February 16: Niches.

Nate's work is really close to the house, so everyday after work, he stops at the house to get more homework done. Nate shoveled more snow and put screws in the subfloor to get rid of some squeaky spots. We met each other at the apartment and ate a quick supper.

After dinner we went shopping. We went to Home Depot to order the tile for our master bathroom. Then, we went to Lowe's and bought a stove, insulation for the crawl space, and some light fixtures.

We have definitely given a lot of business to Home Depot, Lowe's, and Menards. We have found that they all have different niches. We've been going to Home Depot whenever we need the raw materials for a do-it-yourself project. The staff know about all the areas in the house. We got all of our paint, plumbing materials, tile, fan, and will get all of our lighting stuff there. Menards has been awesome for miscellaneous tools and we will also get our sinks for the bathrooms there. Lowe's is where we've gotten most of our appliances. We did also get some appliances from Sears. It's nice to know exactly which store will have the best quality and the best deals on whatever we're looking for.