Brace Yourself...

Because here come the pictures!

While I really have about 50 photos I want to post, I will do my best to limit it. So, here goes!

First, Ramzi's wedding. It really was beautiful! We had a great time, and her dad (the officiant) had me in tears a number of times. I am so happy for them! When we were in Boston in November, Ramzi took us by the jewelry shop to show us the ring he was having made for her. He popped the question about a week later, and now they are hitched! :)



The next day, we had the home inspection. I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked, since a) I brought the wrong lens for my camera, and b) we were busy listening to the inspector and learning as much as possible. However, if you want to see the virtual tour, just click here! I don't know why I didn't post that before! However, here are a few pics that I DID get, particularly of things not shown in the tour...

1. The back porch (which we'd expand into a larger deck) covered with snow, haha!)

2. The hallway leading to the master suite. First there is this little hallway with a nook that would fit a bookcase or something. Then, the next part of the hallway has closets on either side, with the bathroom coming off on the right. Then you get into the master bedroom with vaulted ceilings! Love it!

3. The greenhouse/sunroom off of the kitchen. This room definitely needs some updating (and the wall behind those cupboards needs to be torn out/replaced completely), but it has so much potential! It is also buried under snow at the moment. Since the house is a short sale, we think the owners have just sort of given up on maintenance-type things-- even though they are still living there.

4. The office!!! I KNEW it was there! It doesn't have built-in shelves like I remembered (some other houses we looked at had those), but still-- an office! It is right off the living room, and has so much potential! You can also see where the new flooring ends and the old stuff begins... We'd eventually like to have it all match the new flooring (which is also hardwood, not laminate like I thought!).

5. The view from downstairs, looking up. This is from standing in the dining area off the kitchen. You can see the exposed beams (which I don't love, but are structurally important) and the stairs on the right, and the "kids" bathroom upstairs... There is a small reading nook next to the bathroom (on the left), and the bedrooms are all off to the right down a central hallway that runs perpendicular to the one you can see.

6. Me and Gus, actually standing next to the garage (our realtor took this, and it turned out well!!)... If we get the house, you see the huge area behind us? That would be our front yard. I can only IMAGINE how much fun the kids would have there, all year round!! Oh, and it was totally snowing. :)

And a few more pics... This one is the edge of the town we'd be living in. There's not much to it, but it's only about a 5-10 minute drive down this road to "real" civilization (major grocery stores, etc.).

And then these last two photos were from the Old Mill restaurant, where we went for dinner on Valentine's Day. It's not the fanciest place in the world, but the ambience is the best! The whole building has such a funky, charming layout, and it's so cozy inside. Especially with all the snow! I can't believe the ducks were still there, though. Time to fly south, guys!


And that's it! I am exhausted today from all of yesterday's travel (plus the time zone change), and had to spend two hours in traffic court this afternoon. I got a red light traffic ticket back in August, which I had originally planned to fight (since the video shows me stopping, albeit in the crosswalk-- I felt that the penalty was unreasonable)... but after talking with the local Sheriff's department, the deputy assigned to me agreed to knock it down to something that came with a smaller fine and no point on my driving record. Only, we had to take care of it in court. And she never showed up today. So instead of knocking it down to a lesser charge, it got dropped completely! Case dismissed! The only thing that could make today better would be if I could snuggle with my babies, but that will happen soon enough. They come home tomorrow! I can't wait!!!! :)