crawling around the street with a flashlight trying to locate every penny, we were successful and headed home.

Home.  Our new home.  

Our new chapter began with many laughs, great friends (certainly characters!!) by our side, and some brand new memories already. I know that the pages of our book will continue to fill with all of those things and more.

Zonked out in the family room!

The Perks of Painting

Don't get too excited, we haven't painted a room yet.  We are learning to have patience with the house and all the little things that come with it, including each other.  The biggest lesson we are learning is that this is a journey, not a destination.  (Well... technically it's a destination because you can arrive at our house and all, but we're referring to the analogy here.)  We have had some, what we thought were reasonable, goals for the past couple weeks.  These goals being: clean the apartment from top to bottom, repaint the kitchen cabinets, paint the family room, redo the floors, decorate the Christmas tree (only Ashley's goal), and begin moving some boxes in.  Well, we cleaned the apartment and began moving in boxes, but the rest... well that's just a pipe dream right now.  We've learned that what takes the professionals a day or two to do, takes us triple, if not quadruple, the amount of time.  And between work and packing, working on the house has fallen to the back burner.  (ha... house pun intended)


What we have done is celebrate this house and enjoy the work it requires of us. 

Toasting to the American Dream, our first house!

Brendan has added frequent driving miles to and from Home Depot and Walmart for various items.  He has researched millions of "how to's" and "crap, now what's."  He is still trying hard to remove the stripped screws from the large shelf/table in the family room.  
Stripped Screws - 3   Brendan - 0


Ashley is doing what she loves, painting!  

Caution: Perfectionist at work!

She is adding another white coat to all of kitchen cupboards and painting all of the wooden drawers to match.  She, also, is battling the stripped screws and can often be heard muttering, "to hell with this... I'll just paint around it."  She believes she found her inner zen.  Painting, a monotonous, mindless, yet soothing motion.  Ahhh... right up her alley!  3 hours may seem excessive for just painting the backs of these, but there was some special detailing needed around the hardware and windows. 

That crack you see was caused by hammering out a stripped screw,
except we still couldn't get the screw out.
*See Lessons Learned.

Before paint

After paint, much fresher!

Lessons Learned this week:

• Estimated time for project, always multiply by 3.
• Nothing goes as planned (a regular lesson)
• Sickness is not an excuse to stop working. You can do something that requires you to sit on your butt.
• Stripped screws... still failing that lesson.  (Any AIS classes for this!?!)
• Blog - a great way to procrastinate packing, err... we mean, a great way to document the life of a new homeowner!

Packing and Celebrating

We've been working every day to get everything ready for the big move.  Ashley is finally feeling much better, too! We have over 40 boxes packed and several already moved to the new house.  It has felt pretty messy, as we organize and box everything up.  This Monday, a new coworker at Ashley's school was viewing the apartment to see if she would move in, so it was a scramble to tidy up and make it presentable.  Eeek!  You can see the obstacles below.

Spare bedroom is covered in boxes! 

Brendan packing away!

Our living room, a true disaster zone!

Brendan packed up most of Saturday, while Ashley finished writing the Christmas cards. We had to stick with some part of our Christmas tradition (which started back in college) because it hasn't felt very Christmasy with such a bare apartment. Ashley is secretly hoping she can convince Brendan to put up the Christmas tree at the new house.  She has yet to succeed, so any subliminal messages you send to him, she would greatly appreciate! ; )  On Sunday, we flew through TONS of packing!  We just have the kitchen, bathroom, and our closet left to pack.




Saturday night, we visited wonderful college friends at the Newell's new abode, which is quite beautiful!  

Kim, Lisa, Ashley, Pat, and Tom (B is taking the photo, duh!)

We had a true Christmas dinner with all the fixings, thanks to Lisa's delicious cooking.  It was great to take a break from the craziness of school, packing, and working on the house.  Right before dinner, Pat surprised us with a toast to our new home!  We truly have the most thoughtful friends!

Pat preparing to pop the cork.

Ashley's stomach literally hurt most of the night from all the food and laughter!  Always a good sign. And as always, Brendan drove home as Ashley gabbed on and on in the passenger seat.

It's Official!

We are so excited that we officially own our home! 

On Tuesday, we researched a little of what to expect on closing day and that made us feel at ease about the big day.  Here is a simple link that helped us: Closing 101

We both took a 1/2 day at work on Wednesday.  The closing went very smoothly and was done in 40 minutes.  We worked with our banker and lawyer, who we finally met in person after numerous phone calls.  Both were incredibly helpful in putting the legal jargon into basic English and answering our questions.  God truly blessed us by surrounding us with supportive people throughout this process.

However, we didn't officially own the house until TODAY!  Brendan got the call that the paperwork had been processed by the county clerk in Mayville, NY at 3pm.  We were going to celebrate with a glass of wine at the new house, but unfortunately Ashley got the black plague and was zapped of all energy by the end of the school day.  We have a bottle of wine and glasses waiting for the celebration drink very soon.


After all of this ooshy gooshy post... it's time to insert the blooper of the closing day.  We had our good pens ready... well 1 of 2 good pens. Brendan chewed the top off one pen, so we decided it wouldn't be very professional to bring that one in.  Much to Brendan's enjoyment, a glitzy bank pen would be waiting for him in the conference room.  So the pen was picked out, radon letters were set, a portfolio of paper for note taking was in hand, and we took a deep breath and got out of the car.  Just as we entered the bank, Ashley decided to close the portfolio until it was needed.  As she closed the portfolio, this is what she saw on the front cover...

Brendan chuckled.  Just another one of his freebies from his times at SUNY Fredonia!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that Ashley is well again in time for the weekend, so we can toast to our very own house and get to painting!!!  (oh yea... and packing too.)