Sometimes you pick the colors....

So we finally decided on most of the color schemes for the house. We're still missing the kitchen one. But other than that, every wall, inside and outside is getting a coat of paint. Here is what we picked:

For the living room/dining room/hall: Gray walls / white trim 

For Sophie's room, we're doing one feature wall with a design that will use red, orange, purple, yellow, green, and blue. There will be an accent wall of blue, and 2 white walls:

For the exterior we're going with dark gray, white trim, green accents(door, porch furniture, patio furniture):

Our bedroom will be one accent wall bright green(w00t!), black walls, white trim. One of the walls will have tons of black and white pics on it too:

So there you go...we'll have plenty more pics coming as we tackle these projects. Probably more than you care to see haha. Also, paint is way more expensive than we anticipated. Way more....and we shouldn't be allowed to go into home depot.

Sometimes you get a house...

So we finally got a house. And we're moved in now. Some things still need to be unpacked. And we're exhausted. The old apartment has been "returned". And so now we just need to get this place in order. So far, I love how quiet it is, compared to the apartment. And it is huge, compared to the apartment. So much that we don't know what do with some of the space haha(although most people would probably think it is still small).

So here are some pics I took real quick. Light was dim(some rooms don't have lights!), so the quality isn't the best, but it should do for now. The day we got the house we filled the suitcases with clothes, and our backpacks with random stuff that needed to make the move, and then walked to the new house. It is 8 blocks from the apartment. But it did look weird haha

Here is the front of the house: 

The porch! It's very awesome :D I really like it. Can't wait to have some chairs there, maybe a bench, and just relax there.

Living room:

Which leads to the dining room:

Which leads to the kitchen:

Off the dining room, there's a hall that takes you to the main bedroom or the bathroom:

Here is our bedroom(has a sliding door to the deck!):

Off the kitchen, there's stairs to the attic/second floor:

Which leads to Sophie's room(it is huge!):

And this is the rest of the attic. Unfinished, but we'd like to finish it and add a bedroom and a bathroom up here:

Outside, which you can get to from the laundry room(off the kitchen, forgot to take a pic), or the main bedroom:

So yeah, we're very excited, and also overwhelmed with the ever growing list of things that need to get done, and the ever growing list of tools and supplies that need to get purchased too. But it should be fun, in an exhausting sort of way :D

Sometimes it's official...

Yesterday we signed all the loan, sale agreement, title, insurance, and other loads of documents there is to sign when you buy a house. So I guess that's it. It's official. We get the keys tomorrow! :D

Then there's the joy of moving....and we haven't even started packing! Good thing is that neither place is very dirty, and it's only 8 blocks away. And hopefully, this is the last move.

Sometimes you loop a song...

This past week I looped this song for like 2 days straight:


Things to notice about it:

1) What's wrong with the audience? They look bored our of their mind. Band doesn't care. (Granted this was before they probably knew who deep purple was, before smoke on the water and highway star).
2) Damn....so progressive. Song builds up beautifully, explodes, comes back down, then up again. Just damn!
3) Holy crap, my respects to Ian Gillan on vocals. What a master of his craft, he sounds like if he was playing some sort of horn instrument, such control!
4) Love the organ. Jon Lord is a master as well.
5) I don't know why I have been on a 70's music binge lately. But wow, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple changed lineups sooooo much, it may as well be different bands lol. At some point, this singer(Ian Gillan) even sang for Black Sabbath!!!

Sometimes problems are good...

So a couple days ago I had the "problem" of having to pick all my vacation days till the end of the year. I'll back up a little. I had been very disenchanted with work lately. They had turned me down for an opportunity on the engineering teams because they wanted someone onsite. So I had been pretty deflated. But since we're moving into a new house and that's a crazy  enough transition already, I was gonna stick around a bit longer. This year is the first year I have 5 weeks of vacation time. And I guess it hadn't registered just how much time off that is, because I hadn't taken it yet. I decided to put it all down on the calendar so later on I don't lose it because the days are closed due to everyone trying to get the same days off. And well, it felt very good. I am taking time off to be when Paco swings by here on tour with Says The Snake. I am taking time off to go spend with Sophie here at home then go meet Geli after her work in Beaverton. Time off when Gabe and Mari come. Time off for Sophie's first day of school, and 3 hrs each day after that until Mari and Gabe come so I can get her when she gets out at 2:15pm. Time off just because(Fridays and Mondays just to make the weeks feel shorter.) Check it out:

So yeah, it will be hard to let go of this vacation time. I might not. After all, I can work from home. I earn a good salary. So I might just stick around here...cuz this is pretty sweet.

Sometimes you are excited...

Today we had the "final" walk through of the house. And it was much bigger and nicer than I remembered, which is great. The pictures online don't do it justice, so we'll rectify that soon, when we get it on Thursday or Friday. But yeah, it was strange. The house felt bigger, and more "solid" and nicer. The deck in the backyard was also bigger than I remembered. The kitchen nicer(and less "ranchy" too). And I am not gonna lie, I am very excited. I can't wait to get it :) We stayed up today looking at things for the house, like patio furniture, a bench for the front porch, couch for the living room, etc. So yeah :D yay house! haha

Sometimes you photograph explosions in the sky...

I really don't care much for the 4th of July. But a chance to photograph something new is something I never give up. So we went downtown to check out the fireworks. We thought we had a perfect spot for the downtown fireworks(it was really packed!):

I was all setup, with my finger on the remote and ready to go and them bam! We're in the wrong spot. Obscured by trees and on the wrong side of the bridge... Oh well, I had to think fast(and again, not much room to move). So I just pick up and move like 40 ft towards the water. Not the greatest view, but it worked, I guess:

The grand finale! 

It was fun. We all biked downtown(much better than driving, the traffic was horrific!). We biked back. It was a gorgeous night, beautiful weather. Sophie was not scared this time, and really enjoyed it. Next time, I want to get the fireworks with the skyline behind them. Let's see if we get it right next year.

Sometimes it is hot....

Seriously...There has been a heat wave. It was even hotter than in El Paso a day or two ago. It was 96 here! And like 92 in EP. And we're not prepared for that kind of heat here. No one even really has air conditioners here in the Northwest. And we're on the second floor(warm air rises). And I work from home. So I've been suffering...a lot. Thankfully, it will be over soon, like tomorrow. We're back to 80s.