~Sad Today…~

I knew that someday it would happen; but it came and happened so fast that I’m still trying to come to grips with it…My sister Mary and nephew Cole are moving from Grande Prairie today.  They are moving closer to our home town and to our Mom.  Mary got a great job there, Cole has awesome opportunities in terms of aids and care, and they will have more support in that area.

When you get to the brass balls of it, Mary and I didn’t spend much time together.  We are both very busy with our work, family and personal commitments that we never had time.  We used to have family suppers ever Sunday night…I don’t know why that stopped.  All I’m saying I guess is that even though we didn’t spend much time together there was a certain sense of security knowing that a close family member was near. 

Randy, Ethan and I are now all alone up here in now…it is kind of weird.  It’s not like we’ve never been away from family before but we’ve never lived in Grande Prairie by ourselves before.  It will be weird that is for sure.  I had me a good cry last night after they left!

Regardless of my sadness I am so happy for their fresh start.  The opportunities on this road they are on are wonderful ones for them.  Such a positive change for them and we are proud that they are brave enough to make the change.  Best of luck and safe travels, Mary & Cole!

~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!!!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!! WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!

As I am certain you can tell, we are sooo super excited to finally be able to say that we are homeowners!!! It was down to the wire but it came through. Now we can make some serious changes to our lifestyle! I cannot wait to place our family mark on our house!

Here are the pictures of the house that I pulled off the MLS, as you can see, there is some opportunity here. First thing to happen will be a good thorough cleaning. I may hire someone, not even kidding.



The house sits on a large corner lot with no real close neighbouring houses. It has wonderful trees and a gorgeous desk that I can't wait to BBQ on! It has a nice presentation but we have plans for making it look even better. New garage doors and some landscaping and it will look newer already!



The living room had hardwood put in about three years ago and it is in great shape. The walls need to be painted, putrid green is not my preference...



I also do not like the look of wood baseboards so they will be painted a crisp Ultra Pure White. The walls will be a nice relaxing set of colors (you know I have them picked already, right?)


As you can see in the kitchen and dining room the light fixtures need to be updated. Thankfully Home Depot has a great sale on this weekend on lights and toilets cause we could use both! Oh and there is the small matter of the missing stove...yup we'll need to pick up one of them too! Looking for a cheap one for now...the nicer one will come later. The fridge is pretty new and is a side by side with a water dispenser and ice machine built in. That will come in handy even though I'm not a lover of the side by side style. I MUCH prefer the freezer on the bottom style of fridge. But for now it will keep the food cold... and yes, the required dishwasher is right there...I don't think I could live without it. When we redo the kitchen it will have to be moved, it is illegal next to the stove as it is right now.



The basement has a 'gorgeous' retro 80s bar complete with a mirrors, almost shag carpet and paneled walls. It is showing its' age and has some wear and tear. It will eventually get redone but for now a coat of white paint will freshen it up.

As I alluded to earlier, the toilets need to be replaced as they are all leaking. We think that it is because they winterized the house that the seals dried up and are now leaking. But Home Depot has a great sale on right now on them so I'll be able to pick them up for a deal.

So that is the basics for now...we take possession on Aug 21st and I have the whole weekend off to clean and paint! I'll take pictures as we go along. We are so excited and we know that you all share in our excitement!

~Still No Internet...~

So we are still not online at home...stupid Telus! So I'm patiently waiting for it so that I can post some pictures. Everything is coming together nicely at our new place. I LOVE my walk-in closet and my kitchen pantry. They rock! Baby's room is coming together nicely. I washed all the clothes, blankets etc that we've been given and we put together the bouncy seat and the gym today. I did get some pictures of that! Now we just need to invest a small fortune to buy batteries to power them all up! Holey moley is there a lot of batteries involved! I'm going to go to a dollar store to find some picture frames to put up some pictures in the baby room. I'm going to do pictures of Randy and I, and then some fun pics. I need an Ikea nearby, I could find some fun pics there!

Randy showed me how to use the stroller today. As in how it drops down and sets up, it is super easy. Love all the stuff we have gotten so far.

We also got our parcel from Randy's aunts in Utah on Friday. They made us two gorgeous quilts and sent a whole whack of adorable sleepers and onsies, as well as box of chocolates each Mom and Dad. Anyhow, I have a parcel heading their way this week...if I can find where I packed it...

Anyhow, need to run. We just had an yummy turkey dinner at my sister Marys' house and I want to head home to watch The Big Give and Extreme Home Makeover. I might sneak into Starbucks on my way home...

~We Made It!!!~

We are in Grande Prairie, safe and sound! It was a long 7ish hour drive but we had clear roads, nice weather and ample open washrooms for the pregnant pee factory! We went straight to our new house and started unloading the trailer and within a couple of hours had everything unloaded and a complete mess to deal with. Mary came over with Cole to bring supper and help out with the mess. They stayed for an hour or so till both of them could no longer breathe from being around Tigger. Cole had a hoot chasing Tigger around though, they have so much fun! After they left we surveyed the mess and cried a little bit...So what did we do? We called up Kim and Terry and went for coffee and left the mess! Usually we would stay and unpack and clean for hours but I was too wiped out to care. We came home and made the bed and went to sleep!

Thursday Randy had to work and I attacked the unpacking with a vengeance. I got the kitchen unpacked and stuff moved into rooms that it belongs in. Then I ran out of steam. So I sat on my duff and read the new John Grisham book that Randy had bought me. That was a nice surprise!

Baby's room looks awesome! The crib is exactly what I thought it would be. The stroller that Randy and Mary bought is awesome and the room is a great size for all the baby stuff!

Randy has a three day weekend so today he is working on getting TV's and computers set up and organizing all the stuff that we will be putting in storage in the basement den. I'm watching Cole for a bit while Mary is at an appointment and then we are all heading to Costco. I can't wait to go! We're hoping to get all our shopping and running around done today so we can just veg out and clean the house and get everything set up this weekend. Once that is all done I will post some pictures of our drive (until the battery died in the camera) and the new house. We don't have internet yet, supposed to be working today but it's not. So we're hoping that it's online for the weekend.

Anyhow, off to see what the boy is up to! Take care and can't wait to share some pictures with you!

~Bye for Now~

Well I'm returning the modem for the internet after lunch and cutting off internet for our big move. So I'll be offline for a few days until we get connected in Grande Prairie. Probably early next week. The weather looks good and roads are clear so it should be smooth sailing all the way there. We leave early tomorrow morning...not that you would know that from looking around this house! With that said, I need to get off my duff and get moving. I have to do some running around this afternoon so I won't have time to pack. Randy is home for lunch in less then an hour and I have only packed 1 box so far today so I need to get motoring on it! Talk to you all soon with reviews on our new house in Grande Prairie!!!

~Who's Your Favorite Stay at Home Mom???~

Oh yeah, that's me! I'm done work, I'm done work, woo-hoo!!! My goodness I have been doing this countdown for a while...so glad it's all done! I have all day tomorrow to myself, I will be packing and cleaning and doing laundry. Sunday Randy gets here...can't wait! Then I'll hang out until Wed and then we leave. I can't wait!!! I don't have anything else interesting to talk about...this is encompassing my whole life right now! How boring am I? Oh well, it's exciting to me!

~First Day Of Spring!~

Was the weather nice for you today for the first day of Spring? It started off here at -20 and warmed up to -9 by the time I came home. It's still cold here with lots of snow. It feels like it should be melting and nice...guess my body is ready to move south!

We have a finalized itinerary for our move now, I'm really excited about it! Sounds like we will be loading up the trailer on April 2nd and either leaving that day or the next, depending on when we get done loading and when Randy and Brian are done work on the 2nd. So by the end of that week I will be settled into my new place! Can't wait! I will be spending my long weekend getting stuff ready to pack as Randy is bringing me the really nice Reitmans boxes to pack in. My biggest mess is the scapbooking room to be honest! I've been in there playing and even had someone over to scrapbook with me last weekend. So I have two work areas to clean up, LOL! I don't plan on packing it up totally because I will likely do some scrapping on the weekend but I want to organize it a bit better.

Went online surfing the other night and found some FANTASTIC items at some Etsy shops that I would love to buy for baby. I found a blanket I liked, a diaper bag and some artwork that would look so cool in there. It's all reasonably priced, it's just the shipping that has me choking a bit so we'll have to see. Plus we want to see what is available in the store for a diaper bag first. The ones I like on Etsy are very trendy and cool but functional really is the order of the day. So I'll wait and see on that one.

Hope everyone has some fun Easter weekend plans. I get to spend it all alone. Come to think of it, I ended up alone at Thanksgiving too!!! Randy owes me big time! Anyhow, have a great weekend!

~Sick, sick, sick...~

I am sick again, and I just want to be curled up in bed with a book. I'm pretty sure I caught the flu from the girl that was here filling in from Grande Prairie. She has been sick, throwing up and the other since she got here last week. I had such a crampy tummy on Monday night that I was thinking of going to the emergency room. I probably should have to be on the safe side but I'm alright and baby is fine too, she's kicking the crap out of me as I type this. (That is a hopeful, generalized 'she' by the way, we don't know...) I still am not feeling well and my blood pressure was a little high this morning. So I have an appointment to see the Dr tomorrow morning and we'll see what he has to say. I have only 2 and a half weeks of work left, so not much longer to last...I've been talked into staying till the 28th now instead of being done on the 21st. I'm okay with it though because the weeks will be shorter with Easter break anyhow. Then apparently the trailer will be here on the 30th and we'll be loading it within a few days to go back to GP. So at least now I have a plan of sorts...

Work is really, really quiet and I am pretty sure I will be taking it easy today. I have a couple of showings to do but they won't be bad. I don't want to stay at work but I have a new girl coming today to cover the office for this week and I don't want to leave her high and dry by herself. Sometimes I wonder why I'm so nice...

Anyhow, off to entertain myself. The twopeasinabucket message board has been keeping me entertained lately and I found some new blogs to peruse. Hoping my friend Chantel and her hubby Cory are having a good time in Vegas this week and not missing the little ones too much!