That's right... I'm talking about some before and "after" photos that show some of the great progress we've made. And some that show just how lazy we really are and why our house is just not quite in "having our first housewarming party" shape. Some of these photos are just plain embarrassing and almost make me want to get up off my butt and start cleaning up the remainder of the messes that loom in my house. The key word, of course, is almost.

So, friends, here are some photos of where we were before the move and where we are as of about 5 minutes ago. Please, no judging. OK, maybe a little.

Here is the living room the morning of the move. Carpets are cleaned. Sun is shining through the windows. So serene...

This next photo is sort of a cheater photo. This was not actually taken on move in day. In fact, this was before the walls were even painted. But it is still a before...

The lilacs are from my mom. I love lilacs. Good thing since we have a 10' high lilac bush in our tree line.

And here is the rest of our kitchen.

The range works great. And this kitchen has a TON more storage than our last house. Let's just say I am in love. Since we got the gas line put in I have cooked as much as possible. In fact, there is home made granola baking in the oven in this photo. And it's de-lish. I shared that recipe here in my second post. I still owe you the recipe for buffalo chicken mac & cheese. And tonight I made skillet veggie lasagna. I should probably share that one with you, too. 

That is where Stella eats her dinner every night. Love her food dish. It was a wedding gift from Erik's sister and her husband. They made it. I know. Super awesome. Stella loves it almost as much as I do. Oh, and she eats her food from the side and drinks her water from the front. She is very special.

Yes, the light fixture is still ugly. Yes, the china cabinet needs a new coat of stain/poly. Yes, the textured glass needs some serious updating.

The other amazing thing about this room is that this is where we eat dinner just about every night. In Indiana we only used this table about 4 times. Once was for our anniversary dinner. I couldn't even tell you what the other 3 were for.

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Judge away.

But before you do, I will leave you with this image of our (mostly) finished upstairs hall bathroom.

Dinner tonight consisted of something that my husband's family calls Scrambled Pancakes. It's very easy to make and its deep fried. Two qualities that create a great Tuesday night dinner if you ask me.

To make it mix together in a batter bowl (or whatever bowl you'd like to use):

1 c. flour

2 eggs

1 t. salt

Milk (enough to make the batter about the same consistency as pancake batter)

Then, heat some oil on the stove top over medium-high heat and pour all of the batter in at once. Let it cook until the underside gets to be golden brown. Then, with 2 spatulas, flip the whole deep fried gob of batter (very technical term) over and begin cutting through it with the spatulas to break it up. Continue to let it cook until golden brown. Once done, scoop out onto a paper towel covered plate.

My husband's family eats this topped with applesauce. I've also tried it with syrup. And tonight we had some fresh blueberries and raspberries along with it and some pan-fried yukon gold potatoes. Some of us (i.e. Erik) decided to top it with the applesauce AND the fruit. I looked at him like he had a third eye when he did this.

Erik's family ate this as a dinner when he was growing up. But I think of it as more of a breakfast, hence the fruit, potatoes and glass of orange juice I had with mine. And I would've fried up some bacon if I would've been thinking of it. But sadly, I forgot we even had any. Sad, I know.

What do you think? Would you consider deep fried dough topped with applesauce as more of a breakfast eat or a dinner treat? Try it and let me know. Oh, and beware, when you mix the batter you will think you need a double recipe or more, but I warn you that this makes a full skillet of deep fried deliciousness.

I would've taken a picture of them to share with you. But sadly, we ate them all. You will have to rely on the Google to share a picture with you instead.

The move in was a success! And we've had internet for right at a week now but I've been neglecting my blog for other things. Like unpacking. And tractor shopping. And unpacking. And cleaning. And walking the dog. And unpacking. And going to Goodwill to find a festive 4th of July shirt for Erik which we will most definitely be cutting the sleeves off of to make it even more festive. And then more unpacking.

Needless to say, it's been slightly busy and very hectic around the old homestead since move in day. Though I for one have not been as productive as I would've liked over these past 2 weeks. Still, we've gotten a lot accomplished. And a lot of that is thanks to my wonderful family for coming to help us out on those first couple of days after the move.

Oh, and remember how I wished I had gas a couple of weeks back? Well now I do thanks to a couple of plumbers and some piping being run through the basement. Along with that we have a new water heater, furnace and a working stove. I even made a huge mess of the kitchen tonight while making buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese. And yes, it is as awesome as it sounds. I will post the recipe this week in order to be nice and share.

We also successfully purchased a new lawn tractor (or garden tractor - I don't know the difference between the two yet). Well, mostly successfully. We got it on Friday, just in time for the rain and cold weather to come back. And then we realized yesterday that the deck on said tractor is not the size we ordered and paid for. So now we get to call back our friends at the John Deere dealer and politely demand that they bring out the correct size so that we can mow the amazon jungle that is our lawn. Complete with a lovely field of dandelions. Believe me, our neighbors must be more than impressed with us thus far.

Pictures and more updates are to come soon. And if I can figure out how to rotate a video that I took on move in day then I'll share that soon as well.

Until then, stay classy San Diego!