Our House

2006-08-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

sorry we're not too up to speed with updates, but things have honestly slowed down. we're pretty much done decorating (with the exception of a need for some large painting above the bed) and settled into the place.

but, my family did recently visit. my mom, brothers, and sister we're all in town for about 10 days to see me and tim and also explore the bay area. and when i say bay area, i mean the whole thing. i think they are the first group to visit that actually went to the north bay, east bay, san francsico, and south bay. it was definitely a long trip, but a good one. and we we're glad to have them come.

thankfully, all 4 of them did not stay with us...i don't think the little house could take that. but, we did have a few nights of sleepovers.

the first night katie stayed over was the night my mom purchased the house an a/c window unit. and thank god since it was over 100 degrees! we all slept in the living room that night, cuddling up with the new member of our family. even the pets knew that it was the coolest place to be. i think it was the first time zeke, boris, bandit, and grace we're all within 10 feet of each other.

the next night we had my brothers stay over, and i was outnumbered 3 to 1. well, 5 to 2 if you count the pets...but they're nutered/spayed, so i don't think it's the same.

anyway, the scene was vastly different. each boy had some form of technology on their lap and we're immersed in either "kill bill," installing a new computer game, or watching something on t.v. so i just baked them all cookies and got them glasses of milk. it seemed to keep them content until my youngest brother attempted to go to sleep. sadly, the amount of pet hair in the house led to shortness of breath and the inability for him to breath. so at midnight, he returned to the hotel.
that same night we all enjoyed a great dinner outside since the weather had cooled down tremendiously. tim made some great burgers with bacon in them (that's right...mixed in. with the meat. tastey.). here is our pre-dinner picture:

the next night brought only my sister and older brother back, and followed a great night out a bing crosby's - a local restaurant built and run in the honor of the legend. it was a great night...excellent food and a good bottle of wine (thanks mom!). and the next day was our trip to great america...which resulted in a challenge when it came to get my sister to fall asleep.

thankfully she wasn't too enthralled in "edward sissorhands" and got enough shuteye for the next day. here are a few pics from our adeventures at great america. keep checking back, we have yet another houseguest coming in next week.

house guests #2 and #3...

2006-07-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

last week erin and jeff came all the way from colorado and texas to visit. they arrived on monday the 3rd, after a small struggle with a rental car company and a nearly 24 hour car ride. and even though they we're uber-exhausted upon their arrival we enjoyed some good conversation before they passed out on our couch and floor.

tim and erin meet, after months of only knowing their blog personas

the fourth of july came with beautiful weather and we all decided to make a trip to the top of mt. diablo. on the way up we picnicked in sunset picnic area and enjoyed yummy sandwiches from whole foods. once we got to the top we had some great views and took a ton of pictures.

me and erin

we have two of the "on top of the devil's mountain" pictures now

we decided to drive down the other side of the mountain and stopped in "rock city" to climb some big rocks and play in the wind caves.

boys = monkeys

caveman tim

after returning to the house we wound down with the television and started preparing for our fourth of july feast. it was the first time we'd truly entertained in our backyard and personally, i think it went without a hitch. we broke in our new patio table (complete with umbrella!) and successfully filled up our back yard with friends. good times we're had by all. heather (tim's old roommate) even made an amazingly patriotic cheesecake.

fourth of july bbq fun

yummy!

unfortunately tim and i had to return to work the next day, so jeff and erin we're left to their own devices to come up with things to do. i'll let them tell you more about their adventures in the city and exploring the giant tree forest (see here and here). but, thankfully we got to spend some more time with our guests during tasty home-cooked meals and a lovely dinner out in the WC (thanks guys!)

friday morning brought me a large headache (yes, too much wine) and a day home from work. and it also meant it was time for erin and jeff to head toward texas. we helped them plan their route down the coast and sent them off with big hugs. it was great having people visit for such a long time, rather than just a day or two...but to be honest, boy was it nice to have the house back to ourselves!

tim and i spent saturday and sunday barely talking (i think when you have house guests you get tired of socializing at some point and want to do anything but talk) and lounging around the house watching movies. we know our alone time is semi-precious since in less than 2 weeks my family will be arriving to spend 10 days in the bay area.

also, this friday is our housewarming party, so check back this weekend/early next week for tales from the first shin-dig in the stapleton-brown household!

...A-a-a-and Scene!

2006-06-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

So after some yelling, some pleading, and lots of tears (and that was just me) we have finally completed the arduous process of unpacking and decorating.

There are a few things still to, but for the most part we are done. I can't tell you what its like to come home from work and not worry about unpacking a box, hanging a picture, or figuring out where the couch is going to go.

This weekend, with a trip to IKEA, we finished the living room. We did what we thought was impossible and filled up our enormous living room. We are so satisfied, in fact, that we went ahead and scheduled a housewarming part for a few weeks from now. We are ready to let people inside and look in awe at the wonder that is our decorating skills! I know many of you are out of state and are not able to attend, but are desperately wanting to send us a housewarming gift. Not a problem! You can either mail us something if you have our address, or you can send us an e-gift card to a store of your choosing to our e-mail address at the right.

While this is not my first house I've lived in, it is definitely the first that really feels like home. Where ever life takes us, we will always remember our first home together. Its a big step for us, and so far we seem to be handling it just fine.

Sometimes, as I'm going to sleep, I'm amazed at this person lying next to me. How do we get along so well? How is it, that after such a short time together, I can feel this comfortable? Being with her is not like being with other girlfriends I've had, its more like hanging out with a friend. Not just a friend, but the best friend I've ever had. What is it that makes me so comfortable?

I'm pretty sure its this living room!

The Most Boring Post You've Ever Read

2006-06-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

So we hosted our first guest this weekend. Charles was out here for business and we decided to make a quick Saturday trip up to Sonoma. He's been out to visit me a few times, but has not yet seen the new house. He was very impressed with the definate lack of dog, as compared to my old old place, but didn't quite know how he felt about the proliferation of cat.

Sonoma is always a good time, but we found a few new favorite spots this weekend that will definitely be added to The Tim and Danielle Spectacular Sonoma Sojourn (not to be confused with The Danielle and Tim Gnarly Napa Knock-about). So make sure you call ahead for tickets, they are selling out fast.

We got up very early. I don't think I'm awake in this picture.

Of course, my favorite part of the weekend was Sunday. Sunday, we did nothing exciting. Well, I mean, we went to Target, Petco, and Safeway. But as compared to other things, not really that exciting.

It seems that majority of our relationship has revolved around vacations, or vacation like activities. We met at a wedding, saw each other for a second time on Spring Break in San Diego, and each trip out to see each other seemed more like a vacation, than everyday life. Even once she moved out here, there were new places for her to see, things for us to do. So we've always wondered how we would together deal with the humdrum of daily life.

Of course, now that we are living together, there's going to be a lot of downtime. A lot of time where life, no matter how hard you try, is just not a vacation. On Sunday we had planned on going to a free concert in the city, but were both so exhausted from Saturday, that we just sat it out. So we bought pet food and litter. We bought more storage boxes. And we got all of our groceries for the week. "Woo hoo, Tim. Why are you boring us with your boring life?!"

The boring things are as much a part of living as the exciting ones are. Due to our arriving guest we somehow got all the rest of the boxes unpacked and the house in pretty much good order. So Sunday was probably our first day of actually "living" together. We had nothing to do.

I got caught up on some more gardening, repotting a few things, potting a few others, and getting the back patio into a little better shape. I planted some peppers, so I could chase Danielle around with them (she hates any kind of spice except salt) and rearranged some things. Are you completely bored yet? Because Danielle wasn't! She was very helpful in the replanting process, she was great about providing refreshment for us both and didn't complain once about how I was spending my time, and once she became bored, happily went to find something else to do.

I'm performing my dirt magic taught to me by band of wandering hippies

We are having to learn how to deal with each other on a daily basis. We, of course, laugh a lot. She tells me I'm stupid a lot (like when I sing a song about Grace living in the utility room). I call her a Giggles McSillypuss (like when she dances with Bandit). We bicker every now and then, but more because we're bored than actually frustrated. Now that we have DVR and can record two TV shows at once, we don't even argue over what we watch.

So while it is still too early to figure out which one of us will actually kill the other, I think we are settling in quite nicely.

Bandit was happy to herd his chewbone while I made my plan of attack

yard update...

2006-06-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

last night tim and i got motivated to do a little...okay, a lot...of work on the house. we put more pictures up, decreased the number of boxes sitting around, put some stuff into the storage shed, and reorganized the kitchen a bit.

we also worked on the back porch. tim wanted a better layout for grilling, entertaining, and showing off his gardening skills so it turned out looking like this:

tim plans to use his old desk as a gardening work-table, place to hold grilling needs, and service area for outdoor get-togethers. (bandit plans to get us to play fetch with him for the rest of his life.) tonight our first offical house-guest arrives, so hopefully all will be approved.

recent pictures...

2006-06-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

looking at these makes me realize that we still have a lot to do. and that the 6 weeks before and after moving are probably a person's messiest. please forgive the clutter, but enjoy the improvements!

the living room
we copied ikea and did a low shelf directly behind the couch.
that's what causes the appearance of items sitting on the back of it.

the office
the white dresser is the one that tim plans to sand and repaint with an antique look.
we also "themed" the office with fraternity/sorority/friend pictures.

the bedroom
see! i told you we hung pictures!

tim and the boys (and boxes)

it's good to be home...

2006-06-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

i don't know if it's the fact that i actually have a house to come back to...or that i've lived in california long enough now, but for the first time since i left texas i truly felt like this was my home. i had the feeling of being somewhere familiar, warm, and comforting the minute my plane started to come in over the bay. i watched the sunset over san francisco while driving east, and i was unbelievably happy when i walked up my front porch and into my house. but regardless of why i felt at home...i was.

tim did some clutter-cleaning while i was still in texas - moving boxes around so that my legs could finally get a break from being bruised and allowing the living room to open up a bit more. he worked on the yard too...things are starting to grow and it looks really nice (with the exception of the yard of weeds we have growing out back). the animals missed me dearly, as they all rushed to greet me as i walked in the door...okay, just kidding.

but zeke did manage to find something to entertain himself with while i was gone: feminine hygiene products. that's right folks...my cat likes to play with pads. awesome, huh?

other than that, no uber-new developments in the world of "our house." we (read: tim) have plans to fix up a table and a dresser we got for free, so look for progress pictures on those some time in the next few weeks. and pictures are going up...slowly, and room by room. i'll try to capture the house in the state it is tonight and post some updated pics tomorrow.

"like butter scraped over too much bread..."

2006-05-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Moving sucks monkey balls!

I'll just go ahead and say that now. I'll go ahead and agree with Danielle when she says that this move has been more complicated than moving across country. And I'm not really sure why. I just know that I have not stopped moving (except to watch LOST last night) since this process began last Friday afternoon. We are either moving the remnants of stuff from Danielle's apartment, or making trips walking back and forth across the street carry the dregs of my crap. Or we are moving, arranging furniture, unpacking her stuff, unpacking my stuff (read: throwing away), or re-arranging furniture.

And everytime we seem to get a little bit ahead, something happens. Like yesterday, the closet broke! Seems that the support bar holding up the closet rod was only held in by 6 little 1/2" nails that went into the studs maybe a few centimeters. So we (she) had to take everything out and we (me) had to remount the support bar using longer wood screws (thanks for the drill/screwdriver for Christmas Mom!) and then we (she) had to put everything back in! And this was after moving a mattress and box spring across town in the 4runner, with the boxspring attached to the roof.

We are both so tired that we have been going to bed at 10:00 like a couple of old people, and we are like a couple of raw and abraded nerves which the slightest brush against sends waves and waves and waves of shooting pain through everything! Imagine getting the worst sunburn ever, then having your skin peeled off your body and then being given a lemon juice shower and you have an inkling of what we are going through.

Everything is a reason to get upset, and anything can set either one of us off right now. So if you call us, and hear things breaking in the background, just pretend not to hear it, we'll be back to normal again by June.

Even the cats are walking on tip-toe around the house!

African Monkey Balls

additional statements & points of clarification...

2006-05-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

* we are not teaching the cats to use the toilet. while it is a nice idea, it's not something i want to devote time to. although, tim is formulating a way to build a box to hide the kitty poo box...which would be an improvement from the small place all three of them share at the moment.

* tim is the best landscaper ever. we now have a yard full of tropical plants and lovely smelling climbing plants. thanks to josh and jess who gave us a heads up on the oh-so-cheap plant sale. only $15 for what home depot would have charged us $60+ for.

* tim is not the only one giving stuff to good will. i did a lot of "spring cleaning" before i moved out to california. he's been her longer and has been collecting things for a while now. and seriously...if yall saw some of the stuff we've pulled out of boxes...(star wars action figures, floppy disks, mushroom paintings).

* men do not have nipples "just in case." see here for more information.

* i hate wire hangers. i'm pretty sure i get this from my mother (i don't mean that in a bad way mom). i always grew up using plastic hangers and when wire ones came back from the dry cleaners i remember them going into the trash and being exchanged for plastic ones. plus, they are way more sturdy and don't bend as quickly when hanging heavy pants on them. granted, that's what these are for. (note to doodah: you introduced those to me when i came to see your lords center apartment for the first time. and i fell in love. and bought some.) and i have never seen mommie dearest, i swear.

* the bed no longer looks like the picture below. in fact, it got sheets and pillows today and awaits me as i type. i got the closet all organized on saturday and sunday...somehow managing to fit both my and tim's clothes (and shoes!) into it. granted, i had to sacrifice hanging a few t-shirts and allow some of my clothes to go to goodwill and i requested an additional bar to hang things on...but it happened. and it looks nice if i do say so myself.

MOVED!

2006-05-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

So this has been a long arduous and extremely hot weekend, but I think we have the majority of our stuff moved in!

First off, I'll say that I had forgotten how heavy all of my furniture is. Secondly, I think I underestimated exactly how many cats, three cats is. It seems like everytime I turn around, there is a cat staring at me! It's like an eerie Alfred Hitchcock movie. So if you are allergic to cats, you are more than welcome to come by, I just don't recomend you walk inside...

...and you probably want to avoid going to the bathroom if you do...

Despite all the moving I was able to get many other things done this weekend. I was able to repair all the busted sprinkler heads in the yard, I was able to get a lot of plants for the backyard for very cheap (thanks to the 50th Annual "Day-Before-Mother's-Day" Plant Sale at some vacant lot).

But the house is very cluttered with boxes and boxes of stuff. For every one of my boxes that we go through and Danielle decides all of it is going to Goodwill, it seems like there are three more that I try to hide from her!

...notice the Sega Master System Game in that box? (it's Alex the Kidd)

I don't even own a Sega Master System, and haven't since I was 10!

Why am I holding on to it?

For the same reason men have nipples...

...just in case!

One of the first things to go is all of the wire hangers that I use to hang my clothes up with. I'm not sure what the wire hangers have done to her in the past, though they have always been quite a sturdy friend to me, but everytime I ask her what atrocity they have committed (are they as bad as Pol Pot?) she just yells out "No More WIRE HANGERS!" and that apparently settles it! ... and she claims to have never seen Mommie Dearest!

But things are going well, we can both agree when the other has the better idea, and we are learning our boundries on when it is ok to push, and when it is not. Frankly, we've both been so exhausted that we just don't have the energy to fight yet, but I'm sure we will soon.

At one point, we decided that if we put everything we wanted to get done onto the bed, we wouldn't be able to sleep until it was all done...

...then we found out how easy it is to simply push things off onto the floor!

But we persevere, because we must, and most likely we will have pictures hung by the weekend!
More pictures to come soon as we clear out rooms.

Meanwhile, my current favorite part of the house is the nice front porch we have. It is much larger and more covered than my last one, and there is plenty of room for all of my plants!

Today's the Day...

2006-05-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

...that we disappoint our parents! And so close to Mother's Day too! We should be ashamed of ourselves! But you know how young people are, so willful and sure that everything they do is right! Just headlonging on into God knows what without any regard for the consequences! No patience, kids these days! I'm sure glad I wasn't a willful disobedient child when I was their age!

Anyway, today is the day that we can begin moving our stuff! We are doing mostly Danielle's stuff today, as she has decided that's the way it will be and once she gets an idea in her head, there is no stopping her! Then tomorrow my friends (read: Sherpas) arrive to help me haul stuff across the street.

Oh, and the new carpet was put in yesterday. It's much better than the bright peach and emerald green that we had before!

I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures to post soon, but in the meantime, you'll just have to wait.

inside view...

2006-05-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures of the inside of the house. they came in and started working on the carpet today. layed new "tile" (i.e. linoleum) in the kitchen and preped the bathroom for the same. they even added an "entry way!"

the office - on the left when you walk in

the living room - on the right when you walk in

the kitchen

that's the bathroom...no the toilette really isn't in the hall. but yes, it's the first thing you see when you walk in the front door.

the bedroom. it's not a great pic, but that's what you see when you walk in. the closet is to the left.

i am getting really excited about moving...i'm tired of not really having a "home." it's like my entire life is stuck in "in progress" mode. i'm ready for that to settle...

We Got a Tree!

2006-05-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

There is a corner of our backyard that is pretty open to everyone on the street having a complete view of our backyard, so we decided to plant a tree. After a trip to Home Depot (always a mistake on the weekend) and a grueling search for a cart to carry our tree on, we decided on a pink blooming dogwood.

The picture above is not our tree, but what ours will look like!

So even though we are not in the house yet, I am currently working on the yard. I have trimmed some of the trees in the backyard, and am working on getting the sprinkler system back up and running as there are a few holes that need to be plugged and a few sprinkler heads that have broken off and need to be dug up and replaced.

Packing is an ongoing thing, but its fun to find all the things you have forgotten about that were just under a pile of clutter.

Did I mention that Danielle got a new camera and won't stop taking pictures of me!

and the packing has begun...

2006-05-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

zeke has been confused by the large amount of "toys" (i.e. boxes) in the apartment lately. he's never been though a move. so for him, this is fun. grace is freaked out becaust last time i did this i threw her in a car of 3 days and turned her world upside down. as for me, well...pretty much everything tim said in the last post is kinda true. i'm working on it, but it's still a kind of overwhelming process. i will say that it's a lot easier to pack when you don't have to consider 2000 miles of bumpy roads while putting stuff in boxes. there are fewer packing materials and less cardboard boxes involved. this time i am taking the garbage bag, plastic tub, shopping bag, and laundry hamper approach. it worked for laura ann when she moved out of the lords center, so why can't it work for me?

so yah, my walls are become bare, and with that i am realizing how many holes i will have to patch.

and zeke will keep trying to help, i'm sure.

It's Official!

2006-05-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

As of now, the lease has been signed, deposit checks have been given, and next Saturday the house is officially ours (to rent). Among the many things prohibited by the lease are foil on the windows, shaking out clothing, rugs or rags out the window, making loud annoying noises past 10 pm and meth labs.

Danielle has been freaking out about the move. Afraid we won't get it done in time, we won't be able to move her entire 2 rooms in a day, etc. I tried explaining to her that she has already moved a few times, in fact she moved 4000 miles and did ok with that. I think she is more worried about us moving in together than she is about actually moving.

She's worried that I have too much crap and she won't be able to get me to get rid of it. She's worried that we have too much stuff for that house. She's worried that either she'll hate living with me, or I'll hate living with her. She's worried that I will make her wear a Muslim headress and robes and not allow her to leave the hosue. ("Not Without My Daughter" anyone?) And of course, she's worried that I'll break up with her and make her move out. I've (hopefully) assured her of that last fear and that if it happens (which it won't) whoever does the breaking up, has to be the one to move out. So she feels a little better.

I've tried to assure her that all of her fears are baseless, but it looks like we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Stay tuned, won't you...

blueprints...

2006-04-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

i know most of the people visiting this site have seen tim's blog, but just in case, i wanted to post the un-official blueprints of the house:

we are currently discussing furniture layout options...and i've decided that the living room is WAY too big. i think it would be cool to just fill it with those plastic balls they have at places like chuckecheese...

my first house (former roommates, please do not take offense)...

2006-04-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

the dwelling pictured below will be my first house. not a house paid for by my parents, not an on-campus dwelling shared by sorority sisters, not a georgetown "townie" apartment, or an over-priced miniature one bedroom in yuppie-ville. a house of my own (and tim's). granted, i won't be paying a mortgage on the thing, so i won't really "own" it, but it sure will feel like it with these california rental prices.

i'm very excited about the whole thing. well, not the moving part, but the decorating and settling in part. for the first time i will have more than 500 square feet to (with the help and input of tim) put together the way i would like. no roommates to argue with about the furniture layout, no discussions over whose picture looks best over the couch, no issues surrounding whose dishes are better and should be used.

well...now that i think about it, i suppose all of that will probably occur. but i'd rather have those discussions with somebody i love than with somebody i am sharing a small, overly furnished apartment with. no offense to the people i have lived with before this, but i am sure you can all agree that moving in with a significant other is different and better for many reasons.

tim may not always feel that way as i am sure that there will be many "discussions" surrounding pictures, decorative items, furniture layout, etc. as one of the alumni council members said to me this past weekend: "you mean, tim will be allowed to have a say in things. but it's not necessarily what will happen."

Finally!

2006-04-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

At last I have a picture of the house for you. This is taken from my current front porch.

The truck in the driveway is the owner's handyman. He is currently stripping all the wallpaper from the kitchen, dining room and bathroom. So, one less ugly thing we'll have to worry about.

I'm sure I'll have more for you sometime soon, I currently reviewing my backyard pictures to figure out what I'm going to do with it.

I have attached those two pictures below.

As you can see, I have a lot of work ahead of me!

Coming Soon!

2006-04-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Since Danielle and I are taking the big step of moving in together, I thought I would try and make it as small as possible, and we are moving across the street from my current house.

Our anticipated move in date is 5.13.06. We decided that we would start up a blog chronicling our move, her redecorating, my yard overhaul, and the pets reactions to each other.

The page is still in the early stages, and I'm sure everything will change (template, title, etc). But I was bored at work today and felt I would get the groundwork laid. (Also, Danielle is on a plane right now, which I've found is the only time I can get any creative freedom around here!)

But, you can look forward to pictures, both before and after, of the house, the pets in the house, us enjoying the house, parties at the house, and anything else we can think of, pertaining to the house.

I'm sure there will be bickering and arguing at some point. We may even post pictures of a room arranged in two different ways, asking you, the reader, which one of us has the better taste.

I'm excited, Danielle's excited, Bandit's always excited, even the cats are excited... ...if only our parents could be as sure of their feelings towards our big move...

Stay tuned, this can only lead to excitement and adventure (of the redecorating kind)