The state of affairs

Darin took a few images of the place a few weeks ago when we went to visit his family. Seeing as how no progress has been made since then, these are basically accurate!







The project on deck that I MUST get accomplished - putting together the office so that I may study without distracting myself. (That and the upstairs bedroom - which now has paint! - are the home of all the boxes STILL yet to be unpacked!!!)

Absent

Time flies!! It's been a busy second half to the summer. Our weekends have been jam packed with all kinds of parties, Brewer games (woo hoo to the playoffs!!), cookouts and relaxing. Before switching gears for the first year of pre-winter maintenance (note to self, must buy snow shovels!) and buckling down to start studying for our licensing exams....a look at the fun times...

Movies in the park





drinking...




more drinking...(50 beers for a 50th bday - it went over great!)




"camping"





(note the facilities I need to camp)

Needs and Wants

And the list goes on... things that are more "needs" are at the top....it devolves into "wants" near the bottom. Darin and I added to it in different colors. I bet it's not hard to guess which belongs to whom!

· Snow shovels
· Shoe trays by front and back door
· Kitchen rugs
· Rug at front door
· Bench with linen storage for master bedroom
· Wire shelving for basement
· New wall diffusers for 1st floor bathroom & kitchen
· Threshold for entry door
· Gutter modifications for rain barrels
· Cont. Vented Soffits for attic
· Insulation & baffles for attic
· Shallow mounted ceiling fan w/ light in 2nd floor bedroom
· Compost Tumbler


· Curtain rods and drapes in all rooms but kitchen
· Bedside tables
· Bedside lamps – master
· Shelf for growing spices in kitchen window over sink
· New light fixtures throughout except bathrooms
· New switch plates, switches and outlet covers
· Door handles – throughout interior. Lever type, silver color, brushed finish.
· Low flow showerhead
· Standup ironing board
· metal dryer vent assembly
· New mail box
· Motion sensor outdoor lighting @ garage/patio areas
· Tiki torches for patio area
· Bon fire stand
· Kim’s closet remodel materials
· Landscaping & re-grading of lawn
· Flat panel TV’s (40” in living room & 19-22” w/ DVD in kitchen)
· Coffee table and end tables
· Hammock
· Espresso machine

Lately

Not much to report on the housing front lately - it seems like life has gotten in the way. This past weekend I participated in my first (probably only, lol) triathlon. Well, it would have been a TRIathlon if not for the toxic algae found in the lake, which meant a second running event for me. I met my seemingly modest but huge for me goals of a) surviving, and b) finishing! I didn't train much the last two of three months since this has been coming up, due to aforementioned life getting in the way, so I'm fairly sore to the point of paralyzed today. :) I feel like my 10 minute running (jogging....shuffling a touch faster than walking - which is usually a 15 minute mile) miles were pretty respectable with the lack of training, but my 12 mph biking miles...well, those were sad. Uphill, into the wind, freeway adjacent, and getting passed by nearly everyone, including children, sad. What can I say, I lack the quad strength to deal with hills! Straight away, I truck along slower than the really good people, but faster than some. Once I hit a hill though....dead in the water, so to speak. IF I should ever do this again, the major adjustments I would make would be, obviously, to do some training. And it would include short, hilly rides along with the few really long rides that I did manage to do. (Those were few and far between though...and there were only three.) :) Also, more than just that one jog....

Maggie (who peer pressured me into doing this), Erica (the pro), and me before the "race." Some people actually raced. Me, not so much. :)

And here are some random assorted old pictures...

Darin, assembly king.

Jezabel, the princess. Oh so helpful.

Again, with the helping. She's stuffed herself inside the entertainment center.

New developments

Literally! We met another of our neighbors last night, and she happens to be our alderperson. She told us that just around the corner, there will soon be a bank (boring) and retail (potentially awesome) development, and on the opposite corner, a microbrewery and restaurant (definitely awesome!) will break ground in the fall! I think this is great! The one thing our crummy apartment had going for it was location, and proximity to cool stuff. I was a little sad to leave my walking distance to shops, bars, and friends. So I am very excited that now I might have all three again (I technically can walk to several friends' houses, it's just a long walk!)!

Attention road raging tailgater

Yes you. On the bridge. The one where the cop sits weekly. Your lateness really isn't my fault. So please extract yourself from my bumper.

Making strides

I've been a little silent lately, but rest assured, it's been due to progress! Also not having internet at home and being super busy at work have contributed. Without further ado, here are a ton'o progress photos!

Darin's gas line. Moving this line involved FOUR separate trips to Home Depot. But it works!

Cabinet surgery. The doors have yet to be reattached, lol.

Conveniently, only I can fit inside many of our closets. So I got to do all the painting. Woo hoo?

The test spot for the wall color. Kind of scary!

No one should EVER put peel and stick tiles on wood flooring! What a mess!

I happen to love how the color came out! Orange isn't so scary! PS, like the use of the "stove"?

Yay fridge!

The aftermath of the fully adhered tile mess.

Darin insisted on sanding our door down to bare wood before repainting. It stayed in the basement for about a week, but it turned out great!

Confession - I did one day of laundry, and have now passed the torch to Darin. Oh yeah, and who knew regular detergent is not good for front loaders. Good thing I actually read the directions!

Master bedroom.

Darin painting one of many, many things white.


Our most fantastic helper painting in the living room - my mom! Really, even though there is not a DROP of paint on her clothes, she was working hard. This is also a skill I did not inherit.

This is what happens when the doors were open all day, and you try to paint at night. Those are little bugs, and yes, they bite.

Psuedo finished living room, from dining room.

Opposite direction, dining room from living room. Classy burnt out bulb.


Living room into dining room again. Note the horrible pink walls still visible in the hall to the right.

Same rooms, different angle. The inside of another closet I painted.

Living room into dining room.

Ditto.

That one time I did laundry. Forgive the heinous photo.

Stain options. We asked for DARK, the left one was the first option. I think we had different definitions of dark.....

We went with the top one throughout the house, despite the floor guy's misgivings about staining the maple upstairs and pine stairs a dark color.

What choice did I have?! I hated these options....

This is also neither of the colors we chose (on the maple). I would have liked all dark floors, and the light shade on the right for the maple, but I don't think everyone would. So we went ultra dark.

Bare wood - already looks better than the yellow/orange!

Where there was no wood before, now there is!

The hall is new. They did a great job.

Can't even see the line between new and old.

Well, here you can.

Can I just say, that you don't know dust until you have had your entire house sanded!!!

So, here are the images we snuck before they did the final sealer coats. I think the dark looks way better than the other options.

So there it is, if you're still with me - the pre move progress! I'll work on post move once we can see through the boxes. Furniture arrives tomorrow (!!!!) so maybe I'll get a few shots of that.