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When we sold our Thornton house we wanted it listed as "move-in ready," which meant appliances were included.  It was our realtor's suggestion, since houses like that sold a lost faster (must have worked!).  We'd gotten most everything from Craigslist or garage sales, with the exception of a new stove and range hood, but everything ran well so we were pleased to get a nice bonus from leaving our stuff that wasn't expensive in the first place.  Then, when we bought this house and didn't have any appliances, how handy:  "Appliances included."

Fast forward to our first day here.  The dishwasher doesn't work AT ALL. It SOUNDS like it runs but the motor is completely shot, so instead of spraying water onto the dishes (you know, cleaning them and such) it dribbles water into the base and makes a huge mess and doesn't clean anything, including itself.  Well, fine, we got our last dishwasher on Craigslist for $50, this won't be a big deal... except that Pueblo hasn't quite caught the Craigslist bug like Denver, and there was not one single dishwasher listed! Like, ever! Okay, so we need to buy new, that's a bummer...

Fast forward to our second day here.  Whipping up a chef-inspired pot of macaroni and cheese for the kids (complete with paper plates and plastic utensils because I don't have a dishwasher and don't need THAT much handwashing, thanks), I had the burner on high and turned it to med-high once the noodles started frothing so they didn't boil over.  I checked on the noodles 2 minutes later and there's no sign of bubbles in the water - they're not boiling over, but they are not boiling AT ALL.  This is exactly the same problem we had with our stove in Thornton (before we bought new) - the electric coils are loose and don't have a decent connection so if you shift the pan or change the heat setting or (heaven forbid) look at it wrong, the burner turns off! Whatever when you're making macaroni for the kids, but it is AWFUL if you're on a time crunch, or cooking something that needs decent attention, or if you're having a bad day and you already want to kick something.  So guess what? We needed to buy new - again.

Fast forward to our first electric bill. All August we worked on the house so we had the fridge plugged in and kept snacks and drinks here, but we certainly didn't LIVE here to use any electricity (no TV, computer, etc) and we worked during the day so we didn't use lights, meaning the bill should have been about $10. ORRRRR... $35 to run one stupid fridge.  That drips water inside.  That might as well match the new appliances that we're already buying, I suppose! 

So buyer, BEWARE... "appliances included" does not mean those appliances actually WORK. They might just be there for show.

Here's wat we've come up with, though:
These two babies were delivered today

 Did you happen to notice how AWESOME they are? Because we did! 23 cubic feet of fridge storage that doesn't leak and is EnergyStar rated to cost $50 a YEAR to run!  Double doors for easy access to the kitchen OR *future* breakfast nook! I don't have to stoop to get the milk! I've never had a new fridge in my LIFE!  The dishwasher has all the buttons on the TOP of the panel so kids will leave the dang cycle settings ALONE since they can't SEE them (a weird, but very valid, consideration), and the top rack changes height so you can load up some seriously oddly-sized items.  Maybe not a huge selling point for most people, but I despise handwashing dishes and when you make a big meal that uses lots of big mixing bowls and pots and pans it can be impossible to load them!  But not now... 

I am looking SO forward to Joe installing this so I can use my remaining pregnancy time to finish painting, not hand-washing yet another load of dishes from the day (but don't worry, I'll still waste some time blogging!).

The stove is coming on the 26th. 5 burners, eh? eh? Now I can make 5 check-inspired mac n' cheese meals AT ONCE. But really, it has a huge burner (I've nicknamed it Big Bessie already) that's perfect for my big canner (and yes, mom, I researched up and down and the manufacturers specifically state that canning, even pressure canning, is OK on a glass top).and those other 4 will just be the icing on my New Stove cake.  In fact, maybe with a new stove I'll have to bake a cake to celebrate... 

And yes, all the appliances are white to match our up-and-coming project of painting the kitchen cabinets white! Wahoo!