Curb Appeal

Sorry for the long delay in posting.  It has been a very busy time for the Miller Family!

First and foremost- thanks to Grandpa Randy and Grandma Peggy for a wonderful Easter visit!  We all had a great time together over the long weekend (although it felt too short).  The kids had a fabulous time on Easter hunting eggs.  Also- still salivating over our wonderful Easter cookout  - steak and roasted veggies on the grill and corn-on-the-cob, followed up by the edible arrangement fruit basket.  Chocolate covered pineapple!  YUM!!! 

Secondly, a big THANK YOU to Grandpa Gary and Lori for a fabulous surprise Easter box for the boys!  We had over 50 eggs for them to hunt thanks to your generous contribution!  All of the goodies were a big hit too!  We have been reading "The Itsy bitsy Spider" and the "Disney Bedtime Stories" almost every night.

I was in Oklahoma all of last week for my new job.  I don't officially start until May 1 - but have already dived right in getting to know my new group and learning the new technologies.  Last Thursday I met Tracy and her son Reese at the movie theater to see "The Hunger Games".  What a great way to unplug from long work days!  It was my second viewing of the movie as Derek and I had the treat of going while my Mom and Dad were in town.  Great movie!  I highly recommend it.  It is an excellent adaptation of the novel (which you should definitely read first if you have not picked it up already.  It should be part of everyone's "education"). 

I flew back to Houston on Friday afternoon.  We celebrated by having a fabulous family dinner at Chuys.  Here are the kids sporting their Phillips Aviation caps that I brought back with me from OK.

The entire weekend was spent getting our house ready to put on the market.  We installed new light fixtures in the dining room and kitchen (totally a pain in the but considering this took a total of 3 trips to Home Depot on account of one light was bad), tidied all of the closets, cleaned out the garage, took a huge carload of stuff to GoodWill, etc, etc.  Derek and I were beat! 

Monday, we filled out all of the paperwork and wired funds to Bartlesville in prepration for closing on our new house there which will officially take place tomorrow.  Yay!!!  While in OK last week, I met with our contractor to pick out all of the items for remodeling the kitchen in the new house (new countertops, backsplash, and appliances).  They are also removing the partial wall in between the living room and sun room areas to make that space more open and bright.  Fun!!!

Today, Derek and I both took off work for final preparations to get out house on the market.  The realtor and photographer will be here shortly to take pictures for the listing.  Our realtor was supposed to get a gardener all set up to help bring curb appeal to the house.  She was unable to follow-through (whatever! - I was TOTALLY angry and disappointed!).  But luckily a colleague of mine from work was able to get me in touch with her gardener who was able to come out today to beautify our yard.  Here are some before and after pics.  What a difference!  We should have done this long ago.  oh well.  At least it is done now and will hopefully attract buyers!

Before

After

Besides straightening and last minute cleaning, Derek and I had a nice breakfast together, took both cars in for checkups and realignment and got new tires for the Forrester, and visited Lowes for home odds and ends.  We also went to Zach's Animal Research Fair today!  He was so excited to have us visit.  All of the first graders did a fantastic job on their animal projects!