Waiting Game

I've decided that the worst part of owning a house is moving in. Not surprising, I know. But it's very different from moving in to an apartment. At an apartment, you just move in and everything is ready for you. The place is clean, the paint is fresh, the carpet is new, and you're good to go. If you need something fixed, you call the landlord and they fix it while you're at work.

Not so much when you own the place. You have to take care of everything yourself. You have to be there for all service calls and deliveries. And of course, no one is on time.

UNLESS you get your carpet from Empire Today. They are known for their next-day installation, and the installers actually arrive early! (so don't be at Starbucks getting coffee until 15 minutes before their ETA, just FYI). They are in and out and done in no time. Very professional and very efficient. I was quite pleased. Waiting on Best Buy, however, was not so fun. Imagine sitting in a house with nothing to do (no TV, no internet, no food) for 5 hours jsut waiting. Not so much fun.

But here is my official recommendation for Empire Today flooring services. If you need new floors, let me know. I'll refer you and we can both enjoy some discounts! :)

March Movie Madness

You know how I love me some Redbox...

But did you know that all during the month of March you can visit their blog (www.blog.redbox.com) every Wednesday and get a code to receive a free one-night rental? You have to rent the movie that night, but what else do you have to do on Wednesdays?

And if you're like me, you have nothing to do on Monday nights either. Well good thing you can join their SMS newsletter and get a text message every week with a free code for Monday night rentals too! Man. Mondays and Wednesdays with free movies?! My night life just exploded with activity!

There is just nothing better than a free flick. Woo Hoo!

Sold my Soul to Stainless

I had no idea picking a refrigerator would be such a stressful, emotional, frustrating ordeal. Believe me, it is. So the next time you go to grab a cold one from the fridge- be thankful you didn't have to pick or pay for it! It sucks.

First of all, the internet sucks. There is too much information out there and too many idiots who are able to share their stupid opinions. (As I write on my very opinionated, not very intelligent blog. ha) If you try to do any research on appliance brands or styles, good luck! Everything you read is negative. If I took to heart all the reviews I read about refrigerators, I never would have picked one! According to online reviews, they all suck! I would be better off with a cooler and some ice cubes!

Instead, after reading for hours, visiting at least 4 stores, and comparing numerous brands, I decided on a frech door, stainless steel LG fridge. It's beautiful. It's huge. It's definitely bling. And it all came with a huge price tag. But I'm looking at it as an investment. Hopefully I'll have it for a long long time and it will be worth the extra little splurge I had to put into it. Believe me, it was a very long, drawn out decision and I'm still hoping it was the right one.

Whenever you're in the market for a fridge, here are a few things to consider: What size do you want? How tall can it be? (measure with door hinges) What style? Side-by-side? French Door? Top-Mount Freezer? Do you want an ice maker? Do you want through-the-door water and ice? If so, do you want it mounted in the door or on the top shelf? Do you want adjustable shelves? Spill-proof glass? How much door space do you need? Can you fit a gallon of milk in there? What about a frozen pizza? Can the doors open all the way? Is the freezer a pull-out? Do you have enough room to pull it out and stand in front of it? Will it fit through your house door to get into the kitchen? Do you have a water line hooked up for the ice maker? Did you get the right hose to hook it up? What finish? Stainless or Black or White?

I wasn't kidding when I told you it was stressful...

My heart breaks a little...

...when I think of life without Wentworth Miller every Monday.

That's right. Prison Break will be airing their last season starting April 17th (which is a Friday, oddly enough). It's sad to see the show ending, but I guess there are only so many times that the guys can break in and out of Prison. It was going to happen eventually.




I'll miss you, Michael Scofield!!

He gets around

Rick has been showing up in the strangest places lately! Look where he is now:






(don't worry. this is not for commercial use. and I was paid to do it.)

Genius at Work

Such a simple concept, and yet, it is amazing.

Adventures at Friendswood

Since the next few months of my life will be completely taken over with house stuff, I feel it will be easier to share my stories, updates, and excitements here rather than having to repeat myself a million times! So, here goes....

This weekend was the first official weekend at the new house!! I was able to spend some time over there on Saturday and Sunday, and made some progress on moving in but mostly created a major To-Do list for the coming weeks.

First things first: change the locks! Who knew locks would be so expensive? Well I guess they are securing everything you own, so that puts the price in perspective. Done and done.

Now it's time to get dirty. After spending Saturday cleaning, I was presented with two very UNwelcome surprises:
#1) Cleaning under the sink I find that the only "cleaning product" the sellers left behind is a can of Flea Killer Room and Carpet Spray. Not Good!! Especially since I've already caught Jack scratching more these past few days... I've dealt with a flea infestation and it is not fun. Not fun at all. Note to self: buy a flea killing room fogger and blow them outta there before I bring over any more stuff.
#2) Continuing to clean, I find a few rat pellets in a drawer under the oven. Gross. (those of you who heard the stories of rats at work know that I am VERY familiar with what rat pellets look like.) I decide to take the drawer out to vaccum and clean it completely. AAAAHHHH!!! You would not BELIEVE the amount of rat shit under that drawer!! Not to mention the shredded paper towel that the little bastard used to live in! Note to self: BUY TRAPS! Tonight!! Luckily, since I have had many conversations with rat "specialists" I know what traps work and which bait is preferred. I am not cool with the thought of rats or mice in my house, so the buck stops here. No rodents on my watch.

So, since I can no longer just call the landlord, I decided it's time for a trip to Home Depot to pick up the traps and fogger. Get all these pests out of my house!! While I run to the store, Shawn and I decide that Jack is a good hunting dog for rodents, so we leave him there to seek and destroy. Luckily (I think) he didn't find or kill anything while I was gone. That night I set up the traps and hope they take care of it.

Luckily, this morning upon my return there were no unwelcome guests. I'm hoping that the evidence I found is all old and unwarranted. (cross your fingers for me). As I continued to do some unpacking and work around the kitchen, I heard an unfamiliar noise. "DING DONG" What the hell was that?! Oh my gosh! I have a doorbell! Wow! And more importantly, I have someone at my door! My first visitor :) It was my new neighbor lady bringing me some homemade banana bread to welcome me to the neighborhood. She was a little crazy old lady, but the bread is awesome and I love old ladies with baked goods, so she's cool with me! Nice to meet you, Nancy.

And with that, my adventures for the weekend come to an end. I'm back at the apartment attempting to pack enough stuff to warrant another car load, and therefore another trip over to the house. Can't wait to get back.