The realtor says...

The realtor just left.
I was actually sweating while she was here...I guess I was nervous about what she would have to say. Silly, I know, but I've never bought or sold a house and this whole process is way above my head. The good news is that there isn't anything we need to update or change (that's a relief because we probably wouldn't do it anyway). The bad news is the fact that we only have one bathroom. (I already know this...having only one bathroom is one of the reasons why we'd like to buy another house)!! Anyhow, she said that may slow the sale down.
She said our home had lovely curb appeal (our mad scramble to get some flowers planted paid off...yes!) and that it really had a "comfortable feel" to it. I hope that is a good thing and doesn't secretly mean "you're house is a bit old and musty, but better than I'd expect for it's age"...
She did suggest that we pay for a full home inspection before we list the house. That way, we can fix anything minor that may need fixing and hopefully not scare off a potential buyer. We're not sure how we feel about this. We understand her point, but at the same time, we'd like to slap a for sale in the yard that says "FOR SALE: AS IS" and not mess with any "fixing". We'd rather just take the selling price down...those of you more experienced in the home improvement department may be shuddering at my last statement, but if you know us very well at all, you know that we are not handy in the home improvement area and that the shelves we hang on the walls have a tendency to fall off the walls (only to discover that we missed all 4 anchors). If hanging a shelf is that difficult for us, can you imagine anything major?? We did paint the home's exterior last summer which was almost comical. It's difficult to imagine how our relationship survived that experience. Home improvements make us uncomfortable and cause us stress.
This is only the second time I've met with the realtor and I'm already feeling stressed. I can't wait to see what it will be like with the house up for sale and people touring it at all hours of the day....
I predict future posts about this whole experience. Any advice???

For Sale

Well, tomorrow a realtor comes over to look at the house. Our plan is to put it up for sale this week, with hopes to move during the summer. We scoured the house this weekend (no BBQs for us or Memorial Day travels) and worked in the yard. We are absolutely exhausted, but the house looks great! In fact, it has never looked this good. It's funny to reflect upon what motivates an individual to do what should have been done long ago. For example, the yard needed work weeks ago. However, I was able to justify putting off this work because we were "focused on the wedding". The house has also needed cleaning, but again, the thorough "spring cleaning" was not done this spring due to the wedding. Alas, now that the wedding has come and gone, I can no longer use getting married as an excuse to do nothing around the house...bummer!

Anyhow, the realtor's visit tomorrow motivated us to pick up the back bedroom (also know as the guest room), clean the cobwebs out of the corners, and scrub the tub. I love a clean house, but I sure hate being the one who has to clean it!!
For the record, Mark did his fair share of yardwork and housework this weekend.
We will anxiously await tomorrow's visit and hope that we aren't assigned tasks to accomplish in order to put it up for sale. Anyone interested in buying?? Our place only has one bathroom, but the bright side of that is there is only one bathroom to clean :)

Yes, they were "announcements"

So, I have come to find out that some people were confused by our wedding announcements. We did not send the typical wedding invitation that most people are used to receiving. We sent an announcement which merely stated that we got married, where we got married, when we got married, etc. There was even a picture from the wedding!

We did not have a big wedding, therefore, we did not invite many people (only 11 were there, including us)! We wanted friends and other family members to know we were married, so we thought an announcement would be the most appropriate. It is amazing to me to now realize how many people are unfamiliar with the difference between the two. I have received an announcement before, I didn't know they were rare, nor did I know they would cause confusion. I even had someone tell me that they didn't receive any directions to the reception with their invitation. I wasn't sure how to respond without using sarcasm, especially since the announcement arrived a week after the wedding took place.

Please don't be offended for receiving an announcement as opposed to an invitation....we thought they were written rather clearly and wanted to send something as opposed to nothing. I guess a person really can't please everyone....

Florence, OR.

Yesterday, Mark and I went to Florence. It happened to be Rhody Days there, and the town was packed. We had no idea this coastal celebration attracted so many people, especially bikers.

We ate fresh seafood, shopped, and went to the beach. I had never been to this beach before and it was amazing. The next time we have out of state company, I am taking them to Florence! The temperature yesterday at the coast was 80+ degrees and there was no wind (this is almost unheard of at Oregon's coast). We walked up and down the beach collecting seashells. We even found 8 whole sand dollars. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday! This trip to the coast and amazing weather made us wish that summer was here. We are already planning our summer vacations, weekend getaways, and concerts.

Life is good!

The Wedding

Well, The McLaughlin Family got it's official start last Saturday on May 10! Mark and I were married on the Oregon coast in Bandon. We rented a beach house with an amazing view of the ocean and celebrated with immediate family only. Even though we had a small, simple wedding there were plenty of details that needed attending to. My mom took care of most of them (thank you mom!!!), but a few were my responsibility, i.e. the cake, the flowers, my dress, Mark's suit, etc. For these were the details that needed the bride's full attention! I must admit that I am a detail person. I pay very close attention to details as I believe that even the smallest details can make or break a look. Therefore, I took ample time to make arrangements and discuss details with all the necessary vendors who would play a large role in making our wedding memorable.

Mark, Ryan, and I left for Bandon last Friday afternoon when the work day was over. However, there were a few stops to make before we left for the coast. I was already feeling overwhelmed and anxious, so I went home to pack and load the car while Mark ran the errands and picked up his suit, the flowers, and the cake. Everything was going well until Mark showed up with the flowers. Keep in mind these flowers came from a professional florist and cost quite a bit of money. I had only ordered a bouquet of white calla lilies, a boutonniere, and a simple cake top consisting of nothing but miniature white roses. These flowers were the ugliest, most unprofessional looking arrangements I had ever seen!!! My lilies weren't even open! I kid you not, they looked like stalks of celery. The cake top did have miniature white roses as ordered, however, it also had greenery, a lot of ugly greenery (it looked like Christmas tree branches), and it also had a lily sticking out of the top. So, while I had a mini-meltdown, Mark and Ryan went to pick up the cake. My mini-meltdown consisted of some tears and frustration. I immediately called Mom, who was already in Bandon, and unleashed. She of course thought I was over reacting but flew into "SuperMom" mode and went to a florist in Bandon. She bought me a brand new bouquet of open calla lilies (imagine that) and did her best to calm me down. By the time I got off the phone with her, Mark and Ryan had returned with the cake...

Where do I even begin describing this cake? Let me give you some background information first. I mentioned earlier that I tend to pay close attention to details. Naturally, for my own wedding, details were of the highest priority. I had met with Nancy (the cake designer) after winning her drawing for a free cake at the Bridal Fair in January. Now, I know you might be thinking to yourself, "Emily, haven't heard that saying, 'You get what you pay for'?" The answer is yes, I have heard that saying, which is why I met with her at her business, sampled her cakes, and previewed her photos of cakes that she had designed. I left feeling very impressed with her work and she even let me take some miniature cakes home to eat. I felt so lucky to be the winner of her drawing! When I met with her, I discussed the color of the cake. I didn't want plain white, since I knew I wanted white flowers on top. My dress was a champagne (ivory) color and Mark's vest/tie were scheduled to match my dress. So, my brilliant thinking led me to the decision to have the cake that same color. Details, right? So I took a sample of material to ask if this simple feat could be accomplished. To my delight, it could be! Not only could it be accomplished, but I was assured that it could be accomplished with ease.

So, while I'm panicking over the hideous flower arrangements I had been given, my mind had not been worried about the cake. Mark and Ryan came home with it boxed up ready for travel, and the car was loaded. We were off to the coast to get married the next day! Our wedding was finally here! Curiosity got to me, and I peeked at the cake before we left. To my astonishment and horror, the cake was not the color we had discussed! (I bet you couldn't have predicted that, could you?) This cake was not only a tad lopsided but it was a pinkish-orange color. At this point, there was NOTHING that could be done. We got in the overloaded car and left for the coast. Upon seeing the peach nightmare (also known as my cake) I teared up again, but started laughing. Things were almost comical at this point...As you can see from the picture of our cake, we did not use the Christmas tree looking cake top. "SuperMom" came to the rescue again, and pulled the whole thing apart, making her own arrangement cascading down the cake. It looked as beautiful as we were able to make it. Needless to say, the cake became a source of humor during the wedding and I reminded our photographer that any pictures we'd be ordering of the cake would be in black and white.

I should mention all of the things about our wedding that went well as to balance the message of this post. However, the things that went well aren't as amusing to read. The ceremony itself was absolutely stunning. Mark looked handsome in his suit, and I didn't look too bad either. The food was delicious and Mom's efforts for making the whole day special were acknowledged. She also acknowledged that the flowers I brought with me were in fact hideous, and felt that I had not over reacted! The house was beautiful and all went smoothly on the day of the wedding. So now the big day has come and gone. We can laugh about the wedding snafus and begin to celebrate our marriage; we have officially started Family McLaughlin.