Parrot on a Porch » The Goal

Keeping The Faith

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:04:47 +0000

Every time I see advertisements of new homes for sale Virginia, I can’t help but look back on our journey to owning our Little Mansion. It was not easy. We’ve encountered disheartening obstacles along the way. But waking up to the walls of Little Mansion every morning, I really can’t believe that we’re now reaping the fruits of our hard work and tremendous sacrifices. We’ll be celebrating our 5th year wedding anniversary this coming December and it really feels good to know that one of our long term goals have just been achieved and all other objectives are just right on track. We could not have done all these if not for a great team work, guts, faith, self-control and discipline. And I’m just so proud to have a husband like Paul who’s always been a great provider, a hardworking head of the family and even though he’s all stressed and always busy at work, he makes it a point that his family, still, is his number one priority. We’re also thankful to our adorable and affectionate son who’s keeping us inspired and remind us to stay in focus of our goals. Now I’m more confident to face what lies ahead in the future. So long as we’re together and we keep the faith, everything is possible.

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LM’s Terrace

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:03:47 +0000

Several friends have been asking us as to when shall we hold the house warming party. Well, we can not actually confirm yet since the last duplex unit in the compound is still undergoing construction and it’s all messed up here. In fact, as I write, I can smell the paint being applied on and hearing heavy carpentry and the ongoing welding works. Also, there’s still a few finishing touches that have to be done to Little Mansion like the installation of grills in the terrace, roof in the laundry area and a few more minor installations of blinds, picture frames and additional shelves in the living room area.

Here are some of the pictures I took yesterday of other Little Mansion’s parts that I haven’t shared yet:

This is the terrace which is accessible through our bedroom. For now, this is where we’re keeping Asher’s mobile rides (twist car, bike, stroller) and his old plastic closet. If you recall my posts regarding this area, I was contemplating whether we’ll make it Asher’s play area or the husband’s mini-gym. He’s been wanting to have a sanctuary where he can put a gym equipment and workout. I jokingly advised him to just use fat burners so the little one can have his own Toy Kingdom (more of where we can confine his toys) at home. Right now, they’re working on the screened grills that will be installed here.

There’s the other unit (half of the duplex) which, I heard, is still unsold. So anyone who wants to become our neighbors, just message me.

There’s the terrace part, viewed from outside. (Picture shot a few months ago)

This is the view of our laundry area from the terrace. As contrary to the original structural plans, we have decided to put a roof on this part so Yayie can still do the laundry even while raining and have a clothes-drying place that is covered. As you know, the rainy season is here.

These were still taken from the terrace. This is actually the back part where, if you look down, you’ll see the service area/dirty kitchen and if you look across, it’s the bedroom #2’s windows (yayie’s bedroom for now). If you look up, there’s the vent.

This picture of the vent was shot down from the dirty kitchen. There’s the window of BR #2 (right) and the terrace on the left side. A screened grill will also be installed in that area as a closure.

Some more LM’s other areas’ pictures coming right up.

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My Shelf

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:31:05 +0000

This is my sort of mini-library in our bedroom. Asher and I got two shelves to put our book collections on. From the pictures above, it’s no brainer to determine who my favorite author is. My other collections include motherhood and parenting books (as pictured on the second) and cook books (they’re sequestering a portion of Asher’s shelf below). Ever since I became a mom, I believe that it’s my responsibility to continually learn and keep myself abreast of everything that a mom is ought to know. My favorite among them is the What To Expect Book series.

I do not have weight loss pill comparison books because I do not need them given with a scrawny built. As I’m determined to hone my cooking newbie skills, I’m leaning to collect more cooking and recipe books this time.

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So In Love

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:05:01 +0000

Sometimes I find myself in solace, just staring at the each corner of the house and in deep contemplation. I can’t help but I’ve really fallen in love with our dear Little Mansion. Everything’s so surreal. I just love everything about it even though it’s size and space isn’t really that of a luxurious mansion. It’s just perfect for our little family and at least, we won’t have to endure sore muscles and joint pain from wandering from one room to another. Here are a few notes what I totally adore about our Little Mansion:

1. A bathroom on the second floor right across our bedroom. Now I don’t have to wake up the husband to accompany me downstairs when I need to respond to nature’s call in the wee hours of the morning.

2. Lots and lots of closets in our bedroom. We have lots of stuffs and junks so the best way to conceal them is through storing them in cabinets that also has easy access when you need these stuffs.

3. Aircon! Something to save us from the toilsome heat.

4. A fully loaded ref. Not space deprived anymore and no others’ “territory” to take into consideration as all the space is ours.

5. The cupboards! I’ve got nice compartments to store and “display” my beloved dining ware sets – most of which were wedding gifts to us five years ago.

6. A neat little kitchen that’s fully equipped where I can explore and experiment.

And so much more. :sigh: I really can’t help it but I’m deeply, madly “in love” now.

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Gold Coins Shower.

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:30:23 +0000

It was Little Mansion’s blessing today and it was a success. We’re all tired because of all the last minute preparations we had to do this morning but everything went well. It was just a brief, intimate event attended by our families. I will the post the pictures and make a more detailed recount of the event very soon but for now, I’ll savor the moment to rest. I just have to share though that we almost forgot to do the coin shower. After the blessing proper, we all proceeded to the buffet table to eat. And it’s just a few minutes later that I remembered about the coins we specially prepared for the shower which is a house blessing tradition. We did not really buy gold coins but at one point, I’m thinking what if we did. I bet our visitors would have not minded the plateful of food they were holding and perhaps, they could have dived to the floor for these gold coins. It would have been a pretty delightful sight to behold. Hehe! But seriously, now that we’re coping fine with all our major expenses, I’m thinking to try out and venture on gold investment this time.

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The Parrot Has Landed!

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:00:11 +0000

Woohoo!

I’m back from a one week hiatus (no internet) and now I’m blogging right here at our very own Little Mansion. Whew! Everything’s so surreal. I can’t believe that we’re finally here, savoring the walls, the interiors, the furniture and the new home stuffs that we have (Thank God for shopping coupons!). We haven’t fully dolled up our Little Mansion yet but nevertheless, we’ve got most of our stuffs fixed and settled. The neighboring duplex in the compound is still undergoing construction along with the adjoining laundry area of our house so it’s still a little chaotic, messy and dusty outside. We’re adjusting just great including the little one.

If you want to see how the little one is enjoying his new kingdom, here’s a sneak preview:

At home na at home!

How does it feel? It’s totally overwhelming.

So even though our Little Mansion doesn’t literally have a porch, I can mightily announce that..

“The Parrot has landed on her own porch!”

(Now you know what the blog title of this online home means)

Since I’ve touched up the topic of coupons, I find EBillMe a one of a kind and very convenient payment facility. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s actually a safe, innovative payment option where a shopper in the US is enabled to purchase online then pay cash with online banking. Now one can go shopping at Buy.com, Sears, and Kmart without having to worry about credit cards and think about other payment means since all they have to have is their online bank details. This is taking online shopping to another level and worthwhile experience.

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House Moving, Blessing and Warming Party…All Very Soon.

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:52:13 +0000

Whew! What a tiring weekend that was. Little Mansion’s water line is finally up and running since Monday. And so, since we’ve been eager to transfer ever since, we took every minute of our weekend cleaning and fixing the house. After two days, LM’s all dolled up now so here I am blogging for the last time/night here in my in laws house as tomorrow will be our first night in our new home. We still have lots of finishing touches to do as well as take action on the other utility applications like the cable TV, phone line and internet. We’ll also be planning out the house blessing which will be held on Saturday hopefully. The housewarming party though will have to be delayed since the last two units in the compound are still not through and construction debris are still everywhere. But nevertheless, we’ve started brainstorming about the party details.

One of the things that I’m thinking right now is about the invites and the souvenirs. I just browsed the website of my1stop.com and suddenly I was given an idea to have a Custom Printing of invites made into a something that looks like a key tag. A key usually symbolizes a home so that would be perfect. I’m quite drawn with the attractive and colorful designs at my1stop.com and I’m contemplating actually to inquire from them one of these days. I read that they ship internationally. My1stop.com is an online printing superstore that satisfies very highly the printing needs of customers whether it be Plastic Card Printing, Form Printing, or Label Printing. They’ve got tons of services (even outside business solutions) and interesting and artistic designs which they can expertly print.

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The Exteriors Decision.

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:30:50 +0000

I never knew what siding Richmond, stucco, rock and other exterior choices are until now that we’re somewhat custom building our little crib. I didn’t know that Although the developer already has the floor plan and structural plans pre-made, he was still open to recommendations from us as to how ours will be done or should there be a little tweaking that we desire. He asked us about the material that will be used for the home’s exterior but since we’re already baffled with a lot of overwhelming decisions to make, we decided not to deviate anymore and just follow suit whatever the other units in the compound have. It looks nice and appears durable anyway so why change.

Speaking of the Little Mansion, the husband and I are both excited because we’ll finally begin the cleanup tomorrow and start fixing things. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do it in just one day so by Sunday, we could spend our first night there.

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LM’s Cabinets and Cupboard.

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 01:45:27 +0000

Since Little Mansion is literally small and doesn’t have a spare room to function as our storage area, we made it a point to have plenty closets and cabinets in the bedrooms. Having a toddler in the house means we have so much stuffs and trinkets to store from his outgrown baby clothes, accessories to toys which are aplenty. We’re fortunate that our developer was so flexible and has no restrictions at all as to what type and design of customized cabinets we’d like to have. Ever since, we already have in mind as to how many compartments and drawers we’d like to have for the master’s bedroom taking into account all our things that need storage. I’ve taken inspiration from the showroom gallery of a closets Richmond shop called Closet Factory. They’ve got plenty of nicely customized cabinets in there.

So here’s how our closet looks like. Just don’t mind the mess because this picture was taken while the finishing (construction) is being done.

It actually consists of 3 parts. The left most will serve as my dresser, side drawer and a TV stand in one; then the middle is the main cabinet where our clothes and beddings (upper cabinet) will be kept. The third is a set of 3 more little cabinets.

Then this is our cupboard in the kitchen:

Looks pretty close to this from Closet Factory, right?

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Coin Shower.

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:43:07 +0000

While it’s too early to plan about house blessing and house warming party for Little Mansion, I can’t help but scour, as early as now, for ideas and the “rituals” to do on such occasions. I’ve read that, for good luck and prosperity, a coin shower to be held. Now I’m thinking to buy gold coins that we can use for that. It can be a dual purpose actually. After using for the ritual, I can either keep it as a collection or sell it upon the trustworthy prompt of US Gold Bureau. I’ve read on the web that they’re one of the leading investment company for precious metals and hard assets like gold, silver and platinum.

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