If Handy Manny can do it so can I!

So I've been trying to be frugal and save a little money by browsing Craigslist much to Loi's amusement. He makes fun of me for splurging on some items and then going cheap on others. I apparently can never buy him store brand ketchup, he must have Heinz ketchup onry. Anyways, I was actually trying to find a dresser for my parents when I came across a listing for a small writing desk with matching vanity and had to have it immediately. My bedroom set only came with one nightstand, and I never could find a matching nightstand to place on the other side of the bed. So for 4 years I tried out various workarounds and was never quite happy with the end result. This table however would be perfect, and was a steal at $40 for both pieces.

Here's Monster checking out my new find.

Unfortunately the vanity cover was woefully stained.

Well I had watched enough HGTV to know how to fix this dilemma! A screwdriver revealed this mess on the other side.

Apparently whoever was paid to put this thing together got a bonus based on how many staples they could put into the backside. Ok, no problem, I can get them out. However it didn't take too long of digging staples out of the backboard before my carpal tunnel started kicking in.
The next best invention? The ever handy box cutter!
Muahaha that made short work of that pesky nasty seat covering!
Next a quick stop at Joann's netted me a new toy and my new clean seat covering.

Staple guns are awesome! I don't know how I went so long without one. It took me all of maybe 10 minutes to staples on the new cloth, and get the seat reattached. I then took a touch up marker to the table and chair legs and table and seat were practically brand new! And it goes perfect with my bedroom set. :)

Construction zone ahead!

So we've lived in our new home for approximately 5 days now. I'm excited to tell you that today I found our silverware and the can opener! Now we can really settle in! As promised I am about to show you the "after" pictures. Having a moving company move you is really the most awesome thing ever. However, they don't skimp on the boxes, and a "perk" if you want to call it that is that they will also haul away the packing material. Which means unpacking EVERYTHING. Even if you have absolutely no clue where you want to put it yet. The other downside is that our belongings had to be split up into 2 separate shipments because the first truck ran out of room. (Don't ask...) So while we have a headboard and foot board, we're missing bed rails! I might have the coffee table top, but alas where is the base? Anyways I digress... now on to the good stuff!

A whirlwind of activity in the master bedroom. The problem is, everytime I think I'm done finding room for that last one t-shirt, another bag full of clothes surfaces instead! And don't get me started on how many freaking shoes I have grrrr...

The dining room was pretty simple.

For now I'm thinking this will be Lucas' room. And I thought *I* had too much stuff. Word of advice to future parents. Don't buy it if you think you'll need it, just wait to see if you do. We could have saved a lot of money just buying Lucas empty boxes to play with since that was all he was interested in.

Guest bedroom number 1.... (I don't plan on anybody staying over quite yet lol...)

Guest bedroom number 2....

Basement...

Basement again. Check out those bookcases I put together! (Loi helped with part of 1, but the rest were all me baby!)

Another picture of the basement. My mother graciously gave us her leather couches since she knew we were going to be short furniture. However, after spending years in her home... they've acquired a certain "odor". Canh chua to be exact if you're of the Vietnamese persuasion. They've been getting a daily Febreeze bath, don't know how well that works on leather though lol.

The formal sitting area up front.

The mess that is our kitchen currently...
The living room. Sadly that TV shown is the only working one we have at the moment as our big screen piece of crap Mitsubishi has died on us. Loi insisted on moving it regardless thinking he could bring it back to life. Instead we have one hell of a paperweight downstairs in the basement... But don't worry. That box in the picture is our new TV stand for the Sony Bravia that should be delivered within the next week. ;)

Slowly but surely we should be able to get our home pieced back together. Let's just call this my mini version of an extreme makeover?

New to the neighborhood...

So as most of you know Loi and I have made our big move to Baltimore, MD. Yes, after spending 27 years living in Oklahoma City we have uprooted to the east coast. It's too early for me to tell if I'll like it here. It doesn't help that prior to the move everytime I mentioned Baltimore to somebody they all looked at me terrified and inform me that people get murdered here everyday. Yay fun! As far as I can tell, I do love our little quiet neighborhood. And Starbucks and Target are litterally around the corner and down the street so I can't ask for more!

You guys have been bugging me for house pictures and I admit I'm ashamed of the chaos that is our home to put them up. But what the heck, I've decided to have a little fun with them. Maybe people will be so amused by this little fiasco that I'll attract a horde of internet readers, and can start putting up advertisements and have my blog make money for me! We'll just ignore the fact that I tend to post something on here every 8 months or so...

Ok so here are the BEFORE pictures. These are the seller's photos. All the furniture you see were owned by the previous homeowners. So without further ado here they are!

The front of our new home.

Back view...
Formal sitting area
Kitchen and breakfast nook

Formal Dining room
Living Room
Master bedroom and bathroom

Other bedrooms:
Second upstairs bathroom:
Basement:
Spare room in basement:

Not too shabby eh? Let me tell you hiking up and down all those stairs all the time are certainly putting me on the right path to getting some buns of steel. Now look forward to tomorrow when I put up the pictures of what we've "done" to the place! (Although, given my history of blogging, this might actually happen 3 months from now...)

When you can say ahhhhhhhhhh

That's a big sigh of relief. A little background history. I have a small addiction. Ok, maybe not that small of an addiction. It's to this little thing known as caffeine. Coffee to be more exact, cokes and mountain dew's don't exactly do it for me but give me a caramel latte and I'm in heaven. Or caramel macchiato's from Starbucks would be just lovely, but unfortunately they have too many calories so I've settled on skinny cinnamon dolce lattes instead. But yes, I must have coffee. Daily. Or I become a mean horrible person. I'll be the first to admit I have a problem, but honestly I don't care. At least I'm not giving myself cancer with cigarettes or hepatitis with alcohol right?

Anyways, Loi has more or less begrudgingly accepted my dependency on coffee. He use to give little snipey remarks whenever I asked to stop somewhere so I could grab a cup, but he quickly learned you don't start an argument with a caffeine deprived lunatic before she's had her morning cup unless you want to deal with irrational and utmost hatred and raving. But that doesn't always stop him from getting in a little jab every now and then.

Take today for example. Today my emotions are a little more labile since I'm basically PMSing. We're on the road driving to the in-laws (gotta love technology nowadays where you can post to your blog from your car!) And of course, we had to grab a cup of joe before hitting the road. And of course its a 3 hour drive, so I need a large cup to nurse along the way. We're about one hour away from our final destination, and my bladder is firing away warning signs to my brain that unless we stop soon it may implode on itself. But honestly, I needed to go pee when we were only on the road for 30 minutes. But of course I can't ask my darling hubby to stop at a rest area, because then I would hear something to the tune of "WHY did you drink so much coffee blah blah blah wah wah wah." So I sucked it up and held it stubbornly. But man when I finally hit that wall, I didn't give him an option "You gotta find somewhere to stop NOW." "But we're only an hour away!" "I don't care I gotta PEE!!"

So now I feel much better. Ahhhhhhhh......

When babies won't sleep...

I've spent the last couple of hours entertaining my son because for some reason he doesn't feel like going to sleep at his bedtime tonight. I even tried to just let him cry it out for a little bit, but after about 10 minutes who goes in to rescue him, his daddy of course. And yet I'm the one being accused all the time of being a softy that can't let him cry, ha!

I am almost officially done with residency now. In three short weeks I will be officially graduated, and expect to be unleashed out into the real world to finally put all my training and knowledge to real use! And earn a real paycheck to boot! YAY!

Loi and I celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary recently. Well, sort of. Saturday June 21st we went out car shopping, and I drove home my pretty 2008 Acura MDX as my new mommy-mobile. I pretty much assumed it was Loi's anniversary/graduation gift to me since he conceded to getting the car much more easily then I had thought he would. So Sunday morning June 22nd I presented my darling husband with his gift and was met with the blankest most confused expression ever. "What's this for?" he asked, and then his look of befuzzlement was quickly replaced by one of horror as he realized what day it was. Yes, he FORGOT our anniversary. After mumbling some lame excuse about he has been so busy with pursuing his career changes and how he was so sorry he forgot, let's just say he better be damn glad there was a shiny new car sitting in the driveway or it could very well have been the last anniversary he would ever need to worry about remembering.

Speaking of new cars, she is currently sitting in the body shop. Yes, some moron who was apparently incapable of driving between the lines swerved into my lane and clipped the side of my car. Luckily the driver behind me who saw the whole thing was kind enough to be a witness for me, because then the idiot tried to file a claim with my insurance and said that I had been the one to drift into his lane. There's something to be said about karma, and I hope the lying scum bag gets his due. I guess I should just be consoled by the fact that he was found at fault, and soon my car will be fixed as good as new and I'll get her back soon enough. Still, poo-poo on the dummy who hit me.

Other news, I decided to join Weight Watchers online because I am absolutely determined to lose my pregnancy weight, and hopefully get back down to pre-residency size! The last 3 years have not been waist line friendly to say the least. It's been 2 weeks, I've lost 4 pounds so far. 19 more to go, wish me luck!