Our first house guests!

Thanks Patrick, Natalie & Ava for making the long drive to visit us! They arrived late Wed., and left us this morning (Sun.). We enjoyed every minute of it. My cheeks still hurt from our late-night laughing sessions.
Click to enlarge.	"Ava, smile."
Day 1: We hit Zoo Boise which I admit is nothing to brag about. It certainly doesn't compare to the Henry Doorly in Omaha, but we had fun nonetheless. Small zoos have their own charm about them. We got to see all of the good stuff up close and in a short amount of time. I think Ava's favorite part was feeding the goats. You may not be able to tell by the pictures, but she was fearless.
After the zoo, we did a little tour of Eric's office and then ate out at Cafe Ole downtown...
Day 2: Morning work-out. Picnic. Frisbee golf. Smoothies. Paintball.
They were out for blood. Literally. If Eric would let me, I would post photo proof of all of his battle wounds. His body is covered in paintball welts.
Day 3: Another morning workout. Rock climbing/bouldering gym.
None of the boys are very experienced at climbing so by the end it turned into a competition to see who could push/pull/kick/pinch/slap their opponent enough to make them fall. (see video above)
And finally, we ended the week with a Thai feast. Our awesome builder treated us to a catered dinner for EIGHT at our new home. I was proud of my meat and potato brothers for being brave and experimenting with some new dishes (sushi, sashimi, etc.). We spent the rest of the evening sharing embarrasing stories and laughing until we were all in tears. Ie. Jason's MC Hammer pants days, first kiss stories, honeymoon stories, pre-wedding night talks, brutal break-up stories (and near break-up stories), interspersed with a little adolescent bathroom humor. Thanks again for coming Pat, Nat & Ava. We miss you already. More photos here.

Random thoughts about online buying/selling

Over the past few months, in looking for a house and looking for items to fill said house, we've done a decent amount of online browsing, and in so doing, have learned a few things...

REAL ESTATE KEY WORDS
Adorable, Sweet, Darling, Cute: TRANSLATION = Pocket-sized
Lots of character, Charming: TRANSLATION = Old as dirt
Starter home: TRANSLATION = Disappointing but livable
Great Investment Opportunity: TRANSLATION = Don’t go near it unless you have a lot of cash, a lot of time & an inner Bob Vila.
Unique: TRANSLATION = Don't bother. There’s a good chance it’s purple with neon green trim.
Contemporary: TRANSLATION = Tacky. 80's.
Historic, Vintage, Retro: TRANSLATION = Plumbing, roofing, mold issues, etc.
Totally remodeled: TRANSLATION = Risky. Might look nice aesthetically, BUT…
Solid: TRANSLATION = Eyesore.
Spacious: TRANSLATION = Old or cheap (at least in our price range).
Must See: TRANSLATION = Don’t tell me what to do. :)

CRAIGSLIST:

• Beware of the fancy ads with lots of stars, swirlies, and “WOW”s in the subject. They’re usually spammers.
  
• It’s a red flag when, instead of the product, they’re posting pictures of a Visa and Mastercard.
  
• With CL, it’s best to deal locally. Don’t trust the ads that mention shipping.
  
• If it seems too good to be true, it is.

TIPS FOR SELLERS:

• Stage your items. Your lawn doesn’t count. Buyers don’t want a couch or mattress that you’ve thrown in your front yard.
  
• Spell-check! Maybe it’s just me, but there have been times when I’ve actually been turned off of an ad b/c of grossly misspelled words. Ie. “Sweat Art Deal”, “Qeen Bed”, “Duvay Cover”, “Kwilt”, “Intertainment Unit”, “Ellegant”, I've even seen a "4 bededroom"...
  
• Always include a photo with your ad. Why would I want to buy your couch or even look at it after just reading a basic description with no photo? Many times the photo is disappointing next to the description, but sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise. Either way, at least it’s a true(r) representation of what you’re selling. No matter how good your description is, the buyer is going to want to see it before buying so there’s no point in fabricating or hiding the truth.
  
• Bonus points for a decent quality photo. Borrow a camera if you have to. And don’t post a picture of your queen-sized mattress with your 5 y/o spaghetti-faced son jumping on the bed while your large, dirty dog is sniffing at it.
  

Shopping online can be a funny thing, but ultimately, I'm a bargain shopper who doesn't really like to shop, especially in crowded, over-priced stores with pushy salesman (or realtors) so I think shopping/browsing online is a fabulous option. Sometimes you just have to know what to look for and how to navigate.

Famous...

Gotta love that angle! Don't mind my closed eyes & double chin.

We've finally made it to the big time! Saturday edition of the Idaho Statesman baby. :) Eric and I were interviewed for the "Builder's Showcase", which means we just bragged a lot about our experience buying a Ted Mason home. Luckily, we've been bragging about Ted Mason and co. all along so it was pretty easy. As a thank you for doing the interview, our builder is catering a meal (from our favorite restaurant) for us and 6 of our friends! How cool is that?

Our new pad (mostly furnished)

Master Bedroom. Eric has a love/hate relationship with that light (he hits his head on it daily). We should probably raise it before he takes a bat to it. We'll eventually get something on the walls above our bed. My favorite part, however, is not in the photo. There's a big bay window to the East where we can see snow-capped mountains and mature trees. We also have a little balcony.
Who would have thought that I would have wallpaper in my house? And I absolutely love it!
Ok, so I'm boring ("vanilla"). My mother-in-law would probably even tell you so. What can I say, I love my beiges, blacks and whites. BUT, I am trying to break out of my shell a bit and throw in an accent color here and there. Ok, so our master bath has a white shower curtain, off-white rug and tan towels that match the walls, but I have big plans for red roses or some such brightly colored plant on the sink. I will say, however, that I love our hookless shower curtain! And it comes with a liner that snaps in! Genius. :) And we're digging the high ceilings.
We sold our old couches so we could get these perdy little things. We had a few hesitations about how kid-friendly they would be. Apparently, we should have followed those intuitions. About 3 days after purchasing them, Eric dropped a blue pen right in the middle of the cushion leaving a nice mark. Before buying them, I was thinking to myself, leather's easy to clean right? The only things that might pose a problem are pens and permanent markers and I won't let our kids near the couches with them. I just forgot to enforce those rules with my husband. Luckily, after trying alcohol, purell, hairspray, and finally, nail polish remover, the mark is almost completely gone! Phew.
This house is so fun, and we feel really fortunate to be here. Eric wants me to add that the wallpapered bathroom looks much better in person. He thinks the picture looks "hideous." And he also wants me to add that the entire house is energy efficient! I didn't include any pictures of the office or the library/loft area because they're still a bit messy. And, for those of you planning to visit, we're currently accepting donations for the guest bedroom. :)