I'm Back

I have been so busy with organizing my new home. Yes! We moved in! Actually about a month ago, but life has been so hectic. We got Internet about 2 weeks ago, but I haven't felt ready to start blogging.

 

For the month and a half we were between houses, I didn't blog. I didn't have my own computer set up at that time. And lately we have been so busy with settling in and furniture shopping, life has been very crazy. Who would have thought picking out a table would be so difficult? Then next is a new couch set because the ones from the condo are too small. Next week I'll start blogging again and show you how we finished our house.

 

In the meantime, fall has started and with it, cooler weather and a nice break from weeding. The grass and weeds are starting to die back! It has seemed like a losing battle trying to keep on top of it. So I am not only happy to see fall which is my favorite time of year, but I am happy I can also concentrate at turning the inside of my house into a home.

 

This home is a new experience for me and it still has me in a dream state of mind. I haven't allowed myself to feel truly at home in all the past houses because I knew they wouldn't be permanent. This house is going to be a place where we will live for a long time so I'm excited to decorate it.

 

We are home.

Drywall!

 

We are actually having tile installed right now today, but I'm sure you want to see what we've already done. This is right after we had the drywall put up. It is textured "Santa Fe" about 90% smooth. Here is the kitchen and living room. I'm standing in the dining room:

Here I'm standing in the kitchen looking towards the living room:

Looking into the hallway from the living areas:

The extra bedroom:

The bathroom:

The master room looking towards the closets:

It will look more finished once we get the new doors and windows installed.

Ha Ha Tee Hee!

"When Grandma says, “I’m gonna shoot,” do you duck or say ”cheese”?!"

That saying got a bit of a chuckle out of me! It came from Leif Swanson's blog:  http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?p=31153

The Hoard

We will be moving soon. I have packed about 95% of our stuff. It is all right here in the picture. This is basically all we own. I feel like a hoarder.

Our kitchen table, bed frame/mattress, desk, coffee table and about 4 boxes worth of stuff are not in the picture...

All this for 2 adults and a dog. I guess we do live in the land of plenty and are definitely not lacking.

 

We have been busy busy busy with our new house. I will be posting pictures eventually but right now it's a bit crazy. We have had all the drywall finished, the kitchen cabinets installed, and have bought our tile. The new roof is water tight and we have had a couple of good storms blow through to test it. We had a huge flood in the state of Arizona recently and many people were stranded by high creeks and rivers as well as newly formed lakes and ponds. The nice thing about living here in Arizona is the flooding recedes almost right away and in a couple days, most of the water is completely gone.

Here is a link to the news about 1 part of Arizona:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/residents-motorists-stranded-by-raging-floods-in-arizona/

The monsoons have brought moist muggy air, and mud. Monsoons create the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes and they have been multiplying here rapidly lately. Most people wouldn't expect a desert to have mosquitoes, but they live here. I'm hoping that the monsoons will continue to dump and pull us out of the drought.

Busy Busy

It seems like it's been forever since I've been on here! We have been so crazy busy working on the new house. We have had the roof done, the AC ducts put in, the plumbing, and electrical finished, and the inspection was on Friday. WE PASSED!

 

Life's great when everything goes right! We have been cleaning the wood studs getting ready for drywall to go in, and putting insulation boards in between the studs. Our house is brick exterior, with 1x2 framing on the inside. We were able to get foam insulation sprayed in the bricks, and with the insulation board plus the exterior stucco when we get it done, our walls should be well insulated!

 Both these pictures are of the same spot in the living room, just one directed at the floor, and the other at the walls. Almost finished!

After the insulating boards are in, the drywall can go on, then we're going to have insulation sprayed into the attic! Then it's on to paint, cabinets, windows, counters, appliances, and all the billion fixtures and other things that make it a home!

 

 

A Great Stew

I placed 4 links in here for you.

I found a delicious recipe online!

Australian Beef Stew

I did add about 1 Tablespoon Lawry's seasoned salt to it.

 

This recipe would actually be perfect for winter because it runs the crock pot all day, but in the summer I just put it outside. I usually bring it in to make the house smell yummy about 1 hour before serving, except with this recipe you do pre-brown the meat and veggies before placing in the crock pot so the house smells yummy anyways. If you are worried about the large amount of paprika, use 1 Tablespoon. It does taste good in it though and if you like the taste, go for it and put it all in!

This picture is of a cold bowl of the stew ready to be reheated. It looks even more delicious when hot.

I usually make this Roman Bread recipe from Monte's La Case Vieja to go along with stew.

I love this Roman bread. I grew up with it. The only difference with this recipe and the one I grew up with was when my grandma copied it down for my mom she had only 1/2 the yeast written down. So the recipe I remember from my childhood was a little more chewy but very delicious. The original recipe makes a light fluffy bread like the picture I took above. I decided to see how it would turn out with the full amount of yeast and it was good so try it either way! 

An Inspirational Saying On A Semi

Who'da thunk? An inspirational saying on a semi. I've seen sayings like this on semis before but I've been seeing more lately. My guess is the must own the semi and rent out their delivery services to companies because I find it hard to think a company would let their driver post such a controversial subject on their truck.

Here's what I saw the other day:

The LORD left footprints

for man to follow the

way to Heaven

You are leaving footprints

for others to follow

In your life where

does your footprints

lead?

Heaven Or Hell?