Monday, November 25, 2019

Weekend Accomplishments

Ufda, that was an exhausting weekend, but we got A TON done. I'm actually enjoying being at work today because it's like a vacation day compared to unpacking/organizing/cleaning/etc.

Here are some of the big accomplishments of the past weekend! I don't have many pictures but eventually I'll share some when we have some new furniture in place!

- The house is 100% unpacked, as I predicted it would be. We had all the boxes emptied by Saturday morning. The worst room to unpack was the kitchen. I loaded/unloaded the dishwasher 3 times on Friday afternoon since everything had to be washed since it was wrapped in newspaper for the move. I'm pleasantly surprised with how much room our kitchen has. It's hard to get a sense for the storage a home has until you move in and start to unpack!

- We (err mostly Phil) assembled a tv stand. Our old tv stand was a hand-me-down from a college friend and was in dire need of replacing. We decided to order one from Wayfair which meant we got to assemble it. We popped open a bottle of champagne from our realtor on Friday night and made a little bit of progress on it and finished it on Saturday. It was probably 1/3 of the cost of what an already-assembled tv stand would cost so it was worth the savings. I'm happy with how it turned out. There's plenty of room for Paul's books, some of his toys, our DVDs, and the dvd player/gaming system Phil has (but never uses - he got rid of one during the move but I couldn't get him to get rid of the other...).



- I did some cleaning around the house and we figured out what minor repairs needed to be done. The previous owners took care of the house pretty well but I think our consensus is that they weren't quite as fastidious as Phil and I are about cleaning/maintenance. We also learned that leaving a house vacant for 30 days isn't optimal. The sewer drain pipe in the basement must have dried out so we had the lovely aroma of sewer gas on Friday afternoon (it needs to stay wet to provide a seal so you don't smell sewer gas). But a good cleaning - which about made me vomit from the smell (it's not raw sewage - more so stuff that goes down your bathroom sink and tub, but still gross) - and running all the showers and faucets remedied that situation.

- I put up a Christmas wreath on our front door and hug a Christmas garland on our mantel. I love the garland. Our mantel decor needs some work as it looks unbalanced with the tall "Minnesota" sign on one end. I moved one of the 8x10 photos to the far right after taking this photo but it still needs some work. I'll defer to my college friends who are coming over in December. Home decor is NOT my thing! I could put the MN sign in the middle but I want to hang a holiday wreath (to be purchase) during the Christmas season and a large mirror during the rest of the year. I'll figure something out!


- My MIL came over on Sunday so we got a photo of her with Paul and ordered her Christmas cards. I was surprised Paul would sit with her as he hasn't been keen about sitting with anyone but Phil and me. I also made a 2020 photo calendar on Shutterfly (my habit of making albums of fave photos from each month made this a breeze!) and ordered one for us and one for my MIL for a Christmas gift.


- We also ordered a bunch of furniture - 2 night stands, 2 end tables, and 2 stools for our kitchen island. Moving close to the holidays has worked to our advantage as we got great prices on everything! We still need an ottoman for our living room and a chair for the fireplace/reading nook area of our bedroom, but those are things we need to order in person at a furniture store.

Those were the big things! We also fit in family walks on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was so beautiful (in the 40s which is warm for MN in November!) so we had to take advantage of it. I collapsed into bed sore and exhausted every night!

How was your weekend? 

10 comments:

Marlys said...

Moving is so exhausting! You sure got a lot accomplished and I know it will take time to decorate. I, too, am not good at that, so it's good your friends can help!
I spent the weekend making pies and pie crusts for Thanksgiving - I know we'll have plenty for two days or more!
It was such a beautiful weekend that we enjoyed seeing all the activity on the lake - hundreds of geese & groups of trumpeter swans! It was so nice to have a windless few days at the lake!
That was great that Paul sat on Grandma Joan's lap so much! I am sure she loved that!
Did Oscar come home? I'm wondering what she will think of the new digs!
We're looking forward to seeing you in a few days!

Amber said...

That is a great photo of Paul and your MIL! He is even smiling!! So cute.

Can't wait to see more pictures of the new place. I am sooo impressed you guys got everything unpacked already. Nice work!

Gracie said...

Moving is so much work, no matter how efficient and organized you are! But you got a ton done in just two days. Looking forward to seeing more of the interior!

Stephany said...

Hooray for getting everything unpacked! I'm the same way - once all the boxes are moved in, I want them OUT as soon as possible. I try to have it all unpacked within 1-2 days. So happy you guys are finally in the house and can focus on getting settled! YAY!

Jeanie said...

My weekend wasn't nearly so productive as yours! Well done, you! That's a LOT! Ready for that TG Day After party? I think so!

tinna said...

Mostly cleaning up the house since this year we are hosting family. :)

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Yay! Glad everything is unpacked. We still had and probably still do boxes in the basement and garage that our parents gave us when we moved here in 2006 that have remained untouched hahaha. We did go through some of them 2 years ago when rearranging but I know there is some crap in the garage and I'm sure Anthony didn't fully go through his stuff that is still stuffed in our storage room in the basement.

katielookingforward said...

Moving is tough but it sounds like you are making good progress!! I'm also not big on home decor, it seems overpriced, and I don't want something everyone else has.

San said...

Moving is hard, but the moving IN part is always better than the moving OUT.... so I am sure there was a lot of enthusiams setting everything up in your new house! Can't wait to see more!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Glad to hear you are all unpacked and settled in :-)

Home decor isn't my thing either. My sister is so good at that sort of thing, but I just don't care enough and don't really have an eye for it. I know which pieces I like, but am not really good at putting it all together.

My weekend was busy, with two nights out, but it was good! I'm looking forward to staying in all next weekend though. It's hard to get motivated to go out when it's snowy and cold.