kevinnowak.com

The Other Houses.

Now that we're moved into our new house and are beginning to settle in I thought I'd share with you a few photos from some of the other houses that we did not purchase:

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We toured one house that was advertised as 4 bedrooms.  Turns out it was technically 4, but they had converted one of them into a full fledged closet.  It was huge.  I guess it had to be done though because the closets in the other bedrooms were so small.

   

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One weekend when we were out looking it was raining like cats and dogs and many of the basements we went into had water.  This particular one stood out because you had to climb down a ladder that was inside of a coat closet just to get to it.  Once down there they had water everywhere.  The funniest thing was the tiny dehumidifier they had running.  Like that was going to do anything at this point!

     

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This next house had a pond in the backyard.  There was just that much water.  They also had a nice looking garage but had landscaped the area in front of it so that you couldn't even use it.  Just bizarre.

     

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We opened the front door to this place and I thought we walked into an office:

  

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This one advertised a sizable eat in kitchen.  Hmm, not sure you could gather a family of 4 around that table!

   

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There was one house we saw that we liked a lot, but it was just a bit too small.  The current owners have people staying everywhere and there was even an air mattress blown up in the basement next to the furnace.  The agent thought they were going through a divorce.  Anyway, these people had stuff everywhere.  Just way too much stuff in house of this size.  The furniture was too big and there wasn't anywhere to even move.  The funniest part though was the sign that overhung the family room doorway: 

     

     

"Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!" Those are some words to live by people!

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We walked into one kids bedroom and I must admit, I was impressed with his Lego collection:

     

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At one open house I noticed a cat fast asleep on top of the stove.  At first I wasn't sure if it was still alive...but upon closer inspection I could tell that it was breathing.  Maybe the oven was still warm or something and he was just enjoying the heat. 

  

I joked that I should fire up one of the burners.  Chinese food anyone?

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At one location the home was occupied by renters and they were a real pain to schedule an appointment with.  Once we finally did get in to see the place the guy asked that I not take pictures.  What a punk...so I took one of him anyway!

    

Welcome to the world wide web buddy!

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This last one takes the cake though.  When we went down to check out the basement at this one house and we came across an unadvertised toilet down there.  It was tucked under the stairwell, right next to the washing machine.  I guess if you've just gotta go when you're down there doing laundry then you're all set in this house.

       

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Looking back at all these photos for this post makes me feel very good about the house that we did end up buying!

M-Day: Move-in Day.

June 12th...the day we dreaded for a long, long while when we bought the house.  Sure moving into a new house is a great feeling, but the physical lifting of boxes, couches and mattresses is nothing short of dreadful.  Now that we have everything in and the move is behind us we're really starting to enjoy the house a lot more and it's feeling more and more like home each day. 

M-Day started for us down at the farm and from there we had to head over to Delaware to pick up a 26 foot Uhaul behemoth.  [apparently New Castle, DE is the closet Uhaul joint to the farm, go figure]  Driving an empty 26' truck across the Delaware Memorial Bridge is not something I'd recommend...it was all over the place and I felt like I was going over the rails with every bump I hit.  Once she was loaded up it was much easier to control. 

     

     

We loaded up at the farm in no time and were en route up to the new house by around 11:30am.  We ordered a bunch of pizzas to feed the unload crew.  The plan was to unload as quickly as possible with a goal of finishing before the USA vs England world cup match that was set to start at 2:30p.   We scarfed down the pies and hit the truck hard.  No problem...we were done by 2p easy! 

     
     
     
     
       
       

     

     
     
       
       

A big thanks to everyone on both ends of the move who helped.  We really could not have done it without you guys!  [We'll technically we could have done it without you by hiring movers but I'm a cheap Polish guy and we all knew that wasn't going to happen!]

After everyone had left and we had a look around it seems like a cyclone had blown right through the house.  There were boxes and bins everywhere!  We've spent the past week unpacking and trying to figure out where everything goes.  I think we've got the entire first floor set up and livable for now and most importantly the kitchen is up and running.  No more take-out for a long time that's for sure!

I'll post photos of the various rooms in the house again over the next year as we get them painted and furnished the way we want.  Keep checking back.

House Tour.

Now that we're officially moved in I thought I'd give everyone a quick 38 photo tour of the place.  Remember...everything you see here in terms of paint, wallpaper, light fixtures and window treatments is from the previous folks.  I think we'll end up painting nearly every space in the house over the next year or so.  We've already started on the 3rd floor master suite and should have that complete in the next day or two so we can start sleeping up there instead of the 2nd floor.  Also, the playpen you see in the living room shots belongs to Jackie...she was over with Sophia last weekend to help Kelly do some cleaning. 

Anyway...here's a look around our new casa.  Enjoy.

Exterior:

     
     

Main living level: foyer, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, powder room and family room.
     
     
       
     
     

Basements:  There is a finished section beneath the family room addition and then an unfinished part that is below the main house.  
     
     
       

2nd Floor:  3 bedrooms and a full bath.  [of which one bedroom is the famous Princess Room]
        

     

     
 
     

3rd floor Master Suite:  Entry area, bedroom, bathroom, and a MASSIVE walk-in closet.  The walls are being painted a light blue and the ceiling will be white.  The space looks so much bigger and brighter already!

       
     
       
     
       

There you have it...a quick top to bottom look around the place.  Actually, I guess we went bottom to top.  
  
Photos from last Saturdays move-in will be up on Monday...tune in then.

First Photo...

...and first drinks at the new house.  

  

Nothing beats drinking some champagne out of plastic cups!   We snapped this shot the first day we had the house, June 4th, after unloading a few car-loads of stuff.  We look pretty good for being tired and sweaty! 

Progress.

Our first weekend in the new house was a whirlwind of work. We moved up a few car loads of essentials and cleaning supplies on Friday to get started with a top to bottom scrub down.  I had a 70 mile charity ride on Saturday so Jackie actually came over to lend Kelly a hand.  And what a huge hand that was!  Everything is starting to look much better and we should be ready to officially move-in on Saturday.  It's not that the old people weren't clean, it's just that once all the furniture is gone you start to notice a few more things and it's nice to start with everything a clean as possible.  Fridge, stove, dishwasher, etc.  We even cleaned out the entire basement, washed down the shelving that was in there and vacuumed the carpet so we're ready to load in stuff that will get stored down there.  The rest of the house is starting to come along too...the Verizon Fios man will be here today to get us up and running so that we'll be connected to the outside world again. 

I've started the painting process with the small laundry room just off the kitchen and we'll slowly make our way around to pretty much the entire house.  This laundry room was a drab off-white color and was in need of some serious sprucing up so we went with a bright white color and it looks much better now.  Getting started on the 3rd floor master suite later tonight with the help of my brother-in-law and professional painter, Patrick.  Lots of slopes and odd angles up there so he'll be a HUGE help.

Another great thing about this house that I somewhat overlooked was this slop sink.  Fantastic for rinsing out mops, paint brushes and things like that and you don't have to worry about getting the main kitchen sink all dirty. 

     

oh, get this....about 2 minutes after we left the closing on Friday we got a call from Maytag letting us know that they washer and dryer that were supposed to be delivered today aren't going to be ready for another 2 weeks.  I guess it's only begun, right?  Look for us for the next few weeks!   
 

Casa de Nowak.

Big news here at KN.com: As you read this post Kel and I are signing our lives away in a tiny realtors office neary Cherry Hill, NJ. Actually we're signing and signing and signing some more.  Kel and I will be leaving the comforts of the farm and moving into a place of our own.  That's right folks...we've bought a house! 

     

What do you think?  She's a beauty, right!  An old Victorian built in 1920 and completely renovated and added onto.  It's got a partially finished basement and refrigerated air on all levels.  What more can you ask for?  We don't have to do much more than paint and hang stuff on the walls.  And let me tell you, some of the rooms need a new paint color ASAP!  It's going to be on the big side for just Kel and I right now, but we'll grow into it eventually. 

     

     
[note: the furnishings and light fixtures you see here are not ours, thank God!]

The master suite is up on the 3rd floor where we'll have our own bathroom and a massive closet/changing/dressing room.  That's something you just don't find in many of these older homes.  One thing we're going to need right away is a top-notch intercom system.  If one of us is up in the bedroom on the 3rd floor and the other in the basement there's no way we'll hear each other. 

The location is perfect for us...just across the river from Philadelphia.  A 10 minute walk to the train and then a 15 minute ride and we're downtown.  We can be at the airport and 30th Street station very quickly too.  Looks like we'll be able to remain a 1 car family after all! 

We're beyond excited and can't wait to get in there.  We'll be closing today and will officially move in next weekend.  [Somebody scheduled a 65 mile charity bike ride for tomorrow so we needed to push back the move-in date]  We actually made the initial offer back in March so it feels like this process has taken forever, but the current owners need to find a new place and we weren't in a huge rush.  As long as I get my $8000k taxcredit from Mr. Obama I'll be a happy man.  And don't worry...we'll be doing our part in the next month to help the economy as much as possible.  Dining room table, bedroom furniture, washer/dryer, lawnmower, and gas grill are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of things we'll need to buy. 

I can't pass up the opportunity here to say thanks, a HUGE thanks at that, to Deb and Steve for all their hospitality during these 367 days we'll have lived at the farm. [that's right folks, when we move on June 12th it will have been exactly 367 days since we returned from our trip to Europe] Giving us a chance to figure out where we wanted to be and to save a bit more money was perfect and I'm not sure that we'll ever be able to repay them.  Plus it was nice to have some roommates again for a while!    

We'll send out an email to friends and family with our new address and phone # in the next few days.

Come visit!

Last post from the Commonwealth.

Not much time to post today as we're getting on the road in a few hours.  We'll have a couple days in NJ and then we leave for Rome on Wednesday night.  Can't wait!

So yesterday my folks put together an awesome going away party for us here in Norfy.  There must have been 60+ people here!  It was really good to see soooo many familiar faces and we're so humbled that this many people would want to come along and wish us well in our new adventures!

Of course there were a few photos taken:

         

         

         

         

         

         

           

         

         

         

          

         

         

         

         

         

          

      

And a few that we took earlier in the week back in Cambridge...

         

         

Time to load up the car and head down to NJ.  Next post will be from somewhere in Italy!!!

Move Recap.

Okay...so now that I can actually keep my eyes open let me give a proper recap of the weekend.  Of course I do need to recognize Bob-dog and Erin for not only helping with the loading and unloading, but for also driving along with us all the way down and back [although I did arrange a tour of the mighty USS Virginia for them on our way back, so it wasn't all business on the trip].

Let's start from the beginning though.  Friday night Kel and I got home and immediately got to packing.  There was still a lot of stuff we had to finalize, disassemble and pack up.  It took a while but we knew the more we got done on Friday night the less we'd have to worry about come Saturday. 

We were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to load up our car with most of the breakables and valuables before we were off to the truck rental joint not far up the road.  After 25 minutes of paperwork with the most miserable man in the world we were back at the apt awaiting the arrival of our load in crew...all 12 of them!  Loading the truck went incredibly smooth.  We got everything down to the sidewalk on the street and then began strategically loading things in.  We got nervous at one point that we may not fit everything, but soon enough we realized we'd make it.  That being said, after we closed the truck door and did a final walk-through of our place we realized that we totally missed the contents of one closet.  It was stacked high with boxes...we had to get them in!  After some careful reshuffling we were on the road by 11am. Right on schedule. 

The drive down to NJ was slow.  Both the truck and the traffic slowed us down. First it was the GW Bridge and then it was a horrible accident on the NJ Turnpike.  We made it down to Kel's moms house by around 7pm...not too bad. 

Crew #2 was standing by at the ready and were eager to help us unload.  I think we had the truck cleared and everything situated in under an hour!  It was a fast operation.  So fast that I didn't even have time [or the energy to remember] to snap a few photos of the unload crew.  Sorry guys.  All of our gear is just kinda dropped there for now but hopefully we'll have some time next week to set up our living room and unpack some of our clothes before we leave for the trip. 

Sunday morning we dropped the truck in Wilmington, DE and got on the road bright and early.  As I mentioned, we did make a quick stop in Groton, CT so that Erin and Bob-dog could get a tour of the sub and we got to see Karen, Thomas and the kiddo's.  It was a nice break from the drive...that's for sure. 

So...we're in town for a final week of work before we're back in NJ on Sunday night.  For now we're bunking up in the apt for a few nights on our air mattress before we head over to Nick and Jules for a few nighs and finally over to my folks place.

Here is what lovely 18 Whittier looks like all emptied out...

   

   

   

   

   

Time to go pull some nails out of the walls and give the joint a final sweep!

Done!

How I have the energy to even type this at this point I'm not sure.  Talk about an exhausting 48hrs!

I did want to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who lent a hand this weekend.  We must have had about 30 people involved on both ends and couldn't have done it without all of them.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So, here are a few shots from the weekend and then I'm calling it a night, yes, at 9:30p.  Oh...and I'm on a sweet air mattress right now in the middle of an empty apartment...fun stuff.  I'll have to snap a shot of that tomorrow cause it does look really funny!

  

  

  

  

Thank you and GOODNIGHT!

It's go time baby!

Okay...most of the boxes are packed and ready to be loaded.  Just a few more things to disconnect and pack up later tonight.  We pick up the truck tomorrow morning at 7:30am sharp and we hope to be NJ bound by 11am! 

We have a lot of heavy boxes.  Please keep my back in your thoughts and prayers!  And just our luck...the temps are supposed to hit the mid-80's...that's like throwing salt on the wound.