Much ado about Nepper's Landing.

Well, this has been a busy, busy week around Nepper's Landing. Of course they all seem to be, but this has been a getting things in order kind of week (one of my favoritest things...ever!). I was hoping to say that I was writing this from my downstairs desk, but I ran out of time before we left for the in-laws house, so I'm technically writing it from there. But yes, I have a desk in the basement! This is monumental stuff around here! If you'll remember my previously, constantly, hideously cluttered desk...

Ugh! And yes, right smack dab in the middle of my living room. So over it!

So I picked up this 'beauty' at a garage sale last weekend for $15. Rob isn't exactly fond of it, and he was less than impressed with the weight of it. But I gotta say, she's kind of growing on me...

Considering the age of this beauty (probably circa 1970's), its in incredible condition. I'm not a super huge fan of the top (which looks a bit like a wood-grain arborite top), but the rest of it is solid wood. Minus the brass toes, I'm actually kind of a fan. And the storage? Well, let me tell you about storage...
Tee hee, my very own junk drawer!
A place for scrap paper (because seriously, you use the back side of paper, right? All the cool kids are doing it!) and CD cases.
Not to mention, after I loaded up these drawers will all my desk stuff, I realized I had forgotten about the drawer on the top right! Ooo la la, more storage! So now you can see my desk set up is considerably less cluttered, I have oodles of storage, and the shelves above with the baskets give me everything I need within such a small area! I'm in love!
*Forgive the hideous tangle of cords...
Do you remember the legendary garage sale last spring where I got the best deals of my life? I picked up the little cabinet for $5. It had two sliding doors on the front that the husband ripped out. The inside has always been that blue color which kind of makes me happy. So I gave the outside a coat of 'Swiss Coffee' (one of the small tester tins I had used for the living room), and will eventually touch up the inside with the blue that I plan to paint the downstairs bathroom. You can see where Rob drilled through to the stud to hang it, so I'm hoping to cover those up when I do paint. I'm kind of loving the white, blue and seagrass baskets together...
The baskets hold some of my cards, stationary, camera cords, phone chargers, and other miscellaneous stuff. The best part? You can't see it!

So I'm quite pleased with my new "office." I had hunted for weeks for the perfect desk, and still couldn't find anything. The one I truly wanted was $250, but, ahem, that's just a touch over budget! So old woody will have to do, and like I said, its kind of growing on me. The only dilemma is where to put my printer, and I'll need a place for the filing cabinet. Not sure I want the printer on the desktop (as I'm loving the uncluttered look).
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And in other most exciting Nepper news! We got a new (to us) minivan on Friday! I have to say it all happened quite fast. Essentially our car has been on monthly payments since we moved to Alberta (5 years). Ugh! We still had over a year to go (I think we refinanced somewhere in there), so it was just dragging on and on. The car was finally at the point where it had equal value to the loan (sad, sad, sad depreciation...). So Rob had suggested we pay it off using our RRSP's. Now I know some financial planner type will be shaking their head, but I figure we were definitely struggling with the payment now...all the while trying to save for later.

So Rob said that on Sunday, I agreed on Monday (always takes a woman at least an extra day to decide!), we had a call in to cash in the RRSP's on Wednesday. We called our friend who owns a car dealership on Thursday. We took the van for a test drive that night. We had it by Friday afternoon! Wow, talk about a whirlwind! So now, we own a minivan, which feels super cliche, but now things like road trips aren't a daunting packing challenge, the kids actually have room to breathe, and now I can bring oodles of garage sale goodies home, with ease!

Behold...Henry. Our 2001 Ford Windstar. Sexy sage green.
So now...no more car payment, we actually own our vehicle (a novel idea really!), and it provides us with plenty of room. Its great, and super freeing. I couldn't advocate for everyone to cash in their RRSP's, but for us, we feel this was a good call.

Abbi went with Daddy for the orange car's last ride (Sniff, sniff. Bye, bye Orangie!). During which the engine light came on...seriously, the first time in 5 years! I'm sure you can guess we were even more thrilled to make the switch! It was a good car. The first one we ever owned when we came to Alberta and has done us well during snowstorms, two kids and plain old life. So Henry has some pretty big shoes (wheels?) to fill.

Abbi fell asleep halfway home. Too much excitement I suppose...

So yes, lots going on around here. We leave for the Island in roughly two weeks, so once I get through my course I can go into packing mode. Sigh, its just that school will be a touch intense with 3 more classes and 2 exams (one on Monday, one on Friday - of the same week!). I basically have to cover 1/3 of the course, on my own, in one week! (we leave for the Island 2 weeks before the class officially ends). Somehow I thought I was up to this challenge when I signed up for it. I sure hope I am!

We are currentlybusy working away at Rob's parent's house. We offered our services for a weekend, helping them get things finished up, painted (my job), and put together. Remember my old computer desk? Well, my MIL was happy to have it, so that is where I write this post from. Its so much lovelier...in someone elses house!

Hope you are enjoying your long weekend folks!