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Prepare for a Trip
I got back from Seattle a few days ago and am still kind of digging out. The time zone adjustment seemed like it’s be easy the first day back, but we were just exhausted from the trip home. It was a bit rougher this morning… I will share about my trip soon, but for now some tips for preparing for going away in case you need them.
How to prepare for a trip K-couple style:
- Make plans in advance to have your pets cared for. (a big, huge thanks to our friends who are fed, watered, scooped and pet for us).
- Make plans for the house. Our friends are also taking care of bringing in the mail for us.. otherwise there isn’t much that needs done.
Basket for mail + Thank you note
- Clean the house. I know that some people don’t get why it matters to clean the house before you go away, but a clean house makes returning from vacation a bit more pleasant. No dirty dishes, no overflowing hampers, swept floors… it’s nice.
- Pack. Our bags flew for free (whoo hoo!) so packing was not a stress. We’ve gone on week-long cruises sharing one roller bag before so having our own suitcases was a treat! Even though we each had a bag, we split up our clothing so some of Brad’s was in my bag and some of mine was in his, so that if one bag gets lost in transit we at least had a change of clothes. (Packing is easier if you make a list too.)
- Eat all of the food in the fridge. The last thing you want to do when you return home from a trip is have expired food sitting around. We plan out meals to use anything that will be bad by the time we get back. Before our trip out o Seattle, I accidentally bought milk that we didn’t need so I gave the new half-gallon to our kitty caretakers.
When I started writing this list, I thought it would be longer… but honestly the hardest part of preparing for a trip is figuring out where you’re going, how you’re getting there and wrapping things up at work before vacation (that proved to require more effort than I originally thought it would).
How do you prepare for a trip?
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Weepy
The picture that should have been on Friday’s post:
I love my trees and am so happy that the house came with them!
Despite the bit of snow we got over the weekend, we were out and about with a bunch of family things. We celebrated a birthday, heard my brother-in-law sing in his last high school concert and enjoyed having out of town relatives in our home.
I’m currently counting down the days until I’ll be in the Pacific Northwest!
What are you looking forward to?
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Friday Five: Things I Don’t Understand
Crazy Ohio Spring
Yesterday my car said it was 86 degrees on my drive home. The sun was shining and when I arrived home Brad was mowing the lawn and our weeping cherry trees had spontaneously blossomed. I’m kicking myself for not taking a picture of the trees to show you all today, so look at the tree below and think about two of them that are about 4-feet-tall.
This is a weeping cherry tree {Image via Tree Facts}
Our house was actually quite hot inside so we switched on the air conditioning. Holmes and Watson curled up near the living room vent most of the winter so they were at first shocked to find the vents blowing cool air. Holmes sat with his nose to the vent for a good hour last night:
Real life has prevented me from blogging as much as I’d like to this week. Hoping for some more time to post next week.
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Friday Five: Reasons to love April
The Utility Circus
My mom asked us about how things were going with home ownership now that we’ve passed a year since having our offer on our house accepted. The best way to describe our current home situation is a utility circus.
In the course of one week, we received our new trash and recycling cans… which will probably never be completely full. We rarely filled up our old can before. Another odd thing is that the recycling can is green, but prior to the new service recycling had to be placed in blue bags. Since there’s no label or symbol on the green can, people seem to be using it for trash although the pamphlet explained which is which. (Nerd Alert: I read pamphlets.)
The water company replaced our meter and the gas company was less than thrilled that they couldn’t access our gas meter to inspect it and now we have to schedule yet another time during work hours for Brad to be home to let someone in to check out the meter.
The cans are part of city trash service that our taxes pay for and the utility providers aren’t “charging” us for the new meter or the inspection (seeing as how they’re required and all). But it’s just a little annoying that we have to make phone calls, read pamphlets and arrange to work at home to accommodate the schedules.
Obviously the benefits of home ownership win over the drawbacks of apartment-living but sometimes it’d be nice not to have to worry about it.
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Wordless Wednesday: One Inch
Why we have to wait until tomorrow to have our fridge delivered: One inch.
What lies behind the molding
We’re deconstructing a door frame tonight…
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Considering a Facelift
It all started when Brad complained about our oven… then the home improvement bug hit.
One of the things I love about homeownership is that we can do whatever we want with our house (so long as it doesn’t break city ordinances or tick off our insurance company… which is why we have handrails on our front steps).
Last fall, Brad mentioned how annoying it was that our oven didn’t have a preheat feature, you just put it on the temperature you want and wait awhile (it’s gas so it heats very quickly). That’s how we ended up with a kitchen appliance Christmas present. All of our kitchen appliances came with the house, although none of them are terribly old, none of them are really all that new and are pretty basic. We went back and forth on replacing the stove or replacing the dishwasher. But then, the kitchen made its own decision when our refrigerator started peeing on the floor. Since our fridge doesn’t have an ice or water dispenser, this was a problem. [After pulling out the fridge and checking the tag on the back we discovered that Brad and I are barely older than it. Barely.] Prompting us to fridge shop over the weekend.
Say hello to the newest member of the K-Kitchen:
Image and fridge via Lowes
Our fridge ended up being an awesome deal (more than half off)! It gets delivered tonight… I can’t say I’ve been this excited for a kitchen appliance since we unwrapped my KitchenAid mixer the day after our wedding. Read the rest of this entry
Winter Decorating
The moment leftover turkey and mashed potatoes find their way into the fridge after Thanksgiving, I shift into gear for Christmas and start decorating. The trees go up, the Advent wreath comes out, there’s garland about, snowmen, ribbon and a new wreath on the red door.
These decorations are out and lit during the whole holiday season, all the way until New Year’s Day when it’s time to move on from Christmas and hang a new calendar. Once all the festive Christmas decorations are packed away in the attic, the house kind of looks kind of sad. In order to avoid the 60 to 0 switch, not everything that goes up at the end of November is Christmas-centered.
Most often, my wreaths aren’t Christmas-specific, that way I can leave them up all winter. This year, I opted to make a pine cone wreath for the front door using the scented pine cones that were stashed after Christmas 2011.
Bonus: Our entry smells like cinnamon and vanilla!
Snowmen, snowflakes and inspirational words (joy, peace, hope, love) are also perfectly acceptable (to me) all winter, along with the metallic accents, so they stay long after the trees and stockings go away.
Sorry that I didn’t take any in-progress pictures, but if you want to make your own here’s how I made it: Read the rest of this entry
Wrapping up 2012
Christmas came and went in a flurry of travel, events and time with family. It was wonderful! You’ve probably noticed a bit of a blog hiatus over the holidays, with both of us enjoying a holiday break, the K-Couple is not back to regularly scheduled programming, which means more time with each other and those we love and less time blogging. But I can’t let this whole week pass without reflecting on the year we just lived.
I entered 2012 as a newlywed, apartment-dwelling Clevelander. As I prepare to party away 2012 in just a few days, I can’t help but look back at the year and go
Whoa!
Not only did this year go by quickly, it was anything but boring. However… Brad and I said we were looking forward to becoming boring for awhile after the major ups and downs of 2011.
That didn’t happen, but I’m okay with it. This year brought much more joy than pain for which I’m grateful. Here’s a whirlwind summary (in no particular order).
We casually started house hunting one day in early 2012. We were en route to meet friends for dinner when a house for sale caught my eye and I said to Brad, “I wonder what that house looks like inside?” I searched it on my phone while waiting to be seated and we looked at the pictures and information. We never toured that house, but started looking at others and soon fell in love with ours. Placed an offer in April. Closed in June. Got keys in July. Moved in in August. (It’s a time consuming process.)- We celebrated our first anniversary and ate some freezer-burnt cake. Read the rest of this entry
Down the Drain
It happened last night. It was one of those moments when your heart stops and you want to close your eyes so you can open them to find out it didn’t actually happen.
But it did.
Brad and I were baking yesterday evening and had placed our wedding rings in their little bowl that lives in the kitchen, specifically meant to protect them from goopy food stuff or harsh dish-washing. I reached over the sink to grab the ring bowl and mine flew out of the bowl straight into the sink drain.
I froze for a second and then did the only thing I could think of. I yelled. “BRAD!“
He came rushing to my aid. It had fallen into the garbage disposal side of the sink. Which ended up being basically the best situation. Once he knew where my ring had gone, he threw open the cabinet and unplugged the disposal, snagged a flashlight and was eventually able to lift my ring to safety with his grilling tongs.
Sink drains are not surprisingly high on the Top 10 Places Women Lose Rings. Yesterday’s ring drama was very upsetting and thankfully the solution was quick.
Will I be more careful in the future? Absolutely. The bowl will be my farther from the sink next time as well.
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Things I’ve Learned About Pet Ownership
Apr 26
Posted by Probably Rachel
Holmes and Watson officially turned 1-year-old yesterday. Even though they found their home with us in August this is kind of a big deal, because they are no longer kittens… despite what they may think.
They think they’re helpful
Having pets as an adult is totally different than having pets as a child. When we adopted Holmes and Watson, we were prepared to be responsible for these creatures but there are some lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Read the rest of this entry →
Posted in Commentary, My Life
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Tags: adopt a pet, animals, cats, Friday Five, Home, Pets