It’s been 1 year since we bought and moved into our condo and what a year it has been. We never thought owning a condo would take up so much of our thoughts, time, and money. We also never thought owning a condo would be so different from owning a house, both good and bad. We’ve enjoyed fixing it up and most of what we have done are little things: paint, new lights, a dishwasher, and various decorations and furnishings.

We are anxious for spring and summer to come so we can start more projects, but a lot of what is left to do is bigger so we will have to wait until after our wedding run in July. We are trying to make smart home improvements, ones that will increase the value of our home while still allowing us to be able to make the money back when we sell. It’s a tough condo market in Madison right now, but we are researching things carefully before jumping into it (those who know us best are saying, duh!).

For those of you who haven’t been to our place, here are a few pictures so you can see what we are up to.

…a dishwasher! I love my car!

Recently, our jobs have been taking us traveling a bit. It has given us a chance to endurance test the luggage we got as wedding presents; the 28 inch bag is hanging in there but we had to envoke the ten-year warrenty on the 21 inch which was replaced quite promptly. Luckily or not, our jobs and the house have kept each of us busy while the other is away.

Boone went to Santa Clara, California two weeks ago for a conference, and next week he heads to New York for another. He really likes seeing the other people in his industry and getting to do something different. He got to see some friends of ours, Alyssa and Anish, in California and is hoping to meet up with his old pal Ryan in New York. Unfortunately traveling for work doesn’t leave a whole lot of free time for touristy stuff. He really enjoyed California though and we are hoping to go back together and maybe do a wine tour in Northern CA.

Last week I went to exotic Lebanon, Missouri (near Springfield) which included 13 hour working days and a seven hour flight delay (which did not help my flying anxiety). Interesting, but definitely not the best trip I have done. At the beginning of April I get to go to Houston, Texas for work, which should be much warmer and the days should be shorter. I wish I had time to stay there and visit my cousins Ryan and Katie (and in utero Kieran) but the vacation days don’t last as long as they used to.

I think we are both looking forward to Spring when the traveling is easier, the weather is warmer, and the work-load lightens.

Boone and I are snow bound tonight, along with the rest of the Madison area. The snow started yesterday afternoon, grew to blizzard conditions this afternoon, and by the time it ends late tonight, we will have about 13 inches inches- from just this storm. We have had about 73 inches of snow so far this winter- only 2 more inches to go to beat the record of 76! One of our neighbors works for a snow plow company and every time I see him he looks more tired. In fact, I think I hear him plowing out our parking lot now…

The Mini Cooper and I braved the roads to get to work today (no I didn’t get stuck!) and Boone stayed home with the cat, though he did brave the winds to grab the mail and push somebody out of a snow bank. Cabin fever is definitely settling in. Let’s all hope for some sun and temps above 30. Until then, for those of you not buried, here are a few pics:

I think there comes a time in every homeowner’s life when you need to break down, bring in a priest from Home Depot, and exercise the highly-dated light fixtures haunting your bathroom. For us, that day has come.

We recently installed new brushed nickel fixtures in both our bathrooms. (we actually purchased them from Menards, as I feel they have a better lighting options) They are nothing fancy, but they sure look better than the old ones.

As we do with all our old building materials, we will be making a run to the Habitat for Humanity store (ReStore) here in town to donate our old fixtures. I suggest anyone in the Madison area looking to part-ways with building supplies donate them to ReStore.

On top of renewed style, we installed energy efficient light bulbs into our new fixtures. The old/original fixtures took 6 25-Watt bulbs (200 total Watts). Our new bulbs have between 3 & 4 13-Watt bulbs (39 – 52 total Watts). There is little to no difference in the actual light output when compared to the original lights.

Saving the environment …and our pocket book…one small step at a time.

Happy remodeling!

One of my good friends, Hershel Reese, is a fantastic yoga instructor here in Madison.

He will be debuting a new yoga class starting January 8th at the Perfect Knot. He is teaching 28 classes, Tuesday & Thursday mornings from 6:00am – 7:15am.

The Perfect Knot is located South off Willy Street on Few Street. It is a great studio! See Hershel’s Kundalini Yoga Blog for more details.

His class is starting from the basics so you don’t have to be an expert in yoga. In fact, Kundalini Yoga is much more meditative/spiritual in nature & incorporates various poses/motions/breathing techniques to achieve a meditative/relaxed state of mind. It is not a traditional Hatha Yoga class, although some of the same poses are sometimes used. It is for all levels, and all people.

Please feel free to pass this Spirits Awaken Madison Yoga Class Flyer to anyone you think may be interested!

Happy New Year everyone! Boone and I celebrated the beginning of 2008 with a delicious dinner at Jon & Mel’s place, and then we headed downtown with them and Matt for a few drinks. We stopped at Natt Spill, a cool, dark bar with a great DJ, and then we headed to Brocchas, one of our favorite Irish bars. They had Rock Star Gomeroke, a live band karaoke group called the Gomers. It was great because even though the singer may not have been great, the band was rockin’ and everyone had a great time. We got home late, but were still functional to next day to watch the Badgers fight hard (but still lose) and to visit with my aunt Nancy and my cousins Carrie & Mark.

I thought about some New Year’s resolutions, but I don’t know that either of us have a solid one. I’d like to quit chewing my nails, but it hasn’t worked the past dozen times, so there is no pressure. I’d also like to try to find a workout that I actually enjoy or budget my money better (those darn sales at Borders get me every time). With the new year, the possibilities seem endless…

Wow, it’s our first Christmas on our own as a married couple. (well, us and Matt anyway) Jess and I took this past weekend to venture out with our old roomies (Jon and Mel) to cut our annual Christmas Tree. We drove out to this great little tree farm near Verona, WI. They offer a cut-your-own-tree style of Christmas Tree shopping where they provide a saw for cutting and a sled for pulling your tree back to the entrance. As we did last year, Jess and I had a great time hand picking our very own Christmas Tree. And there are a few pictures below to prove it.

We were also able to check-off our 237th untraditional item able to fit in Jess’s Mini Cooper. That car never disappoints!

Sadly, this year we will not be able to launch our tree off our 3rd story deck as we have done in years past. …Sorry Jon.

Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year to all our friends and family!

Boone and I got a nice treat this weekend- a getaway! Boone was in Chicago for a conference all week, and I decided to drive down and join him for the weekend. We stayed in a beautiful place near Wrigley field and had a great dinner at a tiny French restaurant known only to a few locals. Saturday, we bundled up and took the ‘L’ downtown to the Art Museum, which we browsed around in until lunch time. My favorite exhibit was a photography collection on adolescence, specifically girls. It was amazing to see how the photographers took such an awkward phase in life and turned it into art! After that, we walked to Millennium Park and Michigan Avenue, which was packed with holiday shoppers. We had lunch and decided that we should walk back to our place, so we could enjoy the city from foot. It took us a long time, but it was worth it to check out the city, and a few stops for food and coffee helped the time pass.

We left early on Sunday so we could get ready for next week and do some Christmas decorating around the condo and cut our yearly Christmas tree with Jon an Mel. I’m generally not a “city” fan, but it was really neat and I think we’ll have to make weekend trips down there more often.

 

 

 

As many of you know, this weekend was the first really big snow storm of the winter season. Boone and I ran a few errands in the AM, got some supplies, and then decided we needed a snow day project to keep us busy.

So, we painted the downstairs bathroom and put up a new mirror. For those of you who have been to our place, you know of this room as the black hole; a small half bath painted black. Now, it includes a new framed mirror and is a rich green color called “Italian Olive.” We had our house guest Matt earn his keep with a little painting- little meaning two coats of primer to cover the black and two coats of green. Painting is not necessarily my favorite activity, but we had some good wine and hot cocoa to keep us going. That, and the fact that we really couldn’t step out of our front door until the sidewalks were plowed.

We also picked out some new slate flooring and talked about getting a new light along with staining the current vanity. I think those projects will have to wait until the next snowy weekend. Here are a few pictures until then!

Before – Previous Owners:

During – Phase 1 Bathrooom Remodel:

After – Phase 1 Bathroom Remodel: