Unpacking & Organizing

Nate and I didn't waste any time trying to make our new house a home. Both of us were so excited about owning a home that we wanted to cozy it up right away!
We moved in on January 28th and I am pretty sure every box was unpacked and put away by January 30th! We spent every second after work cleaning, organizing, going to Home Depot (which is dangerously close at 1.2 miles away) and Bed Bath and Beyond.
Nate had his Sabres room/loft painted, organized, and decorated within 24 hours of us living in the house. I was super excited for him since our last house had one extra room that was a laundry room, craft room, and "man cave."









It is hard to get a decent picture of the room because of the large window that overlooks the playground, which I am NOT complaining about. We don't need any lights during the day because of all of the natural light in the house.

Nate's next task was his garage! He did such a wonderful job organizing all of his tools and now it is much easier for him to fix and build things because of all of his handy space he has.



This was a before shot of the garage.


Handy Nate working on his work bench!





Almost finished!


Painting the garage.


All finished!


Action shot of Nate and Addison playing hockey!

We bought our first home!

On January 8, 2012 we went and looked at some houses with our real estate agent. She sent us about 25 houses to look at on paper. We were supposed to narrow it down to comes that really intrigued us. I narrowed it down to about 12. I sent her the ones that we liked and on that Sunday only 5 of the 12 were still available. My most favorite was still on that list... Thank goodness. We went and saw our home 2nd and I just LOVED it! We looked at 3 more after that and came back to check out our house one more time. It was the most expensive but also the biggest and newest. Nate and I thought that we wanted to live in a neighborhood and not a subdivision with a HOA. However, this home was perfect. It was on a cul-de-sac and the neighborhood playground was next door. The house had a level, fenced in backyard. It had 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Plus, it had a loft area that would be perfect for Nate's man cave!
We told Sharon we were ready and the next day, Monday, we put in an offer. I felt like it took forever to hear back from the sellers. They countered our offer and we countered back and they accepted. The entire process took 19 days. Good thing for me since I am horrible impatient.
We moved in on January 28th!



Signing our papers!


Nate and me with our real estate agent Sharon Graham (who is the mom of a friend from high school!)


Hubby Nate was SUPER pumped about moving!




This picture was taken on the first day we went and saw the house.... Juuuust on case we happened to own it one day!

Pinterest realities!

About 2 months ago, Sarah Flory introduced me to Pinterest! I have been OBSESSED! Pinterest is like an online bulletin board where you can pin inspiring things: recipes, home decor, classroom/teaching ideas, outfits of choice, and so much more.

I have especially loved pinning recipes and craft ideas and have actually followed through in making several things!

Here are some of my recipes that have been pretty successful!
Peach & Blueberry Cobbler!






Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes!






Lasagna Rolls!



...first you make a delicious meat sauce using ground turkey.


...boil your lasagna noodles while you are making the sauce. Lay out the noodles and top with a thin layer of mozzarella cheese and sauce.


...gently roll up the noodles and place in a sauce coated loaf pan. I found that three rolls fit perfectly!


... top with another layer of sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes!


... Enjoy!

Chicken Alfredo Shells!



Mini Whole Wheat Blueberry
Pancakes!


All of the recipes can be found on my pinterest page: Katie Davies Kivett!