House Count: 19 houses (and counting)
House Hunt: 1 week
Well we’ve added a couple more showings to our pooling number. With that we’ve seen a few more “gems”.
-One had a galley kitchen, a dark bathroom, but it was well kept and had three stalls. I tried to convince myself that I liked it but Matt finally told me to give up. It didn’t break my heart that it got an offer on it after being on the market for 2 days.
-One house had 8 Hispanic men renting a 5 bedroom room. Matt’s “favorite” part of the house was their Budlight furniture. They had empty beer boxes duct taped together to form their household furniture. The house had a distinct smell and the need for hand sanitizer when we left.
-Another house, split entry looked nice, had a beautiful yard with garden space, was well kept up, it actually reminded of the house my Aunt Lynn and Uncle Wade used to be in. We had a few hiccups including 70’s carpeting, but that could replaced, what couldn’t would be the interstate and associated noise in the backyard.
-Final house, I liked. Older than I wanted but had complete updates and a huge basement. What Matt didn’t like was the busy street that ran across the front of the house. He counted 10 cars in 1 minute, which are not good odds for Nike the runner. We’d need to fence her in the backyard…and maybe put some bird feeders in to keep her occupied.
So the house hunt continues.
best meal: I made some chicken alfredo linguine (no I didn't have fettucine noodles, it was fine).
“It could be worse, we’ve seen worse. Has anyone been shot in here yet, that we know?” ALM
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
House Hunting
The search is on. Matt and I have made some big decisions lately, we’ve decided it’s time to start looking for a house. We’ve met with the bank, we have a realtor, and we’ve been looking. We have officially looked at 15 houses. And some of those I use the term “house” pretty loosely. We have some criteria in mind as we look. We’d like 3 bedrooms, we’d like 3 garages (but we’ll settle for 1 stall), built after 1975, built before 2011, more than one bathroom, a yard for Matt to play in, not on a busy street for Nike, and in a neighborhood that has future potential.
Here’s a rundown of some of the houses we looked at:
-When the fridge dies, we’d have to remodel the kitchen.
-One had a bedroom off the kitchen/dining room, Matt didn’t like it. It also had the yard sectioned off into multiple pieces so it really was a fenced yard.
-One had been a do-it-yourselfers dream, beautiful curb appeal, but that was the only good thing about the house, the outside.
-One was purple: purple walls, purple doors, purple steel siding, purple wallpaper, and a million feet of decks to paint
-Two didn’t have garage entrances from the inside, yet they were attached.
-One had a fire hazard in the closet and was on a truck route
-One was a modular with a peek-a-boo kitchen in a questionable neighborhood, on a half lot, meaning if we ever had a fire, we probably couldn’t rebuild
-One was beautiful, new construction with a pantry, master bath, and great den and then you looked at the neighbors yard out the huge sliding glass door and you saw the swing set, the rundown dog house, the add on unfinished shed, the 3 dirt bikes, the car on blocks, the garbage everywhere, the kids cars, and the ditch filled with water five feet from the front door.
-One was so scarily messy, we even had a warning before we walked in. They told us it was a finished basement and I can’t confirm or deny because there was so much stuff I couldn’t see the walls or floor. And the utility room also served as a the secondary bath, they just put up a picture screen.
-One was the perfect image of the seventies, complete with yellow/green/white shag, ½ the wallpaper was yellow flowered, ½ was green, orange, and yellow striped, and it looked well taken care of and pristine and it was looking hopeful until we went downstairs and Matt couldn’t stand up right without the fear of bashing his head.
-One had Matt’s hopes high until we got there and the backyard was missing, the back of the house was a trailer/camper, and when we went to leave Matt remembered that a shooting had happened.
-One had no upper cupboards, only a closet. It also had 13 different colors of primary color paints, all the carpet was different, and the redesigners seemed to like platforms and cutouts. I got suckered in because there was a pic of the French doors.
-One hasn't had updates since it was built in 1975 and it said it had a fenced-in yard. The fence appeared to be missing, unless they were refering to their neighbor's fence, and it should have said, 1/3 fenced yard which contains pitbull. Great, Nike would HATE us.
-AND "eat-in kitchen" is not a beneficial attributed, it basically means, no dining room, you better have a small table
When we were finished we felt exhausted and disappointed. We did find something we like with a great open floor plan but after some more research we determined it’s in the 100-year flood plain, which means we are forced to buy flood insurance and we are also waiting to find out a bit more about the settling and the foundation. We are still looking as we sort this house info out but I did forget how it’s a difficult venture to move forward as we look. Good thing we have family to bounce ideas and questions off while we are searching.
Brendan came for guards this past weekend and him and Matt were able to spend some quality time together including a few hands of gin which escalated into yahtzee which grew eventually into drunk yahtzee.
“I had high hopes for this one.” MJR after looking at the added-on trailer “But it would be like living in a camper all year. You think you could get something in this town!”
Here’s a rundown of some of the houses we looked at:
-When the fridge dies, we’d have to remodel the kitchen.
-One had a bedroom off the kitchen/dining room, Matt didn’t like it. It also had the yard sectioned off into multiple pieces so it really was a fenced yard.
-One had been a do-it-yourselfers dream, beautiful curb appeal, but that was the only good thing about the house, the outside.
-One was purple: purple walls, purple doors, purple steel siding, purple wallpaper, and a million feet of decks to paint
-Two didn’t have garage entrances from the inside, yet they were attached.
-One had a fire hazard in the closet and was on a truck route
-One was a modular with a peek-a-boo kitchen in a questionable neighborhood, on a half lot, meaning if we ever had a fire, we probably couldn’t rebuild
-One was beautiful, new construction with a pantry, master bath, and great den and then you looked at the neighbors yard out the huge sliding glass door and you saw the swing set, the rundown dog house, the add on unfinished shed, the 3 dirt bikes, the car on blocks, the garbage everywhere, the kids cars, and the ditch filled with water five feet from the front door.
-One was so scarily messy, we even had a warning before we walked in. They told us it was a finished basement and I can’t confirm or deny because there was so much stuff I couldn’t see the walls or floor. And the utility room also served as a the secondary bath, they just put up a picture screen.
-One was the perfect image of the seventies, complete with yellow/green/white shag, ½ the wallpaper was yellow flowered, ½ was green, orange, and yellow striped, and it looked well taken care of and pristine and it was looking hopeful until we went downstairs and Matt couldn’t stand up right without the fear of bashing his head.
-One had Matt’s hopes high until we got there and the backyard was missing, the back of the house was a trailer/camper, and when we went to leave Matt remembered that a shooting had happened.
-One had no upper cupboards, only a closet. It also had 13 different colors of primary color paints, all the carpet was different, and the redesigners seemed to like platforms and cutouts. I got suckered in because there was a pic of the French doors.
-One hasn't had updates since it was built in 1975 and it said it had a fenced-in yard. The fence appeared to be missing, unless they were refering to their neighbor's fence, and it should have said, 1/3 fenced yard which contains pitbull. Great, Nike would HATE us.
-AND "eat-in kitchen" is not a beneficial attributed, it basically means, no dining room, you better have a small table
When we were finished we felt exhausted and disappointed. We did find something we like with a great open floor plan but after some more research we determined it’s in the 100-year flood plain, which means we are forced to buy flood insurance and we are also waiting to find out a bit more about the settling and the foundation. We are still looking as we sort this house info out but I did forget how it’s a difficult venture to move forward as we look. Good thing we have family to bounce ideas and questions off while we are searching.
Brendan came for guards this past weekend and him and Matt were able to spend some quality time together including a few hands of gin which escalated into yahtzee which grew eventually into drunk yahtzee.
“I had high hopes for this one.” MJR after looking at the added-on trailer “But it would be like living in a camper all year. You think you could get something in this town!”
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Life is Tough for the Unhappy Kitty
So Matt’s in Fargo, “working”. I say he’s “working” because technically he’s there for the airport and his job but I use the quotes because he’s basically sitting with other airport nerds talking about ramps and runways and air space and wx and environmental assessments and impact studies and tsa and faa (not ffa) and on and on and these people actually talk back about ramps and runways and air space and wx and environmental assessments and impact studies and tsa and faa AND THEY LIKE IT! And then sometimes they take these conversations and enhance them with libations, so yes, Matt’s in Fargo, “working.”
Meanwhile I’m at home with his very angry kitty. She is pissed that I’m there. I think she was pissed that no one was there for awhile but my daily presence may be even more exasperating. To top it off, when I came home on Sunday it had been raining and everything was soaked so I chose not to let her go outside, not to torture her but to prevent a wet angry kitty. Well, I avoided the wet part. She sat by the door and screamed at me for an hour, went and ate and then sat by the door and screamed again for another half hour. Then she had a slap fight with both cats who I’m sure were not appreciative of her “lockedinsidehissy” fit. And then to top it off she went and skulked into the back bedroom and laid under the bed on Matt’s gun case for the rest of the night. The next night was a basic repeat of the first night except I let her go outside into the wet snow. That excursion lasted about 7 minutes until she decided she wasn’t happy outside either. Life is tough when Matt is off gallivanting without her.
Best meal: potato soup, which Matt doesn’t like, but I think it’s amazing, so I made it for myself!
“MAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” Nike
Meanwhile I’m at home with his very angry kitty. She is pissed that I’m there. I think she was pissed that no one was there for awhile but my daily presence may be even more exasperating. To top it off, when I came home on Sunday it had been raining and everything was soaked so I chose not to let her go outside, not to torture her but to prevent a wet angry kitty. Well, I avoided the wet part. She sat by the door and screamed at me for an hour, went and ate and then sat by the door and screamed again for another half hour. Then she had a slap fight with both cats who I’m sure were not appreciative of her “lockedinsidehissy” fit. And then to top it off she went and skulked into the back bedroom and laid under the bed on Matt’s gun case for the rest of the night. The next night was a basic repeat of the first night except I let her go outside into the wet snow. That excursion lasted about 7 minutes until she decided she wasn’t happy outside either. Life is tough when Matt is off gallivanting without her.
Best meal: potato soup, which Matt doesn’t like, but I think it’s amazing, so I made it for myself!
“MAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” Nike
Monday, March 4, 2013
In like a ???
I’m looking out my window at the snow that is covering the ground and am thinking of spring. It’s been a decent winter, we’ve had the snow-melt cycle that’s been working for us here but I will say, I hate the ice that is a result of this pattern. But the snow keeps coming, boo. March always makes me wonder, it’s close enough to spring to be hopefully but usually produce the wettest/biggest storms.
This past weekend we spent away from home. We went to Bismarck so we could support Janice at Jerry’s father’s funeral. I wish that I could have been closer to her this week as I know it was hard for her as Jerry flew in at the last moment and funeral planning for Stan was very trying. The frustration in her voice was obvious to me and it made me hurt that she hurt. She also informed me that she wants to die in a quiet way and her funeral to match. I think we’ll stick with her original plan of sticking her in the front porch swing with a bottle of gin, with a ton of ice, and a beverage napkin. When we showed up in Fessenden, she was so glad, but how I knew that she appreciated it was when our troop (Grandma, Descie, Grace, Mom, Matt and I) went to leave, she hugged me so tight and said thank you and said, I have the best family in the whole world as she had tears in her voice.
The whole endeavor was not completely somber, this was Matt’s first experience alone with Dagman women. It was 5 women to him and he informed us that we were very loud! When we got home, to attempt to balance out his estrogen overload, him and Dad went through our herd so he can start tracking numbers and our efforts, something that I’ve been meaning to do for years. Matt and I don’t have a single calf on the ground yet, Mom and Dad are around 35 to 40, the calves that I helped them work on Sunday were looking pretty good, even the red angus one!
Matt and I also made a major change, we got Straight Talk phone, they are prepaid phones that cancelled out our previous contracts and we are anticipating saving some money. I know my phone will save some money, after getting past the early cancellation fee. The hard part will be adjusting to a new phone again!
Best meal: pizza at McKenzie River, we had a ½ good ol boy, ½ branding iron…and it was Spicy!
“See, I have my own harem, gotta take care of them!” MJR says to me before helping my grandmother out of the vehicle.
½ an hour later after he shushes us…
“Who’d have thought two years ago, you’d have such a noisy harem!” Aunt Descie to Matt
This past weekend we spent away from home. We went to Bismarck so we could support Janice at Jerry’s father’s funeral. I wish that I could have been closer to her this week as I know it was hard for her as Jerry flew in at the last moment and funeral planning for Stan was very trying. The frustration in her voice was obvious to me and it made me hurt that she hurt. She also informed me that she wants to die in a quiet way and her funeral to match. I think we’ll stick with her original plan of sticking her in the front porch swing with a bottle of gin, with a ton of ice, and a beverage napkin. When we showed up in Fessenden, she was so glad, but how I knew that she appreciated it was when our troop (Grandma, Descie, Grace, Mom, Matt and I) went to leave, she hugged me so tight and said thank you and said, I have the best family in the whole world as she had tears in her voice.
The whole endeavor was not completely somber, this was Matt’s first experience alone with Dagman women. It was 5 women to him and he informed us that we were very loud! When we got home, to attempt to balance out his estrogen overload, him and Dad went through our herd so he can start tracking numbers and our efforts, something that I’ve been meaning to do for years. Matt and I don’t have a single calf on the ground yet, Mom and Dad are around 35 to 40, the calves that I helped them work on Sunday were looking pretty good, even the red angus one!
Matt and I also made a major change, we got Straight Talk phone, they are prepaid phones that cancelled out our previous contracts and we are anticipating saving some money. I know my phone will save some money, after getting past the early cancellation fee. The hard part will be adjusting to a new phone again!
Best meal: pizza at McKenzie River, we had a ½ good ol boy, ½ branding iron…and it was Spicy!
“See, I have my own harem, gotta take care of them!” MJR says to me before helping my grandmother out of the vehicle.
½ an hour later after he shushes us…
“Who’d have thought two years ago, you’d have such a noisy harem!” Aunt Descie to Matt
Friday, March 1, 2013
Two Foot Addition
As the end of February looms nearer, I can’t believe a couple things. 1. That it’s the end of February and 2. That winter isn’t over yet. I’m so antsy for spring. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want the soupy mud and puddles, but I want the sunshine and the ice to be forbidden. I’ve slipped, fell, soaked, and stomped through this winter. I’d like the next season now. What’s funny, is that we’ve had worse winter and in fact there are others that have had worse winters this year. We made a trip up to Minot/Lansford this past weekend and they still have piles on the edges of the road and in the yards.
This trip to Lansford was life-changing. I don’t mean that sarcastic or snide, but genuine. The purpose of the trip was to meet Jackson Liam Dean, recently born son of Brendan and Claudia. Brendan and Matt have been friends/partners in crime since they were in 9th grade. Matt didn’t even ask Brendan to be in the wedding because it was assumed. They’ve been there for each other for years and on Feb 11, Claudia went into labor with Jackson. When I thought about how this would impact Brendan and Claudia’s life, I hadn’t really stopped to think about how it would change ours. It’s no longer just Brendan or just Brendan and Claudia but Jackson puts a new spin on everything. I also find it funny to hear the second hand conversation that they have about baby diapers, sleeping all night, and more “family” stuff, it’s especially funny when you know that these conversations used to be about beer, trucks, and guns. It was great to see Matt hold the baby, after some heavy convincing from Brendan. Made me wonder what our future may look like.
It was great to spend a little time with their little one but also spend some time with Matt’s parents. I love having Randy make pizza for me, he’s really gotten very good at the deep dish. I feel like our Christmas present to him, the deep dish pan, was very self-serving, but I don’t care. I’m very excited for when he comes to visit to us in March, maybe I’ll have to diet the week before!
Best Meal: Pizza!!! With wine!!!
“He’s so little! What if I break him!” MJR to Brendan
This trip to Lansford was life-changing. I don’t mean that sarcastic or snide, but genuine. The purpose of the trip was to meet Jackson Liam Dean, recently born son of Brendan and Claudia. Brendan and Matt have been friends/partners in crime since they were in 9th grade. Matt didn’t even ask Brendan to be in the wedding because it was assumed. They’ve been there for each other for years and on Feb 11, Claudia went into labor with Jackson. When I thought about how this would impact Brendan and Claudia’s life, I hadn’t really stopped to think about how it would change ours. It’s no longer just Brendan or just Brendan and Claudia but Jackson puts a new spin on everything. I also find it funny to hear the second hand conversation that they have about baby diapers, sleeping all night, and more “family” stuff, it’s especially funny when you know that these conversations used to be about beer, trucks, and guns. It was great to see Matt hold the baby, after some heavy convincing from Brendan. Made me wonder what our future may look like. It was great to spend a little time with their little one but also spend some time with Matt’s parents. I love having Randy make pizza for me, he’s really gotten very good at the deep dish. I feel like our Christmas present to him, the deep dish pan, was very self-serving, but I don’t care. I’m very excited for when he comes to visit to us in March, maybe I’ll have to diet the week before!
Best Meal: Pizza!!! With wine!!!
“He’s so little! What if I break him!” MJR to Brendan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)