Getting Settled

Very delayed posting with lots to talk about! We were barely able to keep up with the To-Do list before and after the move but somehow it managed to all come together and we have enjoyed getting settled in. Here's what's been happening over the last two months....

The day we closed on the house is one we will remember forever. The mix of excitement, nervousness, and a little panic made the day memorable :)

Poppin' champagne to celebrate!

Nate had to hook up his new tv first...

...and then second came the grill.

We may not have had furniture in the house yet, but we were determined to have a cookout our first night as homeowners with our new neighbors, the Jackson's :)

With the amazing help of some really great friends, our move went smoothly. Andrew, Brandon, Jonathan, Tara and Terry all came to our rescue and helped move the heavy stuff over to the house.

Jonathan & Julie's girls spent the morning of the move with me at the house while the guys loaded up the UHaul. Andelyn was a HUGE help in cleaning the kitchen and we had a lot of fun getting things ready.

Tara, Terry and their adorable little man Calan showed up just in time to help unload the UHaul. Poor Terry had just landed that morning after returning from a business trip and they rushed from the airport to come help us. LOVE YOU GUYS!! Andi & Lexi loved playing with Calan and we barely noticed children were in the house while moving everything in they were so good.

But I think we wiped little Calan out...

I thought the guys would be exhausted from loading the UHaul (and because it was scorching hot & humid that day) but they refused to take a break and rallied through to get it all unloaded. As with any townhouse, the moving-in was difficult with a set of stairs nearly everywhere you turn. Needless to say we all got quite the "stairmaster" workout in that day! Everyone worked so hard and we couldn't be more thankful! The mini-keg of Oberon definitely helped relax and cool us off.

And we even figured out that Calan does not like the feel of a beard!

The house immediately felt like home to both of us. There really wasn't the strange time it takes to get acclimated - it just felt like home from day one. We've started taking small steps in making the house our own and Nate has enjoyed all of the "handyman" jobs we keep finding.

Labor Day weekend Megan flew in from MI and brought us our first and one of the best possible housewarming gifts - an MSU flag! We hang it loud and proud off the front of the house every gameday! GO GREEN!

That weekend we also decided to paint the kitchen. I forget how time consuming painting can be but the painting party was fun!

The fumes started to get to Meg ;)

Even the girls joined in on the fun

Thanks Meg! Nothing like trying to get tape out of my hair!

I was a little worried with where he was going with this...

...but was pleasantly surprised :)

Shauncey became bored pretty quickly

But we got it done :)

Megan also helped us furniture shop. We set off to all the furniture stores in the area looking for a new living room couch and master bedroom bedframe. We stopped into Marlo and wouldn't you know it, Nate worked his way into shooting a commercial for Marlo. No joke, here are some pictures of him in action...

I'm not sure how this stuff falls into his lap, but it's very entertaining when it does. Several of our friends have seen the commercial, but we have yet to see it. His resume just keeps building... oy!

Yes, in between all of this was the 5.8 earthquake that shook a lot of stuff in the house and even shook our backdoor open, but we did not have any damage thankfully. Just a few short days after that we braced ourselves for Hurricane Irene and truly lucked out. The only tree that fell near the house was past our property line and into the woods. We didn't even loose any power and no flooding. It was scary to listen to as the worst of it hit us at 2am, but we couldn't have been luckier!

So needless to say we had quite the whirlwind of a first month as homeowners, but we wouldn't trade it for the world :) We are so happy and can't wait to keep tackling more projects!