Our New House, Making it a Home
The morning of the sixth we were up early, raring to get some breakfast and head over to the office to sign the final closing paperwork. Our appointment was at ten. There was a little tension in the room with the divorcees there together, but everything was done quickly enough and they remained civil. Our realtor had a minor panic attack when our bank didn't transfer the money over right away, but a phone call expedited the process. Last time we bought a house Josh's credit was so awful they said it was best to list him as a non-contributing spouse. This time it was all him and I was the one not on any paperwork really... yay for no job! haha. We had to rush right out of the room because it happened to be the last day we had reserved the rental. Josh tried to extend it online or on the phone, but because we'd already had it for a full month, it was something that apparently had to be done in person. Off to Dulles we went. As luck would have it we took a rock to the windshield on the way there. Avis was awesome and took care of everything, got to stay in the SUV for the compact price for an additional week. Avis preferred kicks butt!!
We went out to the National Harbor area for lunch. The power was back up! We discussed our shopping plans for Lowe's, what we needed to finish before bringing the boys home. We grabbed cleaning supplies and finally walked into OUR HOME at around 5pm. HOORAY!!! We quickly unloaded the cars, I snapped a few before pictures, and then we left for Arlington to pick up the dogs.
Once again our friends saved us a lot of hassle and discomfort when they had the presence of mind to lend us blankets and air mattresses, which we hadn't thought of at all. None of our shipments had arrived yet, including the "expedited" one, which was set to be delivered on the 16th.
The first night in the house we were excited... too excited... we didn't sleep much that night. I don't think Josh slept at all. Sometime after 2am we even made a run to CVS for some folding chairs and additional cleaning supplies. Yet, the following morning we rose early and got our huge mugs of coffee and the fencing from Lowe's. By time we made it back, our friends were already there waiting for us. They woke up early on their weekend and drove over an hour just to help us lay fence and clean. Have I mentioned how awesome they are?
We were still in the throes of one of the hottest weeks in DC history, but the men were outside all day long, digging post holes for the fence. We kept an eye on them and made sure they were taking lots of breaks and drinking water... and we also made sure to tell them how badass they were for working in the 106 heat like that. Bekah and I got the house cleaned... it was cool inside, but the work was not fun. However, it would have taken me three times as long if it hadn't been for her so who am I to complain!
As hard as we worked we still didn't have enough time to finish it all in one day so we followed our friends back to their house to sleep in a real bed. Josh made us all his famous zuppe toscana, a thank you to our friends for all their help. Despite our exhaustion we stayed up until around eleven. We woke up relatively early and all headed back to the house the next morning to finish up where we left off.
As soon as the fence was done, the sky opened up and it started pouring down rain. The dogs didn't seem to mind, they were happy to be outside again without leashes. We ran to the grocery store. We ran to CVS I'm sure, the storage shed to grab a few things from luggage, Lowe's again. Josh's first day of work was tomorrow (the 9th)! We got some decent sleep that night.
Josh was up at the buttcrack of dawn getting ready, trying to make sure his uniform was perfect. First impressions are important. I stayed behind and played on my phone in-between house-cleaning. There's only so much a person can do without internet, kids, or furniture. Josh came home a very happy man, very excited about his new job and thrilled with his co-workers. That night we had a few celebratory drinks. Almost everything was done.
The tenth we got our new washer and dryer and couch (aka- temporary bed). It seemed all we were missing was the kids. We called Mom and Dad and told them we'd be there that weekend to get the boys. Wouldn't you know it, we got an email right after that saying our van had arrived so we didn't have to extend the rental car for yet another week! We got the internet right before we left.
We left for Ohio on the 13th (we even brought the dogs), but first we had to return the rental and pick up the van. It took a lot longer than we thought with the traffic, but it was still relatively hassle-free. We finally made it to Ohio at 9pm. Hugs for everyone!! We were all ready to go home so we left that following morning. Once again we arrived at our destination at 9pm. We were HOME. Finally... all of us... July 14th. Two days later, we got our first shipment. The rest of our stuff followed shortly thereafter.
Thank you everyone who helped us out!!! All the running around we did was unavoidable, but the amount of help we received from you all took most of our stress away.
We went out to the National Harbor area for lunch. The power was back up! We discussed our shopping plans for Lowe's, what we needed to finish before bringing the boys home. We grabbed cleaning supplies and finally walked into OUR HOME at around 5pm. HOORAY!!! We quickly unloaded the cars, I snapped a few before pictures, and then we left for Arlington to pick up the dogs.
Once again our friends saved us a lot of hassle and discomfort when they had the presence of mind to lend us blankets and air mattresses, which we hadn't thought of at all. None of our shipments had arrived yet, including the "expedited" one, which was set to be delivered on the 16th.
The first night in the house we were excited... too excited... we didn't sleep much that night. I don't think Josh slept at all. Sometime after 2am we even made a run to CVS for some folding chairs and additional cleaning supplies. Yet, the following morning we rose early and got our huge mugs of coffee and the fencing from Lowe's. By time we made it back, our friends were already there waiting for us. They woke up early on their weekend and drove over an hour just to help us lay fence and clean. Have I mentioned how awesome they are?
We were still in the throes of one of the hottest weeks in DC history, but the men were outside all day long, digging post holes for the fence. We kept an eye on them and made sure they were taking lots of breaks and drinking water... and we also made sure to tell them how badass they were for working in the 106 heat like that. Bekah and I got the house cleaned... it was cool inside, but the work was not fun. However, it would have taken me three times as long if it hadn't been for her so who am I to complain!
As hard as we worked we still didn't have enough time to finish it all in one day so we followed our friends back to their house to sleep in a real bed. Josh made us all his famous zuppe toscana, a thank you to our friends for all their help. Despite our exhaustion we stayed up until around eleven. We woke up relatively early and all headed back to the house the next morning to finish up where we left off.
As soon as the fence was done, the sky opened up and it started pouring down rain. The dogs didn't seem to mind, they were happy to be outside again without leashes. We ran to the grocery store. We ran to CVS I'm sure, the storage shed to grab a few things from luggage, Lowe's again. Josh's first day of work was tomorrow (the 9th)! We got some decent sleep that night.
Josh was up at the buttcrack of dawn getting ready, trying to make sure his uniform was perfect. First impressions are important. I stayed behind and played on my phone in-between house-cleaning. There's only so much a person can do without internet, kids, or furniture. Josh came home a very happy man, very excited about his new job and thrilled with his co-workers. That night we had a few celebratory drinks. Almost everything was done.
We left for Ohio on the 13th (we even brought the dogs), but first we had to return the rental and pick up the van. It took a lot longer than we thought with the traffic, but it was still relatively hassle-free. We finally made it to Ohio at 9pm. Hugs for everyone!! We were all ready to go home so we left that following morning. Once again we arrived at our destination at 9pm. We were HOME. Finally... all of us... July 14th. Two days later, we got our first shipment. The rest of our stuff followed shortly thereafter.
Thank you everyone who helped us out!!! All the running around we did was unavoidable, but the amount of help we received from you all took most of our stress away.
