DDA Chapter 16

[Pooh67_68]

I undecorated yesterday and did laundry today.

Today is un decorating day along with laundry.

 

[PNO4TE]

Anyone know the airport that you fly into for Disneyland? I'm considering going there for the 1/2 Marathon in Sept. 2009. I wanted to look at airfare costs so I can see if it is even feasible.

Santa Ana/Orange County (SNA) is the closest. You can also easily fly in to LAX, Long Beach or Ontario. All are about equal distance and easy to get from. LAX has lots of shuttle options, as does SNA. The others would have Super Shuttle, but a rental might be easier all around depending on what you plan to do around the area.

I have flown into both SNA and Long Beach and love them both. I would not fly into LAX unless there was a really good price on the airfare there.

 

[tink2020]

My favorite is our vaulted ceiling with the kitchen/dining/living room basically one big room. I think Deb called it a great room. The vaulted ceiling makes the room seem so much bigger and it keeps us all together.

My second favorite is having our bedroom on one end of the house and the girls on the other. I just felt that we all had more privacy as they got older.

The least favorite feature in all of our homes was having the bedrooms upstairs and the laundry room in the basement. I prefer having one floor for all our major living. We do have a basement but that has Chuck's workroom, my office, storage and an area for the kids to entertain friends when they have them over.

I know that I just basically repeated Deb's post but I wanted to share my feelings despite them not being original.

I have to agree that my 2nd floor laundry is the best part of our house! I am also a big fan of open floor plans. My least favorite thing is lack of a formal dining room. We skipped it in lieu of very large other downstairs rooms, and I'm not sure I would trade that still (I LOVE how open/large our family room and living room are), but it would be nice to have it all! I guess just consider your needs in general -- do you need/want a formal living room, or is just a single family room/great room ok? Do you need a formal dining room, or is a large breakfast room ok?

I also like, and wish we would have gotten, a breakfast room/sunroom off the back, just sort of to increase sitting space in or off of the kitchen. We end up hanging out in there a lot, especially when we're entertaining just family and have food everywhere, and I'd have loved that.



ETA: I agree with Anne Marie that new construction vs older might be your first way to narrow things down. We had no interest in the floor plans of older homes, just as a personal preference. That was absolutely huge in getting us started in the right direction.

Also, as I was reading Elizabeth's first comments about deep bathtubs, etc, that's one of the favorite things about my master bath! So really, those kinds of things are all up to you, of course. I'd take our opinions on the "extras" with a grain of salt, and focus on things like taxes, schools, actual condition of the house, etc

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elizabeth. Get your son some Neutragena acne wash with salicylic acid. I've taken Nick to the dermatologist and that is what they recommend as a face wash for their age.

I debated about buying him some face wash, but I am pretty sure he won't use it. He just has a few blackheads on his chin right now, and I know he will use the little acne pads. As he gets older he will probably have to use more of a "system" for his skin. Right now he still has "kid" skin instead of "teen" skin.

 

[Pooh67_68]

How wonderful, congratulations.

And now, for my big news! Our best Christmas present of all? Phil's parents are buying us.....A HOUSE!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I have to agree that my 2nd floor laundry is the best part of our house! I am also a big fan of open floor plans. My least favorite thing is lack of a formal dining room. We skipped it in lieu of very large other downstairs rooms, and I'm not sure I would trade that still (I LOVE how open/large our family room and living room are), but it would be nice to have it all! I guess just consider your needs in general -- do you need/want a formal living room, or is just a single family room/great room ok? Do you need a formal dining room, or is a large breakfast room ok?

I also like, and wish we would have gotten, a breakfast room/sunroom off the back, just sort of to increase sitting space in or off of the kitchen. We end up hanging out in there a lot, especially when we're entertaining just family and have food everywhere, and I'd have loved that.

My mom's old house would have been PERFECT for you!
Formal living and dining, breakfast room and kitchen that were open to another living area, 2nd floor laundry room, 4 bedrooms. The master suite was ENORMOUS and had a fabulous tub and separate shower. It was a nice floor plan. I think the builder cut some corners on the construction because the house didn't hold up very well. It was brand new when they bought it.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Elin-So sorry for your loss.

 

[tink2020]

My mom's old house would have been PERFECT for you!
Formal living and dining, breakfast room and kitchen that were open to another living area, 2nd floor laundry room, 4 bedrooms. The master suite was ENORMOUS and had a fabulous tub and separate shower. It was a nice floor plan. I think the builder cut some corners on the construction because the house didn't hold up very well. It was brand new when they bought it.

It sounds very similar to ours other than the formal dining room... hopefully ours doesn't fall apart!

 

[tink2020]

Elin, please pass along my condolences to Bob (and the rest of your family)

 

[Pooh67_68]

Tom love the count down, and cute pictures.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Welcome home Elin, sorry to hear about Bob's mom.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Jennifer - Having one deep tub would be fine, as long as there was one normal tub somewhere in the house. I am big on user friendly bathrooms because bathroom remodels are a pain in the butt.

I definitely think taxes, schools, crime, age of the home and the appliances, etc. should come first.

 

[tink2020]

Jennifer - Having one deep tub would be fine, as long as there was one normal tub somewhere in the house. I am big on user friendly bathrooms because bathroom remodels are a pain in the butt.

I definitely think taxes, schools, crime, age of the home and the appliances, etc. should come first.

That's true. I like taking baths in my big tub, however infrequently it happens. I could never bathe the girls in it though, you are absolutely right. It's a pain to even try and wash something out of my hair in it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

It sounds very similar to ours other than the formal dining room... hopefully ours doesn't fall apart!

I think a lot of the problems were from the foundation shifting. I am sure your house won't fall apart.

 

[KristineN]

Thanks! Since I can no longer get the children to cooperate, it has come down to the bird

Kristine is that your new bird in your signature? Nice picture by the way!

Kristine I love your new signature photo

 

[lovesdumbo]

Bernadette - The houses turned out cute!

Thanks!

Massachusetts trip sometime next year. I also want to do Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

DH & I really enjoyed our AZ/UT trip we took years ago. We really loved Zion. We also really like Sedona, AZ. We went in April. I would like to go in the summer sometime and see the North rim of the Grand Canyon. It snowed the night we stayed at the Grand Canyon.

Bernadette- That Crammer thing is neat, I bet myEmma would like it. Cute, cute houses!!!

Joe is really enjoying it.

This weather is crazy! tomorrow is supposed to be 65 degrees!
Ive been such a bum today, but its been great.. I had lunch with ac ouple friends from college--one that is getting married in disney next summer!! Then, ive been lounging around and reading a book

Tonight, a couple friends from high school are meeting for a drink so im being lazy til then!

Are you going to the wedding?

Bernadette - cute houses.

Thanks!

Remember that Disney Visa Rewards survey I did a few months ago when I was telling you all the things they appear to be revamping. I got a $20 check in the mail today, just for taking the survey. I love free money!

Vicki, your gift arrived today. I just love it. Actually, I really do like Jim Shore. His pieces are so very nice. Very special looking. He was on the cruise so I was able to get a tinkerbell bell signed by him. He is the nicest person to meet.

My SIL gave me a really cool Jim Shore Santa last year. Nice to hear he's such a great guy too!

So my granddaughter and I go to the mall to spend her birthday GCs and she shops at a store called Pink and comes out with a Victoria Secret shopping bag.

What rock have I been under that I didn't know Victoria Secret has reached out to the teen market with a store called Pink????

I had no idea what Pink was. Seriously-a Victoria Secret for the teen market??????? I find that really disturbing.

Did you read my blog about gingerbread houses?! I hate them! (Yours look great, though! I hope you made it through less stressed than I always ended up! )

Your rice krispie gingerbread houses were really cute. If you make them from scratch next year I have made wreaths using corn flakes and coloring the marshmallows green. Mine were far less stressful doing it after Christmas. I wasn't worried about them being all perfect. I just wanted the kids to have fun doing it. I really don't know if I could have been that relaxed about it if we had done them before Christmas. And it really helped having the perfect parts already made for me.

I have considered e-mailing Len at the UG and asking for a "duck and dodge" custom touring plan. I bet it would be wildly popular!

And now, for my big news! From all of the info I have it looks to be pretty set so I don't think I can jinx it by telling.

Our best Christmas present of all? Phil's parents are buying us.....A HOUSE!

A house! Any house, anywhere we want to live. Okay, obviously within reason, but we're thinking 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, probably ranch style, hopefully at least a partially finished basement. Based on the timing and everything else, it will be in St. Louis. We'd love to move back east, but the timings just not right for a big move so we're happy with settling ourselves in here for now.

Long story short, in one way or another his parents have paid for most to all of his sister's and brother's houses. His sister's was a few years ago, his brothers was this past year. Now they have decided that it is our turn. With the housing market how it stands now they really want us to move kind of quickly on it. In fact, I think his mom's words were "talk to Tia about it and call me in a few days." So, I've been scouring realtor sites and seeing what's out there. I've also got a friend who is an agent so she's going to help us as well. I'm really happy with some of the choices and prices I am seeing in our area so that is really good news.

Right after New Year's we'll start hitting open houses, touring houses, etc. Terra's got a list of things she would like to have in a house. Me too of course! I'm also scouring Craigslist to keep an eye out for furniture deals. We may be light on furniture and decor for awhile, but I don't care. I just can't believe we'll actually have our own home. It's like a dream as I know we wouldn't be able to afford one on our own for a long time.

Now to hit you guys up for some help! Any suggestions to a first time home buyer of things to look for, ask about, check up on?

WOW!!! How wonderful!

I would say school systems are important for resale even if you plan to home school.

I wish we had a garage and more open floor plan.

I made Leighanna a countdown poster for our upcoming trip. I used my new Christmas present a Cricut to cut out all the shapes and characters.

SO cute!!!!! Loved all your Christmas photos too.

Lu woke up from her nap screaming and hasn't let Eric or I put her down. We've been tag teaming cooking our "Christmas" dinner. I'm thinking we'll be back at the dr.s tomorrow if she keeps it up.

Poor baby Lucy!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

That's true. I like taking baths in my big tub, however infrequently it happens. I could never bathe the girls in it though, you are absolutely right. It's a pain to even try and wash something out of my hair in it.

I felt so bad for Susan the day the camp called her and said Sister had lice. Trying to bathe her in the huge deep tub would have been a nightmare. I think my bosses just got really caught up in the aesthetics of the house and didn't stop to think if the house would be PRACTICAL for day to day functions. It wasn't.

 

[Tammi67]

I debated about buying him some face wash, but I am pretty sure he won't use it. He just has a few blackheads on his chin right now, and I know he will use the little acne pads. As he gets older he will probably have to use more of a "system" for his skin. Right now he still has "kid" skin instead of "teen" skin.

So at what age do I get to look forward to this starting?

 

[Pooh67_68]

Tia what I like about my house is the bath and a half, will never live were there is only one bath ever again. I also like that its all one floor.

What I dislike about the house the dinning and kitchen are one big room and there is no counter or cupboard space.
Also we have no attic or basement for storage.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

So at what age do I get to look forward to this starting?

It depends. DS is almost 13 and he hasn't shown any signs of puberty other than the snarky attitude. His chin is breaking out a little bit but he is horrible about touching his face with his grubby little fingers. If he would keep his hands away from his face he wouldn't have that problem.