There is a LOT of stress associated with buying a house, from the financial shock of realizing you are now in deep debt, to finding a myriad of issues that need fixing. This week, both Kelly and I reached a point where we needed a bit of down time to process the big life change, buying a house is. So, we mostly stayed at the new house, acclimatizing with the cats, nesting, and only visiting the old apartment once.

With some of the major projects now taken care of, like replacing the furnace, and the water heater, and having all the heating ducts cleaned out (goodbye thousands of dollars), there are still a million things left to do – like gardening. Kelly went to work on the green island in the middle of our backyard, and found a ton of little bulbs, just in one corner. She is going slow, so as not to mess with the bunnies that live in there somewhere.

Personally, I have had the distinct displeasure of dealing with Waste Management for the second week in a row. First, they missed the memo that we needed new bins for garbage, recycling, and yard waste, and only dropped off garbage. After some phone calls, we did eventually get the missing bins delivered. And then, the following trash day, we got those missing bins delivered again.

So, currently we have a total of 5 bins here. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a perfect example of those little things that you have to deal with, when you buy a house.

Meanwhile, Kelly rolled up her sleeves once again, and went to work on the backyard. Step one, reclaiming the patio area with a pressure wash and moss removal. I assembled the patio furniture set, hauled yard waste (into one of our many bins), and tried to stay out of Kelly’s way – she had a pressure washer, and she definitely wasn’t afraid to use it.

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Another aspect of house buying is the food. When you spend your time and energy breaking down boxes and such, you likely won’t feel like cooking up a large meal at the end of the day. We’ve eaten a lot of frozen food, take-out, and junk snacks in the last couple of weeks.

Of course, nothing can stop Kelly from making new things, and being on a cocktail kick already, she came up with another recipe for a peachy drink, even better than her last one.

Sunshine & Peaches

• 2 oz peach vodka
• Wedge of lime
• A couple of fresh mint leaves
• Peach juice
• Pomegranate juice
• Ice

Muddle lime, mint, vodka, and ice lightly, then remove the lime (to avoid bittering the drink). Pour into a highball glass, top off with peach juice, leaving a little room. Finish off with a splash of pomegranate juice, and garnish with a lime slice, cherry, and mint.

It is highly recommended that you scale this up to a whole pitcher, because you will want more than one glass.

I wanted to talk about what it has been like, moving our cats over to the new place, but I feel like that is a topic worthy of its own post, and this one is long enough. Thanks for tagging along on our journey as first-time house buyers with everything that entails.