We spent a great deal of November at the new house, cleaning out the dirt and grime from the old owner’s, before we moved in. Several nights a week we would come home from work, load up the car with packed boxes of our belongings, drive to the new house, unload and then clean for a couple of hours. We borrowed a shop vac and vacuumed the attic and basement, we uninstalled an old electric hood, we shampooed the rug in the one room in the house with carpet, etc. We spent a great deal of time on the kitchen, especially on the cabinets, which had all sorts of previous owner residue – ranging from maple syrup to candle wax. Mom came over and spent several nights contact papering the drawers and inside the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms. Amy, Joe and Justin (who now live so close :) joined us for take out dinners and helped with little projects as well. Justin particularly enjoyed hiding in the empty pantry cabinet (as shown above). It was (and continues to be) a lot of work, but now that we are here, it’s all well worth it.