Frankie went to the Doctor

Franks has been licking his paw for about a week, but I didn't see anything wrong with it until yesterday. He had this large red bump on his thumb. I was really worried about it, so I took him to the vet. Turns out he has a hematoma. I had never even heard of this before, but I guess its common and not a big deal. Hematomas are caused when the body over-reacts to some type of irratiation. It could have been a splinter or a bite. It is supposed to go away on its own...but it's not. I guess it iches, so he is always lick it which stops it from healing. Our new vet is super. She gave him a band-aid to prevent the lickety lickety...now instead of licking it, he's biting it. Luckily he only has to wear it for 2 days.

The Tour

Here's a tour of our new home.

The garage was an new experience for me. I've never had a garage to park in before, so I had to have lots of guidance parking the first few times...I still can only park on the left side. When I try to park on the right, I end up in the middle with no room for another car.




This is the view walking in the front door. The master bedroom is off to the left. I just love how open it is when you first walk in. When the sliding glass doors are open, this area seems extra spacious.



Standing in the living room looking back at the front door, from the foyer, the 2 other bedrooms are off to the left and the laundry room is on the right.

You can't really tell in the pictures, but the counter tops are BLUE! Not a navy blue--a bright country blue. I loth the counter tops and will find a remedy for that eye-sore sometime soon (too bad new countertops are not in our budget). Other than the countertops and the country feel of the kitchen (which are both fixable--the second one easier than the first), I love it! There is a lot of counter space and tons of cabinets to store all of the cooking thing I don't own...yet.



The breakfast nook has a lovely bay window that looks into the backyard. One day I want to put a bench there. I'm not in love with the table (too busy with a country feel for my taste), but it came with the house...and not having a table meant don't complain.

At one point, this was a patio. They did a great job converting it into a sunroom.

This is my favorite part of our house...the backyard. It's small (which is good for Dedee), but we don't have any neighbors behind us. The beautiful view is part of the Jewish Community Center. You can't see them in the picture, but on the right you you can see a bit of thier tennis courts through the trees. I wasn't too sure about them at first, but I don't even notice them any more. The previous owners had a hot-tub on the deck, but since we're not the hot-tub type, the deck is perfect for

bar-b-q'ing and entertainng; it just needs
to be stained and sealed.

There are no pics of the bedrooms because they just look like a box with 4 plain white walls in the pictures, and none of the bathrooms becasue I can't seem to get a picture that does either one justice. I will be posting pictures of the room as the develope more.

SOLD!

So this is our 3 bedroom; 2 bath, 1648 sqft home.
After looking for months at what seemed to be hundreds of houses, we found his beauty..but I wan't sold right away.

These are the things I loved:

• the openness of the living area
• the backyard- the deck, the view...and no neighbors!
• the floors- wood laminate throughout except tile in the foyer and bathroom
• the master bath- newly remodeled, spacious shower

But here are the things I wasn't too sure about:

• the architectural design of the walls- there are cut-outs, indents, and angles everywhere (I'm more of a simple kind of girl)
• smaller bedrooms
• blue countertops in the kitchen
• tennis courts visable from the backyard

In addition to being indecisive, I'm the kind of person that likes to shop around and know exactlly what's out there before making any type of decision; so needless to say, I had a lot of trouble commiting. I liked the house. It was one of the nicer ones that we'd seen, but I wanted my parents to see it and to get thier opinion. I also wanted to keep looking to see if there was anything better that I hadn't seen yet; but I couldn't do either. There were already multiple offers on the table and they were meeting that day at 3 o'clock to make a decision. If I wanted it, I had to make an offer...now.

After looking at 2 more houses, we decided to go back to this one. The entire ride there was spent on the phone with my parents (who just happen to be having lunch together). I was getting their advice and explaining what the house was like and all the details. When we got there, everyone took pictures and sent them to my mom because she couldn't leave work to come see the house.

Meanwhile, my heart is going a million miles a minute and I can't sit still. This was a huge decision; probably the biggest one I've ever made. I had already fallen in love with a 1920's bungalwo in an ideal location, but couldn't afford the repairs that it needed. I also had my eye on another fixer-upper, but it was bank owned and they wanted way too much for the condition it was in. I wan't sure I was ready to take a chance and have my heart crushed again.

Finally, after a huge push from everyone (especially by my BFF Heather), I decided to go for it. We grabbed lunch and then met our realtor to finalize the offer. We sat down and worked some numbers finally decided on a bid of $152,000. We bid slightly higher than the $149,000 asking price because there were already 3 deals on the table and other houses in the area that were in worse condition had sold for around that price. I signed the papers and after that, all we could do was wait.

The next day (which turned out to be my 26th birthday) I got the phone call...

our bid was the best! THE HOUSE WAS OURS!

On September 9, 2011, I signed all of the papers and the house offically beceme our home.

New year, New blog

So here it goes… my first blog post.

I’ve been wanting to do this for a year now, and I am finally here. I’m going to do it!

Hi, my name is Pamela Hughes, butmost people just call me Pam. I love crafting, decorating, and DIY projects. I also enjoy baking—but NOT cooking. During the day I’m a first grade teacher. In my spare time (which there isn’t too much of that) I am usually hanging with my family, on the computer (I’m addicted to pinterest), or reading magazines. I like to run too. Notice I said “like”—not “love”—for that one.

I just bought my first house in Tampa, Florida. I live there with my boyfriend of 6 years and my dog Frankie.

I’ve decided to start blogging as a way of journaling my adventures of being a home owner. I am not the domestic type, so this could be interesting. I’m sure that this blog will include many trials and errors, as well as life lessons along the way. My goal in blogging is to keep myself and others motivated. I hope to inspire, as well as be inspired. Most of all, I would like to connect with others. Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!