Monday, April 28, 2014

something big


Something big happened. We bought a house! Well, a townhouse, but it still feels like a big deal. Honestly, owning a place was never a big goal for Aaron and I. We like to have the freedom and flexibility to move at the drop of a hat and we're both pretty debt and responsibility adverse. However down here in Chapel Hill the rents are pretty high compared to the cost to own, so we decided to pull the trigger. We don't have a lot of spare time these days, and the last way we want to spend what little we do have is mowing lawns, cleaning gutters, and repairing roofs, so we bought a townhouse.

The housing stock isn't great down here- not a ton of the old character like what we're used to seeing in Chicago or Boston, but I do sort of like some of the 1980's more 'modern' style I see a lot of down here. We ended up buying something very similar to our rental, just a street over. It had everything that we were looking for, and we knew we liked the neighborhood. We wanted to live somewhere walkable to town, but it just wasn't in the cards.

There is a lot of work to be done. The previous owners did some nice updates to the windows and floors- the kind of thing we don't have the time or money or really desire to do ourselves. They also had a VERY strong aesthetic that is pretty much the opposite of ours. Think under the tuscan sun italian villa in an 80s condo. They were very detail oriented and consistent- much to our dismay. But that will leave us some good projects, most of which I hope to share here. We spent the past few days painting every mustard yellow room white and ripping fake copper paneling out of the kitchen, and already it feels like a new place.

There is a lot we want to do to make it our own, but we have to weigh all that with the realization that some of the updates and cosmetic improvements just don't make sense in a place we may only live in for a few years, so we're looking for inexpensive ways to personalize the place. So far the paint has done wonders. I'll post some before an after pics soon. I'm excited to finally get my hands dirty with a place we can all our own- and am excited to see Levi take his first steps here.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

eight months


Levi, I love how you smile and kick your legs when I walk in a room. I love that little cheerio face you've been making recently. I love how excited you are to see the cats walk by. I love that your favorite things to wave at are the fan and the cats. I love that you hate asparagus but eat it anyways. I love your enthusiasm. I love your smile. I love your smell. 

You're getting so big so fast. You're not a little baby I can rock in my arms anymore. I can't lay you down and leave the room anymore - you're across the floor in an instant. You're so fun these days. It makes me so excited for the future. Thank you for the joy you bring to your dad and I everyday. 

thank you Jordan for the beautiful picture.

Welcome!

Welcome!