Spreading the love!

Our first Christmas in our new house!!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Lofstuen's!

Me and Molly! Merry Christmas!
Me and Peanut! Merry Christmas!
Michael and Peanut riding on his shoulder!

Mike doing some Destruction oops I mean construction!

That's a big hole!

Lots more pictures!

Cool new sign I got and a wedding gift I finally can hang up!
The girls!

Garage my side is on the left!
Our house from the side.
The side, and front!
Breezway/fridge!
Breezway door to the garage!

Freezer!
Our back yard!
More backyard!
Oooo the upstairs!
Garage!

PICTURES!!!

Moving Day! The HUGE truck!
Mike the HUGE truck driver!
Having fun going for a ride around the block, in the HUGE truck!
Michael riding in the middle of the HUGE truck!
Before we moved! This is pretty much our whole lives in the living room!
Molly, in the HUGE truck!
This is just the beginning...
Michael moving stuff!
Mom, taking a rest in the NEW house! This is what we call the bonus room!

Carrie's Birthday Shot! Thank you Cassy for doing that with me! And thank you Jack Daniels for being so smoooooth!
Getting punchy, it's about 1 am and we just got finished moving stuff in!
Just having fun!
The girls, staying outta the way!
SO LITTLE!

I'm very proud of this wreath! I've always wanted to have a real one and now I do!
My beautiful Christmas Tree! (and Peanut!)
My washer and dryer!! I'm glad Mike dropped the dryer, it doesn't squeak anymore!

1/3rd of the BONUS ROOM!!!

Where did Tuesday go?

Tuesday is over and I should be happy but I didn't get anything done! I had to make dip for work, so I did that. I made dinner for Mike and I, so I did that, I decorated the rest of the Christmas tree, I had the cool new ornaments that I got at Yonkers to put up, so I did that. I don't really recall what I did after that, alot of scuffling around trying to decide what to do with myself, and next thing you know it was time to go to bed. And I hadn't unpacked a single box that I should have! I think I will just put everything in the basement and buy all new stuff as I need it! SOOOOO much easier! We were planning on going to the recycling center last night and take a whole bunch of boxes, but I forgot! We still don't have a stove or fridge! Makes life interesting that's for sure! My life is a lot more boring now that we've gotten moved and I like it. But it won't be for long, Mike has his eyes on which wall he's going to tear down first! It's exciting and scary all in the same! I can see it now going a little to far and hit a water pipe, water spraying everywhere, a 10,000 dollar plumbing bill! I'm already stressing about it! Ha-ha! Ok I will try and get those pics uploaded tonight!

Finally, a moment to breath

Hello everybody, hello everybody, hello and how are you?

Well we got pretty much everything moved! Wow it was one of the craziest days of my life! We got almost everything into one truck! The boys and Laura went back for a second trip and to pick up some much needed booze! I think we had everything pretty much wrapped up by about midnight and finally had a few mins to relax. It was great! But we were so tired we didn't' want to drive the truck back to Cedar Falls so we made the crazy decision to get up in the morning to have it gassed up and back by 8am! We did it! After that we went right back home and went to bed! We were still so exhausted! I got up about 1 and Mike slept in until 3:30, the man can sleep! I was seriously overwhelmed by everything there was to do that day and about started to cry! And we didn't get the TV hooked up yet so I really didn't have any distraction to help me relax so I started to do some unpacking. Thanks to my mom and Laura who pretty much unpacked my whole kitchen and got everything set up, that was a huge project I didn't have to do! Thanks guys! I also want to say thank you to my Dad, with out ya we would have never gotten everything in one day! Thanks for you support when I went into panic mode!

I GOT MY TREE UP! And the house decorated for Christmas! I know that may not seem like the most important thing to do when you have a house full of boxes, but our house now feels like home! We still don't have a fridge or stove yet so cooking has been interesting! But it's also been easy, lots of frozen pizza, it makes me thankful that Iowa is a frozen tundra sometimes because our patio is our freezer and our breezeway is our fridge! It's been quite interesting!

Monday was great! We went to The Readlyn Telephone company and got our phone, cable, and Internet hooked up. Went to city hall to pick up our garbage rules, and went to the Post Office to get our PO BOX! Then we came into town so Mike could finish up working on his Blazer (yay it works! Finally!), and to go pick our a garbage can! We went to Lowe's and spent way to much money, but I got a real wreath, which I decorated with white lights and a big red bow that I hung on the front door! It look so pretty! I took a picture and am going to try and get a whole bunch uploaded tonight! I will try! We are going to try and take a Christmas photo to! Well today I am back at work but really don't want to be. Thank goodness I only have to work 4 days this week and then I have next week off! Whoo Hoo! I hope to finish unpacking and start some painting! Wow it's already overwhelming me! HELP!

Moving Day!!!

HI! We finally closed on our house at 5 last night! It was up in air until then! But it finally has happened for us! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's Moving day! It's crazy around here!!! We have more stuff in our little duplex than I could ever imagine! Thanks to my family we have helpers and a few of our friends have been stopping by when they have time! We got the hugest moving truck it so fun to ride in it! I am in the midst of it all right now and this is my break! So I will write again on Tuesday when I am back to work! Love you all and I can't wait to see you all soon!

We've got High Hopes!

Well I am feelin good! They are going to overnight our deed back to us and are trying to arrange the closing for Friday! WHOO HOO!! I think that I am getting my hopes up again but come on people, if I don't then I will still be sad, and do any of you wanna be around a sad Carrie?? I didn't think so! I don't like being a sad Carrie! I am very disappointed that they couldn't pull it off tomorrow, you would think they would considering all we have been through, so sorry to all of our moving helpers, there will be more to move on Saturday then originally planned. I can't wait, I hope tomorrow I'm not writing another FRUSTRATED blog! :) Happy Hump Day!

Bad Day, almost over...FINALLY

Well this bad day is almost over. I can't even believe what we have been through. But I really need to stop whining and grow up and be a big girl. I DON'T WANNA! I really wanna throw myself on the floor on my back and start kicking my feet and pounding my fists on the floor until my mom buys me the candy that I want at the grocery store. Oh poo. We I was sitting here thinking that I really should be thankful that we are able to buy a home. We are finally going to be moving out of our first place of our own that we rented :( and into our first place that we OWN! HOORAY! I need to be thankful to all of the people who made this possible. I would like to thank my fans, with out you I would be nothing. I would like to thank my Mom, you are my best friend. Thank you dad for all of the good advise, you may have made me cry but only cause I knew you were right. Thank you to everyone who reads this, I get to vent to you, and I need that! It is sounding more and more like we will be closing sometime this week but it's still possible it could be next week. See the problem is, the bank in California doesn't understand that there are real people involved in this deal. They haven't signed the deed yet. That is all we are waiting for. They knew about a month ago we were going to get this house, how come they didn't sign it then?? HUM HUM HUM!!!!! Well I guess they sent them the deed via e-mail today and all they have to do is sign it and send it back, lets see how long this will take! Girrr!! I'm really trying to remain positive, but come on, it would be probably the worst birthday ever if we didn't move on it! OK! Thanks again for all of your feedback. You are all still welcome to come visit, if we ever move!

WHAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG?

FYI

Were not closing Today, my life offically SUCKS...wait, were getting snow! I love that! Makes me alot more happy! HOORAY! DRIVE CAREFUL EVERYONE!

FRUSTRATION!!!!!!!!!

I AM FRUSTRATED AND NEVER EVER EVER WANNA BUY A HOUSE AGAIN! I just heard that they may postpone our closing date! It's supposed to be tomorrow! AHHHHH! This just sucks, I had everything arranged with the Utilities company's to have everything switched tomorrow. Mike took off the rest of the week after tomorrow. We need to be out of our Duplex! This is so frustrating! Apparently a second Abstract appeared out of thin air and they have to make sure that it is clear. I know this is for our own safety but COME ON PEOPLE! Seriously, shouldn't we have checked on this I dunno, LAST WEEK! I figured out that we put the offer in on the house back in October. This has gone on long enough! I want to scream or cry or both at the same time!!!!!!!!!! HELP!

WE PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS!

Wow! I feel a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders! We passed our re-inspection and termite certification! Whoo hoo! We close on Tuesday, December 11Th! That's only a few days away! I'm just so excited I could burst! But...we haven't really packed much lately so that really sucks! And I work tonight until 7 at the kitchen shop, Mike works tomm. all day, and I work Sunday afternoon. NO PACKING TIME WHATSOEVER! So if anyone knows the packing fairy, please send her my way! Also, I have been trying to deny it but...I'm sick! I have a terrible cold! It is keeping me down, that's for sure! Last night it hit me like a box of rocks. I just can't function correctly. I'm sitting here at work and pretty much just staring at my computer trying to remember my password. On top of it all I have a tooth ache too. Oh listen to me whine, I'm getting my first house for goodness sake! I can't wait to have you all over to visit and give the grand tour to! We have alot of work ahead of us but we will conquer this 100 year old house, we will! Right now, I'm the most excited to get our animals in there. Peanut has never seen a house so big, I think she will run herself until she can't run anymore! It's going to be soooooo darn cute! And I'm pretty sure we wont see the kitty for a few days, moving down the street was very traumatic for her. I think she cried for 48 hours. I do think once she gets adjusted, she will really like it there, lots of windows to look out (lots of windows to replace!). We have also been really lucky lately, Mike's mom is going to give us her fridge, and a guy Mike works with is giving us a chair and foot stool, and Jean is giving me a big Christmas tree! YAY! We love free stuff! Any one else that has a furniture or ya know a stove we would love to take if off your hands! haha! Well I hope everyone has or is having a great weekend! I'm going to busy! :)

Going as planned?

Good news! Something is going right for us! Our contractor is finishing up this morning on the house! I'm am so excited to go to the walk through tonight I could just pee my pants! Te hehe!
Mike is going to the Omega sale when he gets off work to see if he can find us a really nice cabinet for the upstairs bathroom, so wish us luck! OK I will post more pics after tonight! yay!!!
Oh and our place is for rent if anyone wants to live in a one bedroom duplex! lol!

As Promised!

Wudda weekend

Happy Monday!

We had quite an eventful weekend!

Friday went like this:

Mike took 1/2 day off work so he could go help demo the bathroom, the only problem was that the other bank hadn't released for us to go into house, so our contractor couldn't start! So Mike got a nap! That is until we heard at about 2:30 that we had the go ahead to get started! So Mike and Michael headed out to Readlyn and I went to my other handy dandy job at the Kitchen Shop! Whoo we were sure busy! After work I headed out to Readlyn to check on the boys progress! And wow! They had pretty much demolished the upstairs bathroom floor! It was amazing! Adam and Cassie stopped by for a little bit to check out our crib. Shortly there after we headed back to Cedar Falls. Mike and I went out to dinner (Crappy Chinese) and picked up Tony. As soon as I plopped in my chair, I was out like a light! Mike got me up about midnight to go to bed!

Saturday was just so...bah!

Saturday morning, Mike and I got up bright and early, 8! We got ready to head out of town and get some real work done on the house. Also our contractor was there and we wanted to check in with him! The only problem was the terrible weather we were having! It was so cold and sleeting, freezing rain, snowing etc! But we braved the elements and went to Readlyn. When we got there it was 10! Jeff (our contractor) had completed the demo process on the bathroom floor and uninstalled the sink and toilet. It looked great! But due to the weather he decided to call it a day. So we went to the store and got Paint and accessories and worked our tails off and got alot done, the only problem was that when you opened the window, your face was filled with snow! So we got as much done as we could. After all that we finally headed home about 2 and I took my place in my cozy warm chair and the boys went after some Papa Murpheys Pizza! Mmm so good! We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching movies! After the wonderfully relaxing afternoon, we had to go to walmart and get the rest of the painting supplies we needed. Walmart on a wintery night is always fun! After that we had to pick up the girls from Auntie Laura's house, she was in charge of them for the day! I don't think they wanted to leave! I know they will be much happier in the new house with all the room to run and play!

Sunday-The day of non-rest

Sunday! I hate Sundays! It's the end of the weekend! Can't have any fun! Especially when you have to work! Ok so it's not as bad as I make it sound. It's Monday, defiantly worse! Ha-ha! OK well when I went to work Mike and Michael headed back out to Readlyn to see what they could finish up. After I got off work at about 4, I was summoned to Readlyn to smell our house, Mike did some minor cleaning and check out Adam and Cassy's awesome Christmas tree! Or should I say Holiday Tree...NOT! We had fun! Mike so conveniently got a flat tire, no big deal you say?? Oh that's not they way anything goes for us! Of course Mike's tire wouldn't come off! Well we got some fix-a-flat and he made it home and back to work this AM, lets see how long this lasts, he just needs to make it home from work today so he can use his impact wrench to get the stinkin' thing off! Wow! Wudda weekend. I am going to try and get the demo pics up from the bathroom tonight!

Guess who's coming to dinner???

OK! So Mike and I were able (with the handy advice from my daddy) pull the money together! Whoo Hoo! This means after the repairs are made and it is re-inspected by the FHA, we close 12-11! Just 4 days before my birthday! What a great present for me! I don't even think I will be sad about moving on my birthday! OK, so we all know that this is not final until we have key in hand, but we are remaining positive! So who's coming over to visit first??

WOW!

OK, quick update! We had the estimate done for the work on the house! It's not looking to bad, just another $1200 dollars we have to pull outta our asses! Well just pray that it will appear on our door steps asap! Sounds like the contractor is starting on Friday and we are going to try and get in tonight to start ripping things apart! It sounds exciting to me! I also took lots more pictures! I will try and post them sooooooon! So if anyone knows a magic Jeanie, give them my number! :)

It's been so long I know!

The girls just love the snow!
Peanut's First Snow
J.J.!!!!




Lets just say be glad I chose not to blog during the last 2 weeks. Things have been going terribly with our house! It has been quite a roller coaster, no it's been an amusement park because we keep getting off one roller coaster and keep getting on another! As it sits today, we are completely up in the air. We are waiting for the other bank to approve us going in and fixing a few things for the FHA loan. And we were supposed to close today 11/27, not going to happen! I'm pretty sure anyway! But I honestly don't care when we close just as long as we get to soon! Other than that life has been crazy as well!




With all this house stuff me working 2 jobs isn't working, but I'm trying to make it work! I keep forgetting when I signed up for what days! GIRRR!! I swear! Ok so we've actually been trying to lay low with friends and stuff lately, well until this weekend anyway! Wow I don't even know where to start!

Wednesday

Well Mike had Wednesday off, as well as the rest of my fam, but no I had to work! Ha-ha! WE HAD OUR FIRST SNOW!!! And do I ever love the snow!!! It was also Peanut's first snow to! So we had fun taking them out and playing in it. After I got off work, we went over to Mike's moms and picked her up. We headed out to cross-roads mall, there was a particular purse that I just had to have and had been dreaming about for a week! So we went and got it! We also looked at and sprayed all the perfumes that they had out for the holidays! It was fun! After that we dropped Mike's mom off at home and headed over to Mom and Dads to see Sarah, Shane, and J.J.! I was so excited I could hardly sit still! When we finally got there we had so much fun! We ate tacos and talked, then Sarah and Shane left me with J.J. for a little while and we had a very traumatic diaper changing experience! After that we played and played and played! It was fun! Finally it was time for Mommy and Daddy to come home and J.J. to go to beddy bye. We adults stayed up and watched License to Wed! GREAT MOVIE!! After the movie Mike and I headed out, we still had to hit the store and get ingredients for Cranberries and Sweet Potatoes! When we got home it was like 1:30am, and here I was, makin' the dang cranberries! We finally headed to bed at 2:30!

Thursday (T. Day)

Even after staying up so late making cranberries, I set my alarm and woke up at 9 to watch the parade! But then I got hungry about 10, so I said screw it and made a great breakfast!
For the girl who doesn't like breakfast...it was awesome! French toast, hash browns, sausage, eggs! Oh yeah baby! I made Mikey wake up for breakfast and he was cranky, so he ate and went back to sleep. The rest of the day was me bathing, Molly bathing, me making sweet potatoes (scratch yum!) and Mike finally getting up to play with me! We headed over to Mom and Dads to have dinner! What a build up, we wait all year for a meal that essentially lasts about 30 mins! This year was extra fun because we had J.J. with us at dinner! He also said his first word on Turkey day, guess what it was??? Turkey! More like TURK-EY! It was so cute! My mom had him saying puppy by the days end to! And by the time they left on Friday he was so good at saying Turk-ey that he didn't wanna stop! He's just so sweet, he wasn't even afraid of Mike for long like most baby's are! And they sure played and played! We had a really nice time on Thanksgiving and I can't wait for Christmas!

Black Friday

We did it! We got up early and went out into the crowds and shopped! Sarah, Mike, and I all got up early and braved the cold! We drove separate so we could fit all the stuff we wanted to get in our cars! Mike dropped me off at Kohls and I met up with Sarah so she could get a Magic Bullet. We waited in line to pay for like 45 mins to and hour! Mike headed over to Menards to get started on getting the things we wanted gathered together! He said it was nuts, people we stealing things out of other peoples carts, or just stealing their carts all together! Haha! We met up with him and made sure to get the rest of the things we were after, plus a few extras! We ended up with an awesome Area rug, 2 new doggy beds, 4 shovels, 6 candles, 2 blankets, and oh so much more that I can't remember at this moment! The we headed over to Toy's R Us with Sarah, she was on a mission for a toy for J.J. and I was trying to find a specific Leap Frog game (thomas) for my friend Myndi's son for Christmas. No luck! But she did find the movie that I wanted for 5 bucks! After all the shopping Mike and I went out to breakfast at or favorite place to eat, Waffle Stop! After breakfast we planed on taking a nap but instead we stayed up and played! We went out to dinner with Myndi and then she and Lisa came over to Play battle of the sexes with us! It was way fun! If you have ever played it you will understand why its so amazing that my Husband is so good at that game!

Saturday

We finally slept in! Out of all the days we had off we never really slept in! And we really needed it! After we finally woke up I made spaghetti for breakfast at 12:30, took a shower wrapped a gift and we headed out to Tyler and Amy's house for Kelli's first birthday party! I can't believe how old she is! She is also very smart! It was so much fun to watch her eat her cake, and by eat I mean get everywhere and smush it between her fingers! My favorite part was when it was in her hair! After that we got to open presents and play with the wrapping paper! After the party we headed right home because we were still so tired! Out Friend Michael and Jordan came over and we watched Crank (the movie I got for 5 bucks) which is a crazy cool movie! It's action packed and funny to! Tony and Lisa came over later in the evening and we had fun eating Chinese food and watching Shreck the 3rd!

Sunday (dun dun dunnnnn!!!!)

Man I always hate the last day of vacation! It's so depressing! Mike woke me up at 10 so we didn't waste the whole day and Mike made breakfast burritos! They were so gooooood! And he made me special hash browns with all the good stuff in them! After breakfast Mike went to his Mom's house and changed her oil and mine, I on the other hand, took a nap! Not long after we headed back over to Tyler and Amy's so that Mike and Tony could do something to my car. We had a nice visit and Amy, Kelli, and I went to Target to spoil Kelli! It was so much fun! After we got back Tyler and Amy very very very nicely fed us and we eventually headed home. It was the most enjoyable last day of a 4 day weekend I've had in a long time!

Finally getting back to the house.

Everything is going fine, just really stressful! I think we are finally on the road home! All we have to do now is find a Insured and bonded contractor to do and estimate on the work that we need to have done, get the work done, get it re-0inspected by FHA dude, then close! Oh and theres still getting the conformation on Ins etc. BAH! Oh and giving notice to our Landlord so we can move out! Oh and ya know, really pack because we haven't done alot of that! HELP US! :)

I'll do better about keeping you all posted of when out closing will be! And hopefully more pics!