Is November Really Over?!

Wow, it is so hard for me to get my head around the fact that November is almost officially over!  It feels like it was just August.  Heck, some days, it feels like it was just April! This year has definitely flown by with remarkable speed.

There hasn't been much to update anyone about with the house.  There are a couple of guys who seem to be there most days, just chipping away at everything.  In a weird way, it makes me feel a little better about all of the work we did there before the fire.  Like, if it takes a pair of professionals a month and a half to do everything, and they're working all day every day--then we really did an amazing amount of work for a few non-professionals, just working nights and weekends!  (That turned into a really long confusing sentence...please just imagine me reading it out loud to you, and hopefully, it makes sense  :P )

The good news is, we're getting down to the last few big ticket jobs at the house.  The roof has been done (twice), they've put up ceilings, mudded, taped, insulated, and painted.  They hung up new lights throughout the upstairs, and replaced all the upstairs windows.  Woo!  The only things left to do are for them to put the bathroom back together (new vanity, medicine cabinet, flooring, lights, tub surround, and sub-floor), refinish the hardwood floors, and clean everything!  I've begun to doubt whether or not they'll actually clean anything....but I'm trying to stay positive.


Since they've been getting pretty close to completing the rest of the house, Kurt and I have been knocking out some work in the kitchen.  Since there was no damage to the kitchen, the contractors wouldn't do any work in there.  And, since we don't have to live there right now, we decided that this was the right time to tear the kitchen apart!

Getting the kitchen painted was a huge relief in and of its self.  This was the last of the previous owner's paint.  Man were we glad to see it go! Here's one last look at what it used to be...

This redish brownish was just not for us...

The paint was such an improvement, that it really made us want to do something about the cabinets.  They were in good shape, but they looked pretty dated.  Again, the existing look just wasn't for us.   We went back and forth about whether we should paint the cabinets, or stain them, or start another fire in the kitchen (just kidding--are you still reading? :)  In the end we decided to stain them!  

I had hoped we wouldn't have to strip them, but as always, Kurt was right, and they had to be stripped.  Luckily that only took a few days!  

Once all the doors were stripped, we tested stains...we set up each door in the long room, and used Solo cups so that they wouldn't be flat on the ground.  Three coats of stain, and two coats of poly took over a week!  But, in the end, they look soooo much better!  I spent so much time staring at the doors once we got them back up, that I never even took a picture of the finished products!  I'll try to do that tonight!  Plus, I want to check the mailbox to see if the  new door pulls arrived!  

So, it's not a ton of updates, but it's something!  Hopefully the guys wrap up at the house soon, and we can get moved back in.  Kurt has already started a honey-do list for himself, and I think he's as excited as I am to move back in.  Now we just have to hope that we can move before a bunch of snow flies!  

I'm trying to get back into the swing of blogging, and regular updates--but I hope that the updates become less and less exciting with time!  Sorry for the radio silence, but it's better than Christmas music, right?  :) 

K 

October Wrap-Up

Oh Gosh, how can October be over already?!  It seems like only yesterday it was April...


In October we really got to do a lot of fun things!  I will (begrudgingly) admit that it was kind of nice to not really have to worry about making progress on the house.  I think that Kurt was more excited than anything that for a while I stopped questing for check-marks on his to-do list...but he's the one who made the list...I'm just sayin....but anyway, here's some of what we did on October!

Stacey and I spent most of a Saturday baking, making spooky, treats, and listening to records.  It's pretty clear that she not only gets me, but appreciates my (occasionally odd if not off-putting) sense of humor.  I'm sorry in advance for the photos I'm about to post...

After this feast was ready to go, all the boys joined in, and we watched some scary movies!  None of us even peed our pants--which I consider a huge success! 

We also went and watched Halloween (the original in the theater in FW on Saturday).  Kurt and I have been uncharacteristically social this month!!  

This past weekend, Kurt and I had a double date with some of his friends from work.  We had Mexican for dinner, and then ventured to Soul Taker's Acres....

Since this is the after picture, you can see that we survived!  And with only a little bit of screaming on my part.  But my night vision is terrible!  Kurt had to lead the way through the really dark parts. Overall it was a really fun night!  Meeting new people is always stressful for me, but I should've known that I'd like Kurt's people.  He seems to have good taste in people.  ;)   

As for the house...they've made some spotty progress.  Writing about all the events that have transpired would probably just send my blood pressure through the roof, and me to the parking lot...so I'll spare us all having to deal with that.  

They're (allegedly) fixing the roof this week, and we painted the kitchen over the weekend!  

When this is all done, I think we're going to have a really decent house!  :) 

Here's a quick before and after of the kitchen...it's not done, but it's feeling SO MUCH better in person!  

The yellow wasn't terrible, but that red/brown color...it was terrible.  This pale blue/aqua is just so much more, us.  

You can see that the kitchen paint color is pretty similar to the long-room paint color.  At least we're consistent?  Now we just need to pick out flooring, a back splash, cabinet pulls, and stain all of the cabinets, and then this room is done! It'll be quick work! ( though I can suddenly see why Kurt gets annoyed with me lol).  Everything will work out.  And really, we still have at least a month, probably two before we can move back into the house.  So, there really is time!  

Sorry for the long post!  Apparently I had more pictures and updates than I though!  :) 

K 

Jim Croce - One less set of footsteps

Seth Avett Sings, Save Part Of Yourself