The Wall Comes Down

The wall that divides the front room and the living room has been my nemesis for awhile now. It has made the living room much too small and bringing baby equipment back in makes it much smaller, if that was possible. It has also allowed Nate to be mischevous in the other room while he knew I was busy with the baby and could not see him. So tearing down the wall would create this bigger, open space where no man or toddler could hide.

The project took about 2 weeks, starting mid-November. The demolition went rather quickly but then we ran into little snags along the way. Neither of us has done any type of remodeling on our own. I remember helping Dad when I was younger with his home improvement projects, but without Dad here telling me exactly what to do, it was much different. In the end we got it done, and while it's not perfect, it is done. That's all that matters to me. We worked hard and long and had late nights, and after the carpet is installed today we will finally be able to sit back and enjoy it.

Here is what we did:

Kitchen: removed the wallpaper which also pulled up some of the paint in many areas so I had to go back and fix the walls, prime, and paint/installed all new light fixtures (ah, the ugly flourescent is gone!)/took down the blinds & we will be hanging curtains

Living/Front Room: tore down the wall which then created a sag in the soffet so we had to put in reinforcements, drywall, paint, repair the baseboard, put in new light fixtures, and install new blinds

We also scraped the popcorn ceiling and repainted it. We wall mounted the tv to get it away from little fingers as well.

We Have a Patio

I've been wanting a patio for so long now, I can't believe we finally have one! The patio guys came out on Tuesday and surprisingly were done on Tuesday. It was a quick process, much quicker than I thought. They finished up cutting the lines on it this morning. It looks beautiful and is much bigger than I imagined (perfect for a dining set AND a firepit). It will be a perfect place to spend time outdoors.

Yesterday we spend the entire day in search of a patio set. Did we find one? Of course not. I was a little disappointed, but I'm glad we didn't just settle for something we weren't happy with. We found a couple that we liked, but one of them the table was cheaply made but the chairs were wonderful and the other one the table was beautiful but not sturdy and the chairs were not as comfortable. We decided that we didn't want to spend that kind of money, and we're talking some money, on something we're not completely thrilled about. We planned on eventually getting a picnic table so when we have get togethers there's a place for everyone to sit. So we decided to just go with the picnic table now and get a nice patio set next summer. Now all we need is a canopy for shade as the patio sits on the west side and is blazing hot in the evening. I can't wait to move the grill out there and set things up and have our first cook out on the new patio.

Water Heater

We had to replace the water heater today. Last night I noticed a small wet spot on the carpet. I thought Benny had peed on the floor in a act of rebellion for being gated in the front room while Nate played on the floor in the living room. But when I smelled it, it didn't smell like pee, it didn't smell like anything for that matter. So I just shrugged it off as a "I probably spilled something and just don't remember it." But a little while later there was another wet spot. And then another. Then I heard dripping. Sure enough, the water heater was leaking. Ugh. I called my dad right away. He walked me through the steps of shutting the heater off and the water to it. And then calmed me down as I was in tears. I know it's stupid, but I hate dealing with things like this all by myself. So this morning I called around and found a plumber with a decent rate. He came out this afternoon and installed a new water heater. So a couple hours and a few bucks later, I have hot water again. Yay! And of course, to make the story more interesting, the dogs decided to escape while the plumber was here. He went out the front door to get something out of his truck and there was Benny. Go figure. So I checked on Sammy, but she was still in the backyard. Well, I guess she was for awhile. After the plumber was done installing the new heater, packed up and left, there was a knock at the door. There he was with Sammy. I don't know why they even escape. They come right to the front door. I guess they'll show me if I won't let them in the house.

The Painted Room

I painted our front room, finally. The paint is called "puppy paws" and it resembles chocolate milk. I like it much better than what the old home owner had (anything to get her out of here!) but not sure if I love it. It will work for now. I was thinking of a more coffee with milk kind of color, but heh, it's done. I finally have curtains on the windows too. I've been living, far too long I might add, with just sheers on the windows in here. Well, now I have beautiful chocolate brown curtains and some pretty blue valances that I made. I have a few pictures I want to hang in here and then I think the room will be officially done. Sooner or later, each room in this house will be complete. Probably by the time we're ready to move again!

It's helping to consume time, all these little projects on my to do list. Some days are longer than others, and it makes it hard to be here alone. But I'm finding that it's okay if I want to have a cry and sleep and do nothing kind of day sometimes. It's not everyday, or even very often, but I think it is okay. For the most part, I've been keeping very busy considering I'm not working or going to school. I took Lucas for a couple of days. We had a great time. We went to a couple of different parks, played outside (he's a good kicker and maybe future soccer player like ol' Aunt Beckie), went to Chuck E. Cheese, and just played. Sometimes it's good just to play.

My next project might be to really work on the scrapbooking stuff. I have 2 pages in the deployment book that are just screaming, finish me already! And I need to catch our book up before the baby comes. The big project though is Jaime's book for Lucas. We have 3 years to catch up on before Landon is born, and so I need to get my creative juices flowing and my, eh-hem, our butts in gear. I would absolutely love a cricut machine, but they're so expensive, I'll probably have to do without. One can dream, can't they?

Clean Up Continues

As I walk Sammers through the neighborhood, I see the clean-up progress continue. People have pulled their furniture out, some leaving it in the garage with fans to dry. There is carpet ripped out and put in the garbage, along with many other destroyed belongings. Many do not have flood insurance and so the replacement will be solely on their shoulders. And this sight can be seen everywhere. When I drive into town, I see the clean-up effort not only out of people's homes, but out of businesses as well. It makes me so sad to see all the damage and devastation that this storm brought. We now have our drinking water back, but I think I will continue to use the gallon water for a little bit longer. I can not say enough how grateful I am that our house was not damaged and that we were not hurt.

The same day of the storm, I noticed a stain on the ceiling in the kitchen. It lines up with our master bathroom, so I figured there must be a leak. The plumbers were out today, and couldn't find a source of the leak. They sealed the drain in the shower and reset the toilet, just in case, and to rule out those as possibilities. They say the water may have come in a vent on the outside of the house. So now we just keep our fingers crossed that the bathroom is fine. I am going to spray bleach water on the ceiling to try and clean that up and to also help watch for any leaks that might sprout again.