Upgrades

So, thanks to our refund this year, we were able to go out and purchase some much needed improvements to our house (and still save some!). I realized some of you haven't even seen what our "house" (Okay, it's a duplex) looked like, so here it is with a lawn much in need of mowing after all the rain we've been getting. The first thing we got was a desk. (Courtesy of Ikea-that place is a MAZE.)

Oh so needed! Although I shouldn't complain about our last one-it was free courtesy of North Fork Fire Department (we miss you guys!)...but they were getting rid of it for a reason.
Next we got Misha a crib. (Courtesy of Overstock.com) She's really close to outgrowing her pack-n-play, so we upgraded to a crib that converts from crib to toddler bed to day bed to head and foot board for a twin size bed. GOOD investment...I'm thinking if we have another kid, it'll get one of these from the get go. Our next upgrade was our patio furniture...(courtesy of HomeDepot.com)
again, the original was free...and I finally feel like I'm starting to make my house my own, instead of free stuff from other people. While I liked the old, the flower print and PVC piping just weren't doing it for me.
Although they did glide quite nicely. We added to the patio furniture with a new "fire pit". (Courtesy of HomeDepot.com as well..You can even see a bit of the old desk there to the left.)
Obviously this isn't a pit, but it's awesome, and it will allow me to stare into some flames and not think about anything...it's one of my favorite things to do, and it seriously relaxes me to sit in front of a fire...I suppose I truly am a pyro at heart. Back at Christmas time we began our new furniture collection with a new tv stand (Courtesy of WalMart...it was previously sitting on a broken coffee table with a sheet over it),
and a movie case (Courtesy of WalMart as well...the contents of which were previously on an open book case).
Obviously these were needed because Misha had begun crawling and getting into things...so we needed things that were enclosed. And I think by now everyone realizes how much I really like dark furniture. So these are our wonderful improvements...our next save up is for a flat screen...but that may be a while in coming.
For those of you who haven't heard the good news.................no, I'm not pregnant if that's what you're thinking. I was previously employed at an agency called OMV Medical Inc. as a Respiratory Therapist. I was working at National Naval Medical Center on an "as needed" basis. I am proud and very happy to say that I upgraded my job as well and am now a full time Respiratory Therapist at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health. It's literally across the street from Navy, I just make a right turn instead of a left. I'm really excited about it...I'll have much more of an opportunity to be a therapist rather than a tech who dispenses nebs and pushes buttons on a ventilator. It's a very prestigious place to work, and I'm really stoked to be working with some people that seem really awesome (one of them being the girl that trained me during my clinical hours at Navy, and called to tell me they had positions open at NIH....THANK YOU NIKKI!). All in all things are looking up. As soon as I'm over this sinus infection I have, I'm pretty sure our April showers are turning into May flowers.