It is difficult to do housework when you are all bundled up. I moved the portable heater to the kitchen and was able to take off the sweater and do some housework. If not, probably can’t do anything but hiding in thick blankets all day!

Was able to unpack the food stuff brought from home, stock up the pantry and organize it into a functional kitchen. We went grocery shopping yesterday and spent $120+ on grocery. The big boy’s cooking in the last two years consisted mainly microwavable convenient food, so he didn’t even have sugar and salt in the kitchen!

Now we have uncooked chicken, fish and pork in the refrigerator and a kitchen cabinet filled up with food instead of dust.:-)

It’s a big old house in the downtown area, we will be living on the second floor.

We use the side entrance and stairs leading up to the second floor.

The balcony and the view of the family room from the outside.

The dining area. I like the fact that it has plenty of natural light from the windows.

The living room.

The bedrooms before moving in the furniture.

I like what I see so far. The big boy knows I would fall for the wooden door and window frames, built in cabinet and those decorative panels that scatter around the house. :-)The rich brown colour and its beautiful grain has character, don’t you think? Though some people say they make the place look a little darker !

The big boy has already moved in some of the furniture and lived at this place. But he hasn’t unpacked most of stuffs, they are still in the moving boxes. He would have to change the mailing address and get more kitchen appliances too.

Hey, the house is ready, why am I still here? Unfortunately, it’s going to take much longer before we can be united. Uncle Sam hasn’t started to look at the papers. It was like throwing a rock into the ocean, we have not heard anything back. I bet the papers are collecting dusts somewhere at a storage or warehouse. We sent in an expedite request last week, hopefully we would hear some good news next two weeks !

Though we have sold some furniture few months ago, but we still have some electronics items and furniture to get rid of before the move. May have to put up an ad and do a yard sale after the surgery.

We still haven’t gotten any buyer because we are upfront with them, we told them that they need to spend some money fixing up the car, it needs an overhaul! The bearing of the engine needs some work. We have replaced a few things recently. Though it’s easy to get a used Nissan radiator and it doesn’t cost as much as a new Taurus Radiator, it still cost us a few hundred getting the radiator and water pump fixed.

Whether you are looking for Austin Apartments, Los Angeles Apartments or Nashville Apartments, the search process is the same. First, you go to the site for that particular city, then you perform a keyword search. If it returns with many choices, you can narrow them down by adding search criteria like maximum rental, distance from where you work or study, number of rooms, with pool or without pool etc.

If you click on the individual result that meet the criteria you have set, you get to see pictures of the apartment, the floor plan and contact person for the property management company. If you like what you see, you can then make a phone call and make arrangement for a personal tour of the apartments.

Moving house especially moving overseas can be very mind boggling, we aren’t snails who just move with the shells. We accumulated stuffs as we go through life and we don’t want to part with many things that have sentimental values. The moving preparation, packing and deciding what to let go is best done by ourselves.

Thank goodness for internet, you can get packing and moving guides on www.internationalmovers.com to help you to do the job more efficiently. It might not be possible for you to bring everything in two luggage that you are allowed, you can get FREE quotes for international moving on the same site as well.

As we are sorting out the boxes that had been sitting there since the last move and empty the drawers, found many missing stuffs and duplicates. We have found so many unused batteries and a few safety cutters in different drawers.

We must have gone ahead to buy a new one whenever we couldn’t find the one that we had!!

Don’t know what happened to the part time cleaner! Hasn’t been able to get in touch with her for a few weeks. When contacted, her cell phone rang until it got into voice mail. Looks like she has just evaporated from the surface of the earth, though most probably she had moved to another town.

The only way we can truly tell whether we are getting what we want is to examine a piece in person, so that we know it’s comfortable, durable and has detailed finishing. Barring that, you best bet will be buying it from a reputable dealer, study the listing carefully, call and ask questions and then make sure they have a return policy before you purchase.

When you are ready to purchase your first piece of furniture online, do check out the www.greatpricedfurniture.com for quality and good selection of furniture.

The faucets installed by the developer were nothing like Delta faucets, they were some cheap and badly made faucets. We have thought of replacing them when we bought the house, but my dad said why fixing something when it’s not broke? This time the plumber actually broke one of them when he tried to unscrewed it! So we decided that it’s time to replace them.

We understand that cleaning the house is not one of your favorite past times (which sane person does anyway?) and it’s so unfortunate that the floor and the glass windows do not come with self cleaning function. So, unless you can live like a swine and do not mind your living quarter turns into the equivalent of a sty, cleaning is ALMOST inescapable.

Luckily, in this age of outsourcing, you do not have to do it yourself, you can contract out this undesirable chore of house cleaning to a Cleaning Service like Maidpro. Actually. think about it, it’s not just a cleaning service, but a marriage service, as you no longer have to fight about who should do what and blame each other for not helping out. :-) In fact, thanks to part time cleaner that we have, I could sit here blogging, isn’t it god send and the best thing since slice bread?

There are so many varieties of window dressings to choose from, one can buy the ready made or custom fit, to decide on the kind that meets your need can be quite challenging. More so if you want to try to save some money while getting gorgeous blinds or curtains.The best thing to do is to shop around and compare prices before making a decision. They are so many different types of blinds and shades with very reasonable pricing if you shop around. You might be interested to check out the levolor blinds and shades, they are made from a variety of materials i.e. aluminum, faux wood, composite wood and wood.

Most stores have experienced people on staff who can help you with any questions you might have. You can even request free samples or pay a nominal fees to have samples sent to you. Most of the time, you get the money back if you do end up buying blinds in the color of the sample that you paid for.

We do not plan to sell it yet because the real estate market is really sluggish in this area and the resell value of our house is horrible. We live not too far from a university, it’s not too difficult to rent out the house as the demands for rentals are reasonably good.

We all know the real concrete walls cost a lot to maintain and to keep them from mold and weathering, we need to paint and sand them every couple of years. For this fences made of plastic, you get the strength and durability of stone and rock walls, but it is basically maintenance-free. No painting or sanding is required. You also get a lifetime warranty on the durability and quality construction of the maintenance-free fences

The fence was one of the exhibits that really caught my eyes because it reminded me of the styrofoam walls in the old movies, you can’t tell really from afar that there are not real.:-)

I have problem with clutters, because they do not just clog the physical space, they cloud the mind, and paralyze the mental capacity to think straight.:-) I have been really terribly inefficient when things are not organized.

This students are happy with their treasure hunt, they even left their phone numbers so that they can be notified when I eventually  selling off more stuffs before the move.

So the first thing we need to do when we are settled down in IL is to go scouting for a vacuum cleaner. You think that’s a simple task? With so many different brands of vacuum cleaners and variety of functions what they can do, it can be a paralysing tough choice.:-)

It’s just a simple recliner, not the theater seating sort of expensive chair. Anyway, I love the chair and it’s my favorite place to sit on when I read or cross stitch. It was a factory reject bought at a furniture expo, but it had served us well for the past 5 years.

Whatever that mean! We are glad we can claim the credit, we don’t have to pay a cent out of the pocket this time. Though in actual sense, we have prepaid our property tax for 3  years because this people at the land office screwed up the calculation last three years.:-)

Since I am here alone this year, I won’t be going through all the hassles to prepare the goodies. However, will have the part time cleaner here this Friday to help with the spring cleaning. Our house was rented out before this, the tenant had nails all over the place and the walls and gate need a new coat of paint. We did the painting ourselves last time, but I don’t think I am up to that task right now, not until the packings and all the logistics for the move to IL are settled.

I remember the number of trips we had to make and the numbers of boxes we have used. We definitely need to engage a moving company for our next big move to IL. We would have to start looking for affordable moving services when spring comes around! If you are moving and need to find a moving company, maybe you should check out the tips provided by homebulletin.net to make the process of your move smoother.

The next will be getting a carpenter to fix the kitchen cabinets, then the kitchen renovation will be all set. Hallelujah, I can have my kitchen back, finally! Needless to say, it’s a big mess out there and it will take 2-3 days to put everything back in order.

What do you think of the Dyson DC17 vacuum cleaners? We need a vacuum cleaner that provide powerful, consistent suction for deep cleaning of the carpets around the house. I am trying to read up on the details of each model available and exploring its features and specification on this site. I get to view the products with the 360 degree spin, it feels so real! I like the fact that I can compare features and functions without having to go to a physical store.

They have found some nicely made and affordable window treatments. They were able to add a hip, modern style to their interior without paying a fortune with the ready made curtains that look custom made. The kitchen curtains that they have gotten really brighten up the whole kitchen. Though they do not have a budget for extensive interior decorating after spending their whole fortune on the down payment of the house, I am sure with a little creativity, they can add an extra bit of flair to their home with the fun retro or funky contemporary patterns like those available on www.contempocurtains.com.

Oh no, I thought there was some kind of plumbing problem and it was going to cost me an arm and a leg calling a plumber to fix it. But I took the lid off the toilet tank to have a look inside and there was no water inside. I tried flushing the toilet to see if that would trigger the tank to fill up and it didn’t.

At that point I remembered the washing machine was doing its cycle. I went down and shut off the water faucet connected to the washing machine so I could troubleshoot to see what happened. Well … it turned out that it’s caused by low water pressure. This had happened before when they shut down the water supply for major repair of leaking pipes. Maybe some neighbors were just turning on the taps the  same time as we did and it just didn’t have enough water pressure to fill the water tank? Has this happened to you before?

This is how far they have done after they torn apart the wooden cabinets and started building the kitchen counter-top.

I have to empty the kitchen cabinets, taken out all the food stuffs, silver wares and utensils, they are lying on the dining table now.

Look at the kitchen gadgets collection! You can find all sort electrical gadgets in my kitchen, they probably qualified me to be borderline fetish for kitchen gadgets. I will probably have one of those old fashion popcorn machines too if I can find one. :-)

He is just as good as these guys who do plumbing in San Francisco. They take pride in what they are doing and have built an excellent reputation. They too have all the requirements we all look for in a plumping service.If you live in the San Francisco area and need a reliable plumbing service, check them out at AcePlumbingAndRooter.com.

Though the teak garden and patio furniture do not come cheap. But, consider the fact that they are long lasting and basically last you a lifetime, they are great value for money! You do not have to replace them every few years and may even be able to pass down to your children or your children’ children as family heirloom.

The boss was not there but he was nearby, so they gave me his phone number, I called him and he appeared at my door within 10 minutes. He took the measurement and gave me a quotation. Apart from the efficiency, his price is less than half of what the other contractor quoted me!! Guess whether we are going to hire him? LOL

It seems like this people do not have a standard price and just simply charge what they fancy. We have gotten four quotations so far, one of them is over 2000, two are in the range of 1600, and the one that we decided to hire is below 1000, go figure. Well, it certainly pays to compare and shop around.

As I was looking that this concrete table, benches and planters, I wonder do they have factory made kitchen counter top and island that need no building but we can just fixed ourselves? May be I should search the internet on how to pour concrete and remodel the kitchen the DIY style. That would probably save us money and save us more time than getting a contractor to do the job!

Have asked friends for referrals and contacted a few builders or contractors, some said they were busy and would call me back but never did. One even made an appointment with me, but never showed up at the time we agreed, he said he came, the next day, when I was not home!

So far only one came to take measurement and gave a quotation. He probably thought he got a big fish and this woman won’t know anything about building cost!! He must be kidding me to charge 3-4 times of what my neighbors paid for and told me he gave a fair price. I would have suggested him to go rob a bank if I was not in a good mood that day.:-)

Now is probably the busiest time of the year for the contractor, as many people are trying to get their renovation and remodeling done before the year end and before the holiday season. May be I should wait till next year? But, I really cannot stand the kitchen cabinets that falling apart, the hassle of searching through boxes for kitchen utensils and the MESS.

In the neighborhood we live, we see more and more people added a conservatory to their house as an extension to their living space. For the year-round enjoyment that they can provide, conservatories are an attractive and unique feature that allowing people to bring sunshine into the living space while controlling the climate and weather within. This no doubt allowed people to enjoy the best of both worlds right at home.

A conservatory typically refers to an area of the home with an abundance of windows designed to receive a maximum amount of sunlight. It is not just a cost effective way to add a bright and airy room full of windows to the living space, it’s also a good investment that increase the value of your property. It functions as the getaway around the corner within your own home. If your house seems to hem you in when the outside temperatures head south, it can bring a splash of sunlight into your space every day of the year.

It’s estimated that over half-a-million Americans are building conservatories each year, with the rooms being used in a variety of ways. Some become hot tub rooms or playrooms while others are designed as home offices, exercise rooms or simply quiet spaces for relaxing.

It seems to me the attraction of feeling close to nature while being on the comfortable side of a glass wall will be increasingly appealing among discriminating homeowners. What about you? Do you plan to add one to your home?

I hate house cleaning, first because I am lazy, second because I am allergy to dust mites, house cleaning alway gives me temporary flu symptoms (sneezing, running nose and watery eyes), and I don’t like that.

I remember came across the Hamilton Beach® Mixer recently while I was looking through the kitchen ware department. I thought the new Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer would be prefect to have. The Eclectrics® Mixer looks like an appliance that would compliment our kitchen. I like the fact that it has many speeds and the strong motor that works like a horse.

We have a special family recipe for a super moist chocolate cake that passed down from my mother in law. The recipe requires beating the butter and eggs, which I am too lazy to stand there waiting and holding the hand held mixer while it does the job. I have not baked the cake for ages though that’s hubby’s favorite. I am sure he would agree to get the Hamilton Mixer if the reward is his chocolate cake.

Recipes for the super moist chocolate cake:

8 oz butter
6-7 oz castor sugar
3 large eggs
milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sift together the following:
a pinch of salt
7 oz flour
3 oz cocoa
2 level teaspoons baking powder

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar till light.

2. Add beaten eggs gradually, beating well after each addition.

3. Fold in the sifted ingredients. Add vanilla and some milk to give a soft consistency.

4. Place in a greased lined tin and bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour.

5. When cool dredge the top with icing sugar.

NOTE:
=====

1. If a richer cake is preferred, place the mixture in two sandwich tins to bake.

2. Sandwich together with chocolate cream.

3. Prepare the cream as follows:

1 oz butter
2 oz icing sugar (sifted)
melted chocolate

Cream butter and sugar till soft.
Add melted chocolate and cream for a minute.
Use as required.

Hope you will like this cake too! :-)

We hope to save enough money to get our own apartment next year. Hopefully before spring, we can start to look for apartments for rent. I did a little survey with the apartment finder, and found a couple apartment complex around hubby’s work place that fall within our budget. We shall start visiting and looking at them in person after the holidays season.

I have never seen house plans being sold in a book in my home country! In my home country, the only way you get a house plan is to hire an architect to draw up your dream plan. And that usually cost quite a bit.

Now, they even have this house plans online and you can search and compare the house plans before you decide to buy. Whether you are looking for multi family plan or just plan for a backyard project, you would be able to find a suitable and affordable plan on this site.

We give it a pass this time, because we do not have the budget to do so. In future, we would like to put lay tiles on the cemented garage floor and put a layer epoxy to make cleaning an easier task.

Nowadays the modern grocery stores or super markets also package the produce excessively. It’s actually become a burden to the consumer and to the environment. Even recyclable packaging wastes energy and resources in manufacture, transport and processing.

Do you notice how much of this excessive packaging end up in the bin in a week? My mother collects a month’s worth of rubbish before she sent the recyclable to the recycling center and the not recyclable to the dump site. She collects somewhere between 40-60 lbs of them weekly. That’s for a household of two with occasionally more people during the weekends!

As we know, thermal performance begins with insulated glass. In the past, poorly insulated windows often caused significant energy loss. But with more research and development in building materials, today’s windows are quite capable of meeting energy conservation and comfort needs as well as bringing a bit of the outdoors inside.

Due to the consumers’ interest in products that not only save energy, but also saves money. Eco-glass has developed superglass which combines two or more layers of glass, separated by a gas-filled barrier. By itself, glass is a poor insulator. However, multiple layers of glass separated by air spaces improve the window’s energy efficiency significantly. The only drawback is, when gas typically argon or krypton is used to fill the space between layers, this inert gases can cause a few problems should they leak from the space.

I stopped by the sales office of the service provider, signed the one-year service agreement yesterday. The sales clerk said the installation crew will come to install the phone within 3 days. I am keeping my fingers cross about that.

As for the kitchen remodeling, the guy who is supposed to come back to me with the cost estimation hasn’t called me. I have called him twice in the last 10 days, he gave some excuses that he hasn’t got the list of my tiles selection. (How come?) I didn’t want to have to complain to my uncle whom he works for. But, he is a little inefficient to take more than a week to come out with a cost estimation, don’t you think so?

With such a bad start, I doubt he is going to stay on schedule for the work, and I really don’t know when his workers can “start work”. I prefer the other older man who works for my uncle, he is much more efficient. When we did the tiling for the tutoring center, he was able to give us a cost estimation on the spot, the workers and tiles also arrived the next day after we picked the tiles and everything was done within a week. Now, after two weeks, nothing has been done!

I went to pick the tiles yesterday. For some reason, the guy who is supposed to give me a price quote hasn’t called yet. Though I am not worried of being overcharged as he works for my uncle who owned the tile dealership. My cousin always gives me good discount for the tiles and get his best man to do the job. But, I would like to know whether the total cost comes out to be within our budget or we can change the tiles if the price exceeds the budget. I must call to find out today.

We do not own any furniture solely for decorative purpose, all of them are functional. However, it doesn’t mean we do not pay attention to the style and aesthetics aspect of the furniture. We prefer natural materials and contemporary look when it comes to furnishing, almost all the pieces of furniture we owned are made of solid wood. We especially like the light color and the look of natural wood grains like pine and oak.

We are remodeling the kitchen right now and hope to add an Island with a “wing” that can function as a breakfast table. Two of the chairs that we found during one of those furniture hunting trips are going to be the perfect match for the breakfast table. We are still looking for some storage shelves and organizing ideas for the kitchen cabinets, once the construction completed, we need these shelves to organized utensils and stuffs in the kitchen. In fact, we are still deciding whether we should replace the dining table. We have a huge rectangular dining table, which is taking up a lot of space and a little unpractical for a young family for 2 people who doesn’t do much of entertaining. We are thinking of getting a small round dining table instead, why do you think?

We get more adventurous, and decided to do a wall to wall carpeting for the study room and tiling for the bathroom. We had to rent a tile cutting machine and should I say, we are very proud of our superb workmanship and not to mention the amount of money we saved.:-)