I know our reader(s) are saying, “I’ve seen a lot of material on this blog about the house, but I wonder if the sewer is really in working order.” Wonder no longer, because we got the sewer scoped by Hydro Physics Pipe Inspection Services and we’re making the video available for your viewing enjoyment (don’t worry it’s been screened and is appropriate for viewing by all audiences).
Well, we’re home. Tom, our agent, was amazingly helpful and knowledgeable though this whole process. Now we are homeowners. Crazy. Izak and Phil, who had the sense to show up after the heavy lifting, were daring each other to punch holes in the wall, since they ‘were in’ with the owners. Thankfully, they didn’t do it and were just enjoying laughing together.
At our old house we could hardly have 2 or 3 people over without it feeling crowded.
Now we can have many, many people visit and not feel like we need to rub elbows. It is SO nice.We’ve already had a couple overnight guests! Eating Breakfast is even more relaxing here!
Sydney has been the one that really loves the new house. She gets to 
roam around the fenced yard to her heart’s content. Except when Barry is mowing the lawn.
I have learned so much though this whole process. Again, Tom made things SO easy and really listened to us when we described the house that we wanted. He was so patient and knowledgeable….super great experience.
Not to mention all the help from our families. My dad brought his hefty hand truck to give us his housewarming gift (picture to come later, but keep the hand truck in mind.) 
My grandparents are amazing. I have seen my grandpa Elvrum help TWO granddaughters move this year! Yes, two! At one point somebody was telling him that the dresser was really heavy. His response? “Well, I’m old.” Grandma Elvrum helped keep Sydney calm. Midge, Grandma Lowman, came to our house a bit later because she had to get ready for Danielle and Jamey’s wedding. (Gotta keep the gas tank full, right Midge?)
The day of our move was topped off by having a wonderful time at Danielle and Jamey’s wedding…they’re hitched! Whoeee!!!
May is bike to work month and there are several PBA staffers who are participating in the Group Health Commute Challenge. Somehow I have found myself nominated as captain of this team and I’ve got the T-Shirt to prove it. Captainship, has actually turned out to be pretty fun and easy at the same time. Each of our 4 team members can log into an account on the Cascade Bike Club website and log each of our trips and how many miles we’ve ridden over the past week. At the end of the month, we get to compare our data with other companies around the area. The last time I checked there were over 6500 riders participating which is super exciting. It’s not too late either, so if you’re interested come join in. Who couldn’t use a little exercise and fresh air? And, hey, you can compete against the best bowling organization in the world.
***Warning: This is a long post about printing our wedding invitations…click on any of the blue highlighted words to see pictures!***
My brother Phil has a super old printing press set up in his garage. I asked Phil if Barry and I could possibly print our wedding invites using his tools and skills. Phil seemed thr
illed and very excited from the get-go. I had no idea what an undertaking this project would be. Thankfully Geneviève kept us fed through the whole process.
We headed to the Paper Zone to pick paper. Yeah, it sounds simple, but we were in a store called the Paper Zone….to pick paper. I had no idea there were so many colors and textures of paper. was super sweet in helping me make the decisions, listening to all the reasons I did or didn’t like certain colors. We still had our work cut out for us:
1. Pick font from the massive amount available.
2. Set Type & mix paint: white with red makes PINK!
3. Print! (watch the printing movie to see all the action)
4. Check the goods and keep printing.
Basically, this went on for 4 days with a million steps in between. It happened to be freezing and I busted into Phil’s camping gear and put on his boots. They didn’t quite fit, but my feet were
better off because of them. Geneviève carved the wave that is on the back of the envelop out of a linoleum block. She busted it out and I, as always, was amazed at her artistic ability.
We didn’t just spend our time at PW Elverum Print Studios, but had to make a run to Bayshore to photo copy the directions sheet. If you have never been to Bayshore Office Supply in Anacortes you should go, it’s a funny small town experience. Phil is a regular there. Speaking of Anacortes, two of my favorite family members, Nancy and Midge, stopped by to see the work in progress….I think they got cold.
One thing that I really appreciated about working with Phil on this project was his ability to see how he wanted it to look in the end based on they vague description I shared with him. He started by drawing a mock up and that mock up kept changing…until we got to the real thing. (Check your local mail box to see the final invite soon!)
Sydney and I went up to Anacortes for this past week. I had Spring Break (Whooeee, Spring Break ‘08!!) and my mom had hip surgery. Plus, th
is was a time that I was able to meet with my brother to talk in depth about wedding invitations. (We finished printing them!)
Everything went really well for my mom’s hip replacement, but it was kind of surreal to see my mom, whose nickname is Fidget, in the hospital. I had the opportunity to see her hip joint, which looked like a small bald alien head. She’s been plugging away with bone rubbing on bone, ouch. Queen Janet is home now and doing awesome!! Nurse Sydney nursed her though the rough, tough times. Notice the crown?
My mom was not the only thing getting wacked back at the Elvrums’ North home. My parents are having a bunch of trees cut down to increase the amount of sun light that hits their porch. It doesn’t look as shocking as I was expecting, but the loggers aren’t done yet, so it could be a significant amount.
In the post earlier today, there weren’t very many house pictures. It turns out we do have a few to share. They’re listed below:
We have found a house in the Edmonds area that we both really like, and as of last night our offer is officially pending. At this point, we’re waiting for our lender to do an appraisal. If that goes smoothly, we should be able to move in by the end of the month. Of course, this means that we’ll have to say goodbye to the Daley St. house, which we started calling “the lean-to”. It’s actually been a great place to live for the last year, and it’s a perfect location. I mean, it’s rare to live in a place and look out your front window and say “My grandpa used to be a principal back when that was a school, but now he just plays Santa dressed up as Darth Vader during Christmas plays that take place there.” Oh, that’s happened to a couple of you? Alright, maybe this Daley St. Lean-To isn’t as unique as we thought. Good thing we’re moving!�
A map to the new house is included below. It’s only a couple miles from the Daley St. rental.
Sydney, our pug, turns one today!! She is such a hilarious dog, we spen
d majority of our time laughing at her. Right now she’s visiting Camp Janet for the week. Staying at my parent’s house is one of her favorite things to do because she can run free and follow Sparky around. Plus, she gets to hang out with loads of other dogs like Tonka, Mac, Sparky, & Sydney. Both my mom and dad claim that Syd is a true party animal when she’s there….not sleeping at night, waking up very early.
Barry and I get to see another side of our little pug at home. We both force ourselves to wake up, way too early, to take her on a walk before we leave for work. Sydney hasn’t quite bought into the idea of getting a workout in before you start your day. Often times she’ll fake sleep, and by fake sleep I mean stay in bed until the last possible moment.
Although she’s a year old now, she’s still a puppy. I came home from work the other day to discover that we now have a little bit less carpet than I thought….at least we’re moving, but that’s another post, another day.
The people have been clamoring for a shot of Sydney’s birthday, so here’s Sydney partying like a rock star.
HBadventure is back up and running. This time around we’re using Wordpress, and it sure makes life a lot easier for me as a poster. I did feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that the first version of HBadventure was coded up from scratch by yours truly. On the other hand, it was a royal pain for anyone but myself to make a post. No longer will authors have to remember how to link to another page using html, because Wordpress handles it. I love a good angle bracket mark up as much as the next web geek, but there’s something to be said for simplicity and my initial impression is that this blogging engine is going make things really simple.
I hope people enjoy the new blog, and I hope that we’ll be able to start posting with regularity once again.
In order to keep the wedding party at a reasonable size, we have decided to have just one person in each of our parties.
