Count down has begun!

So the count down has begun. When Joris and I decided to push our wedding forward (from 16 June 1012 to 31 October 2011) we had 11 weeks to get everything sorted! So as of today, we have 48 days left! I can tell you: this is not a lot of time to organize a wedding, no matter how big or small. Official things seem to need their time. If you are familiar with Dutch culture; paperwork moves slow around here. Which is ok, because it gives us time to save for rings (I soo hope we can get the rings we want in time for our wedding! I want him to put that ring on, and I'll never take it off! (well, except for medical reasons..) and to take care of some things around the house. Our contractor (I still can't believe I own my own house! And that we have a contractor!! I know I'm "grown-up" but I still don't feel that way!) came by yesterday to talk about the last few things we want to have done. Compared to the double doors, or the stairs, they are just small, minor things, but these are things I can get really excited about! If everything works out he is going to install our dishwasher and oven for us (the kitchen needs some, uhm, prep-work! The poor things have been standing in our living room for almost nine months! I feel embarrassed now..) along with making a lock on our fence door and put up our sunscreen! They house is going to feel sooo much more like a Home after that! Especially the work in the kitchen! I love baking and I don't like washing-up, so I'm really going to enjoy using these thing so much! Oh, and he is going to put something underneath the counter-top so it's save for me to put my lovely Kitchen-aid on it! I can't wait! I promise to take some pictures! Once I figure out how to transfer pictures from the camera to my laptop (well and, find the box with the right cable..) you will be swamped with pictures!!! And, back on the wedding front.. I have found and bought a dress!!! The dresses from my earlier post were not suitable for remaking into a wedding dress. My mother took a look at the fabric and made that disapproving face (that I know all too well) shook her head and frowned. So that was it. I don't know how to sew (not really) so I needed my mother to be on board for this. And to trust her and her sewing knowledge. So I did, and the dresses went back. So on we went, looking for that "perfect" dress. And finding.. nothing... Joris and I have a very, v.e.r.y. limited budget. Which is ok. I mean, we decided to push the wedding forward, to change everything around. But it does make finding the right things in time a bit more challenging. And it makes you prioritize. For me, our wedding rings are more important that my dress. I know that the more money we spend on something like dresses or shoes the less chance we have of getting the rings we want. I have seen hundreds of dresses that I could have seen being a/mine wedding dress. But I wasn't looking for a wedding dress at that time. And now that I was those dresses where nowhere to be found! Doesn't that always seem the be the case? After three failed dress attempts (at first I bought a lovely dress for $35 on eBay, but then it turned out to be too damaged to even be send to me! (I still miss that dress! It was perfect! White, wrap-dress, tea length, could fit a petticoat, 3/4 length sleeves, with cuffs and a collar! Oh well.. ). Then I had the "brilliant" idea of earlier mentioned former post.. to turn three dresses into one.. After that I actually bought a dress (cheap-ish from eBay). It isn't a wedding dress (which is fine, I don't mind that at all!), and even though it's a lovely dress, it just didn't feel like a wedding dress. It's pretty, but nothing special. I am keeping the dress, sort of as a last minute back up (even if it was to have a "new" dress, nobody has seen me in for the wedding), but hopefully just as a beautiful dress I hope to wear to a nice party with my husband sometimes! So on we went, looking, and looking. I would love to have been able to go to a "real" bridal store, but knowing their "cheap"dresses are more then our entire budget, and being plus sized there would not be anything for me to try on... So my fear and insecurities got the better of me, and I decided that I would not go to a "real" bridal store. Having found a dress (in mint-green!) I really liked, I was happy to go with it. But than they did not want to ship to the Netherlands (argh! I hate when that happens!).. After finally finding a store that would ship that dress to the Netherlands.. the dress sold out! Literally when we were making an account to buy it! I could not believe it! (I had even made a post about that dress, saying how it reminded me of Ginger Rogers..) However, after looking and looking we found (and bought!) a dress! It's not a "wedding"dress, not officially, but for me it's the most weddingy-dress I've even looked at! It's ivory, has an empire waist and fluttery sleeves. It might be a tad short on me (apparently I am tall! I never knew!) but if it turns out to be too short I know I will be able to fix that. I'll make an under-or-overlay or attach some lovely lace trim to the bottom of the dress (this is actually an idea I like more and more.. I might even do that even when the dress is long enough).. whatever, I know I can fix that! So, they say it has been shipped.. but the tracking number is not working.. so as long as I don't have the dress in my hands I'm still skeptical! So, as to not jinxes it, I'm not going to show a picture of it. Sorry.. hope you understand! Alright, I must get back; struggling, to finally get my bookcase in one piece!

Got myself a new ride!

What a whirlwind of a move it has been!
So many things went wrong, that it sometime felt as if nothing would ever be right again.
The house is still a mess, and does not feel like a Home yet. But that will come, in time.

Everybody tells you it's going to be great, and I'm sure it will be (and it's coming now, it's getting better), but oh boy, did we have a struggle! Not just with the move, but with each other as well. I definitely have some issues! I did/do not feel comfortable living in a house that is not (completely) mine. That I can't pay for on my own. Joris and I fought, we cried, we laughed, we loved each other, and we know we want to be together. And so we are being nice to each other, even when things don't go as planned. Sure, I cry (but really, I always cry a lot) but we still love and like each other! In all honestly (and maybe I'm sharing too much here), I think that it was the hardest thing about the move. But we made it!

I want to show you this house/home/mess I keep talking about!
However.. I can't find the cables for the camera to hook up to the computer.. (that tells you a little bit about how big a mess it is!)
So you'll just have to take my word for it for now.

Oooh, I have some other news!!!
I bought a new (to me) bike!!!
I life in the Netherlands, and don't even have a drivers license (they are very, very, v e r y expensive to get here) so I use my bike to get around (trust me, this was NOT easy when moving! And I do not recommend it if you want to keep your sanity). But my old bike had had enough and it was broken beyond repair...
So this left me stranded. I could walk or take the bus, both limited me a lot when I wanted to get around town.
I looked for over two weeks! To find something half decent and that I could afford. We looked at three bikes, but no luck.. Until yesterday evening! It was a bit more expensive then I planned, but, oh so lovely!
It's a Batavus Florence. I have no idea how old she is (10, 15, 20 years old???), but she has seven gears and is in great shape!
Now, I'm no computer-wizz, but I'll try to show you the picture of her that was on Marktplaats (a Dutch version of Craigslist)



Isn't she lovely?
She looks almost blue/black in this pictures, but in real-life she's a very dark metallic green. In some light she might look black-ish, but in the sunlight she sparkles a lovely dark green!
I'm kind of smitten, can you tell?
She'll be getting a new (to-me) Brooks saddle (I'm so curious as to find out how that will ride!) and maybe some new grips.. Definitely a basket! I don't particularly like the extra weight in the front of the bike, but I always wear skirt, and therefor always have a (hand)bag.. And I need to keep an eye on it while I'm riding my bike.

My other love (Joris) just got home, so we're off! Going to ride our bikes and enjoy the sun while it's here!

First and last night, see you on the other side!

Yesterday we slept in our new home, for the very first time!
It was.., well, kind of weird. Nice, but it felt like we were camping, or staying in a hotel. And we kind of were. I mean, we have no lights yet, so if I wanted to go to the bathroom at night I had to use a flashlight. And because we don't have any curtains yet it felt as of the whole neighborhood was looking in (which I'm pretty sure they were, we've had so many comments!)
And it hit me, really hit me, for the first time. I am moving in with somebody else! I won't have a home of my own anymore! I won't be able to just spread out in bed (I love to take up the whole bed! I usually look like an X, with my arms and legs spread out!), or, you know, tell him to go home when we have a fight. It felt like a lot to take in. And it still feels kind of daunting. I'm sure it will be great, once we're settled, but for now it feels really quite strange..

Today we spend making room in our new home for all our (read: my) old stuff. Tomorrow (in 15 hours to be exact) a friend of mine, who has a van, is coming to help us move all the big stuff (sofa, wardrobe, fridge, washing-machine, you get the point) and we are no were near ready!
All the rooms are still so full of stuff that the sofa won't be able to get to the door! So right this minute, as I type, Joris (I love you so much, baby! I really do appreciate all that you do for me!) is packing a moving-box with some of my many, many books and dvd's.

Me? I do help, really, I do! It's just, right now I'm all worn out. I can't seem to find the trees through the forest anymore. It feels like, no matter how much stuff we take out, the rooms just don't seem to get any emptier... How does THAT work?!
But we're tired, and we need to get some sleep.

Tonight is going to be our last night in my old home (we're sleeping here tonight, because it's easier when we start moving stuff in the morning. And we still have a mattress on the floor here). It feels like I'm closing a chapter, and I won't ever be able to go back to it. I always get this way when I move, and I'm sure I'll be sobbing on the floor before I hand in the keys.

So, goodbye for now. I'm not sure if my internet connection here will continue for long. But Thursday (IEK!!! It's almost Thursday!!! Please, no! I just need a little more time, just give me two more days!) we will be done, that's when we hand in the keys of my old, single, home. at least, I hope so...

See you on the other side!

Final days..

Just a quick post because we have been very busy (and still are!).
We've been hard at work, and the new Home is getting there, slowly, but surely.
I have to leave my old house on Thursday July 7, and there is still sooo much tot do!
We hope to be moving next week, Friday or Saturday, if we can find someone with a van to help us that is!

But, before I go on, first some more pictures of our Home as it is/was in the 'Before'!
First up, is the bathroom! Well, what to say about it.. It's small. It has a shower, and no, the grout is not just dirty, it's been painted green by the previous occupants! Not to bad, but they, ahum, didn't actually do it very well. We tried to paint over it, using special grout paint, but, uhm.. it's mainly sticking to the tiles, and not really to the grout.. Yeah.. kind of sucks (more because it took up a lot of time and effort), but we'll deal with that once we live there!
I present to you: THE BATHROOM!



The washer and dryer are going to be in there as well, to the left of the sink. It's going to be a squeeze, but that's fine. Bathrooms can be changed, altered and remodelled. Right?

Next up.. The livingroom!!!
As these are the 'before' pictures, I can tell you, the living room does not look like this anymore..
For the moment it's being used as storage for the oven, dryer, dishwasher, paint, floors (that still need to go down in the other rooms that need to be painted first), etc..
But.. the biggest change are the garden doors! We now have double-doors!!! I promise I'll get some good pictures of the new doors, they are really quite lovely..

THE LIVINGROOM!


This side hasn't changed that much.. Love that view, if there isn't a van parked in front of our house (it's the neighbours van..) we have a lovely view of a pond with ducks! Love that!


This side looks very different now! It wasn't bad like this, but I/we wanted two doors we could open in summertime! It's going to be lovely!

Now, this post isn't over, but I am feeling a bit sorry for myself today, so be warned if you read on.. I guess it's because I'm tiered from working at the house for over six (6!) months, and it that time of year..

Tomorrow is my birthday, and (as usual) I have a bit of the Birthday-Blues.. It's not unusual for me to feel this way around my birthday (and I seem to get it around New years as well), but with all the work that has to be done it's not very helpful!
Because we are not nearly as far with all the work as we should be, my birthday will be spent painting. And maybe that's a good thing. I wouldn't be able to sit and enjoy "birthday-stuff" knowing that we still have so much work to do! And painting is definitely one of the more "fun" things to do! Well.., I actually do not enjoy the painting itself (it's ok for small stuff, but after a while everything just starts hurting, and we still have a lot of rooms to paint!), but it can be so gratifying to see the result! All the hours, days, weeks, months of hard work, and then to, finally, put on a beautiful coat of paint! After de paint come the floors, and then the room is ready! Then it can be filled with treasures and can be used to create beautiful memories!

To be honest I am both dreading July 7 and really looking forward to it.
I am somewhat worried that we won't make it in time, that we won't get the work done.
But if (and when) we do, it will be great! Then we can finally start living in this lovely Home! Love it the way it's supposed to be! Be able to actually see my friends again (I've missed you!!)!! To take some time off from working on the house, even if it's just for the night! I can't wait for fall, hopefully by that time we're settled in our new Home, and we might have even unpacked one or two things!

I can't wait!

Almost there!

So after a lot of interviews we found ourselfs a builder!
It wasn't an easy task, because we have a tight budget en limited time, but we finally found someone who could make us a staircase, new patiodoors, do some electricalwork and some plumming for us!
And so far, we are really happy about it!
He is making recordtime! We thought it might take somewhere between 3 to 6 weeks for him to be ready, but as it looks now, he will be done next week!!!
The stairs went in THIS week!!!!

This is great news!
This also means that my fiance and I will have to go back to work ourselfs!

We hope to get the last changes done ourself and then it's time for cleaning, filling holes, painting and putting in floors! Then: the move!

I love the idea of living there, but I am dredding The Move... I have a lot of stuff, and always start to panic a bit when I realise all that STUFF has to be packed, caried down 6 (six!) flights of stairs, put in a van and be placed and unpacked at the new house.
The fact that we don't own a car (I don't even have my licence!) makes me a bit scared. And totaly dependend on other people.
I don't like that.

But, I'll deal with it, I'll have to!
And it will be fine, so far it has always worked out.

Every now and then I get a bit house-tired. Then all I see are the things we have to do, have to sort, clean, pack, think about... To relax I sometimes take a day (or half a day) "off". I go to see someone (and beg then not to ask about the house!) or I go and look a wedding stuff!
Because, I am going to be a bride next year!

But, for now, I'll show you some more of our lovely home!



This is a picture of our bedroom (it even has a balcony!!!!).
It's no longer orange (I really do not like the colour orange).
People kept calling it the 'parents-bedroom' and I kept thinking: "Hu? this is not my parents bedroom! It's my bedro... ooh!"
It's not the biggest bedroom, so not officially the 'master-bedroom'.

The biggest bedroom is The Blue Room



You can get why we call it the blue room!

It is also no longer blue.. but we still call it 'the blue room', kind of confusing for people who haven't seen it in it's blue state!
This is going to be our guest room. And (maybe someday) a childs bedroom.
For now it's going to be my fiance's study, until we can finish the attic.

Still have to take pictures with my new camera!
I have taken it out of the house now!
I just bought a Banana Hammock for it, so now I can put it in my bag and go!
I just haven't dared to take any pictures af the house in it's current state.. Probably because I was scared to even walk around there... :p!

It's been a while...

Sooo. Yea, it's been a while...
Sorry about that.
I'll be better, really, I promise!

A lot has happened these days, weeks, months.
My boyfriend and I got the house! Jey!
And it's in a lot worse shape then I thought.. It was dirty (like really, really DIRTY... Not nice..) the day we bought the house the heating gave out.. So it was cold, like freezing cold...
But we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and then we cleaned some more!
We got the heating fixed so we were no longer freezing while doing al this cleaning and we could just grab hot water from the tab (let me tell you, how spoiled I have been to always have heat and warm running water! And how much I missed it when I didn't have it.. And how exited I was when we got it fixed!!)

The boyfriend is also no longer my boyfriend...
He is now my fiance!!!
Oh my! I knew he was planning on "someday" asking me to marry him, but I never thought it would be this soon!
He gave me a promise ring on my mother's birthday (5th January) and we had talked about getting married before, but I never thought that on Saturday 29th January he would ask me to marry him!
He said he had planned to ask me this Valentines, but he couldn't hold it in any longer.
Aaaah, it was so sweet!
Oh, yeah, I said 'yes'!
So after remodeling, fixing up the home and moving we have a wedding to plan!
We plan to marry on Saturday June 16, 2012.
It seems like a long time away, but I already had a panic attack about the plates for dinner.. Yea.. I'm like that...

My brain is trying to come to grips with all this exiting news! And sometimes it's a bit overwhelming. But all in all really good!
My poor brain is also trying to come to terms with all the new STUFF I got!! Seriously, I don't want to come across as showing off, but I bought myself a new camera! (really, I love it so!! But the amount of money is a bit ridiculous! I'm still scared of taking it out of the house and breaking it..) and I got an actual KitchenAid Mixer! Seriously! This has been something I wanted, coveted, loved-from-a-far since I was like 14 years old! (I know, I was a strange kid, and I still am!)
It's even in my favorite colour, Ice blue!!!
This might sound really bad, but I'm still staring at it, after weeks... I only stared at my engagement ring for about a week! Almost in disbelieve...
I haven't used it, yet. I have no room in my current kitchen (it's so tiny) and it was a gift for our new home, so I have to be patient.. It's going to be difficult, but I have to be patient...

This is the part where I have to hang my head in shame.. I don't know (yet!) how to get pictures from my new camera on to my laptop... I know, I know... I'm really bad!!! But I promise I'll read the instructions and get some real pictures on here!

So for now I will leave you with some more pictures, not taken by me, of our new house, soon, our home...
I promise I'll be better and write more!


The kitchen!!!! Ooh, I how I love kitchens!

P.S. This is the "before" of the kitchen! We have worked/cleaned hard, and more, better pictures are coming soon!
Right, now I will go and try to take my new camera outside... Oh my...

Lucky 13!!! (Watch out; long post ahead!)

So, it's been a while, and a lot has happened!

We got the house!!!! Jay!!!!
Well, sort of...

I needed to get a life insurance in order to get a mortgage. For The Boyfriend this was no problem. But I got turned down by two insurance companies. To be honest, it made me very sad, and even angry! I can put your mind at ease, I'm not ill nor am I dying. But I am overweight and I have been ill. This was reason for them not to want to take a risk and insure me. It came as a unexpected blow! I even had blood-work done, and all was perfect, but still, they thought the risk was to high.
I felt miserable. We had been through a lot to try and get this house, and now we might still loose it, because of me.
But then, there was one insurance company that DID want to insure me. Ok, the rates are a bit higher, but still fine, ok, good!

And because everything else is in order, we now can say, we got the house!!!!

To be honest, I still have a 'I'll believe it when I see it' feeling. But I'm sure that will pass, especially when The Boyfriend and I have signed the papers and receive the keys to our new home!

And the date we will get the keys to our new home is... (drum roll please!): Monday 13th December 2010!!!
Who ever said 13 is an unlucky number? Not me!

Because The Boyfriend and I are buying a house together without being married (we're not against getting married, but we want to live together for a bit first.) we are going to sign a co-habiting contract. It states all sort of things. From pensions, to what to do (who gets the house, the stuff) if we separate, what we think can be paid for with our joined checking account, etc.
Figuring this out was a lot of work, and most of the time not a whole lot of fun! But I'm glad we did it. You never know if, when, or why things might go wrong. And it's good to have thought about these things before you have to deal with them.
So, we are signing this contract (probably) the Friday before we get the keys, so on December 10th.
Ok, it's not a wedding, I know this! But it is the closest I've ever been to something resembling a marriage. Neither The Boyfriend nor I have ever lived with someone, so we are both doing this for the first time.
We want to make it a special day. The Boyfriend will take the day off work and we plan to go out to dinner and make it a special day, for us anyway. We'll probably go and sit outside our, then very soon to be, home!
To symbolize this special day we are looking for a ring, for Moi! (I can be such a Girl sometimes!)!
I have a half a carat stone that we are trying to find an old ring/setting for. Something Art Deco or 1940's would be nice.
I love the idea of repairing an old, once loved, ring. So it can be loved once again. And of course, we have a budget to think about, we are buying a house, you know!
We did spot one, but I'm afraid it's going to be a bit too expensive for us...
So, if you know, see, or hear about one, let me know!

I'll try and post more often. Now that I know we might actually get this house I think I'll have more fun writing about it!

However, I don't want to just write about a house. I want to write about making a Home. And the things that I enjoy, and come across. Fun things, and sometimes, not so fun things.

The Boyfriend came home last night and he had bought me the sweetest present! Angel Chimes! We have the silver ones and I'm trying to restrain myself, to keep them in the box until we have the new house!

I'm also looking at bags... I want lot's and lot's of new bags!!! (I know I'm focusing on other things then the house, because I'm still scared it all might not happen.. But that's OK. I like bags!) First I want a small Dooney & Bourke bag, but a vintage one, like this one (but I can't afford that one..).
AND I want a bigger bag! I'm actually looking for a lovely, soft, leather one, in brown. I know of a Michael Kors one I love, but I can't find it, and if I could, I'm afraid I won't be able to afford it... But a girl can dream, can't she?
I want this perfect-bag to have a vintage feel to it. I love the 1940's, and I love vintage stuff, or things that have a vintage-feel to them.
I was thinking about this one, from Zara.
But it's a tad to expensive, and I've looked at it, and I'm afraid it won't be practical in my day-to-day life.
Then there is this one, from Sasha. What I really LOVE about this one is that the lining is of this lovely flower fabric! You can see some of it on the flower on the bag. I love that! And it's in my price range! Well, sort of.. I really can't afford to buy anything right now, let alone a bag.. But if I did (and knowing me, I will..) this would be more my price range.)
What I don't love about the bag, is that it's plastic, and shiny and maybe a bit too orange in real live.

I don't know... I might go back into town tomorrow and look at both bags again. I know I will not be buying any new bags, until this one action on eBay has ended... It's for a ring setting I really love... And, I'm sorry, but, no. I'm not going to tell you which one!

Take a look at our garden!



This is one of the things The Boyfriend and I LOVED about this house, the backyard!
It's bigger then the house is!

Here is a view towards the house..



Aaaah, lovely....

The down side...

Buying a home with your partner should be fun, and it is, most of the time..
Today it is all getting to me a bit. And that's okay, I'll probably feel better tomorrow, but today I feel tired and tiny. (I hope I feel better tomorrow.. right? I'll feel better soon, right??)
Today it feels like it's never going to happen...
But I hope it will!

I'm trying not to think too much about house-stuff today.
Slept a lot, read some blogs about bikes and food, always a good thing!

Alright.. I can't resist.. one more picture of what I hope will be my future home...
When we enter the lovely blue/green door you step into the.. Horrible Hallway!



Sooo, yes, the house does need some work and a lot of TLC, but that is fine. I'd love to give it to her, him.., it? Well, you get the idea!

Love the stairs though!

A house, a Home

Hi, my name is Sarah.
And my boyfriend and I are trying to buy our first home together.

We are now sort of living in my rental-apartment while his apartment sits mostly empty.
Together we want to make a home. So now we are in the process of buying a house together.

This house to be exact.



Today we are going to the realtor to sign our temporary contract!
It's a very exiting day, and also a bit scary.

We don't know for sure if we can buy this lovely house, but if we can, we want to make it our home!