The House that Jake Built

Or rather, the apartment that Jake rented.

I know it has been a long time, bloggy friends, but the wait is over.

We moved into our new home a few weeks ago and have been sublimely happy ever since. Who knew that a stove, a hall closet, and a bath tub could have such an influence on a Chelsea? I started cooking again and everything is going along just swimmingly. All we need now is a little doggy to share in all the fun! Here is the one that I want:

It's a Coton de Tulear. They are my most favorite dogs ever and one day I will have one. I just need to convince Jake. But as I have said before, based on my powers of persuasion, I am confident that in 3-20 years, I will have a little pup of my own. I should apologize to Jake in advance though. Now that one of my best friends ever just got a little Havanese, another breed I LOVE, I am about to become insufferable.

Now let me show you around our little home! It's a one bedroom in Burnsville. Even though we really need a two bedroom, we just can't afford it right now on my tiny T-Mobile salary. But really, it is absolutely wonderful. As soon as I got all my books out of boxes, I really felt like we were in exactly the right place. I love it here! Aysia also loves it. She is very excited for the pool to open up this summer! Even though a very loud very angry Somali woman has a one-sided yelling conversation (we can't tell if the other person is in the room or she's having the conversation on the phone) every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7:00 to 7:35 am, and the disposals in this place sound like death, it is just perfect.

Here is Jake's study area with our new computer. It's huge and a beautiful piece of machinery. I just wish my mom's was working as well as mine...

Here is our new TV which we also enjoy. Everything looks very real and smooth. Sometimes it's a bit too real though. Watching LOST on it is like I'm on the island too. You can also see our kokopelli clock and our Conversation Piece by Susan M. Hinckley herself. We definitely need more art, but the art we have is good.

This was the first piece I ever bought. I got it in Baltimore last year at the American Craft Council show. It is so beautiful. It's a stoneware wall pocket. I think it looks perfect with wheat, don't you?

Our bookcases. This is not all of our books. The majority of them reside in our bedroom. These are the ones that look nice on the bookcase. I'm still working on organizing these. You can also see some original Jake glass art on the wall. I have such a talented husband.

Here is our kitchen. You can also see our M&M jar on the counter. Recently it has been filled with Cadbury Mini Eggs...naughty indeed. It is big and open and all white, which makes a huge difference I think. It looks clean and new.

Here is the first part of the HUGE bathroom. It really could almost be a second bedroom. We have a linen closet in there and our washer and dryer as well.

Here is the bathroom part of the bathroom. It's around the corner in the above picture.

And you know it wouldn't be a Chelsea house without a big frog (or two!). Rumphy guards my books.

Here is our bedroom. We need some more art for sure.

My side of the bed.

And Jake's side!

A quick funny story. Last summer my parents had a garage sale and I decided to sell my first electric guitar because I hadn't used it in quite some time. It was a little red Fender. Very cute. I got it for my 16th birthday.

Then leading up to Christmas T-Mobile had a little contest for its sales associates. The top sales people were given an entry into a drawing for a Fender Telecaster signed by Avril Lavigne (she has been doing those Mytouch commercials for T-Mobile...). Well. If you know me, you know how lucky I am with drawings and raffles and things of that nature. About a month ago my manager asks me to come in to work on a day I'm not working and asks me to look nice. I get there and my market manager, division manager, and a whole bunch of other corporate people are there and they give me this guitar. Now there are pictures of me with Avril's guitar flying around the T-Mobile internal email and websites.

So now I have Avril's guitar and her phone. I guess the universe wants me to keep playing guitar! In the entire company there were only four guitars to win, and I got one. It's pretty hilarious. It does look nice on our bookcase though, that's for sure!

To make a long story short (too late--a shout out to the cousins on that one), we are very happy and getting happier every day.