May Flowers

April is coming to an end and I received some good news recently on some things I've oh so patiently been waiting on.

Last month, this happened and I was waiting to hear back from Geico regarding my insurance claim. Geico had deemed this accident no fault on my part but the other driver's insurance, State Farm, had only accepted 25% of the fault. Geico sent it to arbitration and yesterday they called to inform me that they would be sending me a check for 100% of my deductible! Hooray!

Upon waiting for the final decision, I opted not to fix my car just yet and Roy buffed out the side. It doesn't look that bad at all:

I think I can live with this for now and I'm going to put the repair funds into savings. Who knows what else might happen to my car, poor thing. It doesn't even have 50,000 miles on it yet.

That was the first piece of good news. The second came today in the form of an appraisal report. The rental property we finished rehabbing earlier this month appraised for $109,000! Whoo-hoo! We are thrilled about that. The market is definitely picking up. Our mortgage loan is in final underwriting now which is also good news.  Hopefully we can pick up the next rental property soon - we've already got our eyes set on one... more on that later if it pans out.

Tulips are in full bloom here in central PA. Here's a shot of a few at Roy's sister Kay's new house in Elizabethtown. I always loved Fall the best but I think Spring is becoming my new favorite season.

The French Model of Flowers

Ordered these flowers from ProFlowers, an online delivery service, last night to be delivered today in Kentucky:

Here's what arrived:

So disappointed. A local florist arranged and delivered these for ProFlowers and the best offer to redeem themselves was 20% off this order, and 50% off a future order. Why would I want to ever use them again after this? They also gave me an option to have the flowers picked up and replaced. Seriously? Take the flowers away? No one takes flowers away! I mean, they are still pretty flowers, but I was expecting orange, green, and fuchsia. I really wouldn't have minded if the flowers were different, as long as the colors matched up well. I'm sure this happens a lot and I guess it could be worse.

UPDATE: I emailed photos to Customer Service and they gave me a 50% credit on the order. 

Hello, Mrs. Roy! Hello, Mr. Judy!

Here's an update on the upcoming nuptials of Roy and myself. Upcoming is used loosely, as we have no real definitive plans on tying the knot anytime soon. I kind of like where we are now - living together in our humble abode with a big diamond on my finger. Does it get any better than that?

Since receiving said rock, I've delved into the world of weddings. However, I barely stuck my toe in and I'm ready to run back to where I came from. There's just So. Much. Stuff. that costs So. Much. Money.

Here's a quick rundown of our initial ideas for a wedding:

First it started in the backyard of our future first real home which we aren't planning to get yet until the end of the year and that's if we're lucky enough to find one we like and can afford.  This image is from the Young House Love authors' backyard wedding.  Roy and I thought we'd just like to get married at the courthouse then celebrate picnic style in our big backyard. 

Then Roy's sister came to town and the wedding planning turned into a full blown destination wedding in Hawaii. We decided Oahu was ideal and after doing a fair amount of research, I fell in love with the Sunset Ranch in Hale'iwa. We even set a tentative date for September 2014.

We were really set on Hawaii for about a week but the more we thought about it and the more we realized just how much time and money it was going to cost us AND our guests, we changed our minds. It'll be nice to go there for a honeymoon or for a family vacation. Roy's sister lived there a few years ago so most of his family have already been out there and some of my friends have already been there also. I have yet to go!

So we revisited the backyard wedding idea and we discussed having a pig roast and maybe a live band. But a really good live band costs $5,000! I think Roy and I both like to go either all out or not at all, but that's just way out of our budget, at least for just one element of the party. Moving on...

Which brings us to our current plan, which is no plan at all and not planning on planning until a plan is really necessary. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm happy with that. We will probably have a party, but not a wedding (if you call it a wedding it automatically costs more).

I'm gonna try not to think about it, at least not until we move and settle into a new house.  Then we'll have a better idea on whether we have some money to spend or not in order to celebrate the beginning of our lawful union. But you never know... don't be surprised if you find out we went and did this on our trip to Vegas this September:

Pull a Ross and Rachel!

Etsy Ring Holder Knock Off

After I got engaged back in March, I was looking for a place to put my ring when I was at home. I found this lovely ring holder on Etsy:

I decided to make this myself since I wasn't too crazy about any of the frame styles being offered plus they were priced higher than I was willing spend. I finally got around to it this past weekend and here's how it turned out:

It's small but I think it turned out pretty nice! It has a mid-century look to it which I'm loving. It was so easy to make, I'll have to make them for my friends.

• Frame from Michael's = $3.99
• Pearlized Pins from Michael's (100/pk)  = $3.99
• Streetwise Laminated NJ State Map from Barnes & Noble = $6.95
• Disposable Facial Cloth (on hand)
• Scissors
• Wire Snips
• Pencil
• Large Post it note
• Measuring tape

Here's how to make it:

1. First take the frame backing out and trace it on the post it sheet, or any piece of paper.
2. Cut out the square (or other shape, depending on the frame).
3. Use the tape measure to center the dot for the city within the frame (or you could do it off center like the Etsy piece), make sure there's enough room for the ring to hang down.
4. Trace the window on the map where you need to cut.
5. Cut out the map and trim accordingly to fit inside the frame.
6. Cut out squares of the facial cloth or use flat cotton pads and place them between the map and the frame backing. I used three layers - just enough so there's some tension when the backing is secured.
7. My pins were long so I had to trim them down otherwise it would stick out of the frame about an inch. Wire snips are perfect for doing this - just make sure to hold both ends so it doesn't go flying in your face when you snip it. I'm not sure how I would have trimmed them without Roy's help. I wouldn't have had this tool on hand. I guess try to get shorter pins if you don't have wire snips.
8. Pin the city where you got engaged and hang your ring on it - Done!

Marylanders

Back in December, my friends got together to hang out at Kathy and Jong's house in Columbia. Kathy is one of my besties. Over the course of nine years when I lived in Maryland, I grew really close to a select few people, whom I love dearly.  It's with these friends where I can be 100% myself and it's like a breath of fresh air whenever I'm around them.

This is Daeho and Irene - engaged now for quite awhile. I met Daeho when I was 16 y.o. back in PA. He moved down to MD for college and helped me a great deal to transition from "living at home" to "mooching off my friends" to "living on my own."  I don't know how Irene puts up with him, but she is probably one of the strongest women I know so if anyone can, she can.

Kathy and Jong - married - and our lovely hosts for the night. Kathy is one of a kind, she is kind and compassionate but can be direct and opinionated just as well. She's a hardcore Republican and she and Daeho go at it at times - actually a lot of times! But in the end there's nothing but love. Jong is very laid back and he's funny. They are a great couple.

This is Brandon and Sang. Brandon currently lives in S. Korea right now for work (so lucky!). Sang and Brandon are partners in crime. They have the kind of relationship where they will draw on each other if one passes out first. All night Sang had that big Band-Aid on his face and I was determined to find out what was underneath it.

Sung Min and Roy. Sung Min is a new father to baby Eleanor.  She is adorbs.

This is me after I ate one of those small green Thai chili peppers. Kathy had them in this salad she made and I just decided to eat one. I had no idea it would burn my face off! NEVER doing that again. Luckily the burning sensation went away after 15 minutes. But those 15 minutes were pretty tortuous.

Here's a group shot. There is a couple missing in this picture, Liz and Steve. They live out in California. Liz was supposed to come but had an emergency with her dog, Juno, so she had to fly back. Liz was my roommate for 3 years. We miss her so much. She is a free spirit and a true foodie so San Francisco suits her well, I think. (Side note: Daeho and Irene made those red/green macarons and the yellow jello shots. They were soooo good. In fact, all the food was sooo good that night).

We all played some poker too. As you can see, I ate a lot of the jello shots.

Look at my poker face. You can't tell at all what I have, can you? I should be a pro. And that Band-Aid did come off that night. There was barely anything under it!!!!!! Sang, you so crazy.

The Gathering of the Smiths

In celebration of Roy's father's recent retirement from work, all of Roy's siblings gathered in Elizabethtown last Friday. This was the first time since I've been with Roy (over 3 years) that all of his five sisters, one brother and him have been in town at once. His oldest sister lives in New Jersey and his youngest sister lives in California.  Two of the triplets live nearby and one lives in Kentucky. His younger brother also lives nearby. Here is a family photo taken with all the nieces and nephews as well.

My brother also came to visit that night and we hung out with him for a bit. He crashed on our couch that night. The next day, Saturday, I went skating in the morning and we went to lunch with my brother. He left afterwards and that evening we ate dinner the fam and then went bowling. I beat Roy the first game by 3 points but he crushed everyone else in the following games.

On Sunday, we took Roy's sister Christina's mother-in-law to Amish country (after we made a quick stop at the jewelry store to peruse some wedding bands and ring settings). She came to visit from New Orleans so we wanted to show her some local attractions. We went to this Amish Village where they provided a guided tour of a traditional Amish house and explained their way of life. It was pretty interesting. The last part of the tour was a basement, where the women would spend 17 hours a day cooking in the summertime since it was too hot in the regular kitchen. There was a wringer washer in there, the same kind that Roy has in his basement (it came with his place when he bought it). Except, he used to use his for a beer and ice cooler.

We toured the grounds of the Amish house and there were quite a few animals. Goats, chickens, cows, horses, and peacocks. The peacock happened to open up his feathers for us!  Apparently they are like watch dogs on the farm, they make loud noises when they see or hear something strange:

Beautiful!

It was a great weekend (though I ate and drank way more than usual). Roy and George (his bro-in-law) didn't get in the drink tank as much this time around. There was a lot of wedding talk, especially with Christina. She is all about event planning (more about wedding stuff in another post)! She is really good about putting together photo books, photo frames, or anything to do with crafty projects.  As a gift, she gave her dad a photo/scrap book of all the kids when they were younger. My cousins kept saying how handsome Roy was when he was younger. What about now? He still is, in my opinion! 

Guns and beer 4 life

This photo might have been staged, but I'm pretty sure Roy had a real beer in his hand a couple years after this was taken. 

437 Finito

Hope you had a great Easter weekend! Roy and I spent Easter putting the finishing touches on our current rental property project. Here are the before and after photos:

View of the front entrance (tenants started moving in over the weekend).  The hardwood floors are original and were hidden under that sea green carpet. Roy sanded, stained, and sealed it. It looks just like his floor.  The layout is actually near identical to his house but flipped since this house is a lefty and his is a righty (semi-detached).

View of the dining room from the living room.  The paint color is Oyster by Behr.

A different angle 

Another angle (please excuse the bad lighting)

Here is the kitchen coming in from the back door.  The fridge was placed by itself in the corner before so we made sure to open up the space by putting the fridge by the counter.

Kitchen - To accommodate the fridge space, we had to eliminate the dishwasher.

Stairs looking down

Rear Bedroom - I had fun knocking those closets down using my fierce karate moves

Hallway looking toward the front of the house

Bathroom - the bottom photo doesn't match up, but you get the idea. Roy did the tile.

Middle Bedroom.  Paint colors are our go-to Behr shades: Chocolate Froth and Mocha Accent

Front Bedroom

Basement - Roy is OCD with 90 degree angles

Random Photos

It's amazing what paint and new carpet can do to a place.  Roy redid the entire bathroom and kitchen (down to the studs), added some dry wall and crown molding to the bedrooms, and with some help we demo'd the basement and filled an entire dumpster. It had all this wood paneling and it was enclosed because it was once a children's daycare (which is really, REALLY creepy). All in all, the rehab cost was around $8,000 - $10,000. We haven't tallied the total yet but it's probably more toward the $10K number (or more since we did buy appliances, too). Purchase price was $69,000.  We are getting it appraised within the next week or two so we'll see if we can break $100K.

So now we can sit back and relax for awhile, right? Umm no. I was asked to start looking for the next one this morning. Roy is a maniac! =)