Finally got my kitchen

So I finally got my range! I am so excited (almost as excited I was when I got my new refrigerator). We were waiting for the friends and family at Sears to take advantage of an extra 10% off. Well, I had checked consumer reports and this one was ranked very high (2nd). And the kicker for me was it has 5 burners, which I am very excited about having a holiday over here so I can utilitze all 5 at once.

And then a few weeks ago, our new refrigerator came. I researched this one as well on consumer reports and the Whirlpool Gold refrigerators got very good reviews. And so far I love it! I didn't need the water dispenser (we have a Brita that works just fine for me) and I didn't want it to take up any food space. We had a really small fridge at our last house, so I wanted the biggest one I could get in the space. I also wanted an Energy Star fridge and I read a few articles on it, and it said that you need to get one less than 25 cubic feet to really be energy efficient. So our's is 24.8 cubic feet. :)

So my kitchen is finally complete. We are hooking up the grill today hopefully. We have a gas grill and hook the grill up directly to the gas line so we don't have to worry about a gas tank. Yep, that's the perk you get when your dad is a mechanical engineer. :) I am hoping to make some salmon burgers on Friday. New recipe from my Cooking Light mag that I just got. And wild caught salmon is on sale this week, so double score. Adam is not a fan of salmon, so I will have to remember to pick up some ground turkey for him.

Where to buy running shoes?

I have recently taken a look at my current running shoes and they are on their last leg. I have run almost 400 miles on them and they are wearing out. Where do you shop for your running shoes? I have gotten a few pairs at local running stores and Adam got me a pair online for Christmas one year. I was looking online, but haven't found any websites that had really good deals. I was fitted about 3 years ago by my brother-in-law (former NCAA runner, so he knows what he is talking about). My shoe of choice is the Mizuno Wave Creation. I love them! So I am not looking to change up my shoe, but I would like to get a deal on them, since they retail for over $135. If you know of any good websites or local Atlanta running stores that have good deals on my Mizuno's, let me a comment.

In other news, it looks like by the end of the week, we will be in our new house. The floor guy has finished the floors and the painter is coming tomorrow (Tuesday) to finish the bathroom. I am so excited to move into our new house. The only negative thing so far is that the gas range I want doesn't go on sale until June 13th, so we might have 2 full weeks in the house without an oven or stove. That might be some tricky cooking, but we will have our grill, so maybe we can make it work.

The end is near . . . I think

Well I am currently up to my ears in contractors right now. Pretty much everything we are doing is cosmetic, but it's still a lot. The house is looking better and better each day, and I am very excited about our move. But I will say, it has been very stressful. The 3 of us are staying with my dad and his girlfriend in what used to be my old house. Well there have been a lot of changes to the house since my mom has passed, and I don't feel as comfortable. Also, my dad and his girlfriend are not used to having a toddler around and she can be very fussy (maybe entering the terrible 2's early), which stresses me out even more. And then of course, all the contractors. I am having to deal with them all by myself since Adam works such long hours. I have become very handy, but I still don't know everything related to homes, so it's difficult for me to talk to contractors and then guess at what is right. Hubby and I have gotten into some heated "discussions" about several aspects of our new house from paint colors to painting to the order of priority on specific jobs. We have had bad experiences with contractors before so I am always hesitant to deal with them when I think we can do it ourselves. But now we have a little one in the mix which makes everything harder. And then even more difficult when she is having trouble sleeping. We went 3 straight nights where we were up late working on the house, only to have Hope wake us up in the middle of the night and then end up sleeping with us since I didn't want her to carry on for long and wake up the rest of the house. I will have to say though, my family has been wonderful through this whole process. My sisters have watched our little one on the weekends so we could get some work done and have even brought snacks and dinner for us too.

But I think by the end of next week, we will be moving into our new house. I can't believe it! It's exciting, but so different from our other house, I am not sure how long it will tkae before I will believe it's our house. I will keep you posted.

Not much to report

Well, I am here in limbo. We are moved out of our house but not into our new one. We wanted to do some updates on it and it's easier to do that when there is nothing in the house. We are staying with my dad (and his girlfriend) for a few weeks, so we can work on the house. Well, when I say work on, that is another story. We thought we would have all this time to work on it but with a little one, it makes everything a lot more difficult. We are having to find babysitters so we can go work on the house, and then Adam feels guilty because he doesn't get to see Hope much at all during the week, so we have decided to hire more contractors to help. We are now getting the house painted instead of trying to do it ourselves. We are tackling the kitchen on our own which is fun and something we will be very proud of I am sure. It's a lot of work, but I am learning a lot and feeling much more handy than I was before. I have not had much time workout or run since we have moved. Most of my time is spent dealing with people working on the house and researching new things for the house, and of course, dealing with the little one. :)

I did run the Komen Race for the Cure. They had almost 18,000 runners for the 5k race. I ran with my brother-in-law (former NCAA runner) and Adam pushed Hope. I did not have a PR, but I had a long tennis match the day before and my legs were feeling a little tired that morning. I did finish in 24:28, which wasn't even a PR for that course, but I felt good about it.

I don't have any races in my near future, but who knows, one might just find me. I am also getting excited about moving into our new house.

My meals have been pretty random since the move. My dad is good about eating just about anything I make (which is AWESOME), but with everyone's hectic schedules, we have been eating out more than I would like to admit.

Also, big props to my baby sister, who graduated with her Master's in Public Health (just like her big sis) yesterday. We are so proud of her.

On the Move . . .

Well the weather is starting to break and today's high was 39, so I was able to take Hope out for a run today. We only did 4.54 miles, but I don't have another half marathon until late March, so I figure just stay active. I hate training in January because it's so cold. So with this half marathon I don't plan to start "training" until 8 weeks before the race. I plan to do the Runner's World personalized training guide as usual.

But this title has a double entendre. We are getting our house ready currently because we are planning to move. Yikes!!!! I so don't want to leave this house. I love this house! This is the house that Adam and I bought 3 months before we got married. This is the house that we brought Hope home to. But this house is a little on the small side (1,000 square feet). I tried to see if we could just expand this house so we could stay, but with the housing market so low, it's more economical for us to move instead. So I have spent the last month going through the house and packing up boxes and taking them to storage. This week we have someone coming to the house so we can get the last of house ready and then I plan to call 2 real estate agents to "interview" to list our house. I found a website that has a good list of questions to ask potential agents. I am starting to get a little excited because we will be moving to newer, bigger, nicer house and that's exciting, but I don't know how we are going to be able to live with our house on the market. I have a toddler and a dog. This is not going to be easy. I am hoping to get the house on the market by the end of January and hope to have a contract before the end of April (so the new owner will be taking advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit). That is really what is pushing us to get our house on the market. This house is great for a first time home buyer. So it's bitter sweet, but I am trying to stay positive.