House Progress: 19 October 2010

Just a quick update on the house.... we FINALLY have our kitchen cabinets in!  Mark came this week and put in our doors, casing, trim and kitchen cabinets!  We are SO HAPPY with the outcome!  Thank you Mark!!!

* the kitchen island has since been set and crown molding has been added to the cabinets.  I was too impatient to wait and post pictures

The countertops have been ordered and we are moving on to some finishing details with the plumbing and electrical.  Moving in is finally feeling like a reality instead of some far off goal!!! =)

House Progress: 16 October 2010

Last time I updated about the house we were still trying to finish the wood floors.  Thankfully, we've finally made it past that! 

To Do:
1) Nathan ordered our doors, so we need to paint doors and trim completed
2) Paint interior of house completed 
3) Finish sanding wood floors and stain (living room, dining room, hallway and 3 bedrooms) completed 
4) Lay tile (mud room, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and my walk-in closet) completed, as of 10/18/10
5) Install kitchen cabinets, on the schedule for this week
6) Install trim and doors throughout house, on the schedule for this week
7) Purchase bathroom vanity (2) and install, on the schedule for this week

As you can see we've been busy painting lately.  Our parents came over and helped us a ton!  Nathan is hoping to finish up the tile yet today and then a friend of ours is coming tomorrow to start installing cabinets, doors and trim!  Yah! =) 

I tried to get pictures of the rooms so you could see our paint choices, but they just weren't coming out right.  None of the colors were nearly as dark as I thought they would be.  It's ok though... I'm just happy to be getting closer to move-in day!! =)

• Kitchen, Hall, Guest Bed & Bath are Gray Beige from Porter (light tan)
• Living Room, Dining Room and Guest Bed (2) are Sandstone from Porter (tan)
• Master Bath and Mud Room are Silver Sword from Porter (light gray with blueish tint)
• Master Bed is Silver Dollor from Porter (gray/brown)

tiling... in progress

 we covered windows and floors and sprayed the doors and trim

 

Being Real

I sometimes come out to create a post and want to make sure it sounds ok to anyone that might possibly stop by my blog or I worry about how I come across.  You know what... that is not truthfully showing you my life... aka, 'Leah's Life'.  My life is full of complete randomness and disorder right now... has been like this since we started working on The House!  I'm overwhelmed one second and laughing/crying (it varies) the next.

While I was out of town last weekend, my husband sent me a picture of our guest room.  I could have sworn it was actually a room from that show, Hoarders: Buried Alive.  No... it was in MY house!  I have been sorting and packing and this room has ended up as our 'catch all'.  And by all, I mean I have literally been throwing everything I don't have time to deal with in this room!  I am craving an organized and orderly life right now! =)

We got home from working on the house one night (9 PM) this week and I realized I was hungry and had not eaten anything all day.  Since my schedule (husband - ha!) does not allow time for grocery shopping lately our supper options were LIMITED.  I found some grape juice in the fridge and then made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I had to use hamburger buns 'cause that was the only bread we had.  Ah... improvising... it was a delicious supper regardless! =)  Most days I am surviving on caffeine and carry-out... I am losing weight and have never felt so unhealthy in all of my life!

My husband went out to check our mailbox the other day and sent me a picture of about 12 inches of mail.  Most of that (thankfully) was magazines, but it's even the little things (like checking mail) that I can't even remember to do lately!  My mind is completely gone or only remembers useless information. 

I've been coming home from working on the house (around 9 PM or so) to get my laptop and putting in a few more hours of work (for my paying job).  It's a cycle that is about to put me over the edge!

It's a good thing I have a lot of clothes because laundry gets done once a week, if that.  I use to work on it every evening when I came home so that I could keep on top of it.  Ha... now I just try to make sure we actually have a towel to dry off with after showers.  Although it might be a hand towel!

I could go on forever... I'm laughing as I type this because that's just where I am right now.  Know that I'm not complaining... just getting my feelings out =)  I have so much to look forward to in the coming months... vacation is a MUST and relaxing evenings will be a priority this winter!!!

So how's that for being real?  Welcome to my chaos... now back to regularly scheduled posting where I try to act like I have things together! =)

Whirlwind Weekend

My cousin got married in Virginia Beach over the weekend.  Due to work circumstances we had to drive the 14 hours and couldn't leave until 1 PM on Friday.  I traveled with my parents and decided I would just drive straight through.  We arrived around 3 AM... got settled in our room and to sleep around 4 AM.  I could hear the waves from our balcony but could not see a thing until morning... and it was beautiful!

The weather was perfect this weekend.  Made it relaxing and not too hot!  We had our balcony door open all morning and the sound of the waves made me wish our stay was much longer!  You see, we were back in the car by 9:30 PM on our drive back home.  Yeah, we were literally only there for 17 hours =)

The Reception was held at Lesner Inn in Virginia Beach and was beautiful!

Brother & Sister

(Dad's sister) Aunt Cindy, (cousin) Jana and Uncle Hugh

Best Wishes David & Christine!  Hope you are having a grand time on vacation! 

House Progress: 28 September 2010

These floors were about to get the best of us, but we stayed determined! =) 

Nathan didn't want his picture taken.  He really didn't sand the floors in this position!

I was going a little crazy with this process... as you can see =)

Dad and Nathan stained most of the house and Leisa (Nathan's Mom) helped with the living room and dining room.  Thank you - we appreciate it!!

  This is the closest to color in real life.  It was hard to get a good picture of the finished floors.

 Nathan came back to the house the next evening and put a second coat of stain down on everything!  It looked great.  For the floors being old, there are a few spots we couldn't make look perfect.  However, I am thrilled with the results!

The stain we used is Special Walnut by Minwax.  It looked a lot lighter on the can than it does on our floors.  We wanted the darker look though, so we are happy.

A New Discovery

Well, this isn't actually a new discovery, but it was the first time I've actually realized how great next summer/fall is going to be at our new house... because of these...

  

I needed some fresh air on Saturday when we were working out at the house, so I walked back to this grove of trees.  Isn't it delightful... Nathan said they even tasted good.  Next year we just need to catch them before the bugs get to too many of them.