Half Way There...

I was looking through my external hard drive, and I found something that I thought you guys might be interested in.

Usually when people look at the Old House they can't understand why I'm so in love with it. They just think that it's a falling down, creepy old house that will never be as beautiful as I keep insisting it will be. I though maybe if other people could see how far we've come already, they might be able to understand why I have so much hope in the potential of this house.

So I found some photos of the Old House before we really started working on the inside. I thought I would share them. Unfortunately I don't exactly have "before and after" pictures, but I do have some in which you can see similar parts of the house. Check it out.

                                                         Before

Living Room

Kitchen/backdoor

Bedroom

Bedroom

Living Room

Like I said, I don't have photos from the same angles, but you can still definitely see the difference.

After

Living Room

Kitchen

Living Room

Bedroom

So there you have it. Just a glimpse at the changes that we've already made. Of course once I get the real "after" photos (when the house is all done) I'll definitely be sharing them with you as well.

How to stay updated..

So I know I haven't posted in a couple of days. Obviously the reason for this is because I'm working two jobs right now, and barely have enough time to sleep. My last day as an insurance agent is February 6th, at which point I will go back down to one job, and have much more time for writing, and photographing, and working on the Old House. (All of which I will share with you here)

In the meantime though, since I'm unable to write very much, feel free to follow me on Twitter, and for little snippets of my day, check me out on Instagram. (Links to both are located on the right side bar)
And of course, if you're addicted to Pinterest I have one of those as well.

Sleep? What?

Since I'm going to be working two jobs over the next week, I am literally going to get almost no sleep at all. This is how my week is looking:
Monday night, I get home at 10pm from job#1, and the next morning (Tuesday) I have to leave my house by 5:20 in order to get to job#2 by 6am. I work there until 10am, then drive back to job#1 in order to work 12:30-9pm again. Wednesday I work at job#2 from 7am until 11am. Then back to job#1 for another 12:30-9pm.
Fortunately, Tuesday and Wednesday are the only days when I have to do both jobs, but still. I pretty much require 9-10 hours of sleep a night.(crazy I know) Not to mention it's a good 3 1/2-4 hours of driving each of those days since my jobs are in opposite directions.

But oh well. It's only for a week. After this week, I'll only have Mon-Wed at job#1 before leaving for good, and only having to work at my new job.
And I'm still excited about how short my drive will be once I'm living at the Old House.
Things are finally moving in the right direction.

And on that lovely note. Time for bed.

Goodnight :)

Never Ending

Winter is never going to end. I'm done being freezing cold. Where is the sunshine?
Not to mention, I haven't seen pavement under my tires in forever. For some reason the plows think this is what a plowed road looks like. (although now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen a plow come down my road once this winter. lol)

The only thing I love about winter is how beautiful and peaceful it makes everything look. Especially when there's snow on the pine trees in our yard.

But at the same time, you have to admit that in the middle of all this cold weather, this sure does look inviting.

Goodbye Insurance

So I officially put in my two weeks at work today. Goodbye insurance, hello next step to my new life.

I went for a job interview this morning, and they hired me. My interview was only 15 minutes long, and the hiring manager told me that I was the only person he's ever hired on the spot like that. (The only reason I mention this is because it made me feel pretty awesome. lol)

So I put in my two weeks, and I'm starting my new job this Saturday. I'm obviously going to have limited hours at my new job during that two week period. It would be pretty difficult to work two full time jobs at the same time when they're over an hour away from each other.

But this new job is only 10 minutes away from the Old House, so once I live there it'll be pretty convenient.

I am so, so ready for a change in my life.

And now on a similar note, a little something for us all to keep in mind.

My poor kitty is sick :(

                                                    Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty
                                                         Little Ball of Fur

Happy Kitty, Sleepy Kitty

Purr Purr Purr

Road trip

I know I haven't posted in about a week, but there's good reason for that. I went on a road trip with my boyfriend, and one of our friends up to the mountains to visit my brother, and my cousins. (Our friend conveniently lives in that area as well) I left late afternoon on Friday, and just got back last night. It was a lot of driving, but I had fun. So as usual, let me see if I can just sum it up, as opposed to going on and on.

Friday: Drove for 6 hours. Planned on stopping half way at a Chinese restaurant that I love going to every time I'm in that area. Missed my exit. No Chinese food :(
Stayed the night at a friend's house about an hour and a half away from my cousin's so that he could spend some time with his family.

Saturday: Left my boyfriend and friend to have some guy time and enjoy their Saturday hockey game. (my boyfriend was not happy with the results of the game) Drove to my cousin's house where my brother, cousins and I went into town and enjoyed a nice pizza. Stayed the night at their house. Played cards, ate snacks, and had some good old fashioned family time.

Sunday: Drove back to my friend's house to pick the two of them up. Returned to my cousin's house to pick him up. Drove an hour to my brother's girlfriend's college. (an all girl school much to the delight of my friend.) Officially met my brother's girlfriend, and had a really lovely lunch at a tiny little diner called Manory's. If you're ever in Troy, make sure you eat there. The staff is incredibly nice, and very interactive. (plus the food is good.) All together a very enjoyable meal. We then went back to the dorm lounge and played cards. We stayed the night at my friend's grandpa's house, where we spent the whole night playing pool in his basement/man cave.

Monday: Drove home. Didn't miss my exit this time. Drove to the Chinese restaurant. Found out that it's out of business. No Chinese food :(
When we got back home though, my boyfriend took me out for Chinese at a different place. He's sweet.

So that was my weekend. I didn't take very many photos over the weekend, but here are a couple from my trip.

Mountains. Not the best photo as it was taken from my car window.

My very musical cousin playing his guitar for me

My brother's crazy cat. Her name is Demon, and her eyes always look like this.

My cousin is a Cat-whisperer.

Fitness update

I am laaaazy.

Today I didn't eat anything at all..until my lunch at work (around 4pm) simply just because I forgot.

I do that some times...I forget to eat.

For lunch I ate an ice cream sandwich. (It was delicious. Andies Mint. Yum)

When I got home from work around 10pm I ate a bowl of cereal. 

And I did not work out at all.

This is exactly why this was not a resolution. 

Earl Gray ice cream. Real thing.

Complain complain, and blah blah blah

Yesterday I got sent home from work because I'd lost my voice. It's much better now, but yesterday I sounded horrible. Unfortunately there isn't really anything that I can do at work with no voice, considering the fact that I just take phone calls all day. So shortly after arriving at work, I was off again.
Since I felt completely fine (other than a slight sore throat) I decided that I was not going to waste my day off. So I drove to my old college to visit my boyfriend, and my friends who still attend there.
Boy do I miss being at school. I had forgotten what it felt like to be so carefree. We just hung out in the dorms, went to dinner, and then I went to watch everyone play an intramural basketball game.
As I sat on the floor of the gym, and looked around at all the people playing, and running, or just sitting in the cafe, and the lounges talking and watching tv, I had the crushing feeling that my life will never be like that again. All the memories of living on campus and living that life every day came rushing back, and it made me incredibly sad.
I just want that life again so badly. I want to be able to see my friends every day, and spend time with them, even if we're just sitting around doing nothing. I am just so miserable working 8 1/2 hours a day, and hour and a half away from all the people I want to be spending my time with. I don't even get out of work early enough that I'm able to see anyone during the week. I know this is what life is, but it just feels a little unfair that I wasn't able to stay at college for my full 4 years. I would just like to be able to have that time like all of my friends do.

Some day I'm going to go back to school. Or at least find a job that will make me happy, and allow me enough free time to be able to see my friends, and my boyfriend, and give me a little bit of time to have hobbies. I just need work to not be the only thing in my life.

Dinner Time

So today I made dinner for my lovely mother. I made barbecue chicken,(with Sweet Baby Ray's. The best bbq sauce ever) Baked mac and cheese, and a delicious apple, cranberry, walnut salad with poppy seed dressing.

Yum.

I also made Apple Dumplings for dessert

I made the sauce out of butter, sugar, and cinnamon (not the healthiest, but very delicious)

And of course the secret ingredient.

And the result..

Hot, appley, cinnamoney goodness 

Bye Bye Buddy

So first thing this morning, I said goodbye to another of my little guys. By this time, he should be all settled in to his new home, and getting used to his new name, Thor.

Boy don't I look cute? (sarcasm) I'm only dressed in these rags because I was on my way out to the Old House to work.
I don't have much of an update from the Old House today. We just spent the day putting Spar Varnish on the undersides of the floor boards in order to keep the moisture out.

Keep in mind that these are the undersides and won't actually be seen

But let me tell you, it was a beautiful day out. It was warm, with some sun, and a slight breeze. Very relaxing. I took a walk around the property a little bit, and I thought I would share some photos of the grounds.

Back in the pasture

The creek that runs up the side of the property

The backyard. Plus a water pipe that hasn't made it in the ground yet

New Stuff

So I just wanted to make quick mention of a couple new things here on my page. All located along the right hand side.
The most obvious is the slideshow. This is just a very small sampling of some of my photography. I'd love some feedback, and if you're interested in seeing some more of my work, you can take a look here.
I've also added a link so that you can follow me on Pinterest. I don't know about you, but I sure am addicted to it.
And the last thing that I wanted to mention for those of you who don't have accounts on this site, you can follow me by email, and get notified of any new posts.

That is all.

I am a Robot

Every day, I wake up at the same time. I walk the dog, fill the wood furnace, shower, and go to work. I sit at my desk for 8 1/2 hours and take the same exact call 60 times in a row. I work until 9:00pm  drive 45 minutes home, walk the dog, fill the wood furnace, and go to bed.

This is my life.

I work, I sleep, I work, I sleep.

Some people have suggested what they believe to be a simple fix. "Why don't you just wake up earlier and do something you enjoy." "Get a hobby or something."
Easier said than done. I actually do have a couple hobbies. I'm just too drained from work to do anything when I get home other than sit in bed, drink some tea, jot down a few of my thoughts here, and then go to sleep.
I do not wake up early, and the reason for this is because I'm 21. Still practically a teenager, I haven't become a morning person yet. Considering the fact that I don't get home from work until 10 or 10:30 makes me feel like it's okay to sleep until 10 the next morning.

I wouldn't mind my routine as much if my work day weren't so repetitive.
You know when you call in to your insurance company because your premium increased, and you're upset about it, and all you want to do is yell at someone (it's okay to admit it. We've all felt this way)
I'm the person on the other line who takes the blame, apologizes for something I have no control over, and then does the best I can to save you money . But what you don't know, is that as soon as I hang up the phone with you, another call comes in, and I start the whole process over again.

This is why I am a robot. I say the same sentences over and over like I'm programmed to respond with only select phrases.

I need a job with projects. I need to be able to have a project that I can work on, think about, be creative with, and then when it's over, I can start a new project.

This is why I need to be a wedding planner. One wedding after another, but each is different, and each allows me to be creative and spend time working on something that is going to make someone's day beautiful.

Just found this...

..and it made me think of the Old House. Can't wait until I can start putting in gardens and artwork, and other personal touches.

Old House Update

I had the day off of work today, so I went out to the Old House to see how the floor was coming. My mom and my uncle have been out there a couple of times this week doing a lot of work.
The living room is still looking a mess, but at least all of the sub-flooring is in.

Right now, my uncle is running each board through a plainer and then my mom is sterilizing them. (It's a very old house. Who knows what kind of yucky stuff has been in there over the years)

The boards are looking really nice though. We discovered that there are actually two different types of wood (Oak and Hemlock) so that might change some of our plans for how we're going to lay the boards out.




I ate my lunch in the dining room today. (A delicious Turkey Club from my Grandma's restaurant, the D&R Depot) I used a piece of firewood as a bench. lol.

I did a little bit of work with this handy dandy tool

And then I spent the rest of my time standing in front of the fire, brainstorming (daydreaming) and trying to stay warm.

Let me tell you, that house is very well insulated. It really holds in the cold/heat. It was colder inside the house today than it was outside. But I guess that'll be really nice in the summer, to have a nice cool house, and nice once we get heat in, because it won't be drafty.

My New Years Non-Resolution

A lot of people make resolutions for New Years, and let's be real, how many people actually keep them? So that is why this is not a resolution. It's just a statement. I fully expect myself to have forgotten all about it within a week or two.

I've decided that I'm going to take better care of myself. Simply because it makes me feel better.
About once a year (not always after New Years) I go through a couple of months where I will eat healthier, and work out, and generally take better care of myself, and it always makes me feel better, and happier. Unfortunately it never lasts. (and it probably won't last this time either)

But that's okay.

There's a really great website that I love using. It's called Live Strong It provides you with health tips, exercises, and a tool to count your calories, and track your food. Very helpful.

In an attempt to keep myself on track, I'm going to try to post about my progress. Don't hold your breath though. I'm really not good at keeping up with these sort of things.

Official Introductions

So I told you Riley's story, but other than in my first post I never mentioned my other pets. So let me start with the mama. Chloe

I know it's the same photo as before, but Chloe is not very photogenic.

Chloe was found in the city as an abandoned, (barely a year old) yet still very friendly kitty. She's a long-haired calico,  and is seriously the sweetest and most beautiful cat you'll ever see. She was found by my boyfriend's family, who unfortunately were not able to keep her. Being the sucker for sweet animals that I am, I offered to take her. She was small, and cuddly, and I could afford one cat. No problem.

What secret was Chloe keeping from us? (I'm sure you can all guess.)

She was pregnant. 

We figured it out pretty quickly, so at least we were able to prepare for it. So here are the 5 beautiful results of Chloe's one wild night in the city.

This is little lion (Officially named Rocko by his new family) He's a beautiful, long-haired white kitten who loves climbing up jackets that are hanging on chairs, and has had a very distinct crying face since he was tiny (as seen below)

***

Next, we have "The white one" who turned into "The Orange One" He's a scaredy cat, though he's finally starting to warm up to cuddling. 

Check out his cute little tiger stripes.

***

Now we have the twins

This one is Chubby. AKA Riley's BFF (and occasional pillow) 

Chubby loves to sleep. In those rare moments when he's awake, he spends his time playing with Riley, shredding tissues, and trying to eat me in my sleep.

This guy is called Little Racoon or Crazy Eyes for short. He loves to nibble on toes and run around like a crazy person.

***

And last but not least,

This is Alien Head also nicknamed Grumpy Pants. He's the runt, and he's still very much a momma's boy. All he wants to do is cuddle with Chloe (who I think secretly hates him a little) He also has a weird obsession with tails. He loves snuggling into momma's tail, chasing his brother's tails, pouncing on Riley's wagging tail, and when no other tail is available he settles for attacking his own. 

***

So those are all of my little men. Anyone happen to want to take one home?

The Old House

So as promised, I'm going to start posting photos of the Old House (vacant home previously mentioned here)

The Old House is a 200 year old, solid brick home that's owned by my family, and currently (for the last 12 years) under restoration.

Not very pretty yet, but trust me, it's going to be gorgeous someday....someday.

So far we've 

• Lowered the once brick basement floor by 2 feet, and turned it into a concrete floor. 
• Replaced all the windows with old fashioned glass and frames
• Replaced the roof (though it's going to need to be done again soon)
• Put in a tile floor in the bathroom, as well as replacing the toilet and shower
• Framed out a new wall (we're putting in a second bathroom upstairs)
• Plastered ALL of the walls
• Put in a fireplace in the kitchen (something that was originally there for baking and such)

I could go on forever listing all of the projects we have going, but the main thing we're working on right now is the floors.

We have the entire living room floor ripped up right now. 

My Uncle is putting down the sub-flooring today, and then we're going to put the original floor boards on top

I'm excited about the floors. We're trying to restore them the best we can, and use as many original materials 

We're not sure exactly how they're going to turn out yet, they may be dark, or they may be light..but either way, I think the character that old wood floors have is very pretty. Check out some of these beautiful old floors. I hope ours turn out just as well.