Weekend Warriors

It's been about two weeks now since Bob and I closed on our new house and we are quickly approaching our move in date. I thought I'd share some pics of work in progress. We have officially achieved Weekend Warrior status - I'm lumping myself in there even though Bob has done the vast majority of the work. I'm more like the errand girl who picks up lunch and random other needs and tries to stay out of the way the best I can... :)

Interesting finds

Last night Bob and I got to work on the things that needs to be done in our new house before we can move in.  To our amazement, we found a couple of very interesting things behind the attic walls... 

The first was this bottle of camphorated oil.  It was actually behind the walls sitting on the original framework of the house.  The label says that it came from a local pharmacy of the time in Champaign called Watson Faulkner.  It was used to treat symptoms like rashes and sore nipples (it actually says that!).

The second, which was a little scary, was this nest/hive that was also behind the attic walls.  The entire nest was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide and had been built all around one of the attic windows.  Long since dormant - THANK GOODNESS - rows and rows of some bugs house were intricately built here.  Bob thinks it was bees and my guess was wasps.  Either way, lots of bugs lived here once and spent a lot of time building a giant house for themselves.  I have no idea how old this, but I have to admit that I was terrified that a swarm of wasps was going to attack us both.  Not quite the kind of character and charm I was expecting. :)  You can believe that Bob will be the one removing this, not me.

  

Any experts out there know what may have built this?  



New home

This morning was a great morning.  Husband and I finally closed on our dream house!  Our real estate adventure has been exciting so far and I have to say that this is the best part by far.  The house we purchased was built in 1920 and has some very cool features including a double fireplace, a sitting room off of the master bedroom, french doors, built-in shelves and a gorgeous back yard.  The house sits on a beautiful tree-lined brick street in an established neighborhood.  Needless to say, we're thrilled! 

The best part of all is that this is the first home that Bob and I have purchased together.  Bob actually saw it online and thought that it could very possibly be "our house" before we'd even driven by.  And, when we first walked into the house, I immediately knew it was the place that I wanted to raise our family and even saw us entertaining our grand-children in.  Sigh...  We looked at several more houses just to make sure we were really sure. :)  We were.  A few months later, it's ours!

Stay tuned for updates as we make some improvements prior to move-in.  It's a very exciting time for us!



I'm a Landlord

It's official, husband and I are now landlords.  Tonight we signed a lease with a new renter who will be living in our house for the next year.  I couldn't be more thrilled about this real estate adventure we're embarking on.  Now we just have to find our new house!  I'm sooo excited!! (and, I know exactly what you're thinking...)