Goodbye, Old Casa Blanco.

Now that we're moving to a new home, my husband told me: "O ayan makaka-move on ka na sa dati nating bahay." 

Admittedly, whenever I feel depressed kasi with our current living situation, palaging yung dati naming townhouse ang bukang-bibig ko. Hindi nga talaga ako maka-move on. Half of my heart wanted to go back to Edmonton, where we can afford an even bigger dwelling (yung hindi lang townhouse). Hanggang wala kaming bagong bahay sa BC, feeling ko hindi pa kami talaga taga-doon.

Ngayon I can finally say goodbye to our old house. Our first home in Canada.

Ang since it's throwback Thursday, allow me to post pictures of our Edmonton townhome. Para na rin may reference kami someday. Saka para makita ni Nathan later on (since this blog is my personal diary/journal na rin).

These were the official photos used by our Realtor in selling the house. He commissioned a professional photographer to take the shots. We decluttered the house syempre before the photoshoot kaya ganyan.

FRONT EXTERIOR. Ours was an end unit.

FRONT DOOR. Bad daw sa Feng Shui ang stairs facing the door, kaso naisip ko hindi naman kami Intsik haha. 

LIVING ROOM. We had a very spacious living room. It's good though that I wasn't able to put up yet the photo frames that I was collating for that huge blank wall.

Yes, I love white. Our new place will be white again.

DINING AREA. That bench will always be memorable to us haha. It cost us $900, would you believe?

KITCHEN. It might be 'small' but I learned to cook from there.

POWDER ROOM. I loved this room. It was so big.

MASTER BEDROOM.  Our first room as a family.

The door on the right side was for the closet. 

MASTER BATHROOM. It wasn't that big but the size was just perfect for me.

GUEST ROOM. Several visitors have stayed in this room in less than three years that we lived in that house.

MY "ME" ROOM. My favorite place in that house. I was thankful to the husband for giving this to me.

That white couch is a bed, too.

MAIN BATHROOM. This was Nathan's.

BALCONY. This big balcony compensated for our lack of backyard.

I will always remember lots of barbecue sessions that took place here.

GARAGE. It was deep and spacious.

BACK EXTERIOR. Simple but functional.

Now it's really time to move forward. Wag nga raw dapat magpaka-attached sa bahay sa North America kasi hindi naman yan forever sa iyo o sa pamilya mo. Pero sadyang senti lang talaga akong tao siguro.

In the coming months, about New Casa Blanco na ang ipo-post ko. Excited na ako.

"Me" Room and House-Hunting

Ahhhh, how I miss my "Me" room! Right now, I am still trying to reconcile myself with the fact that I'd probably won't have my own space anymore in Canada.

This was my special place in our previous townhome in Edmonton.

There's a new townhouse development in Aldergrove and my husband has an appointment to view the sample units on March 4. He registered on their website a couple of weeks back and eventually received a notice that phase 1 homes are already ready for selling.

You see, the prices of new townhomes and condos in Metro Vancouver have soared so high that ordinary residents like us can no longer afford them. Hence, Ford suggested that we try to look farther. That's when the idea of living in Aldergove came in.

Medyo malayo na yung place (trivia: the Kent farm in the TV series Smallville is a working farm in Aldergrove), mga 35 minutes to Surrey and about an hour to downtown Vancouver. Boundary na rin ito ng BC at Washington, US. To be honest, ayoko talagang tumira doon. I don't drive in Canada yet so feeling ko maa-isolate ako, but this is our last shot in owning a brand new townhouse in BC. If not, we'll end up in small-sized condos or 30-40+ year-old townhomes in Metro Vancouver. As I have mentioned on this post, my husband wants a "new" home. Hangga't maari, ayaw niya talaga ng luma. Kung sabagay, mahirap bumili ng old townhomes kasi kahit na sabihing renovated, wala na rin yun value later on. Lugi lang kami.

Pero kung kelan naman ok na sa akin na tumira doon, saka naman parang naging imposible. Among the 30+ units that will be sold, dalawa lang ang kasya sa budget namin. Two-bedroom lang yun ha. My husband is scheduled on the second day of viewing (at sa bandang hapon pa) so I am not expecting na maaabutan pa niya. Yes, parang hot pandesal lang ang peg ng pagbili ng bahay dito. The prospective buyer has to make up his/her mind the very moment na ma-view niya yung units and issue a check for reservation. Unahan talaga. Ready na rin ang units for turnover by April kaya mabilisan na.

Sabi ng asawa ko, "kung para sa atin talaga yun eh makukuha natin." I agree, kaso nalulungkot pa rin ako. I want to move na and really start anew. Ayoko ng magtagal sa current apartment namin. For sure, hindi na rin namin magiging option na antayin ang ibang phases 2-4 ng townhomes kasi tiyak tataas na ang presyo dahil sa demand. Hay, to give you an idea, halos doble ng halaga ng dating bahay namin yung target namin ngayon.  Two-bedroom lang yun ha.

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So there, imposible na nga akong magkaroon ng panibagong "Me" room. I'd probably set up an area na lang in our future bedroom for my stationery/arts and crafts stuff.

Pero sige, ok lang. I just want to have my own house again.

Christmas in my Me Room

I was feeling blue today so I decided to cheer myself up by fixing my "Me Room." Yep, I have my own room in this house. Actually it's more of a 'work/craft area' where I store all my nonsense (but kawaii) stuff like pens, papers, and other stationery. I have a huge shelf here (I'll have to show it to you later, when it's already filled up haha!) and a computer table. I also have a white couch which can transform into a bed in case we have additional house guests.

The theme of the room is white and pink but since it's only fifty days before Christmas, I decided to temporarily replace the pinks with the reds.

This couch (or sofa bed) was bought in Ikea. 

It now looks Christmasy noh? And oh I really really love my Hello Kitty Santa! I feel a lot better now.

We only have three bedrooms in this house and I know that in a few years, I would have to give this room to Chicklet (unless we move to a bigger home?). We have a guestroom but we have to reserve that for guests, especially my in-laws who I know will often come to visit us (they are just 3-hours plane ride away). So for the mean time, let me enjoy my Me Room first.

Introducing my new blogging area

Hello! I am pleased to introduce my new blogging area...

I never planned on having a desktop computer in my work table (the husband wanted us to have one in my 'Me' Room so we no longer have to move the laptop from the first floor) so half the space was consumed. But I realized that it's ok. Less space, less clutter right?

Speaking of table, this was bought in Ikea. I originally wanted a bigger white table but I had to consider the size of the room so I settled for this simple and petite one. We also got the chair from Ikea. It is technically a dining chair but I felt that it's a perfect accent to my white-themed 'Me' Room. And it's very comfortable to sit on!

I have yet to figure out how to use this new computer (and Windows 8) but I'll get there. I am glad that after four months, I now have a computer of my 'own' again.

I'll show you the rest of my 'Me' Room as soon as I am done organizing it. Hope it turns out well! =)