Well despite the upcoming rainy weather for Tropical Storm Fay we had a family fun weekend! Originally we had planned to go to Chattanooga for the weekend but after looking at the cost and bills we decided to opt out of that and spend the weekend here in town. Started on Friday night took the girls out to Bridgestreet and walked around and of course had dinner. We went to Red Robin and mmm I do love their Banzai burger, takes me back to our Hawaii vacation. The girls had a great time and loved the food and the scenery.
Saturday we planned to head to the park that I just found and let the girls play and then out to lunch and go from there. Well the clouds were looming over and we did go thru a brief shower while on the way to the park but it was dry there. So they got to play for an hour or so before the rain moved in. Then it was off to lunch at Zaxby's and over to the mall for some fun! Much to our disappointment Wacky Bear had closed down so then we had to travel back across town for Build A Bear. Oh the girls were over excited when we got there and they had a blast. Jess picked out a pink cheetah and named her Brownie lol and Hailey a nice bunny which we named Fluffy (rather than Floppy??) but anywho. They got to stuff them, name them, dress them and accessorize them lol
From there we headed out to Walmart for some grocery shopping and to let them spend some of their Birthday/Christmas money (good at saving it lately). They each picked a movie out and was satisfied so we came home to unload the car before heading to dinner. Hailey had cried about going to the Apple place as we passed by earlier so that's where we went for dinner. Applebee's that is, we usually have good service and food and it turned out great. Both girls ate well and we headed home for quick bedtime!
Overall the weekend went well, Sunday we relaxed and just tidied up the house in case anyone decided to stop in and see it. We are 2 weeks listed now and no showings yet, making me nervous. I think we are having an open house the weekend after Labor Day..we'll see.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
House For Sale....Finally!
Yes you read that right! After months of months of hearing me complain our house is officially up for sale as of last Monday. Sure we have a few touch ups and last minute things to do but nothing you can see or notice when you are looking at the house. Whew, I can't even explain how elated I am to be done with this project although I think my husband is far so more than I am.
Here's a great picture of the house:
Here's a great picture of the house:
Isn't it beautiful? It used to be a darkish gray/blue color (I think it was called charcoal) and yah it wasn't very pretty at all! Everyone who knew what the house looked like before says it looks like a totally different house! I only wish we had more time and money and we would have planted flowers in the beds for the final touch but alas almost 10K later we are done with it.
So ready for my next whine right? I am so stressed right now the house will not sell, we have about 20 other houses in my neighborhood for sale. EEEK! The majority of them are higher priced than ours and a few under but they are smaller or need work. It's been on the market a little over a week now and no showings or calls yet.....I think I'll be hyperventilating in a few more weeks.
If you are in the Huntsville area and need an affordable house check it out! Keep your fingers crossed for a quick sale for us because apparently we are going to need all the luck we can get!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Home Improvement...... Sucks!
As most of you know, well those who sorta follow my blog, we are in the midst of finishing up home improvement projects so our house can go on the market. We have way outgrown our current house, 1070 sq ft and this seems like a good time to sell, at least where we are! I know at least 3 people personally that sold their houses here in less than a month, so wish us luck!
We have been working on the house since oh I don't know, April and are just now getting to the point of done. Insane, but with hubby working so much and our Hawaii trip we just were short on some time. We...well ok hubby has done alot of work himself and we did get a little help from our BIL for FREE, he's in construction. It's nice to have family who'll do that stuff for free, though we plan to pay them something once we sell.
Our house is looking so nice compared to what it did when we bought it 8 yrs ago, if we hadn't outgrown it I would stay lol. We have a brand new roof this year, we installed laminate flooring in the living/dining rooms two years ago, new vinyl in the bathrooms and kitchen two years ago as well. We have now painted the outside of the house to a beautiful champagne color (pale yellow) with white trim from a ugly charcoal color. The house now boasts beautiful new light fixtures in every room, new sink faucets, door knobs, and patio doors. I was looking at the cost of all this, we are close to umm 10K in fixing up this house and I felt faint. It needed to be done, esp the roof and flooring in order to sell, so it'll be worth it.
The latest spendy project is the Air Conditioner. So a few months ago our thermostat went out, just quit working, tried new batteries, checking the wires etc. Nothing seemed to work, so I bought a new thermostat. Sounds good right, hubby installed the last one and likely would be able to do so this time too. Umm right it took him hours and hours and still it wasn't right...but we made do. It did cool and that is what we needed since it was near 100 outside but unfortunately it wasn't kicking off when it reached the desired temperature. It would continue to run, which we didn't realize how bad until we came back from our trip to Hawaii. I would have thought our bill went down since we were gone for 2 weeks, sounds right? Um nope, it went up from the normal $180's to $250's EEk almost $100 extra that month.
So then this months bill came and yet again $250 so we called the AC company and had them come out Friday morning. The guy arrives on time, thankfully as we had tons to do and gets to work. Turns out we simply had the wrong thermostat..oh great, so I am a true blonde. The one we had that was for gas not electric....eek again. Well it was $89 for them to come run a diagnostic on the whole system which we needed anyways and all that was wrong was the thermostat. UGH so the guy said he can install a new one for $120 and I ask hubby if that is what he wants to do or just go get one and do it himself. He's like pay for it!! It takes me to long to do it and plus we might not be able to find the right one. Ok so the guy has checked out the whole system and installed a new thermostat in about an hour.... $200 later it's done! Yay for AC guys on time and fast!
We have been working on the house since oh I don't know, April and are just now getting to the point of done. Insane, but with hubby working so much and our Hawaii trip we just were short on some time. We...well ok hubby has done alot of work himself and we did get a little help from our BIL for FREE, he's in construction. It's nice to have family who'll do that stuff for free, though we plan to pay them something once we sell.
Our house is looking so nice compared to what it did when we bought it 8 yrs ago, if we hadn't outgrown it I would stay lol. We have a brand new roof this year, we installed laminate flooring in the living/dining rooms two years ago, new vinyl in the bathrooms and kitchen two years ago as well. We have now painted the outside of the house to a beautiful champagne color (pale yellow) with white trim from a ugly charcoal color. The house now boasts beautiful new light fixtures in every room, new sink faucets, door knobs, and patio doors. I was looking at the cost of all this, we are close to umm 10K in fixing up this house and I felt faint. It needed to be done, esp the roof and flooring in order to sell, so it'll be worth it.
The latest spendy project is the Air Conditioner. So a few months ago our thermostat went out, just quit working, tried new batteries, checking the wires etc. Nothing seemed to work, so I bought a new thermostat. Sounds good right, hubby installed the last one and likely would be able to do so this time too. Umm right it took him hours and hours and still it wasn't right...but we made do. It did cool and that is what we needed since it was near 100 outside but unfortunately it wasn't kicking off when it reached the desired temperature. It would continue to run, which we didn't realize how bad until we came back from our trip to Hawaii. I would have thought our bill went down since we were gone for 2 weeks, sounds right? Um nope, it went up from the normal $180's to $250's EEk almost $100 extra that month.
So then this months bill came and yet again $250 so we called the AC company and had them come out Friday morning. The guy arrives on time, thankfully as we had tons to do and gets to work. Turns out we simply had the wrong thermostat..oh great, so I am a true blonde. The one we had that was for gas not electric....eek again. Well it was $89 for them to come run a diagnostic on the whole system which we needed anyways and all that was wrong was the thermostat. UGH so the guy said he can install a new one for $120 and I ask hubby if that is what he wants to do or just go get one and do it himself. He's like pay for it!! It takes me to long to do it and plus we might not be able to find the right one. Ok so the guy has checked out the whole system and installed a new thermostat in about an hour.... $200 later it's done! Yay for AC guys on time and fast!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Why To Choose Big Crumbs ~ Cash Back When You Shop
I have decided to post again about Big Crumbs, I have been getting alot people landing on my blog while they search for Big Crumbs. I want you to know what a great opportunity Big Crumbs is!
These days with gas being so high people are shopping online and saving money. So while shopping online why not earn cash back for your purchases? That's exactly what you can do with Big Crumbs!
You can become a Crumb Earner or a Crumb Saver, either one you choose, it's FREE to sign up!
CrumbSavers earn the highest possible cash-back reward on their own shopping and they earn cash when anyone they directly refer to BigCrumbs makes a purchase.
CrumbEarners earn a somewhat lower (but still very competitive) cash-back reward on their own shopping and also earn when their direct referrals shop. Unlike CrumbSavers, however, CrumbEarners earn when other CrumbEarner referrals of their referrals shop, up to 5 generations!
So where do your earnings come from? Easy, when you shop at a retailer through your very own Big Crumbs website you earn a % from that purchase. Big Crumbs gets commission for referring shoppers and you earn a % for shopping via their(your) website.
EBay shoppers can even earn cash back on their purchase through Big Crumbs plus over 267 other popular retailers! Some examples: Target, Old Navy, Gap, Best Buy and many many more!
Big Crumbs is open to these countries:
Australia
Canada
Ireland
United Kingdom
United States
Go ahead and sign up you have nothing to lose! Be sure to sign up as a Big Crumb Earner so you can refer others and build up your commission checks every month! Be sure to shop through your own site as well!
To sign up click the Button at the top left corner of follow this link.
These days with gas being so high people are shopping online and saving money. So while shopping online why not earn cash back for your purchases? That's exactly what you can do with Big Crumbs!
You can become a Crumb Earner or a Crumb Saver, either one you choose, it's FREE to sign up!
CrumbSavers earn the highest possible cash-back reward on their own shopping and they earn cash when anyone they directly refer to BigCrumbs makes a purchase.
CrumbEarners earn a somewhat lower (but still very competitive) cash-back reward on their own shopping and also earn when their direct referrals shop. Unlike CrumbSavers, however, CrumbEarners earn when other CrumbEarner referrals of their referrals shop, up to 5 generations!
So where do your earnings come from? Easy, when you shop at a retailer through your very own Big Crumbs website you earn a % from that purchase. Big Crumbs gets commission for referring shoppers and you earn a % for shopping via their(your) website.
EBay shoppers can even earn cash back on their purchase through Big Crumbs plus over 267 other popular retailers! Some examples: Target, Old Navy, Gap, Best Buy and many many more!
Big Crumbs is open to these countries:
Australia
Canada
Ireland
United Kingdom
United States
Go ahead and sign up you have nothing to lose! Be sure to sign up as a Big Crumb Earner so you can refer others and build up your commission checks every month! Be sure to shop through your own site as well!
To sign up click the Button at the top left corner of follow this link.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Weekend Update
I feel like I am doing the skit on Saturday Night Live , here's Frances with your weekend update. Turn and face the camera and start in on some crazy story. Hmm nope not on the agenda today.
So it's been a busy weekend to say the least at our house. Friday night we worked on the house more trying to make sure we get everything done by Sat Aug 9th to put it on the market. Along with staying up way to late wrapping presents for Jessica's birthday on Saturday made for a long and slow weekend.
Her birthday went well though, she woke up surprised with her presents and loved them all. Almost every single item she got was Hannah Montana related or High School Music related, no joke! She is in LOVE with her Hannah Montana electric guitar she got from her Nana. It's pretty cool, it has a headset that has a mic and it does work so she can sing along with Hannah. The only downfall to this is the headset is made for a baby's head. The top part does not expand like normal headsets do so the ear pieces do not meet her ears. So we improvised and she wears it around her neck and bends the mic up to her mouth.
She really wanted a High School Musical party but we couldn't find a store with the cake decorations in stock! UGH I was mad especially since I had already bought some HSM party decor. So she settled for a Hannah Montana meets High School Musical party lol HM cake and HSM decor.
We took her out to dinner at Applebees and it was pretty good, and thankfully Hailey is getting better about eating and being good when we go out! It was dead when we got there at 5 so service was fast and the food hot. The girls had dessert there, though not sure why since we had cake and ice cream at home from the party earlier lol.
Her big finish for the night was to have a movie night complete with popcorn and in the dark lol so we rented Waterhorse and popped up some corn and watched the movie. It was pretty cute, kinda of scary at parts for smaller kids, a couple times Hailey would come hide her eyes. Sad to see my baby turning 8 but she's growing up so fast and it's definitely bittersweet.
Sunday was pretty much same ol same ol, working on the master bedroom now, packed up majority of the stuff and have started painting. Then we'll only have the floors left to finish! Gosh I hope this house sells quickly!
So it's been a busy weekend to say the least at our house. Friday night we worked on the house more trying to make sure we get everything done by Sat Aug 9th to put it on the market. Along with staying up way to late wrapping presents for Jessica's birthday on Saturday made for a long and slow weekend.
Her birthday went well though, she woke up surprised with her presents and loved them all. Almost every single item she got was Hannah Montana related or High School Music related, no joke! She is in LOVE with her Hannah Montana electric guitar she got from her Nana. It's pretty cool, it has a headset that has a mic and it does work so she can sing along with Hannah. The only downfall to this is the headset is made for a baby's head. The top part does not expand like normal headsets do so the ear pieces do not meet her ears. So we improvised and she wears it around her neck and bends the mic up to her mouth.
She really wanted a High School Musical party but we couldn't find a store with the cake decorations in stock! UGH I was mad especially since I had already bought some HSM party decor. So she settled for a Hannah Montana meets High School Musical party lol HM cake and HSM decor.
We took her out to dinner at Applebees and it was pretty good, and thankfully Hailey is getting better about eating and being good when we go out! It was dead when we got there at 5 so service was fast and the food hot. The girls had dessert there, though not sure why since we had cake and ice cream at home from the party earlier lol.
Her big finish for the night was to have a movie night complete with popcorn and in the dark lol so we rented Waterhorse and popped up some corn and watched the movie. It was pretty cute, kinda of scary at parts for smaller kids, a couple times Hailey would come hide her eyes. Sad to see my baby turning 8 but she's growing up so fast and it's definitely bittersweet.
Sunday was pretty much same ol same ol, working on the master bedroom now, packed up majority of the stuff and have started painting. Then we'll only have the floors left to finish! Gosh I hope this house sells quickly!
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