Our Mudroom that Isn't A Mudroom

When we moved back to Hometown nearly three (!!!) years ago, there were two projects I really wanted done.  This of course, was in addition to the cleaning, painting, and new carpet that needed to be installed prior to us even moving back in.  Ahem. 

The first item I really wanted was a "built in" computer desk in our family room area.  We have a three bedroom house and with the little brother on the way, we would no longer have a dedicated "office/computer room" and there was this perfect little alcove in our family room that would allow ample space for a nice big computer desk with plenty of room for the computer, printers, and all the computer/office related stuff.  My awesome parents got most of the desk done a little over a year and a half ago and it's just as gorgeous as I pictured in my head.  And rumor now has it they are starting on the top portion (shelving above the desk, complete with trim and cove molding) very soon.  As I said, the desk portion turned out beautifully and it has been more than functional for our every day needs, so please know I am not complaining at all! 

The second thing I wanted was a mudroom.  Don't we all, right?  Well, with our current house, the gorgeous mud "rooms" that you can find very easily on Google or Pinterest are pretty labor intensive if you plan to do it yourself.  Which we did/do.  (And we all know by now, that I use the term "we" very, very loosely, right?)  Plus, there are several other things we want to do with this tiny little space (put in a pocket door for the laundry room, which will involve moving TWO light switches to the other side of the door, not to mention ripping out all the drywall to install/reframe for the pocket door) and those things just aren't in the cards right now, with being both short on time and money.  So in the interest of making this space functional for our comings and goings, having it be somewhat temporary, and still aesthetically appealing and cost effective, the Hubs made this for me as my Christmas gift. 

This is our main entry point through our home.  We rarely, if ever, use our front door.  We go in and out through our garage door that is located in our laundry room.  The laundry room has space for a utility sink and in the sink alcove we have a clothes rack above the sink that we used at one point to hang clothes that needed to air dry, etc.  It was a nice little space for that.  Plus, the sink was there and we used it for stain treating clothes, cleaning muddy boots, and all those other things you use utility sinks for.  But somehow over the last year and a half, that rack has become a coat rack for us all and with that, we didn't really have easy access to our sink anymore, because coats were always hanging in the way.  Plus, when we were in a hurry (are you ever not as parents of littles?) taking all those coats down always knocked down the spray bottles on the sinks edge, so that was always fun.  Or not.

So now I have a nice little coat rack thanks to my mom's design (she did the same thing a few months back in their laundry room at their house) and Hubs hard work.  And as with the desk, rumor has it from Hubs that he would like to get the bench built in time for my birthday this spring!

That would be awfully nice, my dear.  Awfully, awfully nice. 




 

Random Thoughts

Just some of the randomness from the last week:

The Peanut has been asking to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house for several weeks now.  I was on the phone yesterday with my mom and Peanut was waving rather wildly to get my attention.  And who am I kidding, she was whispering RATHER loudly too, about her NEED to talk to Grandma as I was getting ready to hang up.  So Peanut gets on the phone and asks Grandma when she can spend the night and I hear an "uh huh.....okay.....love you too, Grandma" and she hangs up.  I ask her what Grandma said.  Peanut tells me confidently, "Grandma said I can spend the night in the next year."

"The next year? Are you sure it wasn't before the end of the year?" knowing full well my mom would never give Peanut a 365 day window of spending the night--and even just as doubtful that she would even give a 60 day window of time.

"Nope, that's what she said."  And she went back to playing.

So I talked to my mom this morning, "So mom, what exactly did you tell Peanut about spending the night?" {We had just made specific plans for her to spend the night this weekend}  "Oh, I told her we've been really busy, but definitely in the next month or so."

While Peanut's concept of time is getting much better than it used to be, I guess we still need to work on terms like months and years.

♥

The Little Brother's newest phrase any time he sees a picture of him and his sister on the computer, a cell phone, a framed picture, etc?  "Ohhhh, that so CUTE!"

♥ 

My roots grow out is something awful right now and my mama (bless her heart!!!) is going to color those this weekend.  Why, yes, I am still trying to hang on to the vestige of my youth (blond hair).  I've never really felt like myself with the brown hair I developed in my twenties.  That said, the silver lining is that my hair is probably close to 25-30% gray now, so I can confidently say that my hair is actually starting to get lighter again.  Or not--at 35, I am not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

♥ 

I have an awful habit of biting my nails.  Yes, I know.  Tacky.  Gross.  SO unladylike {spell check tells me this is all one word.....who knew?}  It's an awful, nervous habit.  Well, I figured out if I paint my nails, I am much less likely to bite them.  So girlfriend has been keeping her nails painted for the better part of two months and my nails look so much nicer!  But of course, then I have to repaint my nails nearly every week, because while I won't mess with my newly painted nails, once that first nail chips?  All bets are off and I start picking at the polish.  See?  NERVOUS HABIT.

♥ 

The Hubs and my dad felled the two large trees in our front yard this past weekend.  Boy, was that stressful to watch.  It probably would have been a good idea to call in some professionals for peace of mind (mostly mine!), but that just wasn't in the budget and the trees sadly needed to come down.  Why, you ask?  Because we hate the leaves.  I am SO kidding!  No, really there were two major factors.  We have a VERY tiny yard and the trees were just getting to be too big.  Like many people, the prior homeowners didn't account for the fact that trees grow and they get bigger.  When that happens in such a tiny little yard, the root systems can start to cause problems with the foundation as well as any paved surfaces.  Just a couple blocks away from our house, our city went through the neighborhood and highlighted (with hot pink spray paint, no less) any damaged sidewalks from tree roots.  You can guess who gets to pay to have the sidewalks replaced--the homeowner.  Well, we are not in the position to pay $5-10K to have the sidewalks around our home repaired.  While the trees hadn't done any damage just yet, it would have happened in the next couple years, so the trees needed to come down while they were still somewhat manageable to do ourselves {you know I use that term very loosely, right?}.
 

The deer on the right was just a little visitor we had this past summer.  SO NOT normal for our little suburbia!

Anyhow, thanks to my dad's help and Hub's cautiousness (not that my dad is an idiot--he's not at all, I just think they balance each other out in some ways) both trees came down just fine.  Of course, I DIDN'T get a nice before shot to give you an idea of just how big the front tree was, but it was pretty good sized.

Enough to make this mama's heart rate sky rocket and palms sweaty during the cutting process and to make my knees/legs like Jell-O for the better part of 15 minutes after the tree was down.  

We live on a corner, so Hubs played the part of traffic control from both directions in case there were any cars coming at any point during the cutting.  The bigger of the two trees was definitely tall enough to lay across our street, so obviously we didn't want any liabilities from the whole thing.  So Hubs was cautiously darting back and forth across the street to watch for cars (and a falling tree!) while my dad was hopping around the trunk of the tree with the chainsaw going full force, doing his best to "expertly" cut the tree so it fell that way instead of this way. 


Yes, I was a little stressed.

But I couldn't NOT watch, because you know I had the full capability to stop anything bad from happening.  Ahem. 

In the end, things went great (even the weather cooperated! PTL!!)  and Hubs has nearly all the debris hauled off.  Now he gets to work on getting the trunks and roots torn out.

And silly me, I thought the hardest part was over!

Bountiful Harvest

I've mentioned more than once that my dad so kindly puts in a garden for me every year.   As in he buys the starts and/or seeds, plants them, and then graciously lets us (who am I kidding? the Hubs) come and pick all the produce and take it home.

A very wonderful dad indeed.

This year we had a crazy hot summer and he also planted a crazy amount of tomato starts.  So with those two factors combined, we had quite the tomato harvest.  So I have been canning.  Like the most I have ever done in one summer.  I've dabbled in it here and there for the last several years, but this year? 

Girlfriend did a TON (at least for this one!!!) of canning.  I've canned seven pints of yummy cucumber relish, 11 quarts of sliced peaches, and finally 7 pints + 31 quarts of garden variety tomatoes.  Between the plethora of yellow and heirloom tomatoes, we've had some of thee tastiest roasted tomato soup (I cannot even begin to describe how divine that was!) as well as the fire roasted salsa.  And those were using the fresh tomatoes--we haven't started on the canned ones yet. 

You won't find such colorful canned tomatoes at any local grocery store, that's for sure!

I picked blueberries again this summer, so I have about 3 gallon size freezer bags full of those babies.  And I made blueberry jam.  Strawberry is still my personal favorite, but the kids haven't complained, so we'll be eating on that this winter too. 

I stocked up on fresh peaches several times at the grocery store when they were a good price, so I have about a bag and a half of frozen peach slices--which will help make great smoothies as well as yummy crisps.  #comfortfood

I haven't really even dug in yet to all my pumpkins awaiting to be pureed, so I have lots of pumpkin puree coming as well.  

Lastly, our matchmaker gifted us a ton of rhubarb, which is sliced and frozen in freezer bags as well.  Not the Hubs favorite, but he certainly didn't complain about rhubarb peach crisp I made the other night!

I also want to can some apple slices and hopefully I will still have a chance to get that done. 

While I know I haven't put up our entire eats for the winter like so many other wonderful (wonder woman!!!) bloggers out there, I'm still kinda proud of myself.  ;)

Plus? 

Thank you, Jesus, for these immense blessings.  It's no coincidence that money is super tight right now and we have all this wonderful (mostly) free food that we have been able to preserve for the coming months. 

Blessings, indeed. 


 

Preserving Cucumbers

I love me some fresh cucumbers.  It's funny too, because I've really only learned to appreciate cucumbers in my adult life.  I pretty much avoided them like the plague all through my childhood and throughout high school. 

However, I've always loved pickles, so go figure!  I guess a lot of people do that though, so it's probably not entirely strange. 

Anyhow, I don't know if there is anything better than fresh from the garden produce.  It just tastes....better.  I buy cucumbers here and there throughout the year (yes, I realize that's not buying seasonal!) for our green salads and there's nothing like biting into a fresh from the garden cucumber to remind you the ones you've been buying from the grocery store pretty much have little to no flavor. Plus, you appreciate the garden your dad plants for you all the more. 

Even as much as my family (yes, all three of them!) and my parents like fresh cucumbers, you can only eat so many.  And as much as I wish there was a way to preserve the cukes in their natural state, you really can't.  So making refrigerator pickles and sweet relish it is.   

And before all you sweet cucumber haters click away, let me tell you too, my husband CANNOT stand bread and butter pickles OR sweet relish.  And he raves about both of these to whoever will listen. They are both that good. 

Our former favorite landlord blessed me with both of these recipes about a year ago and I can't thank her enough. 

Easy Refrigerator Pickles 

6 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers (my dad planted English cucumbers and they worked just fine)
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, sliced

Place 3 cups of cucumbers in glass crock/bowl (I used canning jars); top with 1/2 cup of onions and repeat.  Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients in small saucepan, stir well.  Bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Pour over cukes/onions.  Let cool.  Cover and chill for at least four days to allow flavors to meld (my husband usually can't wait longer than day!).  Pickles may stored in refrigerator for up to two months. 

I've definitely stored some longer, but as always, use your best judgement.  If they smell or look or taste off, time to toss 'em. 

I know this next recipe sounds like a crazy amount of veggies, but you let it sit in a salt solution to extract much of the water out of it, and in the end it made just 7 pints of relish.  More than enough to last until next summer and even some to give away!  

Sweet Relish

Combine in a large pan/dutch oven:

8 cups ground cucumbers
1 cup ground red pepper
2 cups ground green pepper
6 cups finely diced celery
1/2 cup un-iodized table salt (I used sea salt)

Cover with tap water and let stand at least four hours.  After sitting for four hours, drain as much of the liquid out as possible.

In a seperate saucepan combine:

3 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
2 tbsp celery seed
2 tbsp mustard seed

Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar and then add to strained veggies and bring the mixture to a boil.  Boil for ten minutes.  Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch of head space.  Screw on lids and rings and place in water bath.  Water bath can for 10 minutes.  And remember, that's 10 minutes once it's reached a rolling boil.

Here is a great set of canning instructions if you've never canned before.  

My parents let us borrow their outdoor burner to process the water bath on.  We have a glass top stove top and I've heard that you are not supposed to use those for canning?  Anyhow, this is such a nice alternative because it can be done outside and avoids heating up the house on warm summer days! 






 

Butter

Although, I don't eat it by the finger full, I have this self-admitted, irrational fear of running out of butter.  There is no explanation why, except that I'm weird. 

I buy butter in bulk at Costco.  I almost always have a full four pounds out in our garage fridge.  But then a few weeks back, there was a special on Tillamook butter, combining store coupons and manufacture coupons, making it only $1.50 a pound, which with today's skyrocketing food prices, is a STEAL.  So I went and picked up my limit of two.

Three times.

Does anyone else do this?  




 

Another One Checked Off

Way back last summer, I posted some pictures after we were finally getting settled back into our home.  As I mentioned, there were lots of things that weren't quite finished, but they were definitely more than livable. 

Our computer desk was more than functional, but since we no longer had an "office" because of our bouncing baby boy, I wanted a computer desk that looked more like a built in--so it didn't look like an after thought.  You know, it was intended to be there all along.  Thanks, Pinterest.  

Anyhow, because I have some pretty awesome parents, they obliged and they made my ideas a reality.  My mom suggested we find an old wood desk on craigslist and take it apart and make it the custom desk I wanted.  Buying wood filing cabinets?  Expensive.  Building wood filing cabinets?  Way cheaper, but much more involved and requires a TON of time and effort.  So used it was. 

I don't have a before photo of what the wood desk looked like prior to the disassemblement.  Yes, I know, BLOGGER FAIL. However, to give you an idea, it was a dark wood roll top desk with filing cabinets on either side and a pencil drawer in the middle. 

I did think to take a before picture of the desk we were using prior.  It was basically two old metal filing cabinets (that I ended up selling on craigslist for $25 after we were done with them--can I just say I LOVE craigslist?) with a wood desk top across the top of the cabinets.  And it served it's purpose as a computer desk for me {eventually us} for 14 years. 

Anyhow, back to the custom built desk.  My parents used the wood filing cabinets from the craigslist desk and scrapped the rest.  My dad built the custom CPU cabinet on the left and the pencil drawer in the middle.  He added the false back so all those pesky cords were nice and hidden and my mom painted it bright white to match all the molding in the house.  She also played quality control.  Let's just say she has an eye for um, shortcuts, shall we say.

Oh, and for the record, I was totally cool with having a nice painted wood top of the desk, but my mom loves to go above and beyond.  It's her spiritual gift.  ;)  And I mean that in the most loving way.  Good enough is just good enough.  The end result should be fabulous. 

And the desk?  So it was.

My Christmas gift from my parents was finishing up the desk, complete with slab granite desk top.  They got the granite for cheap.  In fact, I think my mom said the custom cutting {rolled edge, computer cord hole in the back, etc.} was actually more than the granite itself!

And just this last week, Hubs finally got around to hanging all the cords in the back, so they weren't laying on the floor behind the false back.  Little Brother was a big help too, of course. 

Looks mighty fabulous, don't you think? 

Oh, and that very cool chair that just adds a ton of texture and visual interest? 

$10 at the Goodwill Dumpster.  

Summer 2013? Check.

Been busy.....but such is life, right?  Last week we went back to Smalltown to visit our dear, sweet landlords that we had while we lived there.  It was just a short visit, but one we've been wanting to do for quite some time.  Yes, we have the kind of relationship with our former landlords that they open their home to us and let us stay with them.  I've said it once before, but I'll say it again--it was no coincidence that they were brought into our lives.

Can you believe it's been two years since we were swimming at their house?  I certainly can't.  But the photographic evidence I have tells me it's true.

As she did before, our sweet landlord friend sent me home with a box of tomatoes and cucumbers fresh from her garden.  So the day after we got home, I canned tomatoes and some AMAZING sweet relish.  I know there are a lot of relish haters out there.  Hubs included.  He never puts it on hot dogs.  But this stuff?  He'll eat it by the spoonful--as will I.  Words cannot express just how yummy and scrummy it is. 

Anyhow, I was able to can 10 pints tomatoes and two pints of relish.  Oh, and I also baked a peach crisp with a box of peaches I brought home with us.  We had some of the crisp for dessert and then in a rare moment of brilliance, I made a pot of oatmeal the next morning and mixed in the rest of the peach crisp with the oatmeal.  Verdict?  SO doing that again.  It was so, so, so, so good.

We also have been enjoying the nice weather and we have our dinner outside on occasion.  I snapped this little photo.  Peanut being silly and Little Brother being, well, a little brother.

We don't eat outside too often because our back patio gets the hot, afternoon sun.  Meaning, that would require me to break a sweat, which we all know I don't take too well with.  And second, we have a makeshift blockade so Little Brother can't hurl himself out the sliding screen door when the glass slider is open.  It's simply a PAIN to haul everything food related out back.  I know these "open" floor plans are all the rage (I honestly do like our floor plan), but let. me. tell. you.  They are a female dog to baby proof. 

Just saying.

Especially when you don't want to drop upwards of $100 on a play yard. So getting creative it is until I can trust him around screen doors.  Which is why I am starting to get a little excited for fall.

I said a little excited.  Not jumping up and down excited, just excited enough so we don't have to have our backdoor blocked all the time excited.

You know.  Well, that and then we get to do fall things.

And fall things?  Well, those are definitely fun times. 


 

Nesting

Hubs had yesterday as one of his days off this week.  Which I just thought was amusing.....maybe his boss doesn't know that most babies aren't actually born on the "due date?"  No, I am sure he does, but I just thought it was funny regardless. 

Anyhow, Hubs spent the better part of yesterday trying to get our garage organized.

Remember this?  This was our garage about a month ago...

Well, he's mighty proud that he's got the mess down to this and we actually fit Manders (What? You don't name your vehicles?!?!??!)  in the garage once again!
 


And oh, yeah......I am just tickled as well! 

Is it possible that Daddies can feel the urge to nest too? 



 

Check!

Today is the big day.....as in this is my official due date.  But of course, this little guy is gonna do what he's gonna do.  And really?  Due dates mean very little, as they are really just an educated guess. 

We are just getting a few more things done and checked off the list of things to do.

Got Peanut's chandelier hung in her room--well, Hubs, did at least.  Looks awfully sweet, don't you think? 

I also got my second sewing project done for the little guy, going with a more gender neutral color pallet.  And honestly, I would have went with blue, but on the day I went fabric shopping, none of the blue colored fabric screamed "Take me home!" so I went with the yellow and gray.  Plus, it matches the diaper bag, so I was happy.  

Although it's no where near the fine quality an experienced seamstress could stitch together, I am still pleased with it nonetheless. 

Next up?  Bring on baby!

 

The Afters

I had high hopes of doing "the afters" pictures with everything in it's place like a magazine spread, but that's just not going to happen.  (If you haven't seen already, see "The Befores" here.)  Here are a few during the "in progress" stage (from around the middle of May):

These were taken after "we" moved our stuff out of our storage units back into the house, but PRIOR to carpet being installed in the bedrooms/living area.  Yes, we definitely had our work cut out for us. 

We definitely had our work cut out for us, right?  
 
But I am actually okay with the we are not quite there look.  I have nearly all the stuff I can do done.  That was my biggest concern.....that I wouldn't get the stuff done I could do prior to his arrival. Then of course, with the severe sleep deprivation that is sure to come, I wouldn't have any energy to do it after and we would be looking at some time next year before all the boxes were unpacked.  But that hasn't been the case.  God has multiplied our efforts and we've had tons of help....and we are nearly almost there. 

The rest of all those little details--hanging all the curtain rods, sealing the grout, getting the utility sink running once again--will get done in time.  Some longer than others, but they will get done.  Even if eventually.  If I have started to learn anything through this process (and I have) it would be that those details aren't really that big of a deal. 

Looking back over the last two months (really about eight months), my little family has been so incredibly blessed, there is no question Who it all comes from. 

'Cause it's certainly not of our own doing, that's for sure. 

As nice as it looks already (my Dad laid that floor tile and Hubs grouted!), the counter top, back splash, sink, and faucet will all get replaced as well. 

We were able to move back home (even though stressful at the time, it went beautifully in hindsight!) and have our renters vacate without any hassle.  Then we were able to take possession back of our home, paint, clean, and replace most of the flooring with tons of help from our wonderful family and friends.  Keep in mind I was also 7 + months pregnant through the reno's.....yes, I was difficult, but my family still continued to bless me. 

And can I just share how much I missed I missed our pantry and laundry room?  In Smalltown, we did have washer and dryer hookups (for which I am extremely thankful!) but they were in the basement.....which meant climbing two LONG flights of stairs for each load of laundry.  Here in Hometown, we have a one level home....and laundry now?  It really shouldn't be this delightful!  

The laundry room had had some sort of leak at one point (prior to us even purchasing it) but as bad as it looks, there was no dry rot.  Thank goodness!  So after killing all the mold with a bleach solution and letting the moisture from the cleaning dry for a week+, the floor was good to go to begin the tiling process (starting with cement board, etc.).

In Peanut's bedroom, instead of the soft pink like last time, we decided to go with a soft green (Lowe's Valspar in Lunar Tide~Eggshell finish) in her room, as SO much of her stuff (bedding, toys, clothes.....) is already pink.   My Mom and Dad have a room for Peanut at their house that has a similar shade of green and I liked it so much, we went with it in Peanut's room at our house too. 

I decided I really liked it so much that I went with the same color in our master bedroom as well.  Hubs was a little concerned about it being too matchy-matchy with Peanut's room.  Me?

Still deciding what to hang over our bed.  I have a really nice picture, but am thinking of doing one of those vinyl decals.  I just can't decide if that is too cliche or not.  I am so indecisive, I'll probably wait three months deciding and then just go with the picture I already have.  But I might surprise even myself, so we'll see.

Not so much~we don't have any pink accents in our bedroom!

My fabulous aunt also came over and "helped" me (Who am I kidding?!? She did most of the work!) finish unpacking and decorating our living room.  She also made these photo collages in our family room and entry way.  Me likey--SO SO much! 

We are all settling in well.  Peanut has had her moments, but I keep reminding myself how much change our little girl has endured in these past few months--with the biggest change coming yet!   First, moving back from SmallTown and living with Grandma and Grandpa (and having them at her beck and call!).  Now, moving into our "new" home and not having Grandma and Grandpa just feet away--all of this coupled with the fact that she is going to have a "Baby Brother".  She knows he's coming, but of course her little mind doesn't fully understand just how much change is coming.....it's been a lot for our first little love. 

But our girl is a happy and sweet, very buoyant little girl.  She will pull through wonderfully, I am sure, being the little helper she always tries to be for me and Hubs.  I am sure it will be the same when it comes to her Baby Brother. 

All in all, it's so nice being in our home once again.  In some ways it feels like we never left, but in others it feels like it's just the three weeks that we've been back.  I am loving our new carpet (feels so nice under my feet!), the newly chosen paint colors, our beautiful tile, and coming across a bunch of little treasures I had forgotten about.  And my counter space in our kitchen--SO nice.  While our kitchen here is by no means huge, it practically was compared to before.  I got used to our little space up in SmallTown, but it's yet another reminder to be so, so thankful. 

How we became so blessed, I'll never know.....



 

The Befores

My bloggy friend Lucy and I are at very similar stages in our life right now.  Although she is quite a bit younger than me (shhh, don't tell!), we are both preggo with our second babies and we are both due within a week of each other--right around the end of June or beginning of July.  And we are both just crazy enough to throw in a move during that time.  But very unlike me, she has been very good about posting to her sweet little blog and earlier she posted some pictures of their moving/new baby adventure progress.  That inspired me to finally get motivated and post some pictures here too. 

All these before pictures you are about to see are for those three or four loyal readers I might still have out there.  'Cuz I figure that's about all I have left (aside from family of course!) after these past few months of really sporadic posting.  

BUT, just in case you are new here to these parts, here's a fast little recap of the last two and a half years of our lives.....

1.  We moved away from our HomeTown in the early fall of 2009 for Hub's job.

2.  In HomeTown we owned a home and because we knew our move was only temporary (even if about two years temporary), we decided to rent out our home, because we WERE going to come back at some point.

3.  Fast forward two and a half years and three sets of tenants later, and we finally had the opportunity {read: Hubs was able to transfer!} to move home.

4.  Due to some timing issues, we moved back in with my parents temporarily while we gave our current tenants notice to vacate. Then, while the house has been empty, the opportunity has been taken to get some projects done on our house.

So that is where we are today....getting some projects done on our house.  Please don't be mistaken.....it hasn't been me (unless of course you count stressing out a project) getting these tasks done.  No, it would be my hard working husband, my hard working Dad and Mom, and some very gracious and generous extended family members and friends pitching in where ever needed to help move things right along. 

So far the entire interior of the house has been painted (so please keep in mind the colors you see here are all the befores).  This includes all ceilings, walls, and about 75% of the molding.  I know from most of these pictures you can't tell that paint was needed, but trust me.  After us living in the house for nearly five years and then having three different tenants/families living here, a fresh coat of paint was needed!

Badly.

Most surfaces (closet and pantry shelves, blinds, windows and window tracks, screens, kitchen cabinets and counter tops) have been cleaned.  The old carpet in the living/dining room and bedrooms has all been ripped up and hauled away and new carpet will actually be installed tomorrow.  All of our belongings that were in storage have been moved into our house and either are sitting in the garage or family room area, awaiting the new carpet.  Last, the floor in our entryway, laundry room, and main bath have all been ripped up, where new tile will be laid in it's place.  So far, the entryway tile is entirely done, the main bath has tile down, but still needs to be grouted and the laundry has most of the tile down, with just a few to go.  Let me tell you, I have a really nice Dad--yes, he has installed all the tile for us.  For free.  Let's just say that if we had to pay for the labor, there is NO way we would be getting new tile floors. 

So there you have it in a nutshell.  Or at least the part of where we've been and where we are headed.  Once the carpet is installed and the tiling is all finished and complete, I of course, will have some MAJOR nesting to accomplish in the next several weeks.   Things like moving the rest of our belongings (NO, that part won't be me!), unpacking, rearranging, and settling in to this new chapter of life. 

I am apprehensive.

I am excited. 

I am blessed. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Oh, and I promise to also get up a blog post showing the afters soon. 

For reals.