So....whats new with us?

Well you last heard of the joy of finally getting a house. We closed on May 21st and it’s almost August so...allow me to fill you in on the mad busy happenings of the last 2 months or so.

House
Like I mentioned before we closed on our wonderful new home on May 21st. It was quite a crazy day and it almost didn't go through but somehow it all managed to come together and we had the keys in hand that evening. In the week that followed we spent mad amounts of time preparing the house for our soon to come moving in.

The house is located in the North End of St Paul close to the Maplewood border and 35E. While the neighborhood it's located in is comprised of mostly older homes, 50+ years or older, our house is just a baby at a mere four years old. Despite its newness it has an old style to it that doesn’t make it look too out of place. The front porch in particular gives it a classic feel.

With the house being essentially brand new there was not a lot that needed to be addressed prior to moving in. In anticipation of us getting the house Katie had selected a variety of paints with which to cover the walls. So each evening and on our days off of werk we would paint and clean the house. Also Katie's dad Tim came over and helped with painting and several little fixes here and there.

By the 27th we (mainly Katie) had the entire house painted and everything cleaned and ready for move-in. So that day after Jon got off werk his Dad brought the cube van over to the apartment and together they loaded up the apartment and headed over to the house to move-in. When Katie got home from werk she finished cleaning the apartment and grabbed the last load of stuff to be brought over.

It was exhausting hauling everything in on one day and we pretty much just got everything inside and called it a night....or so it seemed. Jon stayed up late putting all the furniture in the living room in their places and setting up the entertainment center along with the TV and wireless internet.

In the first few weeks after we moved in we painted a few of the remaining white walls and made the place feel more like home. The upstairs has three bedrooms and a full bathroom. The master bedroom has some nice windows and a walk-in closet with a little window of its own. The two bedrooms across the hall are a guest bedroom and an office/Katie’s sewing room. The sewing room is packed to the gills with desks and shelves which themselves are loaded with papers and books and stuff. That room also has a walk-in closet which is nice for a spare bedroom. The guest room is finished but is missing a bed until we get it from Katie’s Dad’s house.

New additions to our new home or things we’ve had to buy now that we own a home.
Apartment living is requires less things than home ownership. Since moving in we’ve had to buy a few necessities based on our new situation.

Lawn mower – Having a yard, albeit a small one, requires some type of lawn cutting device. Based on the size of our yard and wanting the easiest to use piece of equipment we decided on a reel mower. It’s the kind that doesn’t have an engine or anything. It’s just a handle and some spinning blades powered by you pushing it. We picked it up from Menards for about half the price of a gas powered mower. On top of that it never needs fuel, takes up almost no space in the garage and has so few parts it’s easy to fix if it breaks down.

Washer/Dryer – During our time at the apartment we pretty much just brought our laundry to one of our parent’s houses on the weekend and did it there on the cheap…or free I suppose. Now faced with owning a home and the prospect of having our own major appliances we set off to get a washer and dryer. We checked out a few places and did some research. We really wanted Maytag and didn’t want to spend too much but didn’t want to skimp either. We ended up getting some pretty amazing high-end Maytag ones for a reasonable price because people didn’t like the color!? I thought they were black but they are a dark green that we think looks cool. With that major purchase out of the way we thought we were done until…

Furniture – We didn’t have a table and kind of thought we could get by without one but in the end decided it would be a good idea for when people come over and the extra seating couldn’t hurt. While browsing and the nearby Slumberland Clearance outlet we happened upon a nice high-top table that could transform into a bigger table when needed. Also Katie felt that the old broken down couch in the living room needed to be retired so we perused the selection for a new couch. We tried out several and made our cases for some and at last settled on a nice Italian leather couch with a chaise lounge on one end. Both fit very nicely in our home and the old couch fits in nicely with the drums in the unfinished basement.

Patio chairs – So we have this awesome front porch that is just begging to be occupied on those perfect summer nights, and some of those nice stormy ones too! But alas we had no outdoor furniture that we could relax on. So we got two swivel rocking chairs to go on the front porch and they are great for sitting back and relaxing or reading or updating your blog…like I’m doing right now.

So that pretty much sums it up for the house. We have been living here for two months now and it definitely feels like home. We’ve already had several of our friends over for fun nights of food and games.

We love that the house is close to major roads and shopping but is also within walking distance of some cool little businesses, particularly a neighborhood ice cream shop that has one of the nicest owners you’ll ever meet. Things we don’t like…well it’s a long drive for Katie to werk and some of the neighbors can be loud later in the evening that we would like but it’s really hasn’t bother us. Otherwise it’s really turned out to be a lot nicer area than we had thought.

So other than houses there have also been some other crazy/fun things that have happened in the last few months.

We went hiking at Taylors Falls one Sunday afternoon and also camped at Tettegooche State park for a weekend. We hiked 7 straight hours that Saturday. It was the first time we went camping together and we hope to go a few more times before it gets too cold.

Katie’s dad recently returned from a trip to Argentina that he went on for a wedding. He got to see and do many cool things but probably the most amazing was his visit to Iguazu Falls. It’s like Niagara Falls on steroids and then some. Also currently Katie’s brother Chris and his wife Laura are spending the better part of a month in and around Spain.

We have a family vacation to a resort just outside of Branson, MO planned for this August and we are working a planning a trip overseas for this coming winter/early spring. Top spots on our list? Europe, Thailand and Easter Island.

Speaking of family….let’s just say it is growing at a rapid pace. This year’s family Christmas photo will include a whopping FIVE new family members and if Holly gets serious with her boyfriend it could even be six! Whoa. So how’d we get to this point?
Well Julie and Travis have been trying unsuccessfully to have a baby for a few years and have turned to adoption in search of starting a family. They became parents on May 14th when TWINS Tyler and Anna were born. Julie and Travis adopted the Twins and are in the process of adopting their older sister Katie.

Meanwhile…..Julie is pregnant! Not sure how but God werks in amazing and sometimes confusing ways. Julie is due end of November with a boy yet to be named. On the topic of pregnancy Holly once again stole center stage when she announced on Valentine’s Day this year that she was pregnant! The situation is a bit foggy and we’ll leave it at that.

Fast-forward to last night…Holly went into the hospital on July 27th with minor labor pains and after a few tests it was determined that the baby was in trouble and an emergency C-section would need to be done immediately. We got the news at 1 am on the 28th and raced up to Mercy hospital in Coon Rapids. By time we arrived the baby was already born and being tended to while Holly spent a miserable night recovering from emergency stomach ripping apartness. The baby was not due until August 7th but this strange turn of events gave him the 28th of July as a birthday and kept him in line with the family male tradition of being born on the 28th. As of today Holly is doing much better and her baby boy Mason Riley Brown is doing good too. He is 20 inches long and weighs 6 lbs 9 oz.

Oh and in other news Jake McLellan became a married man on July 24th at an awesome wedding! It was full of cool outfits and dances. It was also a time to catch up with some old friends. Specifically our long lost friends Micah and Lauren whom we discovered are pregnant! (SO EXCITING!!!)

We have been hangin out with our awesome friends Charles and Lydia a lot this summer and can usually be found on Wednesday nights at Bakers Square partaking in "pie night." They are looking for houses now and we think they should totally move in somewhere near us!

Overall it has been a crazy busy summer and we have enjoyed it immensely! Looking forward to our upcoming vacation and just basking in the last month or so of warm weather. Until next time….

J/K