The Remodel

I feel the need to reminisce as Adam and I have been talking about the work we want to do to our new house. While I am thrilled by the idea of fresh paint and new fixtures, there are a few key elements of remodeling that will not be incorporated this time around. 

During the 707 remodel, I found my father and many friends by my side. My Dad never ceases to amaze. He created and leads two marketing businesses but he also knows how to refinish original hardwood floors and install toilets, sinks, light fixtures, and garbage disposals. In the early days of 707 I would come home from work and find him diligently, and unaccompanied, painting my new house.  I could regale you with hundreds of stories about my father’s selflessness, but I am already on the verge of grateful tears. Instead, I will leave you with this-I am 26 years old and I honestly believe my Dad can do anything…Thank you Daddy for being my superhero for almost 27 years now.

Due to many reasons for which I am now thankful (hindsight is 20/20), buying 707 was bittersweet. I was rarely alone during my first few weeks in that house. My friend Christine contributed a massive amount of elbow grease to both my life and my house. Courtney and Steph H. painted entire rooms by themselves. Dear friends, thank you for supporting me through that summer. What a mess my house and I were! 

Dining Room-After & Before

Living Room-Before & After

Guest Bedroom-Before & After

 We took the tub out to find rotting floor board, and by "we" I mean my Dad did all of the work while I watched, searched for the necessary tools, corralled Toby, and held doors open. I wish I had taken more before and after pictures of the bathroom as that is the room that underwent the biggest transformation and, of course, required the greatest amount of work...just picture a great deal of pink. 

I would not have been brave enough to actually paint my walls red without my mom's flawless eye for design. She recently opened Anna's Country Store, referred to by our family as Anna's Attic part II, and the layout of her "new" store is inspiring.



Goodbye 707, Hello 530

It all went something like this. We closed on Loveland’s 707 at 10:00 AM. We loaded up our cars and pulled out of my parent’s driveway at 11:00 AM, making a quick stop for a goodbye Chick-fil-A lunch, and then headed east. Eighteen hotel nights, 80 or so slices of pizza (believe it or not, I’ve lost five pounds) and many, many free house beers later, Adam, Mickey, and I stepped into our new Wisconsin home-530.

Some of my favorite life-memories come with the past month. In semi-chronological order:

Thank you to Courtney and Jeremy for our “goodbye Colorado day.” After church, we went to lunch at Rock Bottom, shopped around, and then saw Batman at the IMAX in Denver. The lunch was DELICIOUS and the movie was fantastic, but I am most thankful for the copious amounts of time I was able to spend with my great friends.

To everyone who volunteered or physically helped us pack and move our belongings into storage, thank you! We had so much help that it only took an hour to get everything into the storeroom at my parents’ shop.

Our Bible study instigated a goodbye “Pot-Kluck.” I wish I could eloquently and completely state my love and appreciation for this group. Instead, I miss you all dearly and I pray you continue to influence the lives of young married couples.  Thank you for your presence in our first year of marriage!

I enjoyed goodbye walks around Loveland thanks to Rachel and Em. Thank you dear friends for coffee dates, goodbye lunches, and a goodbye-with-wine night.

In the beginning, we had quite a bit of spare time on our hands. Adam took it upon himself to provide impromptu swimming lessons at our hotel’s pool. Realizing I cried through most of my childhood lessons, he upped the ante by attempting to persuade me to put my face in the water without plugging my nose. I am sure our fellow swimmers thought I had a learning disability of some sort after listening to my whining and Adam’s enthusiasm at my minuscule water accomplishments. Comical? Yes!

We made some great new Madison friends. Thank you new Madison friends for refreshing dinners comprised of food other than pizza. We enjoyed learning a new and addicting game-Settlers of Catan.  Thank you for the use of your washer and drier. Thank you for offering your basement as a retreat from the hotel. Thank you Bible study friends for introducing us to our new great and gracious Madison friends.

One of my new favorite memories includes my parents driving up our new street in the giant Penske truck, which they loaded with all of our belongings and drove 1000 miles from Colorado. I cried when I hugged my dad. Between Adam, my Mom, my Dad, and my in-laws, we unloaded everything in 2 hours. I will forever treasure the time I spent unpacking boxes with my mom. Thank you dear parents, I love you and I miss you so much.

I do not want people to think that this past month has been comprised of nothing but rainbows and butterflies. Adam and I fought. A lot. I do not recommend starting the school year from a hotel room. I miss little-and big-parts of Colorado. I miss my parents and my friends. I miss Loveland’s tap water. I miss commuting with Slacker and Steve. I miss Rez volleyball. I miss the staff and my middle schoolers at ICSF.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support. We are settling in and enjoying Wisconsin. 

I Naively Romanticized Moving

Well, I had hoped to have written a post a night since our arrival in Madison, but an uninhibited reality set in. When I think of moving, the last few scenes from various 1990s family sitcoms pop into my head. The series finale of Fresh Prince depicts the entire family standing around their spotless and empty house reminiscing. No one is rushed. The fridge full of condiments was cleaned out days ago. The buyers of their house are not demanding a last minute walkthrough. The trash can is certainly not spilling over into the driveway. Someone packed the most difficult items for these people-the vacuum, the floor lamps, and the pricey pillar candles will not melt in the back of their stifling moving truck. While I know Will and Carlton did not have a white Pit-bull, if they did, I am sure that he would not have panicked when everything was out of the house, breaking their hearts. If I did not get my point across, here it is-moving is not romantic at all. It is sad, messy, and stressful.

While we left Colorado only six days ago, so much has happened that I need a few more days to process these events, but here is a quick rundown...

1. We closed on our Loveland house on Monday August 13 and left for Madison that morning.

2. On Tuesday evening, we walked away from the house that we were supposed to move into on Thursday, August 23. There is a laundry list of reasons as to why…I might get into those later when, God willing, everything works out in our favor. This makes us homeless in every sense of the word.

3. The corporate owners of the aforementioned property are neglecting/refusing to sign the papers releasing us from the contract, making it legally impossible to buy another house.

4. We are living in a Baymont Inn and Suites in Madison. By God’s grace, Mickey stays for free saving us $10 a night.

5. The hotel also offers complimentary wine, beer, and pizza every night. We eat a lot of pizza.

6. We booked this non-refundable hotel room until the morning of Thursday, August 23. After that…? No matter how much pizza we hoard in our mini-fridge, we can only afford our current situation for so long.

7. In the scheme of things, this circumstance will pass. It might end up costing us a small teacher’s fortune, but I am enjoying time with my husband and my pup. And the weather in Madison is gorgeous. 

Road Trip...#2!

Adam, Mickey, and I pulled out of Loveland at 9:00 am on Sunday with pie in the sky dreams of contracts-both house and teaching career. We arrived in Madison on Monday evening, met our realtor on Tuesday morning, and viewed 10 condos by Tuesday afternoon. The race is on. We are closing on our Loveland home on August 13. If we are lucky enough to obtain a typical 30 day closing on our Madison home, we need to sign the Madison house contract in three to four days in order to negate extended, pricey, hotel stays with a loaded moving truck in the parking lot.

We are at a crossroads…well…more of a three-prong fork in the road with the scariest tine pointing back to Colorado with no job, no house, and 47 days until Adam’s start date, staring at us from August. Next in line we see a fantastic job working at an after school program. I interviewed for the position today and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and speaking with my potential bosses. At the same time, the salary provides just enough money for us to live in a condo that we only like a little, at best. Condos are a risky purchase in Madison as it will be difficult to sell when we are ready. And the cherry on top? Our “favorite” condo probably won’t allow Mickey, taking it out of the running.

The last glorious tine is gleaming, reflecting our dream house, the continuation of my teaching career, and the least amount of change to our current lifestyle. Are you ready for this? Tomorrow I have an interview at a local high school and the interview is completely God’s handiwork. I applied for this Social Studies teaching position and all four (yes four) of the volleyball coaching positions back in April when we were first called to Wisconsin.  I emailed the principal...a few times. I applied again when all of the positions were re-posted a few weeks ago. On a whim inspired only by Jesus, Adam and I decided to drive to this school with fresh resumes. Sadly, the new principal was at a district meeting. However the delightful receptionist provided me with the principal’s contact information and I emailed this new principal when we arrived back at the hotel. In the midst of the discouraging condo search, I received a phone call requesting an interview on Thursday at 9:00 am. I have had that anxious, sick, excited, feeling since I received this phone call.

Despite the dramatic prongs, we have a plan. We are leaving Madison on Saturday. On Friday, we are going to look at house-houses, not condos, in case the Lord blesses our socks off with this teaching job. We will decide on our top condo choices and our top house-house choices. We will continue to pray and pray and pray. Ideally, I will hear back about the job by Friday and we can make an offer-house or condo-depending on the outcome. Typing that sentence gave me nauseating butterflies. Oh how my heart craves that teaching job!

In the mean time, I am enjoying the fact that Mickey now walks up to walls expecting them to open like the elevators or the automatic doors to which he has become accustomed in our Midwest hotel hopping. We discovered that, ironically, two double beds are cheaper than one king bed. Opting for frugality, we chose the doubles believing our six foot selves and our 55 pound Pit-bull would snuggle in one bed. That fantasy lasted for about three minutes. I was secretly devastated when Mickey followed Adam to the other bed. Last night Mickey jumped in bed with Adam, laid down, looked at me, sat up, and soared from Adam’s bed to my bed without touching the ground. I did not even attempt to hide my absolute delight. I am enjoying the one on one time with my husband. We went out for drinks last night and to the Madison Botanical Gardens this afternoon. Today I was thrilled when Adam found his way back to our hotel without the GPS.

My Plea

My mother and my husband have unilaterally decreed that I need another outlet when it comes to animal cruelty, dogs in particular. According to the verdict, I put myself in dangerous situations and need to take a more hands off approach. My mom suggested a blog. I on the other hand feel that I need to intensify my role as an animal advocate as abused creatures seem to cross my path in herds these days.

I wish I could eloquently explain my sensitivity to the subject. I know that if I tried, people would ignore the desperation of the voiceless creatures for which I speak and see my words as the eccentric despair of yet another animal rights activist. I will simply say that this goes deeper than heartache for me. I write this entry as I am hourly (ßnot an exaggeration these days) haunted by the miserable brown eyes, tail between the legs, tongue hanging out desperate for water, skin and bones dogs that burden my thoughts.

I type this as a plea to my fellow animal lovers, to the humans who do not leave their animals sweltering in the parking lots of Wal-Mart or JoAnne’s or Gold’s Gym; to the person who does not get drunk and throw his dog on the pavement outside my house; to the individual who walks his dog in the early mornings or cool evenings-not tied to the back of his bike at 3:00 p.m. during a heat wave. I compose this for the men who resist using a shock collar on their puppy as evening entertainment on my street corner; for the family who brings their dogs into the air-conditioning instead of leaving the pups baking in the treeless backyard. Please fellow animal lovers, continue to love your pets unconditionally. Dear humans with a conscience, please put the humane society’s number in your phone because not everyone loves their pets like you do. Please call the humane society and speak for the unloved animals because I am scared to leave my house these days…and I am not abused. 

The Leaving Loveland for Madison Bucket List

Adam and I started packing up the house, just small stuff like DVDs and books. While our departure to Madison has been certain for months now, the actual move has been more of a fantasy involving a contract with my ideal job, the purchase of our first home, and Mickey roaming in our lush, magnificently landscaped, Wisconsin backyard. The reality actually involves no job, no house, a dreadfully dry Colorado lawn, and the enormous cost of simply renting a moving truck. In order to make the pending move more bittersweet than just plain sour, Adam and I decided to make a list of outings we would like to enjoy before we load up the pricey U-Haul. Most of the excursions are fond memories comprising our 2 ½ years as a couple while others encompass undiscovered monuments testament only to Northern Colorado. In no particular order, we will be enjoying the following with anyone who would like to join us!

1. Batman in the IMAX

…Because I am married to Adam Mark and well, it’s Batman.

2. Walk around Bear Lake/Day in Estes

…My family made yearly trips to Bear Lake for years and I want Adam to be a part of the tradition as he has never been. Also, Estes has the Estes Brewery, sufficing Adam’s love for local beer and my passion for what I believe to be the best onion rings in the world.

Bear Lake 1988

3. Brewery Tours-Adam’s Choice

...More to come on this outing as the list is consistently amended by my husband.

4. Denver Zoo

…When we were dating, Adam surprised me with “date days.” The Zoo was one of my favorites, but followed closely by our very first date day to see the Genghis Khan exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, followed later by the Aquarium, Pike’s Peak, and numerous trips to various Denver venues.

5. A Stay at Embassy Suites for our 1^st Anniversary

…I have nothing but great memories of Embassy. After our wedding ceremony we headed to the Loveland Embassy for our reception and our 8^th floor honeymoon suite. Our second night as a married couple was spent at the DIA Embassy. From the romanticized wedding memories to the free evening drinks, I love Embassy Suites.

Our First Dance

Loveland's Embassy Suites

DIA Embassy Happy Hour

6. Picnic at Viestenz-Smith Park

…Again, Adam grew up in the Springs. He needs to see this Loveland landmark.

7. Water World

…We enjoyed Water World summer of 2010, our first summer together. Peter, Adam’s best friend (best man at our wedding) joined us and we had a fantastic day.

8. Bike the Loveland Bike Path

…Neither of us have done this. I think we should have a picnic somewhere along the way.

9. Evening in Old-Town Fort Collins-Café Vino and Coffee

…Adam and I enjoyed our first date at Café Vino in Old Town. Adam drank some sort of scotch and he purchased a chocolate martini for me. All of this occurred on November 19, 2009. On November 19, 2010 we went back to our Café for our one year dating anniversary. I honestly believed Adam was going to propose. Needless to say, there was no proposal. Not at Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or New Years. I decided to hold out until Valentine’s Day as Adam also took me to Café Vino on our first Valentine’s Day together…yes, we need to broaden our restaurant repertoire. On Wednesday, January 19 Adam proposed and I had no idea it was coming. Perfect Surprise.

Anniversary Dinner

Coffee After Dinner at Cafe Vino

 10. Date Night at Centerra-On the Border

…Adam’s parents threw us a phenomenal rehearsal dinner at our favorite restaurant in Centerra.

The festivities are scheduled to begin this week. On the Border anyone?!

Human Scenario #1

I wish I could say that our set moving day is approaching quickly. I say that not because I am excited to leave lovely little Loveland, but because I am a controlling planner. As of today Sunday, July 10, I have no plan and absolutely no control.  My mother-in-law has been diligently requesting a departure date, she’s a planner too.

I wish that I could sign a contract with a Core Knowledge school and that I could be teaching 7 or 8^th grade history as that’s what I taught last year and it would be great to pull out materials and tweak here and there without the requirement of starting completely from scratch.

I wish multiple sets of lovely families would make offers on our house. While I am wishing, let’s throw in a cash offer of our asking price. I bought 707 just over three years ago and I want to leave it in loving, appreciating hands; Hands with no desire to repaint my walls or put nasty carpet over the original hardwood floors that my dad and I worked so diligently to refinish.

 I wish Adam, Mickey, and I could be planning our second of many road trips to Madison. On this second road trip we would meet with our brilliant realtor, fall in love with the single family, fenced yard, two-stall garage, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, open floor plan, plenty of storage, small yard, no HOA fee, beautifully treed, 5 minutes from my Core Knowledge 8^th grade classroom, close to the bus route for Adam, move-in ready,  flawless home. Accordingly,  new teacher in-service would start August 13 meaning my mother and father-in-law, my mom and dad, their dogs Toby and Sadie, Adam, Mickey and I would load up the U-haul on August 1^st and caravan to Madison Wisconsin. This would give us up to twelve days to drive the 16 hours, unpack, tour Madison with our families, and say goodbyes.

Other than winning the mega-millions, this is the best-case scenario my narrow human brain has proposed. For months now, Adam and I have been praying for God to work out this option. Delusion, fantasy, or potential reality, it’s approaching quickly and almost hourly now I find myself pushing panic out of my perfect scenario. The idea that the Lord might hold a better plan makes my head spin. Alternatively, I am bothered twofold by the possibility of my scenario crumbling, of working at Taco Bell while we struggle to rent a studio apartment. One, I cannot decide if Taco Bell or subbing is my worst fear. Two, I should be excited by the possibility of strengthening my faith, but my head will not allow me to synonymously equate excitement with subbing and studio apartments. While I know our faith and our marriage will come out stronger on the other side, my heart and my pride hurt with the possibility of not being in the classroom and stepping back to my college days of tiny furniture cluttering my musty, non-air-conditioned, 300 square foot studio apartment. This time around I would be sharing it with my neat-freak husband and clumsy 55 pound Pit Bull.

Adam’s start date is officially August 27, in sixty-eight days. In less than 68 days we will need a new plan if human scenario #1 does not pan out. Please pray that on Monday, August 27, 2012, I will be able to blog about our Heavenly Father’s faithfulness in the Kluck household, and that I will write that blog with genuine excitement and gratitude.

Road Trip!

I recently road-tripped with two of my favorite guys-my Adam and my Mickey. Even after yearly drives to Michigan, 27-hour caravans to New Jersey, and charter-bussing around the U.S.A. for college volleyball games, I am far from the expert road-tripper. In all honesty, I am a carsick, whining, antsy, passenger…and sometimes driver. My mom felt the need to warn my husband of this many, many times. So many times in fact that I found myself determined reinvent the road trip experience as well as the stereotypes my mother pinned in my husband’s head.

Day 1: We left as soon as school adjourned on Thursday. We stopped just near the border to eat dinner at a lovely rest-stop and to let Mickey sniff around. With moving costs and realtor fees at the forefront of our budget, I brainstormed ways to save money. Avoiding eating out was my first thought. We stayed in hotels serving breakfast and bought a nifty green cooler, filling it with the following road trip treats…

1. Chicken Salad Sandwiches (Mayo, diced chicken, sliced almonds, celery, dried cranberries, & grapes) 
2. Mini-Chobani Greek Yogurts 
3. Grapes 
4. Carrots (Mickey ate more carrots than Adam) 
5. Celery 
6. Just about every box of crackers sold at Wal-Mart 
7. Peanut Butter and Jelly 
8. Trail Mix (Almonds, dried cranberries, granola, white chocolate chips, Honey-Nut Cheerios) 
9. Deli Turkey/cheese 
10. Bread 
11. Mountain Dew (It would've been requested at every gas station stop) 

We then spent two hours driving through a torrential downpour on pitch-black Nebraska’s I-80, at the disheartening speed of 40 miles per hour, tires hydroplaning anyway. The lightning was magnificent. I found myself only slightly anxious about the storm but overwhelmed by my white pup cowering in the back seat. His confusion and misery became all I could think about. Safe, Kearney, Nebraska will always hold a special place in my heart.

He's not a fan of our "book on tape" choice. 

Avoiding carsickness was mission #1 during day #2. I can no longer even step foot on a charter bus without feeling nauseous. My plan in college was always to take half of a children’s Dramamine, constantly chew peppermint-gum, pull the shades, and keep the reading to a minimum. Just riding was not an option with classes to greet Monday morning. For our trip, Adam and I cut the reading completely and checked out books on CD from the Loveland Library. We made it about half way through A Tale of Two Cities.

As for surviving 40+ hours in a Hyundai with a Pit-bull, we brought a “Mickey Bag” supplying five days’ worth of food in a pitcher, Ziploc containers with water, Ziploc containers with Milkbones, leash, harness, his collapsible crate for solo-stays in the hotel, and of course, the “black toy.”

We arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan during night number two. We slept in, enjoyed a hotel breakfast, a walk through the mall, and my cousin’s incredible wedding. If I could do our wedding all over again, I would have a photo booth complete with dress up clothes, hats, and accessories. What a great wedding favor!

Never again will I travel new territory without a GPS. Adam and I decided to bite the bullet and purchase our first smart phones when we realized we would be moving to Madison. If only I could go back to my New Jersey/New York days with a GPS in hand. My friends and I would have spend fewer hours driving around in the dark and the dangerous, cursing printed MapQuest directions with their “slight rights.” The drive from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Madison, Wisconsin has many of these “slights” through Chicago. Oh the places we could have gone.

We arrived in Madison, met our fantastic realtor, and looked at three housing possibilities during day #4. Slightly exhausted and significantly overwhelmed, we substituted the local cuisine for Adam’s staple, Buffalo Wild Wings. In our defense, Adam tried a Madison based beer. We left on Monday and arrived home Tuesday afternoon. Madison is 16 hours away from Loveland. If I can survive Jersey…