house pictures finally!

As far as the weather is concerned, I think we can all agree that "spring has sprung."  While I really don't mind the warmer weather-- if we aren't going to have snow, I don't want the cold!-- I'm not a huge fan of the storms!  Rain, fine, but in moderation.  This past week and what is forecasted to come is not moderation.  I know this crazy weather has been all over the place, with tornadoes touching down everywhere already today, and I hope and pray for safety for everyone in the effected areas.  Our portion of the storm is on it's way...and Joel is trying to beat it to visit for the weekend, so everyone please pray for safety that he arrives quickly and before the storm gets too bad!  Especially since he doesn't know our crazy back roads..

Wednesday brought us some excitement.  The weather called for "strong storms," and for once, the weather man was right and storm it did.  After Lily's nap, during a lull, I decided I should go get some groceries-- along with the rest of the world who likes to stock up last minute.  Let me tell you, the roads getting to the main high way to Clarksburg were lakes.  Since most of the driveways out here are gravel, and since we live in hills, lots of gravel and dirt (along with other debris) had washed down onto the road.  Additionally, there was a small mudslide onto one side of the road, and that's still there, so that's exciting.  But there was one point where water was just rushing down the side of the hill onto the road, and I stopped and sat there for a minute or two, trying to decide how deep it was and if it fast/deep enough to wash my car sideways off the road.  I didn't foresee Jesse being too pleased if that happened, and I already could hear the lecture of "WHY DID YOU TRY AND GO THROUGH THAT?!"  So as I was sitting there, two other cars braved the rapids, one of which was lighter and lower to the ground than my car, so I figured I was safe.  And I was.  Anyway, we did get water in our basement, but fortunately we kept power, so our sump pump did it's thing and worked beautifully so we didn't deal with inches or anything ridiculous.  Our meadow turned into a pond, so we're kinda bummed at how little we'll actually be able to do with that area, considering we've only been here a few months and it's already flooded badly twice.  We'll see.

A quick story, then pictures.  Yay!  Lily watched me dry Zeke's muddy paws off before we let him on the carpet; after I threw the towel down, she walked over to pick it up and follow Z around to try and wipe his paws off, too.  And since he (obviously) didn't cooperate, she settled for taking my slippers off and wiping my feet off.  I had a good chuckle.

I had another story I wanted to tell, but I can't remember what it was.  Bummer.

Pictures!  As promised, our house:

layout so you can follow along

when you walk in the door, you are greeted by a nice, blank wall.  and the dining are, kitchen, and living room on your right.

standing in the living room, looking into the dining area

kitchen-- my biggest drawback to the house.  but, for everything we felt we were gaining, I felt I could make due with this.  and so far, I've had no issues!  not ideal, but I don't mind.  and it's laid out nicely, so it can be a "two butt" kitchen ;) and if I get cramped up inside, that's why we bought a house with 18 acres ;) 

sink side..you can't tell, but the cabinets are really tall.  I have to keep a step stool to get anything off the top shelf, and I'm not exactly short!  but I love that they go all the way to the ceiling.

other side.  and no, there are no fridges any shallower that would have fit better, so we deal :)

standing in the dining area, looking into the living room.  again, notice the lack of anything hanging on the walls?  this will be changing, sometime. 

hallway.  thrilling.  left side: bathroom, basement, our room.  right side: Bob's room, Lily's room.

main bathroom.  we haven't done any fixing up in here except change the shower rod, so nothing too exciting to report.  it's ugly, but functional.

Lily's room!  my favorite, so far.  looking in from the door.

see the fan in the previous picture?  I'm standing in front of it here for this lovely shot.

opposite Lily's crib.  we have a nice big mirror that goes over that dresser when I finally get around to moving the changing pad, since I don't use it anymore...

across the hall, into our room.  I like how in the pictures, it looks like all the wood in our room matches.  in real life, it doesn't.  Lily enjoys crawling up onto the hope chest at the foot of our bed and up onto the bed.  she's very proficient at this.

standing in front of the dressers: my closet on the left, then Jesse's, then the half bathroom

I love this still.  mostly because all my purses were thrown in a closet before.

our bathroom: we painted, and Jesse changed the sink fixture and laid new floor.

Lily, straightening her hair while I take pictures.

sink area

going into the basement: it took Zeke several weeks to get over his fear of these stairs.

bottom of the stairs in the main room: our new computer area, and where Jesse paints his miniatures.  that's the pantry door that blends into the wall, next to my computer.

opposite side of the room and Jesse

two doors

my pantry :)

through the curtain next to Jesse: the downstairs "canning" kitchen.  when the people who built the house first lived here, they lived in the basement while they built the top floor, thus, a kitchen.  we aren't sure if we'll be keeping it..
special note to Matt and Erin: that's the lemon tree in the window that you gave Jesse, still alive!

"laundry room", toilet, sink

"stove room:" no, there's no wood stove yet, but there will be.  and when we can afford that, maybe we'll afford furniture so we can sit down here to watch tv.

looking back down the hallway:  the wall with the tv is behind me and on the other side of the wood paneling is the laundry room; the kitchen is the room at the end of the hall

"man cave" where all of Jesse's indoor hobbies will happen.  the carpet is pulled back because that wall leaks when it rains.  fixing the basement of water is high on our list of projects.

the "awkward room" or "furnace room."  it's just storage right now.

nothing fancy.

That's it!  Hope you enjoyed and followed the tour of our house :) it's not much, but we're making it ours and we love it so that's what really matters.