Behind the Dust and Drywall

From the moment our Realtor opened the front door of our home, I knew it was the perfect house for Justin and I to start our lives together. I also knew I wanted to demo the kitchen as soon as the funds presented themselves. It's not that the kitchen was in terrible shape or was disgusting or even hard to navigate. It was just old. The appliances, cabinets and counters were original to the house. For appliances, 23 years is an awfully long time. We immediately purchased a new dishwasher, refrigerator and stove. New appliances made the kitchen much more livable. But the chipped, scratched counters and dated, off-white cabinets just didn't mingle well with the brand-new black appliances. (And that awful pink, tiled back splash!)

Replacing cabinets and counters seemed like the best course of action. On Saturday, September 20th, we found our new cabinets, ordered them two days later, and immersed ourselves into a huge, messy job. Replacing the cabinets? Well, naturally, that means we'll have to replace the floor. So we ended up gutting our kitchen down to drywall and backerboard. This could not have been done by just the two of us- I lost enough sleep as it was. While I did enjoy wielding a sledge hammer and pry bar, we couldn't have completed the demo portion of our project without the help of so many (Paul, Jess, Andrew and Matt). Once our beautiful new cabinets had arrived, we had a boat-load of help putting our kitchen back together (Paul, Matt, Helen and Megan). Thank you so much! Two weeks later, our granite counters were installed, and things were looking pretty darn good. Tiled back splash, trim and under cabinets lights were needed to give it that final pop. Finishing touches over the past two weeks have resulted in a gorgeous kitchen I am proud to call ours. Plus, we put our blood, sweat and tears into making this kitchen uniquely ours. It is truly a work of art.

Heels and Toes

When I first started knitting in November, my ultimate goal was to knit socks. I must admit, I have a thing for socks. They can have patterns or images, multiple colors or solid, plus, you can mix and match! Toe socks, knee socks... Yes, indeed. There is something mighty special about socks. So when I was told that I too can knit socks, I was incredulous. Me? Knit something I can wear? This must be too good to be true. Even so, I imagined one day I would achieve my dream. After a potholder, coin purse, six foot long scarf and baby booties, I would like to show off my newest creation.

Many thanks to Lynde for believing in me! (Plus showing me how those tricky double pointed needles work!) Now if only I had two....

Making Me Hungry

I would like to announce the debut of some excellent pictures of some tasty colored rooms. How are rooms tasty colored? Well, I will tell you. When Justin and I picked out paint colors for the guest bath, master bedroom and master bath, we didn't intend to lean towards.... edible names. It just happened.

Here we have the master bathroom- it flows into the picture in a creamy Hot Chocolate shade of light brown (although, the image does not do it justice).

The master bedroom is baked in a smooth Banana Creme Pie yellow.

And the tastiest transformation- the guest bathroom in a warm Hot Fudge. You would think from our color choices we like dessert, wouldn't you? Well, yes. I could live off ice cream.

Fun Fumes

A miracle has occurred. Our house is now officially "ours". Did we pay off our mortgage? Not a chance. Justin and I finally made a big cosmetic change to our home, finally differentiating it from the house we bought over a year ago. We painted!
Let me just be honest with you: I don't have a lot of painting experience. In my childhood home, we had wallpaper in every room. The only painting I did until age 18 was when we finished the basement. I got to paint the walls white. Very exciting, I know. In college, two friends and I moved into a on-campus house (Yay SAC Shack!) with separate bedrooms. So for the first time, I was able to express myself through the color on my bedroom walls. One color would have been boring, so I went with an entire landscape scene. Below the chair rail were green meadows and hills; above were blue skies and white, fluffy clouds. I think I might have even painted some flowers and trees. It was an eye opening experience to say the least. But I'm going off on a tangent...
So Justin and I picked out some colors over the weekend, bought the paint on Monday evening, and were too excited to wait for the long weekend to start. Last night we completed the boldest transformation: the guest bathroom. What was once stark white is now creamy chocolate brown. Once I get some artwork on the wall and some accessories in there, it will be a whole different room. It will be spectacular. Finally, I won't be ashamed to have people over! This weekend on our to-do list: master bedroom and master bathroom. Pictures of the completed projects to be posted soon!

Bouncing Baby Boy

Yay! My sister-in-law had her baby on Tuesday, June 24. Tate Michael came into the world at 5:43 pm, weighing in at 8 lbs 10 oz, 19 inches long. He has already stolen my heart. Thankfully, I got the ok from Katie to spoil him rotten.

It's Official

How did I get through college, especially a degree in Communications, without ever testing the waters of the Blogosphere? To be completely honest, I'm not sure. In fact, I didn't really catch the blogging bug until a particularly wordy girl got me hooked on hers. So after years of hearing about blogs on the news as the way of the future, getting articles from my mom encouraging me to join the revolution, and reading other people's blogs, I decided it was high time to join the masses.
So. It's official. I'm a lemming.