Landing in Auckland

Let's get started on New Zealand photos! I will throw in a few house updates along the way, but it will mostly be a mess for the next few weeks. We flew out to Los Angels on a Continental fight after work on Friday February 15th & then hopped on a Qantas flight to Auckland over night.



I'd never been on a 747 airplane before & it is big! Nothing like being in row 79....it took a while to get off!



The actual flight time was only about 12 hours from LAX & we were treated to some spectacular scenery as we approached Auckland.



Yes, the water really was that beautiful green color from the air & the harbors were really pretty with is hilly coastline dropping down to the water's edge.



Sorry this is so dark, but there were a few boats out enjoying the sunny Sunday afternoon.



I love all the different shades of yellow and green in the landscape. Sometimes you don't get to see anything when you land, but this great scenery was a real treat & made me to excited to get off the plane and start our journey.



I'm assuming that this is somewhere north of Auckland & I was just amazed that so much of the land looked undeveloped & pristine (much like the entire country).



Getting closer to the city, the land levels out & there is more farm and ranch land.



The area had mostly been farmed, but there were a few patches of nice woods.



On our final approach into the city, signs of a bustling town.



Sorry these are so dark- I don't remember editing them like that! This is a very typical thing to see in NZ- a farm area surrounded with a natural fence made of a hedgerow of trees. I *LOVED* these giant wind breaks & how orderly everything looked on the ground.



The Auckland airport is right at the water's edge in a tidal area, so it looks like you are about to land in a giant muddy flat.

I'll do my best to keep blogging through NZ, but with a VERY hectic work schedule & tons of my time needed to finish getting settled in the new house with remodeling going on, no guarantees that I'll get to post everyday. I will toss in a few pup updates & other fun stuff we've got going on in our life before I can finish with all my NZ photos.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: All new kitchen appliances *should* be delivered today- fridge, microwave, dishwasher and oven.

Our New Home

We are in! I can't remember when I've EVER been this busy! Last week was a whirlwind of picking out appliances, trying to decide on new paint colors and granite counter tops. We (barely) closed on the house on Friday the 12th & spent that weekend painting and cleaning. We moved, in the huge thunderstorms, this past Saturday & I'm so glad we hired movers.



We now officially have a giant foyer & this is our front door view. To the left is the sitting room, directly in the back is the end of the kitchen & to the right is the formal dining room. The upstairs room you can see is now my office. The laundry, linen and master are to the left. The 2 guest bedrooms & guest bath are to the right upstairs.



This is our new sitting room- I think. This is the front room, connected to the living room & it is HUGE! We're not exactly sure what to do with it, but for now our old sitting room furniture will go in here.



And here is our living room! The 7' windows here & in the kitchen are probably one of our favorite things about the house. They let in so much natural light & I can't wait to install the plantation shutters that we've ordered.



The view from the back corner of our living room which opens wide into the kitchen and the sitting room. Renovations & remodeling began yesterday, but most of the work in the living room will be overhead. The ceiling is now gone, lights are being moved and installed, the speakers are on their way, the molding on the back wall is gone & new TV is waiting to be hung.




What really sold us on this house was the kitchen- it's so huge & has so much potential! We're going to make the island a few feet longer, replace the wine rack with a beverage/wine fridge, add granite counter tops, and get all new appliances.



The kitchen layout is very similar to my dad's house & it is really great for hosting parties and dinners. The wall of windows along the breakfast area makes this room so bright & we'll have a little walk-in pantry now.



I really didn't like the current granite tile counter tops or the white washed look of the cabinets. The cabinets are going to be stained a rich, dark color & I'm having a heck of a time picking out granite that I like. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some better luck shopping around. Some of the back splash has already been knocked out & I still need to decide what to replace it with. I'm thinking some funky, colorful glass subway tiles.




Imagine the island extending a few more feet out, nice shutters on the windows, a new light fixture, some happy paint on the walls & our table sitting here in the breakfast area.



These are all pictures I took weeks ago with the seller's furniture still here & with my super-wide zoom lens, so there is quite a bit of distortion in the photos, but you get a great view.



Last stop on the bottom floor is the guest bathroom. This wallpaper will be history soon & I think we're going to put in a new vanity to spice up the room a little bit.



And this is our master bedroom! We've already painted it since this picture & the high ceilings and molding really make this room lovely.

There are 2 master closets & this one is all mine! Now that I have my clothes in it, it shrank considerably, but I think once I get accustomed to everything in it's new place I will really enjoy it.



Besides the 3-car garage, this is probably H's favorite part of the house. We have a huge master bathroom with the closets right there, a big shower, a fan to cool me down after my morning jog in the summer, a big bright window. It will need some updating, but it's nothing we can't live with for a little while.



This is now my office- filled with my desk & all the pups stuff. The closet is nice & big, so hopefully I can put more of my stuff out of sight. I haven't decided what I'm going to do decorating-wise with this room, but I'm leaning towards a brown/pink/red theme. I've got quite a few other projects on my list before tackling my room though.



The guest bathroom is fairly typical, but with this horrible wallpaper on all 4 walls- floor to ceiling. Luckily, it will be gone in a few weeks. And since there was a plumbing leak in the wall, we will just go ahead and get all new silver fixtures for the shower and knobs when we are replacing the plumbing in the wall.

Maybe this weekend I'll have a chance to download & upload all the moving-in pictures & share a few photos of this place with our furniture in it & the demolition that started yesterday. If I get real ambitious, I might even start with my New Zealand blog posts.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Headed to Dallas for work today, but thankfully it's just a day trip.

Chasing the Stick

I was planning on posting about the new house, but that will just have to wait a few days until I'm not spending every waking minute packing stuff, installing stuff, signing for delivered stuff, picking out new stuff. I took these videos right before we left for vacation & Zoe loves to keep away the sticks from Mia.




Mia did finally get the stick & you can see she's still trying to figure out how to carry one that big.

Taken February 16, 2010

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Off to Pittsburgh this morning, but I'll be back tonight.

Our Perfect House

Although I've covered various projects as we've worked on them around the house over the last 3 years, I wanted to put all my final house pictures in one place & create one great memory. We've got 4 more nights in this house that I've called home for almost 5 years & a part of me is really sad to be moving. Of course, we *just* finished doing everything we wanted to do around the house & it was perfect! And....we're moving. It's just the way life is sometimes. Our new front door & bricks around the flowerbeds add a nice finishing touch on the house.



THIS
This is why I love this house. The kitchen is so great for hanging out- just the two of us or with groups of friends or family. It's so big and open, lots of room for the dogs to chase each other, our bedroom is just a few steps away & the living room is right here. We've added so much of our own art & I don't realize how much I miss it until we've taken it all down to be packed.



H and I would dance circles around our kitchen when we were practicing our two-stepping moves. I'd play chase with Zoe and we'd go round & round the islands.



The big windows across the back are just awesome to let so much sunlight in and make the room so bright. I know it's stupid to be sentimental about a TV, but I am. It was one of the first big marriage compromises and H was so excited to have it. I've come around a bit and watch more television than I did before, but I'm also happy that he's getting a bigger, better, newer one delivered to our new house tomorrow.



I won't miss the fireplace. It's for looks only & doesn't actually get hot.



There is a funny story behind this table. I bought it, the 4 chairs, matching buffet and mirror for $700. I could barely afford it when I moved in because I'd just bought the house, but it was too good of a deal to pass up and I needed something (anything!) to put in my dining room. H likes our lamp so much he wants to put in an identical one at our new house- I'm searching for some similar alternatives.



Our final decorating on the house was making this a cozy sitting room to visit with each other or sip wine with friends. So many things about this room make me happy- the modern table, the fancy chairs, our wall sconces, the palm trees lit up at night, the soothing blue wall, the giant mirror, my mom's artwork on the walls.



Although I still miss my hot pink bedroom, I like the colors in our bedroom so much that on Sunday we painted our new bedroom about the same shades that are on the comforter. The puppies regularly play with their toys and each other on the floor here between the bed and bathroom. This is the first room we painted in the house and it's the first thing we painted in our new house.



Our master bath is nothing special, but I do have many fond memories of laughing at my husband being silly or the puppies doing funny things. You just lots of your life in the bathroom- getting ready for work in the morning or ready for bed at night. It's nice and bright, but we never did any work or updates here.



Where I spend about 80% of my waking time in our house. I'm at home working on bills or photos or my blog or reading the news. The puppies lounge on the couch or fight for the toys on the floor. This was the first room I decorated from start to finish & I am having such a hard time deciding what to do with my office in the new house. I've had the white & aqua for about 2 years and I think I'm ready for something different.



H's office is probably the least used room in our house (behind the dining room), but he does like to hang out here when he's doing some reading.



I just love how our guest bedroom turned out- with my great grandpas armoire, my grandma's rocking chair and H's old sleigh bed. The green leaves are so calming that I'm not changing a thing about this room in the new house. I just have 1 wall to paint green & the room will be done. Our garden is right out that window, and I'd love to peek at it or see how the lemon & lime tree were doing.




We use the guest bathroom a surprising amount- including washing the dogs. Once the wallpaper is taken down at the new place, the guest bath will be pretty much the same.

That's pretty much our house- plus the backyard and our closets. We've made so many great memories in this place and we're both sad to be leaving. It's really the perfect size for us and the pups- we are never too far from each other, just around a corner. We just fell like the timing is right to move & we found a house (without a freeway in the backyard) that has some really great things we look forward to loving about it. We're keeping this house as a rental unit and are lucky enough to already have it rented out.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Making my annual appearance at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo tonight to see Keith Urban.