Casa de los Carrs

It's official! As my father would say, Kody and I have achieved the American dream ... a home mortgage!

Or if you prefer a little more optimistic outlook, you could say that we bought our first home!

Welcome to Casa de los Carrs at something, something, something, Champaign, IL!

After we found out Kody got into vet school, we've been anxiously awaiting this day when we don't have to share walls with strangers, let Noodles out on a leash, wash clothes in a tiny washer, eat at a folding table and have guests sleep on the living room futon. Now if you visit us, you get to have your own room with a door! (Still working on the bed part though, sorry!)

So here's a little tour of our humble abode - a 1962 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 1,080 sq. ft. ranch that we can now call home!

One of our three bedrooms - I believe this is what we'll use as the master. I'm only including this pic b/c all the other rooms all look the same - small, wood floors, two windows, different paint.

Living room looking toward the kitchen - I'm standing at the front of the house with the front door on the right and garage on the left. I love those doors!

View of the living room from the doors that lead to the kitchen.

Beautiful kitchen!! SO excited for this!!

They redid the kitchen, but forgot to include a dishwasher. Because of that, I'm pretty sure this kitchen will never look this nice again (re: dirty dishes everywhere). I think the thing I'm most excited about is not having a microwave on our counter!

Fenced in backyard for Noodles! We have a beautiful patio for grilling out (now we just need some furniture for it), two big trees with a hammock and a fire pit! Behind where I'm standing is the beginning of a small garden!

And now you get to see the beautiful teal blue bathroom that is slightly overwhelming. Vanity is to the right and toilet is to the left. It's really a nice bathroom and in good shape if you can get over the blueness. Any suggestions on how to handle it!? We're planning on probably redoing it next summer, but if it's salvageable, please let me know!

We've got a long to-do list that Kody is super excited about, including sanding and staining the hard wood floors (tackling that this weekend before we move any of our furniture in), painting all the rooms and adding landscaping to this house that has barely an inch of it. Those three are priority this summer, but the longer list includes things like:

- redoing the bathroom
- adding a dishwasher
- extending the driveway to the left, so we don't have to shuffle cars around
- beautifying the front porch
- patio fence edging
- replace a few windows
- insulate attic
- address my hallway laundry room that is covered by curtains

I took these pictures at our home inspection, but I'm planning on sharing lots more as Kody, and the many friends and family who have offered to help (thank you thank you so much!), start making these empty rooms a little more homey.

And now pray for me as I spend the weekend in an extremely dusty, smelly, dusty, dirty and dusty home while we sand and stain the floors. Did I mention dust? Dust that is going to try to inhabit every crevice of our new, beautiful, pristine home. Lots of d.u.s.t. = lots of c.l.e.a.n.i.n.g. for me. :-)

Welcome to the loveliness of home ownership, Katie! And to you two blog readers - welcome to our home adventure that you get to follow from a nice, clean distance via computer.

Old home-New home

Lots of homes and moving and newness and packing going on these days it seems.

During my last few days of freedom (re: before I started my new job last Monday), Kody and I dashed up to Minnetrista, MN for a spur-of-the-moment trip to see my parents' new house and spend some time with my family. It was a really fun weekend filled with beautiful weather, walks on some of the BEAutiful bike paths that MN has, frisbee golf, visiting Crown College (where my dad will be teaching), making s'mores over a fire pit and living camping style in the new dig.

I didn't get too many pics of the weekend, but here's a glimpse:

Nana and Elijah working hard on puzzles together

I believe after we asked Elijah to smile for this picture he said, "This is as happy as I get."

Nana and Addie snuggling

The new home.

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us crash your moving-in party and for feeding us so well, even though we did have to sleep on the floor.

Outdoor love

The moment Kody found out about vet school, we started dreaming about a house in June, a new job in July, quitting work in May and a month-long, camp across the country, trek to visit friends, family, see the States and live out of our Jeep.

Well, reality hit and that cross-country trek turned into a one-night camping trip in a Wisconsin state park on our way to visit family in MN.

Even though it rained most of the evening, we still called the trip a success, had lots of fun and were able to get our cook-over-a-fire groove on. We arrived in the morning, set up camp, went on a little hike, explored Devil's Lake, played too many card games of War and enjoyed a thrilling and noisy thunderstorm under the cover of many thick trees. It started raining harder just as we climbed into our tent and then stopped before midnight. Kody was master tent-builder and nothing inside got wet at all!

Kody tending the fire in the rain while our "hobo" meals of ground turkey, potatoes and carrots cooked on the "grill."

Fun family pic after setting up the tent.

I used to hate dogs with big, slobbery, dangling tongues, but I think this picture of Noodles makes him look so handsome!

Second family pic the next morning - it was relatively cold the next day, but thankfully the rain stopped!

If Noodles had had his way, he would have stayed in the Jeep like this all evening long during the storm. Instead, poor pup, he cowered under the picnic table by our feet.

Kod = expert fire builder.

Getting settled at our campsite.

Bullseye, baby!

See that bullseye!? That was me, Katie, on my first time ever shooting a real gun. Ohhh yeah!

I feel weird blogging about this because it seems like guns should be off limits on blogs or something, but I'm pretty sure they're not, so here goes. A while back, Kody bought a gun for protection that has lived in a small gun safe under our bed until we pulled it out a few weekends ago to learn how to use it.

I don't think I can accurately describe my aversion to having this gun, or any gun, in my house before this class (if you're interested, just ask Kody). Like it made me mad even thinking about us having it, so I just avoided thinking about it.

While I still don't like to picture a gun in a home, I'm okay with picturing shooting a gun at a gun range after an hour long class under the supervision of a trained instructor. ha!

And that's exactly what we did - take a class and then practice at a range. And look what happened!

Bullseye!

And then I shot two more bullseyes right after that! Our instructor wouldn't let us leave without taking the target and the empty shell (what I'm holding in my right hand), so this is for you, Mr. Instructor. And now they live in the trashcan.

The point of this post is to give a forewarning to any creepy intruders who think they can sneak up on me. I'm a trained marksman now and you should stay away ... far away.

But obviously, any nice, friendly, benevolent visitors are welcome and then gun will stay safely hidden away.

p.s. my hubby wasn't a bad shot either! You definitely wouldn't have known it was his first time and he was dead on!

Year = 3

Year #3 of marriage has come and gone...almost in a blur actually!

I know I'll probably say this every year, but crazy that it has now been over three years since this happened:

I thought it might be fun to think back about how a few things have changed since that day. Here goes:

1) Three years ago, Kody was still completing his undergrad degree with no idea of what he wanted to do with it. Now, he has worked for almost two years at a vet clinic and is heading back to school for four more years.
2) Three years ago, we moved into our first apartment in Bourbonnais. Now, we are about to move into our first house (but only after living in three other places).
3) Three years ago, I had no idea in the world of how to cook. Now, some of Kody's co-workers suggest I should open up a bakery. (I personally think they're a little crazy for that idea!)
4) Three years ago, we had Kacey and Bethany's puppies visit us in Bourbonnais and I wouldn't even pet them. Now, I snuggle daily with a dirty, slobbery, large, loud, crazy dog of my own.
5) Three years ago, we thought we loved each other. Now, after going through big and small decisions, tough time and good times, fights and making up, we are a little closer to understanding what real love is.

We originally planned on going on a camping trip over our anniversary, but procrastination and moving craziness postponed that trip. Instead we enjoyed a relaxing day at home, complete with Belgian waffles, watching our wedding video and an incredible steak dinner at Al Capone's Hideaway (his real hideout where he brewed alcohol during the prohibition).

Gorgeous night by the Fox River!

Visit from down south

This is how behind I am in blogging. A month ago, we had an awesome week long visit from Bethany and adorable niece Sakora!

Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures, but we did make some fun memories - especially because I didn't have to go to work the second half of her visit!

Bethany and I enjoyed going to a Christina Perri concert in downtown Chicago (new favorite artist - thanks for introducing me to her!), breakfast out, a hike in the woods, trip down to Bourbonnais and celebrating Marla's birthday!

Dessert for Marla's birthday - never made a layered cake like this before, so I was a tad proud :)

Doctor #1

After six long years of work, we officially have a doctor in the family!!

Introducing Dr. James Nichols - 2011 graduate of Anderson University's Doctorate of Business Administration program!

Earlier this month Kody and I got to help my mom and dad celebrate my dad's incredible accomplishments.

With his dissertation behind him, now he can look forward to a summer with no reading, no writing, no statistics, no research and no stress! All he has on his docket is packing, moving, prepping, selling, painting, decorating, drywalling, unpacking...and okay, maybe a little stress.

Now just four more years until we have Doctor #2 in the family!