Let's just start over...

I want to be perfectly clear...I hate my furniture. I HATE it. There are certain pieces that I like, but even they need work. All of our stuff is an accumulation of pieces we've collected over the years that we've been married. I've never been able to go out and buy all the stuff I wanted all at once. It's going to happen one day. I swear it! I'm going to have a yard sale one day, but instead of putting items in the yard, I'm going to let people walk through and make offers on anything they see. That's how much I hate it all.

And another thing...I want to completely rip out the disgusting (and I mean disgusting) carpet in the former office and bedroom. Thank you previous owners for leaving us with a pile of crap. Everyone may comment about how pretty this house was when you had it, but I know what it is REALLY like. Polish a turd and it's still a turd.

Here's why I'm growing increasingly pissed off as I think about this. This is what we moved into:

1. No insulation—What?! Are you kidding? It doesn't help that you lied to us about how much you spend on gas and heating this house in the winter time, but the fact that paid $15,000 to renovate the kitchen instead of paying $800 to insulate the floors blows my mind. Priorities, people. Priorities.

2. Paint job—Horrendous (seriously! Did you run out of paint in the living room, or did you honestly think a 2 inch gap of white between the molding and the wall color looked good?) Not everyone may like the colors I've chosen, but at least they can't complain about the paint not covering.

3. Giant cracks in the plaster—look, I know this house is somewhere around 110 years old, but really people, finding a giant hole in the dining room on the day I move in does not make a happy Jewel.)

4. Carpet—*vomit* do I really need to mention the carpet again? It's the reason the doors on those rooms stay shut until we can find the time to refinish the floors. Thank God the rest of the house is hardwood.

5. Electrical work—Who puts a breaker box BEHIND a refrigerator that's framed by cabinets? Morons. Not to mention it's against code. It's an enormous pain in the butt to pull that mammoth of a fridge out any time there's an issue. I'll say it again....Morons.

I will give you this. You had really pretty furniture that covered up most of these problems. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy new furniture right now because our money goes into fixing all this crap. So again....Thanks.

Don't get me wrong, with all of its problems, I still love this house. I like the layout, the renovated kitchen IS nice, and it's incredibly spacious. But putting make-up on a warthog doesn't make it pretty. And now thanks to this horrible experience, I doubt we will be purchasing another home for a while. I think my husband is committed to being a life long renter.

On a brighter note, I finished the elephant yesterday. We've dubbed him Elliot. Original, I know.

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Oh the creativity...

The creativity bug is biting once again. This past weekend, the opening of a small farmer's market was held in Goldsboro. Out of sheer curiosity (and because my MIL told me they would be selling crafts there), I went to check it out. Not huge by any means. There were probably only about eight vendors, but the items they were selling were soooooo good! In addition to my SIL selling some plants from their greenhouse (and making about $120), there were people selling handwoven baskets, pottery, photography, dyed silk scarves, handmade jewelry, and lots of sewn bags. I was in a momentary state of euphoria. Not even sure what to use these for, but I just couldn't leave without buying them:



Now I just need to open up my brand new sewing machine (that I bought a year ago and never opened), and watch some youtube videos so I can figure out how to make some of the cute things I saw. I realize that my "goals" list is getting annoyingly long, but I'm hoping to finish up some paintings, crocheted items, and maybe some sewn crafts that I can sell here before the summer is over. Almost finished with my little blue stuffed animal:



Doesn't take nearly as long when I use a larger needle. Not a bad evening/weekend project that might actually recover some of the hundreds of dollars that I've spent on supplies.

In other news, (insert flashy headline and dramatic music here) Jeremy might be getting a new job. :) <----Happy face!!! It's a position with a company that installs granite counter tops. Not exactly what you might choose for a music major, but as long as it pays the bills and keeps Jeremy from stressing out about money, I'm all for it! We also might be getting new furniture. I use the term "new" loosely. For anyone who knows me well enough, you know that I ADORE old furniture. There's nothing like a piece that has history behind it and you can tell a story about. That being said, my grandparents are purchasing new furniture and getting rid of some that they've had forever. I'm not talking about the stuff that they purchased a several years ago, I'm talking about the covered rocking chair that is so iconic from my childhood. It's the one that was always reserved as my grandmother's place that sat next to my grandfather's recliner. It is seriously mind blowing to think that she might even consider giving it away. Especially since she had it reupholstered around the time I left for college and it really hasn't been used since. We're talking pristine condition here. Soooo if she does, I plan on taking it if for no other reason than to preserve that little part of my childhood from getting tossed out with the trash.

By the way, while visiting them yesterday, I snapped what might be one of the only photos in history of their living room without the deer heads and bobcat that has graced the walls for the past 40+ years. This phenomenon only happens when it's time to paint the room white and ONLY white (since my gma will never consider using color in the house. This probably explains my obsession with crazy colors in mine). It also happens to include the rocking chair I was referring to. Excuse the blurriness and enjoy :)

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