~Let It Begin!!!~

Well we got the keys to our new house on Friday and quickly started to make it our own that night. Ethan spent the weekend with Auntie Mary (Thanks Mary!!!) so that we could spend the whole weekend getting stuff done. My friend Leanne came into town on Friday and helped me to clean the whole upstairs of the house. We washed all the walls, cabinets, doors, you name it! After that Randy came over and him and I filled holes in the walls, removed blinds and curtains, told off all the outlet covers and got everything ready for paint.

Saturday I was up and at them at 9am to paint my little heart away. I started and stopped so many times that day I lost track!!! We kept having to run here and there to buy stuff and I would need to go to pay. All in all it was a struggle to get anything done on Saturday but by the time midnight rolled around I had a coat of paint on almost every wall planned for paint right now. Randy unloaded our storage unit so that we would be able to save next months rent on it. I don't want to know how he lifted some of the things in there himself...

Anyhow it is almost midnight now on Sunday night and I've just got out of the shower after painting for around 9 hours today. My living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway are all painted and ready to do the trim. Ethans' room has the top half of the paint done and the first coat on the bottom. My office has the accent wall painted and the first coat of an almost white paint on top of the bright purple paint all over the rest of the room. I am praying that one more coat does it!!! I am using the new Behr Ultra Premium paint with the primer built right in. I gotta tell you, so worth the little extra money!!! I was able to cover the purply pink in my office with a light teal blue in one coat. Yup, one coat!!! Took Ethans' room from white to bright green with two coats. I was super impressed!!!

While I painted my heart away today Randy changed the door handle and lock on the front door, and started changing the light plugs and switches to newer ones. He also took the track lighting that the previous owners had in the entry and the hallway and re-used it in the kitchen and installed the new lights we bought for the rest of the house in the hall and entry. So far the lighting is looking fabulous!!! We got all new lights for the upstairs for under $80, including a 5 light chandelier, a larger entryway light, and 4 flushmount lights. Gotta love bargain shopping!

Tomorrow morning I have an Energy Auditor coming by to do the Energy Audit to get money back for improvements through government grants. The plan was to do the furnace before winter but with Randy going to school this fall we decided to postpone it until next year and just pray that the bills aren't too high!!!

So the plan for this week is to finish the painting in my office and Ethan's room and then decide what paint will go in our master bedroom and the bathrooms' upstairs. Right now they are white. I should be able to get them painted before we move in. Randy will continue to install the lights plus the rest of the plugs and switches. He is also installing a new doorbell, all new smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. I will at some point this week get started on painting all the trim and the doors. I hope I get it done before we move in!!!

Move in is scheduled to happen over this next week with the stuff we don't need or use all the time going over in many small trips throughout the week. Then next weekend Randy and a bunch of guys are going to move the rest of our belongings over and by Saturday night we should be settled into our new home. Then I will just need to come back to this house and give it a good cleaning.

I also have to tell about our great gifts and surprises that we received! The first was a gift card from my sister Mary to Canadian Tire. That will come in handy for something I'm sure!!! On the day we took possession our realtor gave us a gorgeous set of 10 solar lights for our yard plus a bunch of logo'd items including a calendar for the fridge, keychains and a re-usable shopping bag.

Then as Leanne and I were cleaning on Friday a knock came to the door and it was the maintenance manager for the company that had been looking after the property and he had a new piece of glass for the patio door. It had been backordered and was paid for by the bank that previously owned it. We were so happy since it would have cost us aroung $1000 for the repair. We didn't know that is was to be repaired and so it was a total surprise.

Then today, my big Birthday brought more special gifts. Randy got me the remote for my digital camera that I've wanted for like three years. I was super thrilled with that gift. My friend Jess contributed Home Depot Gift Cards to the home reno project for my birthday (at my request of course). Then another surprise from my realtor! She showed up today as we were painting with a birthday gift for me!!! A new mailbox for our house!!! I was so super thrilled with it. Not only did we need one but the fact that she took the time to stop by and bring my a gift blew my mind!!!

Anyhow, I must cut this off here...it's getting late and this post is too long-winded without pictures. They are coming, I promise!!! Once we are in and have our stuff there I'll post some, for now it's just a mess!!! Anyhow I'm off to the sack I'm tired out!!!