Good to be Back

Time is such a funny thing. I can't believe it was just a week ago at this very moment we were moving into this house. In some ways it seems like so much has happened and I'm sure more than seven days have passed. In other ways I don't even feel like I'm moved in yet, so the fact we have been living here for a week seems impossible.
But we are here. And we have a new digital camera. So come along with me and I'll show you around a bit!

Last time, I told you about my spice rack...Here it is!
I love the kitchen. It has so much cupboard space! In our old house I had a "pantry" in the basement. That is, I had two racks of metal shelves in the basement, on which I stored extra food and paper products because the kitchen was so small. In this house I still have a cupboard I haven't filled yet.
And the oven is great, too. It actually beeps at me when it has finished pre-heating so I know it's ready to bake. I'm telling you, simple things make me happy. Like alphabetically stored spices!

The kitchen goes right into the family room. We had a fireplace in our first house, and I'm glad we have one again. Cold winter days are somehow more bearable when you can light a fire in the fireplace.
Right now the family room is pretty empty though. We had one family room in our old house which was quite full with a couch, glider, end table, TV and bookshelf. Now we have a family room and a living room and have split the furniture between the two, for two fairly empty rooms.
On the upside, with wood floors and not much furniture the family room has great acoustics. (like my shower!) Random fact about me: Barry Manilow is my favorite secular recording artist. So I have thoroughly enjoyed playing Barry's CD Singin' with the Big Bands while I'm singing and dancing around the empty family room.

This is a picture of the bar in our basement. Honestly, this feature is what "sold" me on the house. It's a fun place for the kids and we have all enjoyed sitting here playing games together. I have taught my kids the card game called Speed, which I grew up playing with my sister. As an incentive for the kids to get ready for bed quickly, I tell them we can have Speed Tournaments at the bar if everyone is ready on time. That form of motivation has been quite effective!
Elizabeth and her friend spent time turning this area into the "Pinto Ranch Bar" and served everyone lunch here. It was really cute.

Finally, this picture was taken from the room in the basement next to the bar, looking into the room containing the bar. From this view you can see the doorway to the room which will be our office and guest bedroom. (You're welcome to visit anytime!) From this view you can also see one of the reasons I'm so excited about having a finished basement. Those round red, blue and green things are bouncy balls my mil got my kids for Christmas last year. The kids love them, but whenever all three of them started bouncing around I was always afraid one of two things was going to happen. Either they would crash into the bookshelf and send things flying, or they would break through the floor and end up in the basement. Now they can bounce around as much as they want with no worries on my part! Ahhh. *heavy sigh*
So there you have it. A quick (albeit incomplete) tour of my new digs. Guess you'll have to come visit if you want to see the whole thing. How's that for bribery? *grin*

We got phone and internet service here Thursday, so I'm feeling a little more connected. (Literally.) I'll be around to visit your blogs soon and will be posting here on a more regular basis, too.
Ahhh, yes, it's good to be back!