Opinions?

Our living room has been feeling squished, so we decided to move out our love seat and replace it with a chair. We have decided on an Ikea Poang chair, but I can't decide what color. Above are some options combined with the rest of our furniture: 1) dark blue 2) ivory and cover the head pillow with a fabric that coordinates w/ the rest of the room 3) a print.

I'm leaning toward one of them, but I want opinions before I make a final decision. So, what would you do? 1, 2, or 3?

Cleaning House

Over the past month, the house has been getting on my nerves. So, I decided that it was time for another deep spring cleaning. My house is not very big (and neither are my closets). So, I have to constantly go through the things that I own and clear out the junk.

I am always amazed at how much I can get rid of when I purge. Where does all of this stuff come from? I know that some of it is stuff that I've been holding on to for a long time... like that coat that I made 10 years ago, or those pajama pants that I made 13 years ago (that have holes in them), or those jeans that my mom bought me when I was a junior in high school (11 years ago).

And there are still wedding presents that are slowly moving out. We've been married for 5 years, and I still feel guilty about getting rid of a gift that we don't use and did not register for.

All in all, I have 7 trash bags full of stuff for Goodwill, and an even larger number in trash. It feels good to get rid of things and to simplify life. Except for the things that make me sad. Like throwing out my broken sewing machine. I made my wedding dress on that machine. It angered me on many occasions, but there is a sentimental attachment. Oh, well. When I have a bigger house, I can afford to be more sentimental.

Quick Change

No need to throw away a perfectly good pair of pants just because you don't like the cut. I loved the color of these, but wasn't crazy about the cropped, bootleg cut anymore. So now they're shorts.

Goodbye Old Friend

Out with the old, in with the new. I've got my new car, but that means that it's time to say goodbye to my old one. I've been driving my little Hyundai Elantra for nine years. It's taken me to co-op in Chattanooga, to school at Georgia Tech, to home in Columbus, and all over the city of Atlanta.

It wasn't fancy, but it took me everywhere I needed to go; to work, to the theater, to church, to dates, to friend's. My brother hit a deer with it. I was rear-ended in it. And I hit a concrete pillar in a parking deck (and then touched up the paint myself). But it kept chugging.

I'm going to miss my little car. I always tried to talk nicely to it, in hopes that it would last longer for me. And it had a good life span. I know that I got my money's worth out of it. I'm sad to see it go (well, it's still sitting in front of our house at the moment), but I'm glad to move on to my CRV.

Wedding Detail - Bridesmaids dresses

As a general rule, bridesmaid's dresses are awful. We found such a great solutions for Meg's wedding.

We talked about me making them, but with her large wedding party, I would have had to charge them, and I really didn't want to do that. So, we looked around at different wedding boutiques, but in the end, we found the perfect dress at Macy's (of all places).

It's a cute, knit,blue, knee-length dress with beaded straps. There were a lot of them, so we bought them all, let all of her girls try them on, and returned the ones that we didn't use. It's so much nicer dealing with a local store instead of trying to order something.

The price was one of the best parts. They were originally $160, but we snagged them for $50, due to a sale and a coupon. There is no way I could have made them for that price. And they were so cute. I think that everyone was happy with this solution.

Dishwasher - Fixed

My working dishwasher....exciting, huh?

So, remember how I said that the week after Meg's wedding wasn't the best week? It started with my car breaking and grew when my dishwasher broke and air-conditioner started acting funny.

I really do love being a home owner. Really. Until weeks like this where money is flying out the window and everything seems to be broken and in need of attention. Some things (like the yard) never seem to stay kept up like I would like.

Anyway, when the dishwasher broke, I really hated the idea of calling a repairman. I mean dishwashers aren't that expensive, and it would cost $ just to get someone out here. So I decided to take a shot at it.

I knew what was wrong: no power seemed to be going to the dishwasher. The lights wouldn't light and it wouldn't operate at all. So, I checked the breaker, checked to make sure power was actually going to the dishwasher (it was), and then started searching on-line. I just typed in my problem, did some research on my model, and found a couple of things that it could be. I opened the control panel, tested those parts and decided I had a blown thermal fuse (please don't ask me to explain more than that...I can't). I went to a parts supply place, got a new one for $18, rewired it, and viola, it works!

I'm always amazed at what you can do when your willing to put in the time and are brave enough to try. I was really quite proud of myself. So, now I have a working dishwasher and my days are going much better.

New Car!

My NEW Honda CRV in Glacier Blue

So, the week after Meg's wedding wasn't be best week. First, during the wedding, my car decided to start overheating. I figured it'd be an easy problem to fix, but after more coolant, a new thermostat, a new fan (i.e. $300 later) we were informed that we had a blown head gasket and a cracked head. I think that's what he said. Anyway, it cost around $1000 to fix.

We took the car to another mechanic and got a second opinion...and yep, same thing. $1000 and other possible engine problems that can't be determined until we get it fixed.

My car's barely worth that much money as it is, so we decided it was time to bite the bullet and get a car.

Jay was really busy last week, so I did most of the car shopping on my own. I knew basically what I wanted (a small SUV type car). I thought I wanted a Subaru Forester, but after looking around I decided on a Honda CRV.

I was going to get a late model used car, but I really couldn't find any, and the only ones that I could find practically cost as much as a new one. So, in the end I wound up with a new car. This is the first car that I've ever bought. I don't think that I enjoyed the process as much as I could have, considering I was shopping for a car I hadn't planned on purchasing. But, I'm really enjoying driving it around.

I actually bought the car in Easley, SC. We were visiting Jay's family in Greenville last weekend, and I spent Saturday shopping for a car. It seems that the farther from the city you go, the nicer people are and the better deal you get. I went from Atlanta to Greenville to Easley. My sister-in-law (Betsy) and niece (Morgan) helped me shop. I was so glad that they were there. I really needed a second opinion, since Jay was busy helping his family work on house stuff. And Morgan kept me from getting stressed by being cute.

I feel so excited and privileged to be driving around a NEW CAR!

I am, indeed excited about my car. However, my dreams of being a showcase model are dashed.