Progress!

At a slow pace, but progress none-the-less! I don't' remember what i wrote last time, but we've moved past painting and on to framing. Framing is going well. We still have some demo to do but right now there is a table saw where the demo needs to happen...so we need to finish what we're doing now first. Here's a peek!

 That second picture there...yeah that's me, using a table saw, on my own. That's not all i've done. I shot a nail gun and used a paint sprayer and i've cut the grass at my house like 4 or 5 times already. It's getting there. 

4 day weekend coming up, followed by a 4 day work week. After that? 2 days at work and on to Universal Studios!!! back home and back to work and then FARM AID! on Sat the 22nd. Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews in the same place?! How did i get this lucky <3

Well, things at my future home are going well. We have painted Drylock over the walls and it's done an impeccable job of covering the mold. Then, to get in the cracks and pebbley wall we have covered them with our Greco paint spayer with Killz premium paint. It's going great. I'm very happy. 

I thought i'd try my first attempt at a recipe share...i've heard my french onion soup is awesome so i figured since i'm making it, why not share it :-)

FRENCH ONION SOUP A LA KASSIE!

Here are the ingredients

 That's 2 medium yellow onions, 3 tablespoons of butter, a splash of garlic powder, a pinch of onion powder, a can of campbell's french onion soup, about 2 to 3 tablespoons of garlic, beef broth and texas toast!

First you slice up the onions and half them. Then you add them and the butter to a large sauce pot with the garlic.

 

Add on some garlic powder (the stuff you can see) and a little onion powder. Mix. You let that simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes until the onions are kinda clear, but still have a slight crunch. They will look like this....

Now you add in the can of campbell's...

Let that simmer for a few minutes, enough to change the channel on the tv or go to the bathroom...

Then you add in half the container of beef broth and a can and a half of water. The pot will look like this...

I let that simmer on medium- medium low for 10 minutes. It looked like this most of the time...

While that was in the pot, I baked the Texas Toast for 4 minutes, pulled it out and added the mozzarella cheese. Before oven it looked like this...

I baked the toast for another 4 minutes and i really kept an eye on it because i didn't want it to burn. After the 4 minutes it looked like this...so cheesy and delicious...

Then you slap a piece of this delicious toast on top of soup that looks like this...

The finished product will look like this, you take a piece of toast and put it on a bowl of the french onion soup...

Eat and enjoy! And i will say, this was FANTASTIC! :-)

WOW

Incredible, that's all I can say. What a difference a month can make. Here's a little rewind and catch up.

June 10th - my last post

June  18th - lawyer's office called, asked if we had the continuation of CO (certificate of occupancy) and smoke cert (for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. My response "WHAT?! we are buying a foreclosure that no one has lived in for over a year. THERE IS NO CO". Lawyer's office "you must secure one by tomorrow, OR have the town write you a letter saying they will not stop you from purchasing this house without one, on the town's letter head."

June 19th, 8:02 am - the town office opened at 8. I called the office that handles COs and explained my situation. Closing was scheduled for 11 am this morning. I spoke with the town official, he informs he will have the letter i need for closing between 10 and 10:30. Naturally, Joe and I head over to the municipal building at 9:40. Obtain our letter, proceed to lawyer's office. Estimated time, 10 am. The confirm 11 am closing, ask us to return after our final walk through. 

10:45am - we meet our realtor at the house, locks have been changed, unable to access the home. Cannot complete final walk through (to make sure no one stole all my copper piping, furnace, hot water heater). Head over to lawyer's office for 11. They inform closing has been moved to 12:30. Realtor finds out the new keys were mailed to his office, we head back over to the house, complete final walk through (nothing was missing) and head back over to lawyers after we smiled a lot for a little bit.

12:30 - CLOSED ON OUR FIRST HOME TOGETHER!!!!! What a terribly stressful event that all was, but well worth it. On June 19th at 12:35 pm we were home owners. I couldn't be more proud. What a wonderful feeling.


Since then! Wow, where do I begin. So much has happened. We bought a fridge, washer, and drying for $400 from a close friend, took down all the walls and framing and ceiling in the house, knocked out 2 of the concrete wing walls, and began mold eradication. For those of you who don't know, my new home was poured out of the same concrete Thomas Edison mixed to build the original Yankee stadium. It's solid. My great, great, grandkids can give this home to their children. But, concrete is porous and when homes go unoccupied for so long, moisture becomes an issue. It's being handled though. Did all the mold test, it's penicillin which won't harm us unless left untreated. Which is most certainly won't be. 

We've already gone though one 20 yard dumpster, we're on our second and it will be there until we frame and drywall our house. I am SO excited for when i get to pick out my floors, my cabinets, my paint colors, etc. All the fun things. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get here soon. 

Here's a little window into our lives...

 9th picture...yeah that's the horse hair insulation that was so prevalent when my home was built back in 1921...yuck.

It's been a while

So I haven't been posting lately because for a while there I had only bad/annoying news to report. Nothing getting us any closer to having the keys to our first home together. All of that, however, has changed.

Last Saturday night my husband informed me he had spoken with his parents. His mom finally got the chance to go see his dad for the first time in a while. He is currently living in Virginia while working and she is holding down the fort here. While they relaxed and ate dinner together and caught up on each others busy lives, they discussed the status of our home. They told Joe they wanted to pay for the house and have us pay them back as to avoid all of the RIDICULOUS stipulations the lender puts in place before we can even think about doing anything with our home. We were ecstatic. I cried. INCREDIBLE!!!!

So now we have a tentative closing date of June 20th... 10 days from now!!!!!!!!!!!! I am excited beyond belief. 

In addition to that fantastic news, we were invited to join my in-laws on vacation, to Orlando, FL September 12-18. So looking forward to Harry Potter's Wizarding World, and everything else. I can't wait. 

This weekend I went to Maryland to enjoy a girls getaway. It was super awesome and I love my family <3

 

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day. I know I appreciated my ability to do whatever I wanted all day long in the gorgeous weather. Thank you to all the men and woman who made and make that possible. I'm forever grateful.

No news yet. The lawyer has our paperwork, the bank has our paperwork. We need to get a contractor. Anyone know of a good licensed, insured contractor in western New Jersey that they've used or can recommend?!

4  day weeks are so easy. I love them.

One down, 4 to go!

I'm glad to say Monday is done, as far as working goes anyway. I'm also VERY excited to say that I am mega confident that I aced my civil service test!!!!!!!!!! I will know for sure in a timely manner (4 to 6 weeks, gotta love the State). We had a bit of a celebration weekend for my confidence in how well I did on my test. Joe and I went to Staten Island to visit his cousin Karen, her husband Mike, and their 3 kids and 2 dogs. From there we went to Point Pleasant Beach. It was a gorgeous day. 


We went back to Mike and Karen's after and wanted to have some adult time but Hubby was a little bit worn out from the sun...

That's him cuddling with Leo, so sweet.


Still no house updates. We are waiting to go into Attorney Review I guess? I'm not really sure how this all works. But no progress has been made. We did get notice that we have to let the landlords here know if we are extending our lease. I don't want to make that call. They never answer. -_-.

Almost halfway over!

I live for the weekends...and when I say that, I mean I live to lay around in my bed with my husband until about 1:30 pm on Saturdays. Those are my most favorite weekends <3. I hope we get one of those real soon. It's been too long.

In other news, I am going bananas over being "partially deaf", which is a major exaggeration. I got some water in my ear on Sunday and ever since i CANNOT stand the way things sound in my left ear. They are muffled and loud and it sounds like gale force winds are constantly forcing their way through my ear canal. It's maddening. In addition to that misery, I am taking the Civil Service test on Thursday. AH! I am very nervous and very excited. If nothing else, I'll be in the rotation to take it again when it comes back around. Which is better than NOT being in that rotation.

I've decided my summer theme song for the moment is going to be this little gem. It;s an excellent summer time song and Rome's voice is beautifully smooth. Lovin' it. I'd definitely like to see him tour with Sublime...if you can't have the real thing, it's good to have something close. And he can meet that standard. 


Oh, and if you're wondering, no news on the house. I don't even know if I WANT any news. Like I said before, no news is good news.