One Month In...

It has been exactly one month since Jeff and I have moved into our house!! (And also exactly one month since we got engaged, I'm not sure which event is more exciting.) With that said, I thought it was about time that I posted a few pictures of the progress we've been making. I'm only going to post pictures of the first floor and the exterior today though. I was hoping to post some photos of the basement, the bathroom, and master bedroom as well, but a minor flood in the basement, some funky bathroom wiring, and a mostly (but not completely) finished closet customization job in the master bedroom are preventing me from fully completing these rooms.  I'm hoping these jobs will be finished this week, so I'll try and have some pictures of these rooms up soon. I'll share some of my 'before' pictures today too, which I took the day we moved in so I can look back and compare what was originally here to the changes we have made and will make in the future.

We have made amazing progress in four weeks - as mentioned in the last post, we've painted almost the entire house, mudded, taped, and dry-walled in the bedroom, Jeff built me some custom storage in the closet in the master bedroom, and we have now cleaned out all our downspouts. I still have to paint the hallways and some trim, both of which will hopefully be completed this week as well!

With that said, let me introduce you to our house!

Our house :) 

Living Room - before

Kitchen/Dining Room - before

Kitchen - before

Backyard

Kitchen/Dining Room - after - we painted, hung a photo, and added new curtains 

Kitchen - after - we painted, and changed out the light fixture

Wall across from kitchen window - we added these cool dragonflies

Living room - after - we painted, put up a wall sticker, and put up new curtains (still have more art to hang)

Living Room - we decorated the built-ins (still have to hang the photo that's on the bookcase)

Dinner Parties

We're finally making progress on our house! After almost three weeks, we have finished the entire main floor, and are just about finished in the basement. By finished I mean painted, trim up, all outlets on the walls, decorated, and not a cardboard box in sight!! I still have to decorate the basement and put up the trim I painted, so it's almost there. It's truly a wonderful feeling to just look around and know that you put your own work into a room, and watch it evolve from a concept in your mind to a put-together space.

We're working on finishing the master bedroom, which has taken a lot longer than the other spaces. There was one textured wall, which neither Jeff or I was very fond of, so we removed it and had to drywall, tape, mud, sand, prime, and now paint it. Whew! We are just about finished painting, and I'm so excited to see how it looks when it's done. I also have to finish the bathroom and the hallways, and some of the trim needs to be painted still. I will be posting pictures soon so I can proudly share what I've been spending so much time and effort on in these past few weeks, I'm just not sure when that will be.

So far, being engaged has been a lot of work!!!

Now that we have our 'grown-up' table all set up, we've been having a lot of people over to share some food and conversation. Which I love :) I LOVE to cook and entertain, and since the table at our apartment barely fit just the two of us, it's really nice to have space where people can comfortably enjoy a meal I've prepared.

That being said, I'm going to do something here that I've never done before - and that's share a few of my treasured recipes. I've been pretty adventurous lately in the kitchen, and I'm excited to share my latest creations here!

Recently, I've made pulled pork, waffle brownies with homemade caramel sauce, crab dip, peach crisp, homemade lemonade, and grilled pineapple.

The recipe for my much-loved pulled pork is extremely simple and amazingly delicious. I got it from Jeff's dad and stepmother, so I can't take credit! :) I did make some modifications based on what I tend to carry in my spice cabinet to reduce the cost. This recipe is a true crowd-pleaser and I'm always surprised when there's rarely any left for later, even though I always make it thinking "well, Jeff can always easily take it to work and eat the rest for lunch".

Slow-Cooked BBQ Pulled Pork:

1 boneless pork shoulder
1 and 1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 small/medium onion, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
3 to 4 cups of water
BBQ sauce, use as much as desired

Directions -

1. First you need to mix the dry spices (paprika, thyme, etc.) together in a small bowl. Unwrap the pork shoulder, remove any strings, and cut off any excess fat from it. Place it on a cutting board, take the bowl of dry spices, and evenly rub them on every side of the pork shoulder. After it's been evenly coated with all of the spice mixture, place the shoulder in the slow-cooker.

2. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and add these ingredients with the water to the slow-cooker, and set it on low heat.

3. Cover with lid, and allow to cook for 6 hours, or until the meat will fall apart with a fork. I like to turn mine over at least once if I'm able to, and on days when I'm really ambitious, I turn it every hour to ensure that the pork gets cooked evenly and that the top doesn't dry out (as the water doesn't quite cover a larger shoulder).

4. After 6 hours, remove pork from the slow cooker, cut off any fat, and shred it with a fork. Pour out the water and onion mixture from the slow-cooker. You can keep the onions if you want to eat them with the pork, but I choose not to.

5. Place shredded pork back into the slow cooker and mix in as much bbq sauce as desired. When I'm feeling particularly motivated, I'll make my own bbq sauce, but that usually doesn't happen (oh well!). Set slow-cooker to warm, and serve!

I meant to take a picture, but I've been so busy I forgot! Oops!

My Proposal Story!

I am a true romantic in the way that I absolutely love hearing stories about other people's proposals, so I thought I'd share mine in case any other 'romantics' are out there somewhere. So here it is.

As many people who keep tabs on my little blog are aware of, Jeff and I took possession of our first home two days ago. Little did I know that Jeff was also planning on proposing that same day. Friday morning, Jeff had more energy than normal; he was packing up all of our stuff at light-speed, and he kept pushing me to be out the door! Now I know why of course, but at the time I was a little bewildered. We went to the lawyer's office to pick up the key to our house around two in the afternoon, and Jeff suggested picking up a paint sampler of the color I wanted to paint the walls of the main floor of our house to 'save time'. He told me that he was planning on getting started on the edging while I went out and picked up the rest of our paint in Dorchester and made a run to Home Hardware to get all of our supplies for the big move, which was happening the next day. I almost blew his plan when I told him that I didn't want him to get started on the edging, because anybody who knows Jeff also knows that he absolutely hates to paint, particularly edging. I didn't want him to get frustrated and make a big mess! He asked me to trust him, and after a little discussing the matter back and forth, I gave in. I'm so glad that I did! When we got to our house, we were touring around, and he kept asking me if I was going to get the paint. I wasn't even suspicious!

Once I left for the paint store, he kept asking me when I thought I'd be on my way, and he made me tell him when I was coming back. I walked in the door, keys and a bag from Home Hardware in hand, and just froze in the entryway. Because there was Jeff, standing in the middle of our new living room, holding a ring box, our song playing on my Ipod stereo, with the words "Will you marry me? Check Yes or No" painted on the wall behind him in huge letters. I dropped my keys, my hands were shaking, and just froze, speechless.

Jeff grabbed my hands and pulled me into the center of the room. He got down on one knee, and told me that he couldn't live one more day without me agreeing to marry him and spend the rest of our lives together. I said yes of course!!! He got up off his knee, put the most amazing ring on my finger, and then we slow danced around the room, letting the music surround us. It was truly a beautiful moment. It still makes me tear up, just thinking of how I felt in that moment and how perfect it was for us.

Once Jeff had told me the story of how he had planned out the whole proposal (he's sneakier than I realized, or maybe I'm just not very suspicious!) I checked the 'yes' box on the wall in paint. The whole 'check yes or no' part is a nod to a country song Jeff and I love - 'Check Yes or No' by George Strait. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

Do you love me, do you want to be my friend?

And if you do, well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand,

If you want to. 

I think this is how love goes; check yes or no. 

Clearly a fitting song. :) Jeff actually had made a playlist of our songs, which is what he played as I walked into the room. He played "Big Green Tractor" by Jason Aldean, "Come A Little Closer" by Dirks Bentley, and "Check Yes or No" by George Strait. 

Jeff, you did a good job! I love you!

Here are a few pictures of the wall, and my sparkly ring. I don't have too many, because we didn't have a whole lot of time before we had to get to work unpacking and unloading boxes. Whew! The past three days have been pretty crazy, but I've never been happier in my entire life. 

I so wish we didn't have to paint over this, but I'll always know it's there somewhere, under the paint. :) 

I catch myself staring down at my hand all the time now!

So pretty!

Goodbye Apt. #909...

Well, it's t-minus seven days until we get possession of our house, so the countdown is officially on! I will definitely miss our apartment here, and I'm actually really sad when I think about leaving. As much as I am beyond excited for Jeff and I to move to a new house and start making new memories, I'm so attached to this building and its location. Everyone is so nice here, our apartment is really comfortable, and it's just minutes to everything here in London. I know that this sort of attachment is pretty normal, but I've never been attached to any place that wasn't my parents' house before. Not residence, or the first apartment that I lived in (although it was very nice) held very sentimental memories for me, so this is a pretty bittersweet feeling.

Things I will miss: not having to pay for utilities (I was able to run the A/C as much as I wanted at any time of the year), being a 5-minute walk away from the grocery store, being close to Western, the public pool in the summer, underground parking (I will now have to shovel snow off my car!), less stress/bills, our extremely large master bedroom, the view from our balcony at night, and probably just how comfortable we are here.

Things I will not miss: not having any storage space, not being able to control the temperature (they run the heat until mid-May here), not having a yard or a bbq, the tiny fridge, having to pay to do my laundry, being pretty far away from our families, and not really being able to paint anything (although I did paint some walls anyway).

I finally got around to taking my 'glamour shots' of our apartment here, and I'm really glad that I did. Years down the road I can look at them and remember the first place that Jeff and I lived in together, and I thought I would share a few of them here.

Goodbye #909! Thanks for being so good to us!

Apt. #909! 

Living room

Lovely balcony view - I saw some great sunsets from here

Kissing salt shakers

Jeff's John Deere piggy bank and my Dutch Shoe piggy bank

Bathroom

Our massive master bedroom

Sadly, this is 'clean' - it really will be nice to have storage at our house

Cluttered kitchen - again, yay for gaining storage! 

We'll miss you! 

Graduation Celebration

I just realized that I never posted anything about convocation, which is crazy considering all of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into me graduating in the first place! I am so incredibly happy that my undergrad is over, and though I will likely go back to school at some point, I'm really enjoying a break from it all. It's hard to put into words, but being a student really is a full-time job. It's always weighing on your mind - there is always a paper to write, an exam coming up, readings to do (which are always at least 20 pages too long) and classes to prepare for.

Graduation at Western is comically ironic - in typical "Western" fashion it is not easy or simple, and at a certain point you start to wonder if it's worth it after all. It's not entirely different from a big final exam. I arrived at the school at 7:45 am to pick up my regalia(following the directions on the website), anticipating an hour-long line that is the norm in university. However, there was no line, so I ended up being way way too early at the school on a very hot day. By the time that I headed over to Thames Hall to wait with all the other graduates at 8:30, I was already hot, sweaty, and tired. We were all supposed to be there at that point so we could receive important information about how graduation was going to go down, but in a typical move, these announcements didn't start for another half hour. There was no air conditioning or seating, which was something I should have anticipated. When I was talking with the other graduates I was lined up with, we all joked about how Western wanted to be part of one last traumatic event in our lives before they released us into the world. Finally, at 10:00, I got to sit down, which I have to say was one of the best things that had happened to me all morning.

The ceremony was actually awesome, I really enjoyed our guest speaker, and the day started to pick up after that. Crossing the stage to have my hood placed on me was one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I've ever had in my entire life. That right there made it all worth it - the lines, the heat, everything seemed so inconsequential when I realized the gravity of the situation. It was one of those moments that I will always remember. I want to thank my parents for making all of this possible; thank you for supporting me, encouraging me, and listening to me when I felt that I couldn't take one more step. Thanks for sticking with me, no matter what. I can't fully express my gratitude, either in verbal or written words, but I just want you to know how much I appreciate your love. I'm a graduate now!

Entering Alumni Hall

Grad ceremony

Getting the hood placed on me

One expensive piece of paper

Hoodin' it up

As the guest speaker, Margaret MacMillan put it, with the 'graduation team'!

Flying high

Jeff turns 25!

Amidst the craziness occurring in our lives right now (I really had no idea how many phone calls I'd have to make after purchasing a house...that was naive) I attempted to throw my boyfriend a surprise 25th birthday party. While I don't think it was too much of a surprise, as several of us kind of gave away the "surprise" part of it all, I think a fun time was had by all who stopped by to celebrate Jeff's birthday. I got to try out a few new recipes - I tried cucumber cups stuffed with spicy crab and a nacho bean dip, which everyone really seemed to enjoy. I think I'll probably make the bean dip again. Thank you Pinterest!

I think it will probably be the last time I try and throw a 'surprise' anything, since I have such a hard time keeping secrets when I get really excited. At least when it comes to Jeff, since I'm really bad at hiding my feelings from him. I'm sure knew a good chunk of what was going on all along just from reading the emotions on my face when I tried to be sneaky about his party. He's just so hard to surprise! Also, the suspense was probably ruined when Jeff arrived for the party (where people were just supposed to drop-in so he wouldn't see a bunch of cars in the drive-way and also so people could come and go as they pleased) and my dad asked me in front of Jeff "is Jeff supposed to be here yet?" Oh man!

Oh well, with planning a party out of the way I can focus on getting rid of things Jeff and I won't need at our new house and on packing, which I have not even started to do yet. Not to mention job-hunting, which has not been going the greatest. Since talking about it only makes me feel bad, and since absolutely everyone asks me about it, I don't think I'll touch upon it too much here.

I keep meaning to take 'glamour shots' of our apartment so I can always remember the first home we lived in together, and in typical fashion, I keep putting it off. But not any more! This week I will (hopefully) get things accomplished! There are only 17 days left until we get possession! 

Birthday boy! Such a cheesy photo, but I love it

I`m a home-owner!

I am a proud first-time home owner!! My boyfriend and I recently decided to take our cohabitation to a whole new level and make the commitment of home ownership together. After a few months of searching, we fell completely in love with a beautiful little home about 10 minutes east of the city. For a starter home, it`s in fairly good shape. There are a few odd cosmetic choices here and there - the one textured wall in the master bedroom for example - that I`m not totally in love with, but I`m told that you have to accept quirky things when you buy your first house. We go through it one final time next week for our home inspection!

I know the timing could certainly be better, I`m graduating in just a few short weeks and I have yet to find a job. Whew, the pressure is definitely on for me to find one! That aside, sometimes the best things in life happen to you when you least expect them or when they seem to happen to you a little too quickly. Case in point: I was only eighteen when I fell in love with my boyfriend, and I know that there were people that said I was probably too young to know if it was really love, or that I shouldn`t get so serious about a boy at that age, and here I am, three years later (pretty much) and more in love than ever. I know that the road ahead will be difficult, and we`ll have to put a lot of ourselves into the house for the next few years, but I really could not be more excited. The dreamer in me keeps reminding me that this will be the house that I live in as a newlywed, the house my child(ren) will take their first steps in, and the house that will hold so many memories for me in the years to come.

With that said, I have got my work cut out for me in the upcoming weeks! The sellers had a really motivated closing date, so we`ll be moving in about a month and a half. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas in November, when it seems like Christmas is so far away, when in reality it is just around the corner!!

This will be our home sweet home on July 13th! Can`t wait!