best laid plans...

well, you know what they say. even the best laid plans go awry. or something like that.

the house closing got moved back another week. we're looking at closing on may 5th now. which really isn't so bad.

we have flexible and totally amazing landlords (if you're looking for a lovely one-bedroom, ours will be available soon. you know... god willing and the creek don't rise).

we have friends who are willing to roll with the punches with us (or at least rearrange their calendars yet again to help us move).

we have a rocking realtor who keeps us informed, even when she doesn't have answers for us (if you're looking to buy or sell a house, whitney kieffer is the way to go).

and now we have waaay more time to pack and clean and prepare. the moving date has been reset to may 15 (she said, knocking on wood).

reality sets in

it's official. our apartment is a mess. there are boxes everywhere. granted, they're packed boxes -- which is really what we're going for here. but still. we've done something to get ready to move (more like 80 things) every day, just to keep the proverbial ball rolling. and last night, tim-the-wonderful finished packing and cleaning the basement! it looks fantastic and was so much work. it was so lovely to come home after work and class and see that we were still making progress.

the other day, before the boxes had started to overtake every walking space, i took a little video of our first home together. maybe i'll post that at some point in the future for those of you who never got to visit our cozy place.

it's bittersweet. leaving. starting a new chapter together. owning something as massive as a house. becoming adults. it's exciting and frightening and a bit of a blur. but i'm starting to feel like, hey, this is actually going to happen.

one of the weirdest things about this whole process has been that we've had to stay ready for change at a moment's notice. frankly, that's made the past few months a tad stressful. we're never sure whether we're in for another long delay or a frenetic few hours of trying to get massive amounts of obscure paperwork together.

we had a visit with our midwife last week. she asked us how we were coping with the moving/house buying stress... whether we were fighting a lot or more cranky with each other... and the happy truth is that even though this has been a stressful time, we're doing really well. in fact, we are closer than ever before. rather than pushing us apart, all the change and the intensity has brought a peculiar (wonderfully peculiar) unity between the two of us. i'm guessing that has something to do with grace. and God's faithfulness.

but i'm just guessing.

(if you are dying to use your biceps (and proper lifting techniques), we'll be moving on saturday, april 30. pretty, pretty please let me know if you're coming so i can make sure to have enough food. i hate not having enough food. email lisaheaner@gmail.com.)

kind of a big day

today is kind of a big day.

we've got our ultrasound at noon today.

i know, i know...

it was silly to plan an ultrasound to discover

the gender of our child on april fool's day.

but so it goes.

hopefully, we have an un-shy, immodest child.

i dreamt last night that it was a boy.

there's been a bit of scrambling since we found out that

we had verbal approval on the sale of our house.

we got all the paperwork together,

and are breathing a big sigh of relief that

THAT part, at least, is done.

we're hanging on to each other

and trusting that our God knows what we need

better than we do.

then tonight, we have our house inspection.

if all goes as planned, we could be in our new home by

april 29th!

big stuff, people. big stuff.

good grief!

i've been slacking off... it's been nearly a month since my last post.

yesterday was the two month marker of being a married woman. tim was saying that sometimes it feels like we've been married two minutes, and sometimes it feels like two years. and he's right. it seems so natural to be together. but so new, too.

blah, blah, mushy stuff, blah. the point is, we're married. it's going well. we still like each other a lot. and from all accounts, that's a good sign.

we've been working our financial plan for the past month. it's gone pretty well. i've enjoyed the challenge of living on cash only. and i really appreciate all the communication that is necessary to make a budget (and a marriage) work.

the past few weeks have been s o . d a n g e d . b u s y ! we scheduled ourselves solid and found that it was really taking a toll on our energy + physical health, not to mention our mental health. tim came down with a cold. and i ended up in the emergency room on monday -- i have the i.v. bruises to prove it! we're both okay now. lesson learned.

we've begun a TIME budget... just being intentional about alone time, together time, family time + friends time. we'll see how it goes. but if the money budget is any indication, i'm looking forward to a serious reduction in stress levels for both of us.

we're hosting thanksgiving at our house this year for the moms, the joyce grandparents, uncle peter (mom h's younger brother -- a recent addition to the MN-dwellers), mom k's friend + former client, marge. hopefully, kim + boyfriend, mitch, will be able to stop by. but even without their company, we'll have a full house.

i was planning on brining the turkey, but realized the only place that's protected from the elements + still cool enough to store the turkey is the spider-infested garage. yep. brining is out. so i've switched to a orange rosemary recipe (though, per usual, i will depart from said recipe rather widely). i'm pretty excited about it.

i'm a little nervous about the gravy + the stuffing. historically, my attempts at gravy made rather poor showings. and i never eat the stuffing, so i'm fairly inept at making it.

* m m e h *

i guess that's what "the joy of cooking" is for.

i still have a whole bunch of hawaii pictures to post. AAANNNND all of our wedding pictures.

p.s. if you took pictures at our wedding, we'd love, love, love to see them. you can send them by email to lisaheaner@gmail.com if that suits your fancy.

moving week begins

it's started. last night we went to our new place to hand in our first month's rent + pick up the keys. we had packed up tim's car with things we had been storing at his mom's house + so have even moved in our first "load."

our landlords are completely awesome people + we love their dog. i'm thinking we'll probably have them over for a beer quite often.

tonight i'm having some girlfriends over to the old place to watch the best show EVER...

meanwhile, i'll pack up the last of the kitchen stuff + begin the dreaded process of cleaning the apartment thoroughly. (erg)

at least i have the consolation of a clean new home... it's really spotless, thanks to theresa + eric (the landlords).

pics of the move are on their way...

our first home

well... it's official. we have a place to live. (she releases the breath she'd been holding since the first of july)

we spent all of last week and some of the previous one looking. and looking. and looking. we found some gems + some real dives. but this was our favorite... and will become our first home together.

it's at the southeast corner of 23rd + dupont. north minneapolis is not my favorite part of the city, strictly speaking. but, honestly, our neighborhood is a little pocket of goodness in the heart of the dodgy side of town.

so... let me tell you about all the awesomeness that is encapsulated in our soon-to-be nest. front porch (i'm getting a porch swing!), fenced-in back deck (read: grill that won't be stolen), 1-car garage, free laundry (heck yessss), dishwasher, sweet woodwork, fireplace, french doors on the bedroom, newly remodeled bathroom, a backyard with space for a garden, wood floors, big picture windows... it's my dream place. i just completely love it.

here are some pictures. i can't wait to get all our stuff moved in. the super sweetest part of all is that i'll get to live there for six weeks before the wedding + before tim moves in. six weeks to make it a home for us. i'm so excited!

this is from the living room, looking into the dining room.

the entry is to the left (not pictured).

the bedroom is just off the dining room (on the left wall).

the kitchen is directly through the doorway on the far wall.

this is looking into the dining room from the bedroom.

the bathroom is through the bedroom on the left wall.

(not pictured)

kitchen with dishwasher + exposed brick.

love it!

on the wall opposite to the dining room
is a little sun room that will become
our office/guest bedroom.

this is our bathroom.

it's tiny, but gorgeous.

there are all these little "nooks" that are tiled into the wall.

the shower/bathtub is tiled floor to ceiling.

the owner did a really nice job of remodeling it.

so... there you have it! your own mini-tour of our new place. i'm planning more than a few dinner parties in the months following the wedding, so you'll have to come over + see it in person.