Only 25 Days!

Ok, so I have a Christmas secret I'm DYING to post on here but I absolutely have to wait! I'm counting down the days until I can blab. Starting now...25 days!

The Adventures of Colin, Kara, Jason, Bethany& Brayden...

Today we all went up to the mountains to pick out a Christmas tree. It was super beautiful up in the mountains and was only about 30 mins from our house. We found a tree that would fit in our living room and cut it down. It smells SO good and looks great by the fireplace. . Bethany and Jason got one too and looks great in their house also. We all decided that we have to go every year and make it a tradition. Today is Bethany's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! The big 2-4! After our little adventure, we went home to clean the gutters. Dis-cus-ting! Eww. I'm proud to say I did it all by myself! Colin picked up random trash around the yard and helped put all the gutter crap in the yard waste bin. We decided that if we both got on the roof we wouldn't be able to get down because we didn't have a tall enough ladder. We got done and went to pick up Chinese food to take to Bethany's house for her birthday and wow did it taste good! Also, Colin's mom made a carrot cake that was great too. We stayed about an hour or so then came home to put up our tree and all the lights!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and gets to spend time with the people they love. I also hope you all EAT a TON!!! I know I will! This year I am thankful for many things, some of which include:

*Getting to spend Thanksgiving with my family
*Moving to Albany and buying a house
*Duke and Diesel! And another little puppy on the way!
*My job - I wouldn't do anything else!
*Colin finally graduating chiropractic college after 8 years in school!
*Getting a second family and having 2 awesome (one-day) sister in laws that keep me company!
*My friends.
* The Crazies - Joey and Brayden
*And last but not least, because I need to go take a shower, the fact that I'm healthy, happy and have great family and friends I can depend on.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hit-N-Run Mad Woman

So yesterday was an interesting day. I had a job out in the boondocks in the afternoon and was SO excited it only took 30 minutes instead of the scheduled hour. I walked outside and noticed a lady pulling out from the spot next to me. I got in my car and waited for her to leave. I waited, and waited and waited! Good lord. So after seriously, 5 minutes, I see her start to pull forward then I feel a jerk. I got out of my car to see if she hit me and my bumper was all red and scratched...then I turned to talk to the lady and she took off! :( There was a man in a medical transport van whom got out of his van and said, "Did she just hit you? I saw that same lady hit a Mercedes last week and take off!" We both ended up getting her license plate and called the cops. 45 minutes later they showed up and took my info and some pictures. They verified the lady and told me she was born in 1926...yes she was 82...and lived a good 40 minutes away. I guess the old lady hadn't realized she hit me and kept on truckin'! She told the police the sun was in her eyes and couldn't see. Obviously I told the cops just to get her info for insurance purposes and not to do anything about the hit and run. Moral of the story: Maybe people shouldn't be driving after they turn 80.

House Update

These pictures are from yesterday but Bethany and I almost finished painting the master bedroom (green and cream) and the computer room (blue and cream). Colin and I went to Home Depot to buy some more paint and the chair rail for those two rooms. I put a second coat on this afternoon so it looks much better. I started the guest bedroom today and got about 1/2 way. For some reason the previous people felt the need to put a nail, screw or molly screw in the wall every few inches it seemed! So it took me much longer than expected. I'll do the second coat tomorrow.

Here's a picture of the house. The big dirty bush looking thing is actually a big tree we took down. It looked like an xmas tree and was blocking the whole front of the house. So Colin and his dad ripped it down. I'm trying to have the painting done and at least some furniture in the house by the Thursday when I have the Scentsy party with Bethany. Hopefully it gets finished!

It's really starting to feel like a home for Colin and I. Of course there are still things to do...and probably will be for the next year or so as we can afford it, but it really is starting to look good. The carpet cleaners and TV dudes are coming tomorrow so I'll be up bright and early to meet them! I'll try and post more pics tomorrow...

You know you want to smell good!!!

I will be having a Scentsy party hosted by Colin's sister Bethany on Thursday November 20th (next Thurs.) at my house. I'll even make you some special snacks! All the scents will be available to smell so you can pick out exactly what you want without guessing. Email me for more information AND go to Bethany's website at:

www.scentsy.com/bethanykeesee

My email: KaraHandy@gmail.com

If you can't come but want to order something just go ahead and email me what you want. :)

Kara

PS. I seriously swear by this stuff. It makes your whole house smell great!

Holy Paint!

So I started painting yesterday and got the first coat on the living room, dining room, hallway and kitchen. I went back today and spent a few hours painting all the edges and putting on a second coat of the beige. And holy paint! We bought a 5 gallon bucket of beige, a 1 gallon of brown, a 1 gallon of green and I still need more for the bedroom!

I feel like this house is finally feeling like home! It's amazing what a good clean and some paint will do! Here are a few pics. Don't mind the kitchen...it's all painting/cleaning stuff! We're hoping to move in next Tuesday!

PS...Colin has his final National Boards tomorrow and Saturday, then he's officially done! (Assuming he passes, which of course he will!) He is so excited to be done and so am I. He's been seeing patients and doing amazing. And from what I see, he absolutely loves it!

Living Room




Kitchen

AND...we're in business!

We FINALLY finished the cleaning today!!! Now the place feels a bit more like home. Boy was it gross. I got a jump start yesterday in the kitchen and bathroom then today Colin's sister Bethany came to help clean for awhile, his mom came to help clean and put contact paper in the drawers, and Colin and his dad cleaned the whole garage and went to the dump with all the crap the old renters left behind. Oh, they also made me VERY happy and pulled out an ugly Christmas looking tree the blocked the whole front of the house. I'm so happy that's gone! All these small changes we are making definitely the house feel more like a home.

Tomorrow I'll be painting while Colin is at work. We're doing Brown/Tan/Green. Just bought it tonight at Home Depot! I'm so excited to see some color on the walls! I think on Monday we're getting the carpets cleaned so that will feel really wonderful!!! I'll try and post pictures tomorrow or the next day so everyone can see the paint and everything. Hopefully we'll be able to tackle the fireplace within the next month or so!

Another small note...Bethany is going to start selling Scentsy products (www.scentsy.com) so if anyone needs anything let me know. I'll probably be having a party next week. If you don't know what scentsy is...they have super cute pots and you plug it into the wall. A light bulb heats up the pot which has smelly wax in it and fills up your WHOLE house with fragrance. I'm not kidding...your whole house. Candles never give off enough smell and when I got a pot for my bday last year I become addicted. They aren't badly priced either. I think the waxes are 5 blocks for $25 and the pots are about $30. They make great Xmas gifts for anyone! They have TONS of different scents from fruity, to floral to seasonal and holiday scents. Ok, that wasn't a small note but you get the hint! :)

Kara

Our New Home

Colin and I were able to see the house we're buying today. The previous renters left it super dirty and smelly. I think once we get the house completely cleaned and some paint on the walls we both will feel a lot better about this place. It has some really great potential but will take a ton of work. So, here are the before pictures. It will be a process since we can't really afford to do everything now. Check back in 6 months and we should have the carpet redone with Pergo, the cabinets painted and that fireplace taken care of. And YES there are 2 toilets in the bathroom and YES there is a sink in the master bedroom. I have NO idea why! :)

I'll post more after I finish painting hopefully next week sometime. Wish us luck!

Kitchen/Dining Room

Living Room


Master Bedroom


Bathroom

Fireplace (will be redone!)

Backyard

Good News!

The original plan was to give the tenants of the house we will be renting/buying a month to vacate. Granny and Gramps did that and the tenants have already found a place and will be moving out hopefully next weekend! So Colin and I will be getting the house next weekend/week. We are super excited to finally see the inside and most of all, have a back yard for Duke and our chocolate lab we will be getting next spring! Oh, and Colin gets his garage which means MAYBE I will get a craft room!

We'll finally get a place to make our own and paint, do yard work and renovate freely! We have been waiting for this for a very long time and are way more excited than we probably should be! Hopefully we will be getting financing by April to buy the house, if not sooner.

Colin has been working with his dad for a couple weeks now I think and he is doing really great! He has had several new patients and is learning the ropes of the office.

I had an interview with OSU and another agency in Salem yesterday. They both went great! With interpreting, it's not "yes you get the job or no you don't." It's more like when a job comes up they will let me know. OSU wants me to interpret a play in February which will be interesting. Also, they have sporadic jobs they will be calling me for. The agency in Salem said they can give me work also. So it was a very positive day yesterday! I still have one more agency to interview with. We'll see what happens!

On a VERY happy note...it's snowing on Mt. Hood! Yay! Hopefully it snows several times this year!