Busy long weekend- Tile is halfway in

We became expert tilers this weekend, Dad showed us what to do and we ran with it. We finished putting the tile down in the entryway and did about 1/3 of the kitchen. We still need to grout too, but things are coming along and it looks great so far.

This is how it began- after we took off the linoleum, we had to scrape off the old glue- which was not a fun job.

After much measurement, deliberation and chalk-lining, we carefully laid the first few tiles.

Once we started, we got on a roll. Yes, we're wearing kneepads, and no, they don't keep your knees from hurting. I'm barely walking today!

I finished the entryway and moved on to the kitchen!!

Kristen had the tough job of pulling up the last, stubborn bit of glue from the kitchen. She was proud to say that this was the first time she got dirty!

Dad was the master tile-cutter. He passed his knowledge along to Justin, who never turns down a power tool!

Justin really likes cutting tile.

Mom was working in one of the back bedrooms and we tiled her in, so she had to go out the window to get out. What a good sport!!!

Progress!!!!

It's been a while since I posted so there's lots of pics to show... we had some major changes to the house and things are really starting to come along.

We are lucky enough to have wonderful family and friends who have done some amazing things for us. The most recent addition to the house is a beautiful stacked stone fireplace that Ken and his son Kenny put in for us. In case you were wondering, the fireplace used to be brick that was painted white (but not painted carefully or well).

Earlier in the week we finished the painting and my dad installed recessed lighting in the kitchen. These changes make such a huge difference and make us feel like we have made some major headway, which also really helps my mental health :)

Our new fireplace!!! It's SO nice, the grout hasn't quite dried yet but it really looks amazing.  We are especially excited because this is our first major addition to the house, everything else that we've done so far has just been repairing something that was broken.  We're going to add a wood mantle on top but it already looks a million times better.
In case you weren't impressed enough with what Ken did, this is how the fireplace looked a month ago.

The masters, Ken and Kenny, hard at work.  You can see the "before" fireplace in the center and how much better it looks already.

We had to get a picture of Ken in front of his handywork.  It was so generous of him to do this for us and we really can't thank him enough.

Justin painting the living room wall.   I think he was giving me a lesson in painting technique at this point, he'd like it if I was slightly more methodical.  I try, but I just don't always have the attention to detail that he would like.  At least we balance each other out!

Katie likes to paint, and likes my painting :)

One of the back bedrooms, the color is a gray-blue that I think turned out nicely.

The living room- the color is a light tan.  It will look really nice with some crown moulding.

Andy had the fun job of painting the bathroom.  Since there are no windows in there, he got some nice paint fumes.  Come to think of it, Andy always seems to get the jobs that nobody else wants to do, like go up in the attic or paint the bathroom.  Thanks for taking one (or two) for the team Andy!!

We had a lighting ceremony for Dad's latest greatest project, the recessed lights in the kitchen.  Dad did a great job of spacing them out and putting them in, he thinks he should be eligible for the electrician's union now.  By the way, yes, we are toasting with Mountain Dew.  Because we need lots of caffeine, we've pretty much been living on Mountain Dew.  Someone needs to stage an intervention if our skin starts turning neon green.

The kitchen lights in their full glory.  They add so much light to the kitchen and look very sleek.

A preview of our next project.... We are unloading all of the tile from the truck with our old friends and new neighbors the Bonds family.  They stopped by to say hi and got roped into helping.    Note to anyone thinking of stopping by:  you will probably be asked to help, but we always have lots of cold beer in the fridge for once you're finished working :)

Video Tour

Here is a video my mom took of the house. The beginning is funny, she got a new camera for Christmas and thought she was taking a picture, it took a bit for her to realize it was taking a movie. Otherwise it gives you a good idea of what the house looks like.

We had to split it into 2 separate videos because the files were too big.

Ready for paint!!

We have been working around the clock on the house, spending pretty much any time that we're not at work there. I feel like we haven't made much progress until I look at the pictures from a month ago and then I realize how far we've come (but we still do have quite a ways to go). Basically, we've torn down all the crazy things that the previous owner had done and are now down to the bones of the house and are building back up. All of the wallpaper is gone, the ceilings are scraped and ready for recessed lights, the cabinet doors are sanded, and all the crazy solar panel stuff inside is gone. We have also texture-coated the walls and should have them painted by the end of this weekend- we're crossing our fingers.

By far the biggest job has been fixing all the holes in the walls, we knew that there were some issues with the walls, but we never realized quite how many. I tend to get a little impatient (shocking, I know) and at this point I'm very lucky that anyone still comes over to help. We really are so appreciative of all the help, Andy comes over and helps Justin almost every night into the wee hours of the morning, and my parents go work on the house even when Justin and I are both at work.Justin and Andy fixing holes in our master bedroom - notice the broken window (it came that way).

Katie is an excellent sander and looks so cute doing it!

Justin and I measuring out the placement for the can lights in the kitchen. We spent a long time figuring out where we wanted them and then hit studs when we tried to cut them out (apparently studfinders are a waste of money). We drew them out 4 times before we found a layout that looked good and wasn't on a stud.

Dad cut the holes out for us, being left-handed comes in handy!

Tracy in now a master electrician and drywall cutter. She did a great job but wasn't enjoying it at this moment.

Mom drew the short straw and got the dirty job of scraping the last little bit of popcorn off the ceilings. The respirators aren't that comfortable but are better than breathing in all that dust!

We were all working hard and wondered where Kristen was. We found her in the backyard, napping in the sun.

Kristen redeemed herself, she and Mom had to replace a big part of the drywall because it was soaked through. Great work girls!!

We have keys!!

After a long wait and lots of frustration, we finally have keys to the house!!! Unfortunately, Justin had to leave for Vegas for a week for work just 2 days after we got our keys. So, my family pitched in to start the renovations.



One of the reasons we loved this house... the view is great and we have beautiful sunsets.
Our lovely backyard, you can't see the chicken coop or solar panel from this view though :)
This is the future home of Justin's boat-- and one of the major reasons that he liked this house so much.
Maureen came over to help remove wallpaper. We think that the wallpaper was superglued on as it put up quite a fight coming off.
Mom decided to tackle the overgrown bushes out front. I told her she had to be done because the trash can was full, so she hopped in the trash can and voila! more room!
Dad wants to show that he's strong enough to handle this BIG job.

Our Dream House!!!

Pretty, isn't it? This may not look like everyone's dream house, but it is ours :) As long as everything goes smoothly, we will be moving in the day after Thanksgiving. Justin has handled the situation with a level head, while I have been pretty much in a state of panic since our offer was accepted. Luckily, we have a lot to keep us occupied and keep me from freaking out. We've already started making the rounds (and making friends) at Home Depot and planning the improvements we want to make.
We have some major landscaping to do and a lot of painting, ceiling scraping, and kitchen and bathroom remodels in our future. The house doesn't look like much right now but is in a great neighborhood in Thousand Oaks (Wildwood) with hiking trails, parks and schools nearby.
We can't wait to move in and make it our own!!!

Honeymoon

We were greeted in Maui with this beautiful rainbow right as we arrived. Aloha!


We went on a hike through an old plantation and got to go across two Indiana Jones-style bridges. They were squeaky and swung a lot!


There were two dogs that followed us for most of the hike, all the way to this pool at the end, and Justin made friends with them.


Dinner at Kimo's was delicous, and the restaurant had a great view of the ocean. Our new favorite fish is Ono, Hawaiian moon fish- tasty!


Next we took a boat ride to go snorkeling at Molokini Crater and the island of Lanai. Justin saw lots of fish and I had fun swimming around.


The highlight of the day was a pod of spinner dolphins that followed us to the cove that we anchored at on Lanai. The guides told us there were about 90 dolphins, and lots of them were babies, around a foot long. We thought they had left and everyone went off to snorkel while I hung out and swam, and the dolphins reappeared all around me- they were less than 2 feet away and there were SO MANY of them!!!


We got to Kauai and this was the incredible view from our hotel.


Time to stop and take a picture,


Justin's favorite part of the hotel was the waterslide. The slide was made for kids, but Justin didn't let that stop him from joining in the fun.


I liked the mojitos at the restaurant on the beach. Really, what's not to like about cocktails in paradise?


Safety first! Zipline gear is so attractive, and just as comfortable as it looks.


But it was so much fun!!!


We overcame our fear of heights pretty quickly. We were the only ones in our group daring enough to go off the ledge backwards and we got pretty good at going upside-down too! The scariest part was definitely taking that first step off the ledge, but it was well worth it.


There were chickens and roosters everywhere on Kauai(including at our hotel, they were a nice alarm). Even though he didn't appreciate the wake up call, Justin loved the chickens. He also loved the coconuts, we stopped and bought one from a local who cracked it open so we could drink it straight from the coconut.


Yummy coconut!


This was our last night. We were so sad to leave but so very tan!!!