The House Hunt Continues
Posted by Carrie in House Hunt on March 26, 2007
So, on Thursday Matt and are going to be touring some more houses. Hopefully these houses won’t suck quite as much as the Blue House on Lurie Street. That house was just scary. I’m not sure if we’ll actually be able to see all 4 houses, but these are the 4 we asked to see;
- 955 Emerald Avenue – This one seems nice. A 3 bedroom, 1 bath house with a proper dining room, a fireplace, and a 2 stall garage. Full basement is good, as well. I’m not terribly impressed with some of their paint or carpet choices, but those can be changed eventually. Plus, the location is decent.
- 923 Emerald Avenue – This one looks really nice. Again, a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house. No fireplace, but that’s not a deal-breaker. The 2 stall garage is built like a tank, and the huge yard is nice. There’s no real dining area, though. The basement is also listed as a Michigan basement, but I’ve heard many definitions of “Michigan basement.” The washer & dryer are in the basement, so it’s probably not a dirt floor. If it’s just low ceilings, I can handle that.
- 830 Malta Street – No pictures on this one, which is why I’m so eager to see the inside. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath on the main floor, and another bathroom and an office in the basement. 2 stall garage is attached via a breezeway, which is nice. It lists a “dining area”, so I’m curious to see how big that is, as well.
- 727 Harlan Avenue – Again, no pictures of the inside, and I’m really hoping this one isn’t crappy inside, because I want so badly for it to be a nice house. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, fireplace on the main floor, a proper dining room, 2 stall attached garage, enclosed porch and a fenced back yard. I worry slightly about the description of a “Country Kitchen” though. Of the 4 houses, this one is my favorite by description alone; obviously things can change when we actually see the interiors.
So that’s the breakdown of houses we plan to tour on Thursday – expect an update with pictures sometime after Thursday night.
Fleabag Rat-Trap
Posted by Carrie in House Hunt on March 13, 2007
So today we toured the “Blue House” on Lurie Street. Or, as Faith so aptly named it, the “Fleabag Rat-Trap.” At the time, we were curious to see inside, because hey, it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Could it? Oh, it could. Trust me, it could. We have photos. First, the positives: there’s a nice chandelier in the breezeway, and this really nice tree in the back yard. Yeah, it’s a short list. As for the negatives….well, let’s see. The 1+ inch of water in the basement? The fact that the living room really WAS the nicest part of the house? The ghetto doors in the garage? The water damage on the ceiling of one of the bedrooms? The crap all over the carpet in the back hallway? Need I go on? Trust me, the photos speak for themselves. Very loudly. They say “Get the hell out of this house!” I’m pretty sure this house is well past the handyman special it advertises itself as, and well into the “purify with fire” level of squalor. Images are below; click the thumbnails to get the full horror.
Wedding Florists, part 2
Posted by Carrie in Our Wedding on March 7, 2007
Ok, I heard back from Shelly’s Designs, and they are completely booked up for October 6th. Bugger. The website for Flowers by Jo Ellen is still down, but I emailed her. Since yesterday, I found Michigan Wedding Solutions, which has been fairly helpful. Through that, I’ve discovered a few more websites, and am currently in the process of checking out rates and contacting them. So here are the new lists;
Flowers
- Flowers by Jo Ellen – In the process of contacting her. Emailed her, if no response, will call
- Andilou’s Floral Design
- Seivert’s Floral
Photographers
- Sandy Vander Tol
- Christine Wedding & Portrait Design
- Jonathan Thrasher – not bad, but out of our price range, I think
- Details, Etc. – They seem to be a bit more reasonably priced
- Terii Gillis – Not bad, but out of our price range I suspect
I am having severe issues with what some of these photographers charge. I was hoping to pay about $1,000 for the photographer and the photos, but that seems like maybe it’s terribly laughable. I know I want either the negatives, or a digital copy of the negatives, as I plan on putting them up on the gallery. Quite frankly, I feel if I’m paying them that much to take photos, it shouldn’t be an issue – I don’t want to pay a ransom for my wedding photos.
Wedding Plans
Posted by Carrie in Our Wedding on March 6, 2007
Ok, figured I’d post with wedding updates, most likely more for my benefit than yours. So far I have;
- the dress
- the reception hall
- the church
- the dj
We still need;
- flowers (bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages)
- invitations
- cake
- photographer
Currently I’m going through paperwork mom sent down – one of her co-workers had a daughter get married in Grand Rapids, and sent down the names and information of everyone they used. Thankfully the florist and photographer have websites, as they are fairly visual and I’d like to check out their work a little before I decide if I’m interested. The people I’m checking out right now are as follows;
- Photographer (Jonathan Thrasher)
- Terri Gillis Photography
- Sandy Vander Tol Photography
- Shelly’s Designs – supposedly she gives a great discount if you get the flowers and invites, which is convenient, as I have neither
- Flowers by Jo Ellen – currently the site is down, though
Mom is down Thursday and Friday, so I’m trying to get as many appointments in that time period as possible, so we can check things out. Hopefully I can get an appointment at Shelly’s Designs for Thursday, because if we like her that would take care of the flowers and the invites.
Recipe – Mexican Chicken Soup
First Thoughts – Another recipe from the Slow Cooker cookbooks from mom. This one was on the same page as one of the potato soup recipes, and it looked tasty. I’m a fan of Chicken Tortilla Soup, and this looked similar, so I made it last Friday.
Recipe Alterations – The recipe called for a pound and a half of chicken, but I only used one pound, as my chicken is in pound packages. It also called for 10 ounces of frozen corn, but I used a 16 ounce bag.
Possible Changes – None, really. Maybe more black beans? The smaller amount of chicken didn’t really hurt it, so I’d probably keep it at one pound of chicken. Going from 10 ounces to 16 ounces of corn made it very full of corn, though, so I might try a smaller bag of corn, and a slightly larger amount of beans.
Would I Eat it Again? Most definitely. It was tasty with sour cream and cheese sprinkled on top. We also ate it with some blue corn tortilla chips crushed on top; very tasty.
Download the recipe – Mexican Chicken Soup
Recipe – Slow-Cooked Potato Soup
First Thoughts – Browsing one of the Slow Cooker cookbooks I got from my mom for Christmas, I happened upon quite a few Potato Soup recipes. I figured, why not? Crock Pot cooking is the way to go. Plus this recipe has Velveeta, sour cream and ham!
Recipe Alterations – Maybe not so much of an alteration, but for the potatoes I used Yukon Gold rather than Russet or Idaho. I think they were quite tasty. We also didn’t really measure the ham or onion – just chopped up the whole thing and tossed it in.
Possible Changes – Only thing I would change really is maybe add some carrots, and chop the ham up a bit smaller. We had no leftover ham, so I just bought a hamsteak and chopped that up. I’m also thinking that maybe some form of sausage could be terribly tasty, as well.
Would I Eat it Again? I really liked this recipe, but apparently Matt prefers the other potato soup recipe I tried. The other recipe also had less work – I didn’t need to mash half of the potatoes before putting them in the crock pot. Matt liked the ham in this one, but I could just as easily add ham to the other recipe. I liked the Velveeta and sour cream in this one, but maybe I can just modify the other recipe a bit. So this recipe isn’t bad – I’d eat it again, and it gave me some ideas for future potato soup recipes.
Download the recipe – Slow Cooked Potato Soup
Let the House Hunt commence!
Posted by Carrie in House Hunt on February 24, 2007
So, Matt & are looking at houses. Mom thinks we should stay in an apartment for a year or two, and save up money until we have enough of a down payment that we don’t need PMI . However, staying in an apartment long enough to bank a 20% down payment (around $20,000) means staying in an apartment for a LOT longer than I care to. Plus, the entire time we’re saving the down payment, we’ll still be flushing $600 a month down the toilet in rent payments. Honestly, I’d rather start putting equity in a house and deal with the PMI, rather than deal with an apartment’s lack of space and waste money on rent payments. As an added bonus, apparently now it’s a buyer’s market here in Grand Rapids. So, what do we want in a house? We’re not rich, so we’re hoping to pay between $90K and $110K – that should hopefully keep our monthly payments at about $700 a month. I specifically do NOT want a split-level/raised ranch. I just hate that style. I want a decent sized kitchen; decent sized is rather subjective, so I want more space than I have currently in my apartment. I want counter space, and a closet or pantry nearby for storage. We’d prefer 1.5 baths; 1 bath is acceptable if it’s a one-story, but at least 1.5 is preferable for more than one-story. 2 bedrooms is a minimum; 3 bedroom or 2 bedroom and an office would be a bonus. I want an actual dining room; not just a “breakfast nook” or “dining area.” Someplace where we can fit a table with up to 7 or 8 people around it. We’d also like it relatively close to work – I’d prefer east of Division, but we can make exceptions. High-speed internet access availability is a must, be it cable or DSL; we are geeks, after all. This being Michigan, I’d also want a 2 stall garage, so my car doesn’t have to suffer outside in the snow. An attached garage would be great, but unattached is ok so long as it’s not a hike from the house to the garage. Washer/dryer hookups are a must – I’m sick of dropping $2.50 a load to wash and dry. A dishwasher would be great, as well. So, we broke it down into two lists; must-haves and bonuses.
Must Have
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Bonus
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Does anyone else have any thoughts on the matter? Things we should consider?
Recipe – Italian Wedding Pasta
First Thoughts – Mom came across a recipe for Italian Wedding Pasta, based on Italian Wedding Soup. Since I like Italian Wedding soup, she was going to give me the recipe after she had tried it. For whatever reason, she never ended up making it, and so she gave me the box of farfalle she bought for the recipe, with the recipe attached.
Recipe Alterations – The recipe called for a cup of freshly grated Romano cheese. Since I didn’t have any, and couldn’t find any at Meijer, I used the Kraft Shredded Parmesan, Romano & Asiago blend (NOT the grated, powdery stuff). The recipe called for a 9 ounce bag of spinach, but I ended up putting maybe half of that in. Also, the recipe claims it makes thirty-six 1″ meatballs, but I got maybe 23 or 24. The serving suggestion on the original recipe claimed it made 8 entree sized servings, but I got 3 servings, and 3 dishes of leftovers.
Possible Changes – I found the meatballs to be a bit bland. The recipe called for plain breadcrumbs, but in the future I would try Italian breadcrumbs, adding some Italian seasoning, or using seasoned ground turkey. I would also try to get some Romano cheese instead of the Kraft Shredded Blend, as Romano has a stronger flavor than Parmesan. As there is cheese in the meatballs, that could also be affecting the flavor a bit. Since the spinach shrinks up a fair bit once cooked, I would probably put more in next time, but would chop the hell out of it. I like the flavor of spinach, but not the texture. The recipe also has you cook the pasta until almost done, then drain it, return it to the pot and basically make the sauce in the pot with the pasta, thus finishing cooking the pasta. That seemed to be way more trouble than it was worth, in my eyes. I would boil the pasta, then make the sauce, then combine them.
Would I Eat it Again? Definitely! It was nice, because I could make it ahead of time and put in the fridge, then pop it in the oven when we were ready for dinner. With a few alterations, I think this could be a very good dinner. It tended to dry out a bit when I reheated it in the microwave, though, so I might see about halving the recipe if it’s just Matt & I.
Download the recipe – Italian Wedding Pasta
Happy Half-Off Candy Day!
Today, being the day after Valentine’s, is officially Half Off Candy Day; Valentine’s candy is now crazy cheap! Our Valentine’s day was good; we stayed in, made a nice dinner, and watched Clue. I love that movie so much, and can quote it almost completely. We also exchanged gifts; geeks that we are, he got me Final Fantasy 3 for the Nintendo DS, and I got him XenoSaga 3 for the Playstation 2.
Let me tell you, finding XenoSaga 3 was no easy task; I went to 4 stores before I finally got it at EB Games. I was also mildly horrified by the guy that rang me up. He was like “Buying it for your boyfriend? Son? Daughter? You know it’s the third in a series, right?” First offense; clearly, since I’m a girl, I can’t POSSIBLY be purchasing a video game for myself, or be aware that it is third in a series. Because that 3 plastered right under XenoSaga is purely for aesthetics. Second offense; I’m 24 – do I LOOK old enough to have a child, specifically one old enough to play XenoSaga, a game that’s rated Teen? I realize I was bundled up in a coat, but come ON! I’ve had the issue with “OMG! A girl looking at video games! Get her!” salespeople before; the night before at Best Buy, I was asked 3 times if I needed any help while browsing video games. Matt, in the same area for the same amount of time, was never approached. I need to develop an aura of surly geekiness, to scare off the salespeople. Maybe stop bathing, or something. I think maybe I’ll start with some Final Fantasy 3.
And on a related rant; I am appalled by a few girl’s comments here, basically saying that they weren’t doing anything for their guys, because Valentine’s day was all about them. My general opinion is that all gift-giving occasions (I wouldn’t classify Valentine’s as a holiday, per se) are reciprocal, unless there is something about the day that implies otherwise. Basically, I’m not expected to get anyone else a present on my birthday, because it’s MY birthday. Other than that, if I’m expecting someone to go out of their way or do something special for me, I certainly plan to reciprocate.
Family Updates
So, I got a call this afternoon from my sister; it seems I’m going to be an aunt again. I never understood the whole “again” part; did I stop being an aunt at some point? But anyway, she’s due about a month before the wedding; they don’t know the gender yet, and won’t find out before the baby is born. They didn’t with Laurel, either. This does mean, however, that I have to get the lead out on my current craft projects; I’ve STILL not finished Laurel’s baby blanket or birth sampler, and she’ll be two in April. What can I say, I was a college student when I finished Kalob’s, and had a LOT more time then.
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