painting painting and more painting...oh and smores!

we've only been in the house about 10 days - which seems hard to believe because it feels much longer than that.  not in a bad way just in an impatient way...i want to paint everything right away.  anyway we did get started this weekend and have gotten through the first coat of the dining/kitchen area (some of it) and accent wall in the bedroom. the bedroom has an undercoat only and will be the same red as the dining room. and i changed the sheets to a new pattern just for fun. and we've decided to do one accent wall in red in the dining room and the rest of the dining and kitchen area in grey.  hopefully it'll turn out well.  it is at least a massive improvement over the awful green that was everywhere in there.  can't do more than one coat a day here with how cold it's been and the damp air.  such a bummer.  but we'll get there. after we finish the many coats needed we'll tackle the living room.  we're also going to redo all of the trim and doors as well...it's gonna take forever!!!  on a more yummy note - mom sent me a party in a box! i've been missing certain american items...such as marshmallows/graham crackers (smores!) and ketchup.  all kinds of random stuff.  she sent me all these things and i got to make jose his first smote ever!  he was skeptical at first and ate almost all my marshmallows before i noticed but loved them once i put it together.  yay! thanks mom!

how awesome is our view!?!

had a beautiful weekend here - filled mostly with cleaning, laundry and unpacking but it was fun. it's been REALLY cold at night and early morning here...like 35F.  that's craziness.  anyway three nights into our new house and we're loving it.  a few teething problems that go with being a home owner but otherwise all good.  we spent a lot of time trimming trees and bushes because they were growing out of control. not sure they've ever trimmed a single tree or bush here ever.  gonna be chopping a few of the trees down too...way too much foliage for me.  i like sunshine, especially since it's so cold here in the winter.  we're both still sick, getting better, but have had the worst case of the flu in over 10 years! yuck.  sunday - we had a beautiful dawn and then a stunning sunset.  i love that i can watch the sunset from our bedroom or living room :)  miski likes it too!  we also have wild parrots visiting the trees in front and lots of other birds enjoying themselves out from too.  can't wait to get this place clean, painted, and the backyard redone!

moving into new house!

many more photos here

So we did it!  we moved in yesterday and man was it a long day. jose got the flu and was a real pain in the butt the whole day. i am still sick too but we had to get it done.  had the carpets cleaned, movers came and brought everything over, had all our furniture and stuff delivered.  that's the good news. the bad news is the owners said they were hiring professional cleaners and when we got here the house was DISGUSTING! it was SO filthy.  if i had known i'd have booked my own cleaners...so now we can't really unpack until we get it cleaned...on monday.  then we can repaint all the horrible colours off the walls.  then we had to put our incredibly heavy bed together.  wish i'd just paid the movers to do it.  live and learn. the house is great but it really needs some serious cosmetic work here and there - like the paint and new flooring.  nothing urgent but of course i'd like to do it asap. oh well. the backyard and front yard though are our main priorities - it is made for someone who loves cool plant overgrowth.  i prefer the sun and affordable water bills. so we're going to redo that as soon as we can afford it. anyway check out the rest of the photos for a gander.  

we're officially homeowners!

kind of anticlimactic at this point but as of 11:15 am the bank took all our money and declared us home owners! it would have meant more i think if we'd been handed keys right away or something symbolic like that but we won't get keys until tomorrow morning.  i won't get into that but i've found the entire process really unpleasant and annoying, mostly because the agent was really rude and difficult.  enough complaining...we're now the proud owners of a mortgage!  i swing wildly between exuberance and terror. i suppose that must be normal.  anyway we are so excited to move in and finally have a really big, comfy bed and an awesome tv with skype on it.  will post pictures tomorrow or the next day of the move in process :)

play time

play time for miski and jose...not for me sadly. i am SO sick...caught the flu that seems to have infected the entire state. it's the worst flu season in ten years apparently.  i haven't been this sick in a very long time and it's no fun.  and right before our move too. oh well.  at least i'm getting to rest and watch jose play with the dog during his lunch time at home.  things are ticking along well here. move into the new house in two days (finally!) and hopefully after that life will settle down a bit and we can just nest for a while.  miss everyone very much back home!  now we have two guest bedrooms so please come visit anytime. it's beautiful here, especially in our summer (sep-mar).

another birthday...

well another birthday has come and gone. i can't believe it's already july. i'll never get used to it being winter in july...feels all wrong.  not the greatest birthday ever but mostly because it fell on a work day.  jose brought me the most beautiful flowers to my office and then surprised me with cake and cards at home.  so that was lovely! we went out to dinner this weekend to celebrate and had great italian food!  we'll have a big birthday (his and mine), anniversary, house warming celebration once we've moved into the new house next thursday. finally!  the anticipation is killing me. miski meanwhile has made herself rather comfy as you can see above...

mt clarence stroll

It was a very pretty afternoon so after work jose and i went for a stroll with miskers up mt clarence. we saw a funny creature - not sure what it is. anyway it was cute.  got some exercise and saw some beautiful views of the water and city.  just counting down the days until we move into our own house - finally!  more photos here

beautiful dusk

we've had some stunning sunrises and sunsets recently and the other day the dusk was particularly nice. wish i'd gotten nicer shots but you can see it a bit. miski is getting awfully unladylike...oh wait she's always been like that.