Thursday, July 30, 2009

Mountains of Money


Now it comes as a shock to no one, including us, that houses are expensive. But how QUICKLY they become expensive has been a little daunting. Of course there's the mortgage, and the utilities, and the insurance, and all that. And there's the little things, like realizing you need a different kind of light bulb to relight your dining room. Then there's the slightly bigger, but equally anticipated renovations, like painting, and door repairs, and stain, and handles, etc... BUT, what has started to kill us is the stuff that has pushed its way up the priority list. Did we plan on eventually renovating the bathroom? Yes. Did we think it would be now before we realized the drywall was shot, and the wrong type was installed to begin with? Not so much. Did we plan on buying a washer and dryer? Yes. Did we mistakenly think they were on the home warranty? Yes. Did we have to buy them last night because the washer has entirely quit working? Yes. Then, to not feel left out, our little appliances have been dying. And not the microwaves. Oh, no, they know we have 3 of them, they're replaceable. My blow dryer, Chris's alarm clock? Yeah, dead.

It's still a great process, and we'll work through it, but if the coffee pot goes on strike? I'm out. Oh wait, we have 2 of those, too. I win, Mr. Coffee!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Moving Day Pictures





Yes! I'm finally posting them! Took me long enough!









Kyle worked hard.







How many people does it take to put together a table?












Mike and Kyle and the disaster of a kitchen.












Chris and the ladies (Amy and Kelle)










Monster didn't work so hard...








And thanks to Tim, Jen, and Matt, even if they didn't make it into the pictures.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Church

I know, I haven't posted pictures yet of the house, but we finally have one of the many wedding dramas resolved. We have a church again. Now THEY better not decide to do renovations or anything. St. Peter's. Near the reception hall. Same date, same time. Check it out here: http://www.stpetersnet.org/

Monday, July 27, 2009

Quick Rundown

Pictures will be up later today, but HUGE thanks to: Tim, Random Dude, Mike, Matt, Kyle, Kelle, Amy and Jen!!!


Random Dude was named Pat. He walked in asking if this was the moving party. Well, yes, but who are you? He's from God's Hysterics, duh... Um... Random Dude, while very nice, was supposed to be moving someone else in the apartment complex. Bye, Random Dude.


Accomplished items since we last spoke:
- Master has 1 coat of paint (still needs another)
- Lined about 1/2 the kitchen cabinets, put more of the sticky little bumper things on them
- Cleaned/rectified enough of the upper bath that it's semi-usable until we renovate it
- Chimney and roof are both progressing
- Some stuff has been put away, but we're still living with a lot of boxes
- AND the washer died. Totally. Kaput. Currently shopping for a new one. Sigh...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Countdown Begins

Now that we are TWO DAYS away from moving in, you might think I'm close to regaining my sanity...and you'd be wrong. We're moving towards having a renovated house, but not quite done. Since last update, we've accomplished the following:

- Touch ups on blue man cave trim
- Master is primed, and trimmed out in the color
- Cleaning has started
- Chimney is started
- Roof is started
- More things are getting moved from the apartment


However, as we get closer to renovation bliss, we get closer to d-day. And by that, I mean decorating. Having spent most of our money, I am looking for inexpensive ideas.









For instance, this mantle by Lucas Allen is beautiful. I love the paper butterflies. I may try and recreate something like them in a wall-hanging.


However, for now, I'll worry about furniture placement. Doesn't cost a thing!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Don't Sleep and Renovate


So, I may have pushed myself too far. Aside from just getting cranky, my exhaustion has caused more than a few mishaps.

Two days ago, when trying to finish the family room's second coat, there was a ladder-meets-fan incident that I hinted at. I was moving the ladder, the fan was on, it hit the ladder, and the blade went flying across the room. Not pretty. Good thing we were planning on replacing it anyway.

Yesterday, my hot streak continued. Small issues, like dabs of paint where they shouldn't be, but then I managed to WHACK my head on the miter saw when bending for a paint can. Still hurts nicely today.

Next, when returning from the grocery after reno work, I confused the gas and the brake. Yeah, brilliant. Rammed the car into the parking block, and busted part of the bumper. Hasn't fallen off yet. Thank God.

Finally, after fighting with Chris because "I shouldn't be tired" according to him, ...umm..., I curled up with a book in bed at like 8pm. Then proceeded to puke my guts out. But will I be back tonight to do more? You betcha.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

House in Progress

I...am...so...tired... You wouldn't even believe. It was another LONG weekend at the house, with more wonderful helpers, and it's finally starting to look like a home. We're pretty close to wrapping up most of the projects we want to do before moving in, and will be mostly packing, cleaning, and moving stuff this week. And...I still have to paint our bedroom. Minor little detail. Anyway, here's what you came to see. Pictures.









Monster isn't fond of moving.








I lost my mind and painted Chris's Penn State man cave.












The bar.







The kitchen.

Other finished projects: family room is painted, den is painted, door to laundry is replaced, dead air conditioners are removed and the walls are patched, ugly kitchen light is replaced, hardwood floor for the family room is purchased (but not installed yet), some outlets replaced, holes in laundry room closed so Monster can't hide in them. Think that's it. A lot.

Upcoming:
- Paint master
- Install floor
- Rehab chimney (mason coming next week)
- Replace roof (contractor coming next week)
- Ground electric (electrician theoretically starting sometime soon)
- Logo on bar wall
- Repair or replace washer
- Fix dining room ceiling where roof leaked
- Replace ceiling fans in master and kitchen (there was an incident with the ladder)
- Renovate the upstairs bathroom (currently demo's done...)

Only a couple things in the next month or two, right? Doh...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Change in diet


So, here's the irony...I've been pestering Chris for awhile that I've wanted to be a vegetarian again. We've tried limiting the number of meat meals, and recently agreed that I would eat poultry and fish around him, but limit it otherwise. I also am lactose intolerant, so I eat limited dairy. I am not overweight. I am active. I eat Cheerios every day. I don't have a sweet tooth. All that being said...I just found out I have high cholesterol. Damn you family history!

So...now I have an even better reason to go vegetarian. And to knock off the 10 lbs I've been meaning to lose forever. (While not overweight, I am at the upper end of the recommended range. Plus, want to look good in the wedding dress I just bought!!!) Therefore, the battle begins. In the past, I have lost the war to wonderful things like BACON. I know my cousin, Peter, is a big fan of the fake stuff, so we'll see.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Take a Chance Challenge: Random Book Selection


For my random book selection, where I had a plan on where to go in the library, I ended up with "Every Good Boy Does Fine" by Tim Laskowski. Admittedly, I finished this quite awhile ago, but completely forgot about posting it. I REALLY enjoyed this book and don't think I would have picked it up on my own. The main character had been a concert pianist in his "real life." That is, the time before his brain injury. In his early twenties, he had gone rock climbing, fallen, and lost most of his short term memory, inhibitions, and some physical function. His struggles to deal with his new "real life" were fascinating, and based off of the author's relationship with a brain-damaged patient in his own life. Grade: A

Adventures in Renovation


So...it was a very long, yet very productive weekend. We put in two very full days and had a WONDERFUL crew of 3 extra people helping us out. And there was very little arm twisting. Two of them even showed up two days in a row! We have taken lots of pictures of the current status, and those will be uploaded later today (hopefully).

The most exciting part involved an "I told you so moment." I really dislike hot feet. REALLY...DISLIKE. Therefore, I am not a fan of working in sneakers. Yeah, I know, it's a construction site, and there is all sorts of crud on the floor, but my feet are tough. Right?!?! Anyway, my feet weren't the problem. I stepped into the kitchen, onto a wet floor, in flip-flops and WIPED out. No graceful Gene Kelley kind of choreographed fall, either. Smack. Boom. Arm right into the railing leading down the stairs into the bathroom. Chris walked in to see me writhing in pain on the floor, and, to his credit, did ask me how I was before telling me I shouldn't be wearing flip-flops. Fortunately, no broken arm, no trip to the emergency room, any of that. Just a pretty bruise.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Our version of Easter


I just ran across another blog, discussing their crazy Easter egg hunt, and I truly believe that no one can out-do ours... I regularly kick butt, and make upwards of $75. You have to understand, while some of these eggs hold candy or change, some hold up to $20. Unfortunately, at least one of the $20 is usually sunk at the bottom of the pool, and since I have to drive some ways afterwards, I don't usually go for THAT egg. Also, what is crazy, is that more than one of these participants is or was a college athlete. (Including myself. Water-polo. Real sport.) However, I am SUBSTANTIALLY smaller than everyone else. Not in weight (at least not anymore), but in height. Bobby's got about a foot and 1/2 on me. I'm the little one in the purple 1-strap tank. This was our "ghetto" year. We wrote all sorts of fun slogans on our bodies. Yes, mine says, "Two schools smarter." We're a little proud of our institutions of higher learning, can you tell? I hope it happens again this year. It hasn't since Jim and Sara moved away from NC and her parents. We need more 20-somethings running around like fools while I'm still a 20-something!!!


See some other people (also named Katie and Chris) who participate in such mature activities.