The First Month

Wombat and I have just spent the first married week in our new house.  It's been fantastic and annoying at the same time.  Our first month of married life has been better than we had ever imagined, especially after already living together for nearly 2 years.  There's a sense of comfort, security, and achievement that seems to come with the official wedding day and marital house.   We were lucky enough to be in perfect position to buy our first house at nearly the same time as our wedding, so it makes the newly-wedded-ness seem even more old-fashioned and fun.

The annoying parts only come along with the great deal we got on the new (old) home, including broken appliances, pests, and endless updates.  We were savvy enough to request a warranty with our contract, however, we have quickly learned it is not an end-all solution.  Yesterday we finally fit into the Sears home-warranty schedule for our oven, microwave, and washer/dryer, only to have the agent inform us we need to wait another two weeks to check for parts.   Additionally, the agent told us our washer/dryer just needed to be run with white vinegar to clean it, but when we did, it flooded the basement and soaked our carpet, bathroom, drywall, and boxes of wedding gifts that were still sitting unpacked on the floors.  Sears has already admitted fault, but we know it's never easy to have every cost reimbursed as easily as it should.

More fun parts:  My brother and sister-in-law surprised us with a visit last night, during which we made eggplant pasta and steaks, followed by playing Mario Party and our new "Things" game; fun!  Mom and my step-dad joined us, so we made a special tomato sauce for him, since he's "allergic" to vegetables haha.  This morning my dad and step-mom stopped by with the left-over plants from our wedding (succulents!) planted in beautiful porcelain pots on their way to get pumpkins next door at the Neely's farm.  We also got pumpkins and can't wait to carve them and bake pumpkin seeds (once our oven is fixed)!

Yesterday morning, we returned several duplicate wedding gifts and exchanged them for things left on our registry.  Since we were in Columbus, we were lucky enough to time our trip with Catherine's yard sale in the area.  She is a great friend from law school and was selling things from her former apartment, so we made out like bandits!  Wombat got a game, I got decor for the guest room, paintings for the office (one she painted herself!), and curtain panels for the dining room, all for $45!  While there, we also opened her wedding gift, which was an AMAZING quilt that she made us in the short month between the July Bar exam and our wedding.  I had a hunch she made us something since she's so talented like that, but a 700-piece green and purple queen-size quilt, complete with a copy of our invitation stitched on left me speechless. It is truly gorgeous and one of the most meaningful gifts I've ever received.  I can't believe what wonderful friends we are lucky enough to have.  They are so amazing to us, and I hope they know how special they are in our lives.

Our current to do list:  clean gutters, caulk windows, dead-head flowers, WRITE THANK YOU CARDS, finish putting away gifts, rip up deck, build new deck, build fire pit, clean and repair chimney, build back-yard shed for tools and tractor, HOST NEIGHBORHOOD BBQ and meet neighbors on our dead-end road.  Good thing I'm sitting here blogging while watching TiVo'd shows instead haha.  Pictures to come soon!