Masking: a cruel & unusual punishment

After dinner last night, we started masking out the basement to prepare for painting today (Happy Halloween!) Did I mention our basement is monstrously huge? Brandon did all the high masking, which was probably waaay more of a pain in the ace. I did the floor and anything else I could reach. Granted, I steam cleaned the carpet right before (thanks Fortes!) so major wet-booty while masking...um, I did that backwards?!

It took most of 3 hours to get the whole things masked, but we are ready to go for painting today. Brandon is seriously in love with the basement. He keeps calling it the "man cave," which I don't think is funny or cute. I'm pretty sure we are going to have a "wall of heads" soon (i.e. ram's head, future buck and fish, etc). Anytime I start using an excessive amount of phrases in quotation marks is a cause for concern.

The basement also has an adorable bar (thanks previous owners!) where we are also going to house our new mini-fridge and tap system. The fridge was an anniversary present from Brandon's parents (thank you!) and can hold up to a half-keg. Perfect addition to Brandon's "man cave"...JUST KIDDING, that's not what we're calling it.

There is also a lot of storage in the basement, which I loooove.

The back room, we are going to change into my future office and then someday a playroom!

The laundry room is big and will also be where the cats' food & stuff will be (oh, maybe a cat door? hehhee, cute)

First Time Home Owners!

On October 30th, Brandon and I became first-time home owners! We met our realtor before the meeting and did a final walk-through of the house. It was the first time that I had been back since the first showing (B has been back plenty for a second showing, inspection, etc). I loved the house even more than I remembered it. On our way to the closing, our new neighbor was mowing his grass and waved to us. I loved it! New friends!

The closing meeting wasn't nearly as painful as we both anticipated, but there were as many papers to sign as we had been forewarned. We met the previous owners and they said it was a great house. I felt a little bad, but I was so happy for us that it passed quickly.

After the meeting, we made our way to Lowes for painting supplies, Wegman's for pizza (Yum!), and Sherwan Williams for paint. Then we headed back to our NEW HOME and had a candlelight dinner (hahhhahha) of pizza and beer (brandon), Cran-apple juice (tab).

We are planning on moving into the house over the course of November, since I can't really help with any lifting, moving furniture, painting, etc. We have a huge crew of family coming next weekend to help (YAY!) so a lot of the painting and demolition will (hopefully) get done next weekend. I have plenty of plans in mind about what I want to do to this house; some are immediate projects (painting, flooring, etc)- others can wait until next summer and later (guest bathroom?!?, expanding deck). I just can't wait to get all settled in! I already picked out the exact spot where our Christmas tree will go - HAH.

His pride & joy

Brandon is a happy, satisfied man. We picked up his new truck this past Thursday and he couldn't be more pleased. Brandon has wanted a truck for a long time, and now with the new house (closing on Friday!) there isn't a better time to have one. We got the truck from Walker Trucks in Stoystown; they refurbish wrecked/demolished trucks. We have a dark green Ford F-150.

(Please note the buck sticker on the back window: B added that himself!)

This truck has already made life a little easier; between hauling Brandon's hunting & fishing stuff; to making the first trip over to our new house with the Forte's steam vacuum cleaner! We are happy with it. We'll take care of it; and it will certainly take good care of us (and all our stuff!)