Back To Manzanita...

Two Sundays ago (1/10/10), Jacob and I went back out with Erin (our realtor) to Murrieta to look at our house again. (The one we put an offer on in September). They accepted our offer, so the house is pretty much ours. We are just waiting to get into escrow (which is VERY soon, probably some time this week). We were last there in September of last year, so it's been quite a while... and we definitely needed a refresher. It's taking a long time because it's a short sale. Erin took us around to look at more houses just in case :) . While we were pulling up into the community of our house Jacob and I had forgotten how beautiful the community was! I was like, "wow...i forgot how nice these neighborhoods are!" We are definitely sticking to our house on Manzanita St.

So anyway, we had to go back for a refresher and we wanted to take some pictures of the interior and exterior so we can figure out what to change, paint, re-do, etc. (which is pretty much EVERYTHING!) Well, we brought in our camera and Jacob started taking TONS of pictures... we realized there wasn't a memory card in there so all that picture taking was a waste! we were hoping the pictures were saved on a camera, but just in case, i started taking pics with my iphone. We ran out of time because we had to go look at the other houses and Erin had another appointment back in OC. If you have an iphone, you know that the only 'good' pictures you get are ones that are taken outside when it's sunny, or in the kitchen where there's tons of light! When we got home and hooked up our camera to the computer, there was NOTHING saved on the camera! Good thing I had that iphone... that takes crappy pictures! Below is a combination of pictures I took and pictures from the listing site.

We'll definitely put a retaining wall at the bottom of that slope in the back, and then fix up that area so it doesn't look so...bleah

Master bath. Definitely needs a new paint job!

Definitely going to remove the mirrored closet doors

Looking into the master bedroom

Junk left from the previous owners. People are so trashy!

Hallway view. Bedroom to the left and right, and then another at the very end of the hallway. Jacob is looking inside the extra niche area, which is currently a desk/cabinet spot. We'll probably make the 2nd bathroom bigger using this space.

This is that niche area

From left to right: bedroom, niche, bathroom, other bedroom

Jacob at the top of the stairs. Door to other bedroom

Top of the stairs going to the front door. Living room and dining room to the left

Living room

We'll change all the flooring downstairs.

Dining room. Too bad they didn't leave these guitars!

Arch to the left leads to the family room/kitchen

View of the family room from the downstairs hallway underneath the arch. We'll change out the tile and get rid of that yucky "hardwood" flooring. It's uglier in person lol

Family room, den/5th bedroom in the back, tile floors leading to laundry room and garage on the left, and full bathroom at the end of the hallway

Full bathroom downstairs

Den/5th bedroom off the family room. We'll use this as the study. This room has the BEST hardwood in the house! We're keeping this room's floor :)

Study

View of kitchen (in the background) from the study

Family room and sliding doors to the backyard

Kitchen. Definitely going to change out countertops, stain cabinets a darker color, and get rid of that yucky purpleish paint.

View of the kitchen from the corner of the family room. Jacob under the arch (with dining room behind him). We will change the paint... everywhere!

Fireplace

Fireplace and entertainment section

A Better Picture...

Alrighty, I know I blogged a couple months ago about us getting our new car, but it was such a cruddy picture taken with my iPhone! This is a better picture taken by the Canon! :D

Happy New Year's!

Today was GREAT! I had TONS of fun spending the day with Jacob! We drove to Irvine Lake to go fishing! This was my first time at Irvine Lake. It isn't the best look area in the world, but the lake is pretty cool. I LOVE fishing. I hate putting the bait on and taking the unhooking the fish, but i love fishing! We usually catch a lot of fish when we go fishing, but this time we didn't catch anything :( . Sad, but I still had fun! We ended up going to 3 different spots. The first spot was waaaay too shallow. Second spot was actually for people with kids, so we got booted out. And our last spot was on the dock.

This ugly look place is where the people with kids go fishing...

FARRELL'S

Today was our department's holiday luncheon. I had the day off, but didn't want to miss out on free lunch (heehee), so I met up with everyone at the mall. We ate at Farrell's. Apparently, it's an old school ice cream parlor from back in the day. A lot of my co-workers say they remember going when they were kids... and they are in their 30's. Anyway, Farrell's opened in Mission Viejo mall and here are just a few pics :)

Heather is the only one smiling at the camera

Sandy's overflowing fudged-up sundae!

The sun was directly in our eyes... can you tell?

Etsy's Featured Seller

My mama has an Etsy shop called HandaMade. She has been knitting since FOREVER and is so creative!!! Anyway, Mama is Etsy's Featured Seller!!! They asked her a month or so ago if it was okay that they feature her on the front page of Etsy!!! She said yes, of course! They sent her a bunch of questions via email (for the feature "interview") and she answered them and sent them back. Here are screen shots of her feature and interview!

I Need A Bigger Bowl

Jacob and I like to go out a lot. We normally just go and walk around places that sound fun. We went to Pier 1 Imports... and I found this!!!

A Visit From Justine

So one of my BFFs Justine came to visit from Alaska. She and her family went to San Diego to spend the holidays there. Her grandma (who lives in Irvine) ended up in the hospital here in Mission Viejo and needed hip surgery. While they were here in MV visiting her grandma, I was able to spend the afternoon with Justine! I could finally give her her birthday present! I have been working on it. It actually only took me two days to make! 1 day to cut the pieces, and another to sew it all together! The pictures don't look as good as the blanket :) I'll have to get Justine to take a picture of the blanket with a real camera and not an iphone camera!

GGHS

Garden Grove High School Quarterback - Sean Young

Tonight Jacob and I went to my friend Sandy's son's high school football game. It was the last game to determine who would go to CIF. Sandy's son, Sean (a.k.a. "Seanie"), is the team's quarterback. He is a senior and this is his first year as a quarterback. He played runningback for the first 3 years of high school. Anyway, Jacob and I met up with Sandy, where she saved us a seat with the rest of the family/friends that were there to cheer on Seanie and the Argonauts.

The first quarter and second were GREAT! Seanie really is a great player. No wonder Sandy boasts about him!

Unfortunately, Seanie was hurt during the second quarter-- he had a broken rib and couldn't continue. I almost feel like the opposing team purposely went out of their way to make sure they hurt the best player, so they would have a chance at winning. That makes me mad! Seanie had to be wheeled away on a gurney! It rained during halftime, and unfortunately, the second half, Seanie didn't play (because he was in the hospital)! :( The Argonauts ending up losing. They needed their quarterback. It seems like they really relied on him... they relied on him so much, that even without him, they couldn't play at all! But the season was great. The kids had to go through a lot-- they lost a player during a game. His name was Kevin Telles. He collapsed on the field and died at the hospital. I think Kevin is what really motivated these kids to play hard and tough. They had an undefeated record (until their last game). And it's GGHS's SECOND time in YEARS since they've made it this far. Kudos to Garden Grove High School football! Maybe one of these days Sandy's boy will be a famous football player. I guess we'll see when we hear "Seanie Young"'s name on tv!

Trying To Convince My Parents

Jacob and I went to the swap-meet today... or if you want to be posh, it's called the "OC Marketplace". LoL, so gay. Anyway, We know they have the same old, same old stuff there, but we enjoy holding hands and walking down the aisles. It's funny, everything that you see is everything that's been there for a long time. We stopped by this place with HUGE paintings for a cheap price. We were trying to decide what would look good in the home we are going to be buying :) Your perspective definitely changes when you are making a big decision in life... like getting married, buying a house, having a baby (this one, i wouldn't know, since i'm childless - notice the bitterness? lol).

Anyway we found another place that does kitchen remodeling. They had pictures of kitchens they've worked on and remodeled and I wanted to see them for some ideas for our future kitchen :) Well I rain across this one picture of a kitchen that has the EXACT same layout as my parents'. It's probably in the same neighborhood since I know it's the S&S builder (the builders of this neighborhood). So I took a picture of the picture with my iPhone to bring home to my parents and say, "ohhh, the possibilities!"

Now keep in mind, my parents are the second owners of this house. It was made in the 70's. It was custom-designed by an interior designer, meaning it has ALL the TOP "trends" (LOL!) a 70's home would have. I even thought about writing to The 70's Show and saying, "use our house! it's perfect!".

Oh, and also, my parent's don't spend their money on things like this-- they are smart with their money and spend it on NECESSITIES, not WANTS. LOL but I believe the kitchen NEEDS to be remodeled!

If you've ever thought about time traveling back to the 70's, fasten your seat-belts!

Yes, that is WALLpaper on the CEILING! lol, darn those 70s! Lay off the crack!