It’s been four years, but it feels we’ve been married longer (in a good way) and yet when I hear the song to which I walked down the aisle to him, it still stops me in my tracks and I get butterflies.
I think that just about sums it up.
<3
Yes, I’ve been absent from Blog World lately…and now I can reveal why! As of last Thursday (laaaate at night) Page and I wrote an offer on a house! It was accepted Friday morning and as of tonight, we signed all the details to break ground on Casa de Smith and plan to be in just before Christmas.
It’s all still sort of setting in – and the whole process has been quite a journey. When we began to just talk about “maybe” starting to look, we wanted something we could be in and out of in 3, MAYBE 5 years, and we were very frugal (bordering on ridiculously so) with our price range.
We looked at a lot of houses but ultimately, we felt that we’ve already been living in our “starter home” for three years (we just rented it rather than owned it) and ultimately, for us, it made sense to take the next step and plan on something we could be in for up to ten years, comfortably. Looking at the seller’s market now and in the near future, coupled with our desire to really build a home and put down roots for a while, made us open up our range of possibilities quite a bit.
With a new, longer-term, plan in mind, there are so many unknowns that you have to plan for – if kids should enter the picture, if we should need more work from home space, etc – and finding a house that could accommodate these “growing pains” and stay in our price comfort zone certainly narrowed down the search. We looked at several houses, eager to take on remodeling projects and make them “ours” but there was always some big thing we just couldn’t do – or could, but it would price us right out of the market. We were definitely in love with more than one house along the way – but either the location made it a no-go, or the neighborhood surrounding it, or in the final case, the city wouldn’t allow us to do what we would need to do, structurally, to make the house work for us. I’m a big believer in the fact that roadblocks aren’t roadblocks at all – they’re just guiding you another way to your final destination. I’m 110% confident that the house we are getting ready to build has been THE house for us from the start – we just didn’t know it yet. I know there’s a connotation with building “whoa..you’re going to BUILD your first house?” – let’s be clear, there is DEFINITELY a budget! Ha! Our jobs keep us on the west side of town, one that is booming with construction, so there is a great variety in building options for different price ranges. Our builder is fantastic, and just as with any traditional home seller, there are perks in a buyer’s market and we are reaping some benefits that we may not get should we ever build again in the future. In short, the stars aligned, the house fit the needs, and the value for our dollar was just too good to pass up.
When we started this whole process, I don’t think building was even on our radar…but now that it’s come to be the path for us, we’re so excited for the experience that awaits us. I’m still getting my head around the fact that we will literally watch our house appear out of the ground and come to be right before our eyes. Pretty cool. 🙂
The hardest part of building is that you can’t stand in your house and have that fun moment of “oh my god, this is our house!” – the end product exists only in our imaginations at this point, but I kind of love that. I like the anticipation. We did multiple walk-throughs of an almost identical floor plan, but even then, the colors/finishes are completely different, the neighborhood is all wrong, and it’s just not quite the same. It’s also not helpful when you’re trying to share your fun news!! So…in an effort to give you a sneak peek (as much as I can)…I’ll combine some pics from our builder’s other homes, and some Pinterest inspiration photos we took to our specs meeting, and give you a glimpse of what’s to come….and I plan on copying my former coworker Deb’s idea of taking a photo every week to show the progress. So clever!
So put on your visualization goggles. Without further ado, more or less, here’s a kinda-sorta look, but you’ll still have to imagine quite a bit, glimpse at our house. 🙂
This next picture very much resembles the entryway – if that sliding barn door room off to the left weren’t there. Pretend that’s just hallway…and on the right side (out of the frame) are two doors – one to a half bath (we chose grey tile floors and a pedestal sink which I’m silly excited about) and the other door leads to the basement.
This was our kitchen inspiration photo for the specs meeting. Everything key is here…the granite is very similar, the cabinets (although the elevations will be staggered), the stainless appliances (my one and only must-have request was running a gas line for a spider burner stove!) and the dark wood floors.
Across from the kitchen will be a living room…a VERY hastily-photoshopped picture (originally from another listing by our builder) is below – picture the wood floors running into this room, a green accent wall, and eventually a built-in bookcase on either side of the fireplace/tv.
Where these two rooms meet, at the back of the house directly from the front door will be a door to the walkout deck. We chose to expand the size of the deck a bit since the floor plan doesn’t have a formal, separate dining room. We figured for at least three seasons of the year, we can seat enough people on our deck if we want to host a big dining get-together. Because our lot is a daylight lot (elevated), there will be stairs leading from the deck down to the yard where we opted to add a concrete pad. Keep in mind, this is all for a ten year plan…for now, it’s a patio – someday we hope it’s hot tub central. 🙂 Here’s a neighboring house by the same builder — our deck will be sort of like this in style/size, but this is an example of a daylight lot and how the stairs come down.
Our default colors throughout are a grey wall color slightly lighter than the one shown here and white trim. The floor color here is just a hair lighter than ours.
As for the rest of the house, there will be four bedrooms and two baths upstairs, as well as upstairs laundry. We opted to leave the basement unfinished for now, but are already dreaming up how we want to finish the space with a den area, half bath, and wet bar. While it’s fun to just pick options and let someone else do the heavy lifting, we are itching a bit to put some of our own sweat equity in and own some of the final product (plus it’s certainly a money saver to do some work yourself!). Finishing the basement and landscaping the outside will be our two big “make it our own” projects in the coming year or so.
I haven’t even really gotten to the second floor in my mind. The layout is wonderful and there will be plenty of space for our home offices and a room to spare for guests (That’s your cue! Come visit!!)…another post another time on decorating ideas for those rooms…
I leave you with some pics of our lot – since that’s all we really have at this point! These were taken the night we wrote our offer. The photo taken from a construction site is from a house two doors up the street that is clearly further along than ours, but gives an idea of our view out the back of the house. We found out tonight that the house across from us just sold to “a really fun couple” and that the lot on the other side of us (one of the few left on the whole street) will most likely sell this week to a couple who are expecting. Woo hoo for good neighbors!
So there you have it – for now! While I’m looking forward to all that is to come, I’m also relieved to have the search behind us, a plan going forward, and a finish line in sight. Now that things are underway, I’m hoping to get back to some “regularly scheduled programming” and catch up on my blogging about everything else that has been going on!
September 29, 2007 . Galena, Illinois
Time really does fly when you're having fun.
In some ways, it seems we've been married our entire lives, and in others, I can't BELIEVE how quickly we've gotten to this point, together for more than seven years and about to start our fourth year of marriage.
September 29, 2008 (courtesy of Megan Clausen Photography)
It's funny. You walk down the aisle thinking you know this person better than anyone else in the world, and probably rightfully so. But I love that with each anniversary that passes, we each continue to learn more and more about the other, appreciate each other deeply, and allow each other to continue to grow into the people we are ultimately meant to be.
October 2009 . Minneapolis
Every year has proven sweeter than the previous, as we've hit a stride while navigating this crazy thing called life. In a mere three years, we've made our share of major decisions together that have impacted the direction our life together has taken, and we are keenly aware of many impending decisions and directions to be made in the future.
August 2010 . Atlanta, Georgia
For right now though, at this moment, life is quite sweet and we are blissfully content.
I am very grateful.
What's more, I am very blessed.
Happy anniversary, Mr. Smith.
Here's to many more years of bellyache laughter, toasting our glasses, dancing to vinyl, yelling the Iowa fight song, bossing the other around, great times with amazing family and friends, daydreaming about what we'd spend our lottery winnings on, late night drive-thru binge eating, and of course, less-than-legal joy rides in that sweet convertible. Looking forward to all that comes next…
XOXO,
Me.
How to celebrate a golden birthday (or ANY birthday for that matter):
1. Make it a week-long celebration. Seriously…WEEK-long.
2. Go out for drinks and laughter with girlfriends.
3. Make your favorite kind of cupcakes (or get your husband to make them).
4. Blown up yellow balloons the eve of the big day and let them float around at the bottom of the stairs so in the morning it feels all celebratory as you come down to leave for work. 🙂
5. Have breakfast in bed, even if it IS a Tuesday and you feel rushed. (Thank you, Page <3).
6. Dress up.
7. Upgrade your grande size latte to a venti, en route to work.
8. Explain to anyone who doesn’t understand the “golden birthday”
concept just HOW big of a deal it is, and that they should really catch
up.
9. Eat a cupcake in lieu of the typical healthy mid-morning snack, while chatting with a happy-birthday-wishing bestie.
10. Gratefully read Facebook birthday posts (don’t you just love that Facebook reminds you of all bdays?)
11. Skip the brown bag and go out to lunch.
12. Buy yourself a present, taking it as a sign that MJ’s This Is It came out on DVD on your birthday. 🙂
13. Check the mail. Nothing beats an old-fashioned birthday card. And grandparents are always SO on top of that game.
14. Take a day off from the gym.
15. Squeal with delight as you unwrap gift cards for mystic tanning. No skin cancer this year!
16. Read a blog post featuring you through the years, compiled by Mom.
A mix of misty eyes, then mortification at just how bad your eyebrows
were, washes over you as you read her words and look at the pics. What
a lucky girl to have such amazing parents these 26 years.
17. Forget the diet for one day and splurge on your favorite deep dish pizza for dinner.
18. Have a drink. Or three.
19. Enjoy phone calls, texts, and emails from friends and family, (in particular a text from Dad, telling me he can still remember just how funny I looked the day I was born) :). So lucky to have each and every one of these people in my life.
20. Take some reflection time. Write an email to your future self on your 27th birthday. Set Google Calendar to send it to your inbox one year from today.
21. Try not to kill your husband when he points out it’s only four years until you’re thirty. (And your grandmother, when she makes it known that you’re more than halfway to fifty).
22. Eat your second cupcake of the day. It’s your birthday – there’s no “stop after one” rule.
23. (Resolve to make tomorrow’s workout extra long).
24. Settle in on the couch to watch a good movie, courtesy of Netflix.
25. Smile blissfully, reflecting on a simply delightful day.
26. In the middle of blissful state, glance out window. Make mental note to self that next year, it should be considered that you live in freezing cold, icy, blizzardy Iowa and that January 26, 2011 should and will be spent at a resort in the Caribbean.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Thank you to all the family and friends that bless my life in small and large ways every day, and celebrate with me not just on January 26, but every day. You are all loved beyond sane reason.
The original plan for our two-year anniversary was to do a whirlwind 24 hour trip up to Minneapolis to get dinner and do some shopping. I was supposed to be traveling until Friday evening so we were going to leave Saturday morning and come back Sunday afternoon.
At least that's what I thought!
After my travel plans were canceled at the last minute, Page arranged with my boss to take Friday off. On Thursday night, he surprised me by telling me that not only did I not have to get up for work on Friday morning, but that we were leaving early and had an extra night in the Cities!
But the surprises were only beginning. Pager had done his research with some help from friends and made dinner and brunch reservations, and bought tickets to a Mat Kearney concert. I learned about all of these fun things throughout the weekend…they just kept coming! The over-the-top thing was when we loaded up the car to leave and Page had gifts (wrapped wonderfully nonetheless!) to load in the car. I'm not sure what I did to get so darn spoiled. Feeling very lucky to say the least!
We got into our hotel Friday afternoon and my parents were so sweet to surprise us by learning our hotel and sending champagne and strawberries to our room! We took the light rail to the Mall of America (Page's first trip there) and I just have to say…I LOVE having a husband who is efficient and loves fashion and shopping. We mapped out our must-hit stores and skipped over everything else. We only got about an hour in before we had to get back and change for dinner at Max. (delicious!) Max is in our hotel, which used to be a bank, so they have turned the vaults into wine cellars that you can walk through. Very cool.
Saturday we woke up to (gasp!) SNOW but bundled up and headed to our reservation for brunch at Hell's Kitchen – might be the best brunch I've ever had! Portabello Benedict and AMAZING mimosas! The decor was a riot – We walked in the entrance to a chandelier of butcher knives, and sat at our booth under a bare bulb reminiscent of a creepy dark basement. The servers were all wearing their pajamas in the spirit of breakfast, which was funny to see.
We got more shopping in and then back to the hotel to change for the
concert. We saw him at First Avenue – a venue that has stars stenciled everywhere with names and dates of performances past. It was really cool to see names like Joe Cocker (1970) all over the wall. The venue was great and Mat was awesome live (even better in person if that's
possible!) and we made it back to our hotel to catch the fourth quarter
of the Iowa game (Thank you, Hawks, for a great anniversary present!)
The night ended with a midnight run to Lucé for pizza – delicious again!
Sunday morning was gloomy and cold but we toughed it out to head to the Sculpture Garden. My ultimate goal for the weekend was to get pics with the giant spoon and cherry statue – a Minneapolis landmark. By then, it was time to get Pager his coffee (definitely past due by then!) and we went to check out Cupcake, a place I had heard about online, for breakfast/lunch, coffee, and of course CUPCAKES.
And what was in those presents? Well here's a hint 🙂
Like I said…best (and most organized surpriser!) hubby ever. Here's to 2 years and many more! 🙂
If you have been on Facebook recently, you’ve probably seen some of your friends doing the “25 Things” post. The idea is simple; tell 25 things about yourself, tag some people to do the same, and learn all kinds of things about the people you already thought you knew so well. It’s been so fun for me to read about friends/family and for those of you aren’t on facebook (you need to join!) here are my 25 things, at age 25. If you’re a blogger, post YOUR 25 and leave me a link in the comments – I can’t wait to read everyone’s!
Just turned 25 last week. Here are 25 things, about myself, at 25:
1. I have recently decided I want to “become a runner”. I run a little
over a mile in each workout, and am training for a 5k. I like to use
phrases like “going for a run” and “training” because they make me feel
cool and so much more hard core than I actually am.
2. I am obsessed with anything and everything yellow. (Thus the blog
name). If it comes in yellow, that will be my first choice when making
a purchase. Seriously, is there a happier color out there than yellow?
Good stuff.
3. I’m not an everyday journal-keeper, but especially when something
rough is going on, I find myself drawn back to write it out. When shit
hits the fan, my biggest encouragement comes from reading back through
old entries, and reading my own panic/stress/sadness/anger
5.I am beginning to think I have a Z’Mariks abuse problem.
6. I love COLOR, but I do hate pastels. The brighter and bolder, the better.
7. My least favorite year so far was the year of age 23 to 24. We moved
a lot and were living in a place we hated, Page was miserable with his
job, and I was stressed about how to plan a wedding. Ironically,
despite a job loss and a terrible economy, age 24-25 has been my
favorite year.
8. I love to play in Photoshop. I like to photograph but am by no means
a professional, so photoshop helps me fake it that I took that PERFECT
shot with the right color balance and exposure. 🙂
9. Everyone keeps asking when we’re having kids, or they make predictions
as to when we will start. I can save you all a lot of time – it’s not
happening anytime soon. Until the thought of parenting doesn’t send us
into total panic, or we turn 30, (whichever comes first) there will be
no belly bump. When we turned 23, we decided “five years” – it makes me
laugh that people ask now and we still say “five years”. 🙂
10. I probably own more underwear than almost anyone. I counted once
and it was well over 100 pairs. I just really, really like underwear. I
don’t think I need to justify any more than that.
11. I miss going to church and would really like to find one here to call home.
12. I’ve had the same best friend since I was ten years old. How lucky am I?
13. If money were no object, I’d be living in Orange County right now.
I would go somewhere for the week of Christmas to see snow, then right
back to my balmy 78 degree paradise.
14. After I graduated from Iowa, I moved to Charlotte, NC with just
over 2,000 dollars, no job lined up, and no real plan that extended
beyond a few days’ time. It’s funny how fast you can grow up – I would
be terrified to do that now, and am still amazed that all worked out
okay without me ending up homeless. But looking back, I’m glad I can
say I took a risk/leap of faith/whatever you want to call it. Your
twenties are the time to do that.
15. Whenever I see black and white anything – napkins, paintings,
clothing – or bright lipstick colors, I always think of my mom.
16. I swear more than I should. I really am going to work on that.
17. My “power song” on my Nike+Ipod (the one you can play instantly if
you need a boost during a workout) is Britney’s “Piece of Me”. Crazy or
not, she still kicks ass.
18. While tightening our budget lately, I’m learning there is so much
stuff I can live without. I am also learning just how much I miss all
that extra stuff. Shallow? Yep, a little bit. I like to shop and I
think if it came down to shopping versus smoking, studies would show
smoking is an easier habit to kick.
19. I kill all plants. I still can’t figure out if I’m overwatering,
underwatering, or just that all green things hate me. The only thing
I’ve kept alive is our bamboo plant, Michelangelo, and I think that’s
only because bamboo is supposed to be basically invincible.
20. I appreciate good design. And really awesome typography.
21. I have a growing obsession with Russell Crowe. I think he may replace Matthew McConaughey soon.
22. I enjoy having a boy as a roommate – although this is largely due to the fact that I still get my own bathroom and closet. I do miss
living with other girls, but not the clothes borrowing part. I never
had sisters, thus, I never learned to share.
23. I married my best friend. It’s cliche, but very true.
24. When I started this, I didn’t think I’d be able to come up with 25
things, but it’s been very fun and easier than I thought. I’ve loved
even more reading about my friends/family. I’ve learned a lot about
people I already knew so well!
25. I’m still becoming who I am. I think it will be a long time before
I finish that journey, but I’m totally down for the ride.
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