the oh house

I moved...

2010-08-29T21:42:00.001-07:00

new blog is here.

Vote for The Little Light House!

2010-08-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

To the Zoo

2010-08-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

The baby and I went to the zoo today. Prior to this, if someone asked me about taking an almost-six-week-old to the zoo...I'd reply that it's a stupid idea.

But when my sister-in-law called me this morning to see if I wanted to join her and her two kids (almost three years and almost one year), I jumped on board. I really went to hang out with them, and it just happens that my baby goes everywhere I go. Seriously. I went swimming at my in-laws' the other day and it felt so odd to leave her inside with my mother-in-law for a whopping twenty minutes. :) How am I gonna survive going back to work??!!

Anyways, the weather was quite nice, and I enjoyed watching my niece play and look at the animals.

It will be so fun when my girl is older and we can do fun stuff together (like my sister and her son's Themed Thursdays!). And when she has siblings and they can be best of friends.

However, it's also so lovely that she's so tiny and precious and I love her and could snuggle with just her all day.

Maybe she shouldn't grow up.

When does a SAHM's workday start?

2010-08-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'm starting my work shift a little late today. :) I mean, I know stay-at-home moms are always on duty, but I feel like I should devote some amount of time to checking things off my to-do list.

This morning I posted a status on my facebook:

on the agenda for today: price our donations for the School of Saint Mary's yard sale, pack for our trip to visit Mary's grandparents and great-grandparents, clean the hall bathroom, address thank you notes to mail Monday, and research diaper sprayers - surely I can find something that'll work that's less than 45 bucks!

Then I promptly went back to sleep. I can't decide if getting too much sleep is making me tired, or if taking care of a newborn is catching up to me. Last night I got into bed a little after midnight. I didn't get up for the day until close to eleven. The baby and I woke up at two, four, six, and eight. Roughly. Each time she went back to sleep quickly after nursing, so that was nice. After the last feeding she was pretty ready to be up for the day (and I say that loosely as she still sleeps a ton!), and I was not. She wasn't happy in the co-sleeper and even though I've fallen asleep with her in my arms in bed, I don't like to. Luckily around 9:15, Mr Oh heard us, and volunteered to move to the recliner with the babe. What a dear.

Anyways, after getting out of bed for the day, I showered, made lunch, ate lunch, and....that's about it. Oh, I also took a mini-nap.

Now it's almost six and time to start crackin' on my list of things to-do!

Should I Merge the Blogs?

2010-08-18T21:56:00.001-07:00

I'm considering morphing all my blogs into one.

Currently, I have three. Wait, does my Xanga still count? ;) Or my old, old Xanga with the posts that I privatized? Haha!

The Oh House (formerly known as Two Ohs and a Dog, but now Four Ohs and a Dog live here, and it seems like a lot of work and confusion to update the number of Ohs and/or Dogs as life changes). I started this blog because I wanted a house. I was going to record all the things I wanted in that house, to do to that house, to buy for that house. Basically, I was probably just gonna copy links and ideas from ApartmentTherapy.com. And maybe make some mood boards. I thought it was for dreaming. Then we got pretty impatient, and very cramped, and we bought a house a lot quicker than we originally thought.
The Food Connoissorges. I came up with the name and concept before we were even married. I thought it would be really fun to experiment in the kitchen and write reviews of restaurants. And it is, we just didn't do it much. I'll probably never be a foodie, but I still would like to expand my horizons in the culinary world.
My personal finance blog. This one I won't post the name or URL, because, well it's personal. I love reading personal finance blogs. It's the area that I'd most like to gain knowledge. When I first started (back when we were saving for our house) it was a fantastic place for me to post budgets. Oh, budgets, how I love you.

If I committed to just one blog, I feel like maybe I'd actually commit to it, you know? I've recently started blogging almost daily, but before it was much more sporadic. I'd like to post regularly, so that I have a record of what's going on.

Which brings me to what would I blog about?

Well, it makes the most sense to me to keep The Oh House going. The title really encompasses a lot more than just home design. I could still post about that kind of stuff, but also throw in any cooking or baking I might like to share, and a little about personal finance. Of course, I wouldn't be super specific about finances, because even though my blog name is Mrs Oh, the few people who read this know who I am.

Which then brings me to, should I stay semi-anonymous? Like I said, people know who I am. But if strangers came across my blog, do I care if they know my first name? Do I care if they see pictures of my kid? Do I care if they know what city I live in? I'm really not sure.

I was about to type "If I stick with this blog, should I keep it on Blogger, or move it to Wordpress, or figure out how to put it on my own domain?"...but I just realized, I am sticking with this blog. I might "re-start" it, but The Oh House wins!

Stuff

2010-08-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

We have too much stuff. That's not really surprising, right? I think most people would agree that they have too much stuff if they really thought about it.

Luckily, our parish school is having a yard sale and is requesting donations to be dropped off next weekend. This means we have a deadline and a perfect place to send our stuff!

Stuff that I'd like to get rid of:

-Clothes (currently I share a closet with the baby and a dresser with the husband and we've gotta pare it down)
-Shoes (maybe some other large-footed woman out there will find happiness in my castaways)
-Bags/purses (once I get a new purse, I use it until I get another, I never really go back)
-Empty Photo Albums (I think I put about five in the box)
-Books and DVDs? (still thinking about these...)
and anything else that we won't miss

It was my goal today to go through all of our clothes, but I didn't even really start. I did however, wash four loads of laundry, finish dusting the Expedit bookshelf, help Mr. Oh organize our new kitchen and utilize our new cabinets, and started destroying the guest room closet in an attempt to clean it out.

Speaking of the guest room...I currently like two things about it:

1) A collage of Fresh Ink greeting cards that Mr Oh and I gave to each other during our dating years. (Sorry about the flash on the glass...I have no idea how to turn the flash off on our DSLR.)

2) The bedding.

Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll like a whole lot more of the room and give a full tour.

Series of Baby Photos

2010-08-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

I have decided to document our little girl's growth with series of photos.

The first series is her "by the weeks". Since she was born on a Friday, we take her photo each Friday. To keep a consistency with the theme, we put her on a giraffe playmat. Her outfit will change, and the actual location of the playmat may change . We normally take the photo in our entryway because of the natural light, but, for example, on her second Friday we ended up being stuck in the hospital while they started her on some heart medication.

This photo is when she was one week old. We used it for her birth announcement. What a cutie! My plan is to make a photo book after she turns one with just these weekly photos in it.

A second series of photos we started today, is our baby girl "by the months". I love our bedspread and thought it would make a great backdrop for each shot, especially if she was in a plain white onesie. After the 12th photo, I'll make it into a photo collage to frame. Here is our precious little one today, at one month!

And since we'd hate for this fun to end when she turns one, the final series will be "by the years". We haven't decided what will be the consistent prop in the photo, but it has to be something that will be easy, portable, and last for a very long time. We'll probably end up using a stuffed animal. Giraffes are our favorite. She has a giraffe driving a strawberry car that we bought at IKEA when we were pregnant. I like it because it's small and the strawberry has significance to a nickname. We also have a five-foot tall giraffe in the nursery that would be neat to use, but what if we end up being on vacation for her birthday? We wouldn't want to lug it around, and I hope to be as accurate as possible with the timing of the photos. I guess we have another 11 months to decide!

I got the idea for these series from two of my favorite bloggers: John and Sherry at Young House Love. Here's their post on how they take weekly photos of their darling girl.

China Cabinet

2010-08-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

We've been married almost two years, and until tonight, our china has resided in the department store boxes it was shipped in. We did pull out a few plates and the serving pieces for Easter this past year, but then back to the boxes they went.

Did you know china cabinets are expensive? Like, seriously expensive. We've done a LOT of furniture shopping in the past year, and even more furniture browsing, and every time, we look at china cabinets, hutches and sideboards. It seems like the ones we both like, that seem to match our dining room table, average about $1500 for new. We also have looked at antique and second-hand stores (where you can find ones in good condition for around $500), but never saw any that we liked too much.

I had occasionally checked Craigslist, but only once had a cabinet piqued our interest. It was an antique wardrobe with crosses carved on the front. The poster said it was made by monks. We were about to inquire about it, but it was fairly expensive, looked a little too large, and would require alteration in the interior to add shelves for dish storage.

Then, the other night, thanks to the Craigstlist app on my iPhone, I found one that I liked priced at $150. Yesterday, after emailing the seller and getting more info (like the fact she lived two blocks from us!), my brother-in-law (henceforth known as Uncle Oh) went with me to check it out. I still liked it, so we negotiated the price to $125, and Mr Oh and Uncle Oh went to pick it up today. The top hutch section wouldn't fit in our SVU, but the woman let them drive it over in her van.

They got it over, cleaned up a bit, and we put our china in it.

I really like the style. I'd call it...mid-century modern meets country? The hardware on the cabinets and drawers is my favorite.

Here's a shot of our china. It's Mikasa's Parchment.

We were going to register for the Parchment Blue, but it wasn't carried locally. It probably is better to have a very neutral palette, but I sure liked that blue.

Favorite Things: IKEA Expedit

2010-08-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Last night, when the baby was sleeping oh-so-nicely, and I couldn't seem to doze off, I made lists of things to blog about it. Unfortunately all of those ideas require photos I haven't taken or time I don't seem to have right now.

But as I was doing a little housecleaning this afternoon and evening, I saw all these things in my house that I love. A tea towel that hangs by my kitchen sink. The painting my brother-in-law created for our dining room. Two vacation photos blown up to poster size that hang in the living room. I thought I could make posts about my favorite things in my house...

The first large piece of furniture I have ever bought was an IKEA Expedit. They are one of the kings of bookcases. Just google image search it and see how versatile the storage options are.

I bought the Expedit before Mr Oh and I were even married, and he was the lucky one who got to live with it until our wedding day. (He also was the unlucky one who assembled it.)

This random old post shows the Expedit in our old place. There it held mostly books and a lot of dust. That is still pretty much its purpose in our current house.

Tonight I dusted about half of the thing. Although, first I dusted its entire little brother, which serves as our TV stand.

As much as I love our big Expedit, I doubt it will move on with us to our next house (whenever that may be). One, it was a pain to move. Once assembled, a lot of people do not recommend disassembling it for moving because it could affect it's stability. Two, as great as it is for storage, I'm not currently a great storager...meaning, it usually holds books that don't get read and picture frames that collect dust. Maybe someday I will use it more...usefully, but if not, I'll be fine with leaving the clutter behind.

The Expedit is one of my favorite things because it was my first big furniture purchase, it's from IKEA (which my husband describes as an amusement park with furniture), and it's tall - like me.

The Finished Kitchen

2010-08-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I had to admit to myself that my kitchen will never be as clean and clutter-free as I'd like for the big unveiling, so after I semi-cleaned up after making dinner and baking cookies tonight, I snapped these pictures.

View from the dining room.

View from the kitchen sink. (We still need to add our hardware to the cabinets.)

Pantry Organization

2010-08-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I should be posting the glorious "after" pictures of our kitchen improvement project, but the area is not quite as photogenic as I'd like it to be right now. :) You can catch a sneak peek at the painted cabinets and the laminate counter in this post, as I proudly show my organized pantry.

Our pantry is not the most attractive or functional closet, but hey, it's a place to put some food. I didn't take a picture of the terror inside the closet before I cleaned it out, but here is all the food piled up on our new countertop. Because our pantry had gotten so full and unorganized, it was easiest to just pull everything out and start from scratch.

When I put everything back in (welll, everything but the couple things that were no longer good...it's so embarrassing when nonperishables perish, right?), I grouped items by category. Top shelf = breakfast goods (cereal, pancake mix, oatmeal, jelly). Also on the little ledge on the top shelf's left side is our drink mixes (cold brew iced tea, Crystal Light knockoffs and Kool Aid). The second shelf has a few small groupings: items that are backup for the fridge (dip, mayo, relish), baking mixes, salad toppings and dressing, and then a nice pile of pudding and Jell-O boxes. The third shelf has all canned goods grouped in order of beans, vegetables, tomatos, soups. There's also ready-to-heat soups and more jars of peanut butter than any house should need at one time.

The last shelf is a little more mish-mash...from left to right: crackers, gnocchi (one of our favorite pastas and a super easy meal), boxed meals (like Hamburger Helper), boxed sides (like scalloped potatoes), broth, bread crumbs, and taco shells. In the middle we have sauces (one marinara and three alfredo, oddly enough) and the basket contains things for baking (food coloring, icing, cupcake liners, and birthday candles).

The very bottom of the closet contains a metal kitchen cart that we've had forever. Previous to this makeover, the bottom of the pantry held lots of useful things like a dish drainer we never use, several bottles of flat soda, piles of plastic bags, and four bottles of margarita mix. Sticking this cart in there was the only way I could get several more food items stored properly. The top pull-out drawer has pastas, the second and biggest has bags of chips, and the bottom drawer hold potatoes and onions. Now, when I say "sticking this cart in there", I really mean "taking the thing apart and reassembling because it wouldn't fit through the door frame". Really, I just had to take off the wooden top and screw it back on once the metal frame was inside. Although, it was more difficult than I thought, and I only put one screw in each corner, when there should be three. The thing's a bit wobby and I'll probably crawl in there someday soon when someone else is around to hold the baby. Or, I guess I could just wait until she's old enough to crawl in there and do it for me! ;)

2010-08-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

The base cabinets installed...

An Open Floor Plan

2010-08-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos with the wall gone. It was so weird seeing the rooms like this for the first time!

Kitchen Re-do

2010-08-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

We have a U-shaped kitchen, and it's pretty tiny. When two adults are in there trying to cook, clean, or just grab a drink, it's hard not to run into one another. Things got especially crowded when you tried to throw in another person* or complete large tasks, like getting ready for a big party.

To help open things up and provide much needed counter and cabinet space, we decided to knock out a wall.

This wall:

This view is from standing with my back to the kitchen sink. To my right is the fridge, to the left is the dishwasher and stove/oven. The door on the right in the picture is to our pantry. It desperately needs a makeover. That is a task for another day.

Another view:

In this shot you can into the dining room. It's the room through the doorframe on the left. Straight ahead, past the fridge, is one entrance into our big living area. It used to be a two-car garage but the previous owners converted it.

Here is the dining room side of the wall. You can see the entrance into the kitchen area on the right. Technically our dining room is the living room (because technically the living room was a garage), and there is another dining spot next to the kitchen. It's a small little table that nestles so nicely next to our bay window.

And there, the last shot of the wall before it is history....

*Speaking of another person...our household has doubled recently! Not only did we welcome our baby girl three weeks ago, but Mr Oh's brother moved in. He'll live with us while he's going to school this year.

Preparing for Mary

2010-07-04T13:48:00.001-07:00

Our daughter is due to arrive in about two and a half weeks.

Mr Oh brought up the idea of settling into a routine of family prayer once we have a child. We decided to make a place in our house where we could sit and pray the rosary, both in English and Spanish, once a week.

So, we went to a local Catholic bookstore and bought a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

We found a corner shelf on sale at another store and set it up in our dining room.

And we ordered some prayer booklets online.

After throwing in some other books we owned, a candle, and some fresh flowers...our little altar is set!

One Year

2010-06-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

Skimming over the few posts I've made on this blog, I realized that we have owned our home for one year! Boy, has the time flown.

I clearly have slacked in the blogging department (I also have a food blog and a personal finance blog that have been neglected), but I hope to get in the habit of posting much more frequently.

To start us off again, here is a picture of the room that currently gets most of our attention...

...the nursery! That's right. I'm just three weeks away from our little girl's due date. :)

Three Hours Later...

2009-10-25T22:17:00.001-07:00

Our main bathroom is painted light green. I want to buy a new shower curtain that will go with the current color.
As you can see, our current shower current is a little...odd. I found it at Urban Outfitters and loved it so much that I bought it when I lived in the dorms and didn't even have a place to put it. We have candid shots from our wedding displayed there, but since we've been married over a year, it's probably okay to move on.
Scentsy is all the rage, at least with my mom. She gave me this cute one just in time for Halloween.
A random shot from months ago. This is our Expedit at our old place, the carhole. Makes me want to go tidy up the shelves right now!
On our first real trip together, Mr Oh and I stayed in a really cute carriage house. I loved the tiny kitchen, especially the tomato print.

Well, there, I posted pictures. None that really showcased how much cleaning I did (hrrmmm, wonder why), but still , it's something. :)

A Fun Sunday Evening at The Oh House

2009-10-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

It's time for some hard-core cleaning.
Will post pictures in three hours.

Wish List

2009-09-06T13:32:00.001-07:00

Found here via ohdeedoh
Found here via somewhere else...

Favorite Couch

2009-08-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

This sofa, the one I've been crushing on for almost a year, is now available for $500. This is a floor model and includes the two ottomans.

I'm trying to convince myself that we need it, but I fear I'm losing the battle.

Big Purchases

2009-08-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I haven't posted recently. I think owning a home makes dreaming about one unnecessary. I do want to get back in the groove of posting what I'd like to eventually see in my own home, though. Until then...feast your eyes of what we've already done:

Now that most of our big purchases have been made, I'm ready for fun small ones! Accessorizing will commence soon.

All Moved In

2009-07-15T21:36:00.001-07:00

Well, we've been homeowners for a little over two weeks now.

Signed the papers and forked over the cash on June 29th.

Mr Oh and I slept ate pizza and slept on an air mattress that first night. It was honestly one of the happiest moments of my life. I'm so excited that we have a home together.

We lived with the very bare essentials (like cable) for that first week, and had two trips with the UHaul on July 5th.

Now we've got everything in our giant house (giant because it's three times the space of our last place), and we're adding more.

Dropped a pretty penny on dining room furniture and a king-size mattress set today.

Here's one little glance of the house...

Bought that at an antique place not too far from here. Saw it before we moved, and thought $40 wasn't bad for something cute and useful. Then, it dropped to $28. Mr wants to paint it black, but I think it just needs a good cleaning. We'll see...

Future Purchase?

2009-06-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

I would really like to maybe possibly buy this for a wall in the kitchen.
Yippee-ai-kai-yay.

Alphabet Fun

2009-06-13T21:42:00.000-07:00

I read all of the sites on apartmenttherapy.com. Even though I don't have kids yet, I like ohdeedoh.com a lot. Recently they've featured some neat alphabet prints.

This one is my favorite:

The link they give isn't really helpful, but they also state it's "Animalphabet by Sigrid Martinez."

Another animal one:

I like the primary colors. It can be purchased at this etsy shop.

A personalized one:
made at another etsy shop.

This final alphabet image, isn't just a cute print, it's an AWESOME cabinet, with 26 little drawers.

Sold here. Discovered here.

To-Buy List

2009-06-09T21:35:00.001-07:00

Mr Oh and I don't own a lot of furniture. This will be more obvious when we move into a place three times as big as our current abode.

Major pieces we have and will move with us:

couch
coffee table
small dining table with five chairs
desk
small bookshelf
giant ikea shelf
tall chest of drawers
headboard
long dresser w/mirror
small vanity
cedar chest
futon
two kitchen carts (probably will be repurposed...)
tv stand

One major item that we're missing...

a bed!

We currently sleep on a full-size bed that has seen better days. It came with our garage apartment, and it will be left here. Not only is it old and ratty, it doesn't have the best support. We tend to roll towards the middle, which doesn't help the small bed issue. Our dog (a fairly large lab mix) sleeps with us during thunderstorms, and it gets tooooo cozy. We plan to buy a queen after we move. Or maybe a king...? That seems a little too big, but it also has its appeal.

We might use our current headboard for a guest room, and buy a new bed after we buy a mattress set.

Mr. Oh likes massive, ornate beds & sleigh beds.
I like fairly simple ones & hate footboards that are taller than the mattress.

We've been furniture browsing a few times recently, and we've agreed on a few. Hopefully when it's time to buy, we'll agree AND find a good deal!

A Place to Eat

2009-06-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

The house was appraised yesterday, next week there will be inspections...it's all rolling along.

We're thinking about how we want to use the space, what furniture we'll eventually want.

There's not a huge dining space, but there are two living areas, so one could be a designated dining room, but I'm afraid it may look awkward. My grandmother owns this console table that pulls out into a full-length table. It can probably sit 7-8 people. It even has folding chairs that store inside! If we did something like that, it would keep the room very flexible.

Googling "console dining table" gets a couple results, but I need to look a little more.

Our first contract...

2009-05-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

We are currently negotiating an offer on this house:

Kinda crazy to think that we could be moving in a month!

Online browsing

2009-05-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have a recent thing where I want to own a chaise lounge.

Here are some I found online:

The Delta Storage Chaise Lounge. This one is available in two colors - brown (shown) and tan. I think I prefer the tan. Cost + shipping = $389.99. It got good reviews, and who doesn't love extra storage?
Custom Lincoln Chaise from JCPenney. Tons of color choices and can be either microfiber or velvet. Also can be either right-armed or left-armed. It's $499 + shipping (which is free today).The Taylor Chaise Lounge. Totally different, but perhaps more versatile. Tons of color choices. I dig this "pool" one. Cost (with shipping) is $519.99.

Maybe this is it??

2009-05-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

Although we don't have our 20% yet (it's so close we can smell it!), Mr. Oh and I got sucked in and have had two appointments to see this house:

I am really liking it. We're pre-approved for the mortgage. Now we've just got to really talk about it. If we made an offer really soon, we'd most likely borrow some cash from my in-laws. We would be able to pay them back in just a couple months. Or, since the house has been on the market for over three months already, we may just sit on it awhile. Who knows? All I know is that this could get exciting.

Bookends

2009-05-14T09:17:00.001-07:00

I've been a fan of bookends for a few years now. We have several sets, but it's always fun to look at more...from Target
from Target from Amazon

A Bicycle Built for Two

2009-05-07T07:20:00.001-07:00

Mr Oh gave me a red tandem bike as a wedding present.

Someday I'd like to create a piece of artwork similar to this:(picture via AT via PB)

One idea is to take a photo of the bicycle and then let Kinko's work some magic.

orange

2009-04-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

My favorite color tends to be a blue/green variation, but orange is also fun...

this is an amazing price ($36) from urban outfitters:

etsy people also have the cutest things:

I came across both items via apartmenttherapy.com.

Macy's Sofa

2009-04-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

When Mr Oh and I shopped for a sofa a few months ago, Macy's was out of our price range.

Today we walked through their furniture department after buying a gift for my mom (Mother's Day is coming up soon!), and I saw that one of my favorite sofas was on sale:

Only $599.

Ours was $260, but it's not quite that pretty. Here it is, in it's old spot, right after we bought it:

It's now sitting along another wall, and has a much more fun rug at its feet.

Someday I'll get a new couch. Maybe even a fun "Oasis"-colored couch.
We'll see....

Future Project

2009-04-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

This post, from my new favorite blog, is something I want to remember when I have a kitchen with more wall space.

(photo and brilliance courtesy of this woman)

I'd love to be able to write the menu on such a pretty chalkboard!

A Little Premature

2009-04-14T13:50:00.001-07:00

I know Mr Oh and I are waiting awhile before we try for a Baby Oh, but I still can't help but keep my eyes on the lookout for things that would be great in a nursery.

Like this:

from etsy

Home and $$$

2009-04-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Mr Oh and I are officially aiming to buy a house before December 1, 2009. One huge incentive is the $8000 tax credit for home buyers, of course. There was much debate and discussion between the two of us, as well as with family, about whether buying this year is a smart move. We can see the pros and cons to both, but have just decided that it is now our goal. Hopefully, if it's the right thing to do, we'll still feel this way in the fall.

Now that we have this lofty goal, we are determined to save like madmen. We've been tracking our money for the past three months, and I feel like we've been smart with our purchases. But now it's time to kick it up a notch. Now we're actually BUDGETING! Odds are that our first month of budgeting won't look too pretty, but I'm confident that we'll still be able to put a nice chunk away into our "Let's Buy a House" fund. Because we need around 25% of the home's value (for the down payment and other closing costs), we have to be diligent every single month. The faster we can stock our fund, the sooner we can seriously look for a home.

Another big factor in this decision is our tax refund. Yes, I know I'm supposed to hate tax refunds because giving the government an interest-free loan is not financially smart. But it's hard to hate when you get back $150 PLUS all that was withheld. What the $#@^$#@?? In the very near future, when both Mr and I are bankin' it up, I'll be furious with the fact that there are people who make sufficient income, yet pay no federal taxes. Our system is seriously screwed up. But, like I said, this year it benefits us GREATLY and I'll keep my mouth shut.

This isn't really a blog for me to write about finances, but since I got a little off-topic last post, why not keep it going?...

As Mr Oh and I sat down to go over our April 2009 Budget, we decided to open a few more accounts. Originally we had the following:

Primary Checking Account - Mr's checks are deposited into here and this is the money we live off of. Rent is paid from this money. Groceries are bought. Etc etc.
Primary Credit Card - I say that we hardly ever use this, but we did charge my tuition in January (and paid it off in full that month!) and we did use it a lot in March (to buy plane tickets and almost all of our travel expenses for another trip - lodging, food, knick knacks). We paid it off in full again. The reason we've used it for some more expensive items is because it has a rewards program. It's nothing terribly fantastic, but we can redeem points for fun stuff like restaurant gift cards and movie passes. I'm so frugral that paying for meals out irks me, and this is a nice way to treat ourselves. (Our primary checking account is tied to this rewards program, but only earns half the amount of points.)
Secondary Checking Account - My measly paychecks are deposited in here. It's considered our emergency fund, but it's not so funded, so hopefully no emergencies arise!
Checking Account We Need to Close - It's my old account (under my maiden name). There's only about $100 in it. You know, I think Mr has an old account too...but with around $1.00 in it! :) We should really close these and throw the cash into....
Let's Buy a House Fund - This is through ING Direct. I still love ING, but the interest rates are so pathetic now. :( Why, oh why, were they great when I had NO money??
Europa 2010 - This is where we keep the money (through ING) that we'll use when we go on our trip to Spain and Italy (hopefully in January 2010). It's sitting pretty good, thanks to the generosity of wedding guests, but still needs a little more for cushion.

The new accounts we opened are:

Insurance/Travel Savings - We pay for our auto and renters' insurance every six months, so needed a place to stash the cash as we go. Also, it was just a convenience place to include money for travel plans other than Europe. (There are two out-of-state weddings we hope to attend this year.) The convenience stems from the fact that it's linked to our primary checking account & primary credit card, so if we do make semi-big purchases for traveling purposes, we can quickly re-locate the money.
Car Fund - Yet another ING savings account! I am a huge fan of paying cash for a car, so we've gotta save. You never know when your ride will up and die. We'll set aside a set amount each month (only dipping in it for repairs/maintenance of our current cars) and hopefully it will be funded by the time we need to purchase.

New account we will open at the end of April:

Gift Fund - Don't you hate it when there are eight weddings in May? PLUS Mother's Day and graduations? Some months are much more costly than others (think December & Christmas versus March). In order to spread out the expenses, we want to start a gift fund.

Wow. I hadn't even counted them up. Nine (technically) separate accounts. Might seem like a lot to keep up with, but I love the organization.

In an effort to actually tie budgeting into homes/housing/this blog, let me conclude with this:

I think it is very very important to have control of your finances. If you don't, it's harder to enjoy life. I'm not saying you have to be rich. Just have control. If you dictate where your money goes (for having a nice home, cooking meals for friends) rather than always owing (student loans that last longer than your career, credit cards that paid for unnecessary purchases), you've gotta be happier, right?

And if you're happy, your home is happy.

Cohabitating

2009-04-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough, the discussion of living with a significant other before marriage has come up quite frequently in recent days.

A family member is quite concerned that an in-law has plans to move in with her boyfriend.

A lifelong friend answered on a questionnaire: "What’s your goal for the year? move in with ______ and get married in the near future"

A fun blogger that I read is considering the positive financial aspects of moving in with her boyfriend.

I've always had the thought that living together before marriage increases your chance of divorce by 50%.

Maybe that's the old rule of thumb? I just googled it and learned something new. Click here for loads of info. Apparently, odds do increase in certain scenarios, but might DECREASE in others.

I'm against cohabitating before marriage regardless of what it does to your risk of divorce. But that's not that surprising, because I'm against sex before marriage (for multiple reasons).

However, if you're fine with sex before marriage, why not live together? It's a good question. What's the difference, really?

Mr Oh and I have been married for almost six months. That means we've lived together for almost six months. It's neat to share something so important. We both live here, so we both have to contribute. It's OUR place. And even though we're just renting (for now...), it's important that we share ideas so that we're both happy here (for now....).

I think being married makes the whole living together process much more exciting, special, and comforting. So many things are new, but they're new to both of you. It's a fun experience. I recommend it. :)

Living in 600 sq ft

2009-03-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

"Since 1950, the average new house has increased by 1,247 sq. ft. Meanwhile, the average household has shrunk by 1 person."

(For more fun facts, click HERE. It's actually a little outdated, since it's from a 2005 article, but just google the topic to find lots of information. Oh! And click HERE to check out where we got our cute painting.)

We currently live in a detached apartment converted from a 2-car garage. Part of the space was left unfinished to serve as storage and a workspace for our landlord (my brother-in-law). The actual living space amounts to 600 sq ft. This includes a living room, a narrow bathroom with a shower/tub combo, a life-saving linen closet/pantry/catch-all, a cute kitchen, a bedroom "area", and a walk-in closet/laundry room.

Since there's just two of us (and the dog, of course), it works. Sometimes we do feel cramped, of course. I really just think that's because we have too much STUFF, not that we don't have enough space. Although, it would be fantastic to have room to actually sit down at the table for a meal.

When we look at houses, with the idea of buying one someday (maybe this year??), I wonder about the size. We've kind of settled on 1500 sq ft as a minimum. We'd like 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Is that crazy? One bedroom would be for us (and the dog, of course), one would be reserved for guests, and the other would probably serve as an office. Not that either one of us really "work" at home. I guess it would just be a place to stash the laptop and my craft stuff. Maybe that's where we could fit a piece of exercise equipment, too. (Anyone wanna buy me an elliptical machine??) The 2 bathrooms would be ideal for when we have guests stay over. But how often would that happen? Once or twice a month, tops?

I probably scare my husband when I think about living in a small-ish space when we move. I just worry about the costs of heating/cooling, plus the upkeep, plus the money it will take to fill these rooms with furniture! Plus, I dunno. Small = cozy. And it's hard not to spend time together when you don't really have anywhere to escape! :)

Game Time

2009-03-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

Someday, I'd like a playroom for my (future) kids. And on the floor, I'd like this rug...

..but on the rug, I'd prefer a Lab over a Dalmatian, of course!

Scrabble is the best!

The rug is available here.

Must-haves

2009-03-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

If we were to buy a house today...what are some things it must have?

1. A garage. Preferably two.
2. A nice backyard, one conducive to entertaining. Even if we have to put in a deck or patio.
3. An open-feeling.
4. A basement or storm shelter.
5. A good location, of course! We still have no clue regarding the area where we want to buy, but I just hope it's convenient for everything: visiting family, work (for both of us), a couple stores, church. It's not fun to spend lots of time driving every day.

The Spring Cure

2009-03-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with apartmenttherapy.com.

I love the beautiful photos and learning about new products or ideas.

I hate that there's so much content it's hard to keep up with and the fact that a lot of comments are snobby or rude.

However, I did receive this book for Christmas and will be participating in the so-called "cure".

I sure hope it helps -- Mr and I need motivation to live here longer!

The Pop In

2009-03-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Mr and I popped into a couple of open houses today.

The first one intrigued us both a little. It's located in a decent area, and it's very close to where I may end up working in a few months.

$120,900
4 bed, 2 1/2 bath
~2000 sq ft
The hall bathroom had double sinks and a swinging door separating them from the toilet and bath. I would definitely change the swinging door into one that was a saloon-style. Those are so fun in bathrooms.The kitchen, like most of the house, needs updating. Almost everything is original to the house (circa 1962). The second oven, which you can't see in the photo, is a lovely turquoise that matches the sink. Actually, I kinda like the sink. We would have to basically re-do the entire kitchen, though, and that would cost a lot of moolah.

We said if the price were closer to 100 grand, we'd make an offer, but we're not really serious. We don't even have 20% of that saved yet!

Breaking Ground

2009-03-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

I've always loved houses. When I was younger I wanted to be an architect or an interior designer. Too bad I grew up and chose a different career.

Fortunately, there's always room for creativity at home.

This blog will hopefully serve a few purposes:

encourage me to improve upon our current living situation
document our journey into homeownership
keep organized design ideas for future use