Our home

Here are the photos as promised.  We still have a few odds and ends boxes that need to be put in their proper place (mainly on storage shelves in the basement).  We ran into a few stumbling blocks this week and just couldn't get to them so you'll notice there are a few boxes left in the pictures.  Sorry.

We are renting the home that we are trying to buy.  All of our money is tied up in our Iowa condo.  As soon as that sells then we can purchase this home.  This house has 3 stories.  The main level (1963 square feet) is completely finished.  The basement and the upstairs are not finished...yet.  We hope in the next several years to finish at least one of those levels.  But both of them completed will make the home about 5,000 square feet total.  So, there is LOTS of room to grow with this house, and I love that!

One other note before you see the pictures of the house: because we are renting at the moment we can't paint the house, hang any curtains, put pictures on the wall, or replace the blinds in the windows.  So please excuse the very bland, boring walls and windows.

OK...here we go.

Here is the outside of the house.  I think it is funny that the home we are living in is yellow, with a black door and window accent shutters.  Those are the Iowa Hawkeye colors and we are now living in Nittany country which is all about the navy blue and white.  Ironic!

And yes, every body's lawns look as crummy as ours.  The soil here is awful and there has not been much rain this season.  At this point we can't do too much about it due to the timing in the year, and also because we are renting the home.   By next spring, I hope that my somewhat green thumb will be able to whip this lawn into shape.

The entry way.

The kitchen.

I get a pantry!  YEAH!

And this is our brand new fridge.  I specifically put this picture in for my friend Larkin, who wishes she could have one of these 3 door fridges in her home.

The dining room.

I love how much natural light comes into this house.  I almost never have to turn on any lights with all sunshine coming in through the windows.

The outside view from the patio.  These pictures do not really do it justice.

The family room.

The guest bathroom/Hannah's bathroom.  I love having 2 bathrooms now.

Hannah's bedroom.  Yes, I know that cardboard box is a major eye sore.  The thin paper blinds in the windows right now do not block out any sunlight which meant that Hannah kept getting up around 6:00 am each morning.  Well, we hated that so we took a portion of the refrigerator box and put it in the window to block out some of the sunlight.  Now, she usually sleeps till about 7:30 am.

The spare room, which is the office and my sewing room.

The laundry room.  I love having this room.  It is so practical.

The master bedroom and bathroom.

Well folks, those are the pictures of the house.  We are looking forward to painting, finish decorating with pictures and curtains, getting a king size bed, improving our lawn care, etc. When things get settled down over the next 4-5 months I am hoping to learn how to get "crafty" with furniture.  My sister Emily has done some fabulous things with her home in refinishing furniture, reupholstering, or taking an older piece of furniture (i.e., a chest of drawers) and make them look brand new.  I think maybe I'll start with a bedroom set.  I'd like to have some real bedroom furniture.