I just picked up a Patriot Box Office so that I could stream content to our TV’s.  I will have one upstairs, and one downstairs in the new house.  I plan on picking up an Asus O!Play as well, because there is certain functionality I like in both, and since we are not really TV watchers – we like movies, I thought it would be a great idea to stream my movies to each TV, rather than buying a new DVD/Blu-Ray player (much cheaper).

I have tried out some of the functionality of the PBO, and it works great, but I can’t wait to get my hands on the O!Play, so I can post a review of each, side by side.  I have seen a lot of independent reviews on each, but no one seems to have both.  Once I try them both out, I will come up with something, and post it here.

Although she won’t ever admit it, I know that my wife has a picture of what she wants when it comes to the new house.  I think she has a decor all picked out, and has a really good idea of what type of furniture she wants to have in the bedroom.  I think that’s great – especially because for the most part, we agree on style. Smooth lines, modern but not crazy modern, and items which will last a long time – quality is the most important thing.

The problem is that we don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to get everything custom-made to suit our tastes and quality expectations. Bring in the furniture stores!

We have been to many over the past couple of weeks – I think I have looked at well over 150 bedroom suites – everything ranging from sleigh beds, to poster beds, dressers, armoires…the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong – I love that we are buying furniture for our first home.  It is very exciting.  The issue is that I am NOT a shopper.  Walking around looking and looking….and looking at items just drives me nuts.  I am at the point where I am done looking, and will leave it to my wife to decide on her own – that’s how much I hate shopping.  I also know that there are MANY other things we still have to look at and decide on, so I know that I will be spending some time shopping over the next month.

Good news, though. My wife has decided on what she wants, and today we are doing our final look at some furniture in a store we have already looked at. The fact that we are going back to a place bodes well for the future.  We will still have to decide on a stain and the hardware, but I think that we can hash that out in a couple of hours.  If we can get this finished, it will be a huge check on one of my many lists.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

As I sit here at a Williams Coffee Pub, sipping on a coffee, and waiting for my wife to be done with her Memorial Band practice, I find my head swimming – trying to create, organize and plan for the things which have to be done before we move into our new house.

There’s all the little things, like making sure we have cleaning supplies, some food, and deciding which furniture to setup first so that we can stay the first night in the new house, but there are also many big things still on my list, which I know need to get done before the close to ensure we can take possession.

Things like getting the gas and hydro hooked up. Getting the phone and Internet service up and going (I am sure that we will have to check online for the services available in the area if we need anything once we move in). Then there is the lawyers – I am happy to say that mine seem to be just great, and have sent me information that has been easy to understand – but still, another bill to pay, and another person to be in contact with until the close.

I am slowly but surely crossing one item off the list at a time.  It is taking longer than I would want, but things are moving along.

We were lucky in that we were pre-approved for the mortgage, and saw, put an offer in, and bought our house within a week.  From pre-approval to moving in will be just over a month.  The up and down-sides to a quick close I guess.

I’m sure that we will be able to handle anything that comes our way, and we will have a fairly seamless move (we are VERY experienced – I have moved almost 20 times in my 30 years of life), but my brain never really shuts off, and I seem to be coming up with new items to add to my list hourly. I just can’t wait to be in the house – the list completed.

My wife and I just bought our first home this week, and I have to say that I truly excited to be a home owner. I would assume that most people have some doubt and fears when buying a house, but for some reason, I just know that this was the right house at the right time for both of us. It’s a older country home, not too far from any major city, but still far enough away that we don’t see the lights and can’t hear the noises – exactly what we were looking for.

It was a total random find – we weren’t really even looking in the area we bought in, but when we saw the house, we knew that we had found where we wanted to live.  My wife had a small checklist of things she wanted in a house, and this place really seems like it has it all.

1. A big yard – well, we have almost an acre – check
2. Large kitchen, with lots of counter space – check
3. In the country, where it is quiet, and people are always welcoming – check

I hope to post some pictures, video, and some of the plans we have going forward.  I am definitely seeing a lot of blogging in the foreseeable future.

I just picked up a MagicJack – $20/year for unlimited long distance in Canada and the US. Since I am a huge cell phone user, I figured this was just about the best thing I could get to save a ton of money on my long distance bills. My parents live in the US, my brothers out of province, and even the nearest Wal-Mart is long distance (not that I call them – but you see where I am going with this).

My wife and I are buying a house, and have decided that we don’t really want a home phone service, since we rarely talk on the phone, but when we do, it tends to be long distance. Rates are just too high for our cell phones, so I thought we would give it a try.

I’ll post a few times to let you know how things are going, and if I find any cool hacks for it – I mean, why buy technology that you can’t mess with, right? So far though, it looks to save me some serious cash – fantastic!