Where Was I a Year Ago???

A year ago I had just begun the "move in" process for my house. In fact, Jeff and I spent the 4th of July last year listening to the pops of neighborhood fireworks as we were busting our tails painting the entire inside of the house! What a long way we've come over the past year!

1. I know more about Lowe's and Home Depot than I ever thought possible---and to top that, I can even find things by myself in there!
2. We are one Kick-A** painting team--it still looks great even though we've made some changes.
3. I have learned to use power tools--and they are FAB-U-LOUS!
4. We have done remodeling together and are still talking!
5. I can mow the lawn, use the blower, and sometimes weed-eat
6. I had a great teacher in Jeff--who has definitely been patient when doing all these home projects!

I must say that even though I have a lot more growing up to do, I'm proud of myself! I definitely couldn't have done it without friends, family, and Jeff.

Happy 4th of July to all! I hope this year finds everyone getting to watch the fireworks somewhere--and not listening to them like us last year! :)

What a Weekend!

Wow! We had an amazing weekend of getting things done around the house! It's true when they say the house owns you, not the other way around. The good thing is that Jeff and I really do enjoy working together and finding new projects around the house (and the 1970's aspect of the house keeps us working and working and working....). Anyway...a list of weekend accomplishments:

1. Pipes--mainly to help with the sprinkler system problems (We also found out that Roger--our neighbor--helped install another system on the block and they can't figure out how theirs works either! We think he hides the manual and studies it so he can "come over and help us out".) But now most of the house has new pipes. Don't know how water got through the old pipes. See the picture below (sorry--I can't figure out how to insert a picture and type around it)--it's like the "ghost of pipes past" is laughing at us! That is actually how much water got through that pipe--so sad!

2. Office cleaned out; bedrooms/bathrooms cleaned thoroughly; some pictures/shelves/art hung

3. Lawn mowed and Jeff re-worked the electric fence since Chip's starting digging in his "cool spot" in the dirt. Sorry Chipper--no more dirt spot for you!

4. All that PLUS cooking/cleaning with only a tub of water since the water was off most cooking times during the weekend. In all reality...Jeff did a GREAT job of getting things working when we needed it. He only worked in early morning or late evening since it was so hot.

Great weekend, great time spent together, and a house that's looking great! What more could I ask for?

New Bathroom/Closet

Jeff finished my closet/bathroom remodel and I'm now able to move back in!!! It's been a long time coming, but it looks great and thanks to the help of "Tile Master" Brent, it's all done---minus a few little details that don't affect me moving in! (yeah!!) Jeff does such a great job at getting everything to look perfect, and this new remodel is just what this master bed/bath needed. Now it doesn't look like an old 1970's house where you look at the vanity from the bed! Everything is now completely separated and can now actually fit a husband/wife in there instead of just having one of everything. He's added new electrical outlets, more closet space, more storage space, and new lighting--with switches (which is great since now my closet doesn't have the "pull chain" light anymore!).

We're hoping to do more to hopefully increase the value of the house, but not get in over our heads. The brass is now almost completely out of the master bed/bath, so that's a plus! We ARE NOT brass fans, so anything that has it is either being changed or spray painted! Thanks HGTV!!!

I walked around the house the other night as I was organizing/cleaning my new bath/closet and realized that this house is finally becoming what we want it to be, which is really exciting! We've put a lot of sweat into it, and with the help of family and friends (and new carpet after a tax refund), it's completely worth it!

We treated ourselves to a little "house break" this weekend by inviting some friends over for game night last night too, so that was fun---and helped us work on our hosting skills---we weren't bad! Even Chip behaved himself for the night. Patio furniture is now on the list of things we need, but we made do with what we had! I'm all for waiting for the sale, so it doesn't bother me at all!

Pictures will come later this week---I just tried and they're not rotated the correct way and I've got to grade papers! This too, will come in time!