Casa de la Steele (The house of Steele)

We'll we are finally in.
Thank you Jesus.
To say that I woke up on Sunday with every muscle aching in my body would be an understatement.Now comes the fun part. Not that loading and then unloading the u-haul in 104 deg F heat wasnt very fun,we are going to slowly turn this big house into our home. Hanging pictures, arranging furntiure, and painting are next on the agenda.
And so dear friends, we will spend the rest of the next few weekends spending more money.
When we lived in a townhouse, I could never understand why our friends would say "not this weekend, we are busy doing stuff around the house"
Now I fully understand.

We bought bedroom furniture on sunday. Our old stuff - rather my old stuff, needed to go. Last time I tried to move the
dresser I ripped the lid off. I got a stare from my wife, that said it all. You know, that one where she just looks at you and raises her eyebrows, and then walks away. (its like women save those up for special occasions)

Also I found that driving the u-haul was as exhilirating as I thought it would be. Especially when it is 24 feet long, has 273000 miles on it, and has half a turn of play in the steering wheel.

That is the latest for now,
We'll keep you updated.

Sean.

Moving On Up

Moving day dawned bright and unbelievably hot. And let's not forget the unbearable humidity yesterday. Yuck! Our amazing friends joined Sean at the old townhouse at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday to begin hauling our treasures and some junk into the big U-haul (see Sean's previous post). I got lucky and didn't have to sweat it out with the rest of them because I needed to meet the furniture delivery guys at the new house. Somehow, they managed to get it all out and on the truck in record time. The crew arrived soon after at the new house, and we unloaded as quickly as possible. I happened to glance at the clock as we were all beginning to eat our lunch after it was all over. It read 11:22 a.m. The move lasted less than 2 1/2 hours. Unbelievable! The neighbor across the street wants the names and numbers of our movers. She was completely impressed as she watched them work yesterday. So . . . Amy, Jodi, Greg, John, Daryl, Ryan, Phil, Leon, and Lindsey, I know we coerced you with the promise of food and beer. But you are awesome and we are so thankful to you for helping us in spite of extremely uncomfortable weather. I also want to say a huge thank you to Erin and Mom Steele for their help with packing, painting and hanging blinds. You made it so much easier for us to get things accomplished.

And now Sean and I are here. The long wait is over. We love our new home and are so thankful for God's blessings. His timing has been perfect through it all. We'll be in touch with our new address and all that good stuff.

And, finally, what you've all been waiting for . . . the U-haul photo. It's not the best quality, because I had to use my phone. Who knows where the camera was during the whole process! Here he comes . . . the best U-haul driver around!

And here he is! Ready to get that bad boy unloaded!

Cheese Please...

So Marci and I are sitting on our bed. Its about 8:30 pm, she is reading a book about some Amish lady, and I am watching a program of the history channel, all about, well.....cheese. Yes this is a typical evening for us these days! Not that I love cheese so much, there is honestly nothing else on tv. And who said that married life is boring.
Our apartment has been stripped bare, all of our old bedroom furniture is gone. Thanks to the boys and girls club - did you know that for a mere $30 they will cart away your old furniture, and give it to a needy family? Marci had to help the poor guy cart all of our stuff out of the house and into his van ( I was away at work)
Just 2 more days - till we sign on our home. Thank goodness, I was getting tired of making decisions, and always stopping by the house to check up on the way home from work.

I have rented the biggest U-haul I can find to move us, the 24 foot version to be precise. Overkill? Yes. Will I have to make a second trip? No. Now you see the method to my madness. Last time we did this, Marci thought I was crazy, especially when she saw all 24 ft of the U-haul coming around the corner. How any average american is allowed to drive this thing on a standard drivers licence is beyond me, oh well - I dont make the rules, I just drive. God bless America.

Marci and I were driving around this weekend listening to sirius radio. I have recently discovered the joy of bluegrass music - actually I just discovered the bluegrass channel. After listening to days of the "high lonesome sound" of the hills of "kintuckee"
I was struck at just how brilliant bluegrass really is. It seems to have an irresistable combination of musicianship, speed, jazz, and great lyrics. So I made up my own song that I have been singing for my wife, and all around the house. It goes like this -
Imagine it in a whiny, high, nasal, country tone:

"A lock of your hair is all I have left"
"its not from your head - its from your armpit"

Peace,
Sean.

Counting Down

We're on the home stretch. Next Friday is settlement. That's 7 days, folks! All we want to do is live in our new home and sadly, we've become very impatient. Currently, we're living in squalor and amid boxes. Who wants to clean around boxes, or even bother cleaning when we'll have to do a big job of it when we move out of the townhouse. So we just keep turning a blind eye to the filth.

On a happier note, I have new photos of the latest developments on the house.

Seeded front yard (backyard too) and mailbox. We can get mail! Landscaping probably will be finished after we move in.

Can't wait for Sean to use the new appliances to cook dinner for me.

Fireplace and ceiling fan in the family room functioning properly. And note plush new carpet. I walked around in my socks. Ahh, such squishyness!

Little concerned about this light fixture. Looked smaller in the store. But I think I like it.

Funky breakfast nook lighting.

The Scoop on the New Digs

Only 2 and a half weeks and we will finally own this bit of real estate. Here are some photos we took this evening. As you can see the driveway has been paved and the topsoil is in place. However, that still needs to be graded and seeded. Our house number is even posted above the column. It makes it seem so real.


I love this next picture. Already Sean's at work cleaning the countertops! The cabinets were installed last week and we're pleased with the results. We can't wait to get our stainless steel appliances in there.


A little glimpse into a bathroom. This is the master bath and note the 2 SEPARATE vanities. Loving that! I apparently have issues with sharing. Oh, and toilets are now in place. Not quite ready for use, but sitting in position.

The banisters are finished. This is the view of the little round window from the inside. Also, a very good view of the very white walls. We can't wait to get a bit of color on them.


So, that's the latest. Breaking in is getting harder to do. Soon the neighbor kids won't be able to fit a little hand through the hole in the front door. We're sure they'll install the deadbolt in the near future. And the little window well for the basement that has been broken for a while will most certainly be fixed soon, making it difficult for me to shimmy down through it (thankfully there are no pictures of that). We are just ready to stay permanently!