My Home Sweet Home

What is your favorite place in your home?  Mine is a toss up between our family room and kitchen!  Perhaps it's because I spend majority of my time in these two rooms.  

I enjoy being in our family room for several reasons.  First off, it is very cozy and comfortable; I enjoy curling up with an over-sized pillow and blanket on rainy days like today!  I can read a book, watch something trashy like The Bachelor, grade papers, or take a power nap. Secondly, it's a place where Nick and I can put our feet up and connect after a long day at work.  Lastly, our family room is the perfect mix of Nick's and my style.  It is cozy, inviting, and warm; yet, it has a contemporary, sleek, no-clutter feel. 

Most of our home furnishing purchases over the past few months have been for our family room.  We bought a sectional couch from Costco (I tutored all last summer and saved every penny so that we could purchase a quality couch without feeling it in our bank accounts!), a large rug, and a coffee table.  The various furniture pieces that we accumulated from the first two years of our marriage are scattered among the house, in an effort to fill in the large, empty rooms!

Here are some pictures of our family room.  Since I the queen of disclaimers, here you go:  

1) The walls are bare!  Don't judge.  I am SLOWLY looking for pieces that I love and can afford. 

2) Yes, those blinds definitely kill me.  Dual pane windows and plantation shutters are in my near future.  Not sure what "near future" means in this case! 

3) My mantel is currently a hodge-podge of items.  I am in the process of framing a large photo from our wedding which will likely find it's home on our mantel.  Until then, it's a fantastic catch-all!

 View of the family room from the kitchen.  I love the open concept feel.  Whether you are in the kitchen or family room, you feel as though you are in the same room.  This is especially nice when I am cooking!

                       The closed door leads you into the indoor laundry room.  

Our new couch is massive!  Nick and I joke that we feel like we are sitting miles away from each other.  I like to claim that cozy corner right in the center of the couch!

Eventually, Nick would like to mount the TV on the wall.  For now, he is enjoying weekends that don't involve too many tools!

                                                                         Cozy!

                                     The view from the family room into the kitchen.  

Thanks for checking out my new favorite space!  Sometimes I look at this house and I have to pinch myself!  It is truly my "home sweet home".

The Great Unveiling

Now that my reports cards for the second trimester are finished... I'm ready to blog again!  Report cards have a way of zapping you and making you want to stay far away from your computer!  Glad I can check that off my list!

I thought I'd share our master bathroom renovation with you today!  We absolutely love our bathroom and often joke that it's our favorite place of the house.  Well, we actually might not be joking.  We love it.  It was by far the biggest project of our entire home renovation.  It took the most time, energy, planning, and money.  It was well worth it though!  Every day I feel like I am showering and getting ready in a hotel bathroom.  What a treat!  

Here is a photo of the bathroom when we purchased the house. Good condition, just dated.  The shower was extremely tiny.  

See this previous post for more pictures of the previous bathroom.

                                                           Here is the new bathroom! 

We opened the bathroom up by removing the wall in between the the vanity and toilet.  

Our new vanity (from Costco.com) helped to modernize the bathroom.  The previous bathroom only had one sink, so we plumbed this bathroom with a second sink so that we each have our own (praise the Lord!)

                            The under-mount sinks make cleaning so much easier!

We purchased Waterford sink hardware.  The sleek, clean look was what attracted us!  

Our mirror is actually a stand up full-length mirror!  We saw the idea of using a stand-up mirror as a bathroom mirror at an open house we went to.  We found our mirror at Ikea for $49.95... what a steal! 

We've already discussed my love for our new toilets... no nooks and crannies! The little white/blue box to the left of the toilet is our control for the warm floors.  Best. Invention. Ever. 

You've already seen the inside of our new showers in previous posts, but I haven't shown you our glass door yet!  We chose a hinge door so that we didn't have to have a bar over the top of the glass.  We also had a treatment called "Diamond Fusion" done.  Diamond Fusion is a wax coat put over the glass that allows water to bead up and not leave water marks. 

Our shower hardware.  We love the Kohler thermostatic gauge.  Our personal water temperatures are preset so all we have to do in the morning is turn the water on.  No messing with the handle to find that perfect temperature.  The little nozzle to the left is the plumbing for our handheld shower wand.  We need a special drill to install it... so for now, it's left undone!

Do you like it?  We feel pretty blessed!  A huge thank you to Paul Akimoff (aka: DAD) for all the painting and spackling and to Greg Gustason for help with plumbing and lighting!  We couldn't have done this bathroom without you two blessing us big time!

We still have little things to do, such as purchasing and installing a toilet paper holder and towel racks! But it doesn't matter... those things will come in good time!  

                                                   Thanks for reading!

Life Lately

Yes, we're still alive.  Nope, I haven't forgotten about the blog.  Yup, I've felt bad about not posting pictures of our beautiful, partially decorated house.  

We've simply been slammed with real life!  We have also been taking time to have fun... together and with friends!  The past seven months of house renovations really took a toll on our social life and our down time.  We have been trying to play catch up!

One more excuse.  We just got our Internet service connected this week.  It's hard to blog without the Internet!  

 

All that being said, I still don't have many "house" pictures to share.  But what I have is better! Real life pictures.  It's a good life, and I feel blessed to be living it!

I went to JC Penny's to look for window coverings for our master bedroom.  I didn't leave with any window coverings; however I did leave with this beautiful coffee table for our family room!  We just love it.  Plus, it was on clearance and it was a total steal!  

Confession: This photo was taken at JC Penny's because I wanted to text a picture to Nick in order get his opinion.  My smart husband replied back to me: "Do you like it? Can we afford it?  If you like it, go for it."  What a catch!

 We went to Redding for a quick weekend getaway.  We went to visit family and friends.  We stayed with my aunt and uncle and had a ball.  The photo above is the Sundial Bridge.  It was a glorious 74 degrees; we were both thankful for the Vitamin D boost!

 We checked out the new pub in downtown Redding.  Nick loved the "beer sampler".  He tried four different beers.  My favorite part was listening to all the hilarious beer names, for example, "The Kilt Lifter!"

 I've been coming home to sweet surprises.  Sometimes, Nick gets home earlier from work than I do and I find sweet things like in the photo above!  

I had been parking my car in the driveway because we still have "stuff" in our garage.  He knew that I dreaded scraping the ice off my car in the morning.  One afternoon, I came home to this cute note written on a scrap of linoleum.  He had cleared out my side of the garage so that I didn't have to fight with the ice anymore! 

 We are trying to decide what to do with our bedroom window.  Currently, there are no shades.  It backs up to our backyard so it isn't really a privacy issue.  However, it is a temperature issue!  The house has single-paned windows, and let me tell you.... it's COLD!!  We in the process of looking for curtains.  It's a bummer that I am so picky though... because as a result, we still don't have curtains!

Did I mention that our house is freezing?  We are putting "dual-paned" windows at the top of our priority list now.  Forget the guest bathroom; windows have become much more important!  

Since we are newly living here, we don't have any idea what our PG&E bill will be.  We have been pretty careful about running the heat because the bill could be horrifying!  So, we have a space heater that works wonders.  Our room stays nice and toasty as we sleep.  The rest of the house... not so much!  46 degrees... that'll wake ya up real nice and quick!

 The flu bug finally caught me.  It broke through my killer-teacher-germs-can't-touch-me-immune system.  Want to hear the reader's digest?  It's actually pretty funny.  

I felt sick.  I mean, really, ridiculously nauseous sick.  The worst part was that it was 1:05p.m. on a Wednesday.  21 students, reading centers in progress, and a teacher on the verge of puking (for lack of better terms).  The room got hot, I started feeling that horrible salivating, right before your lose it feeling.  I ran next door and told my fabulous teaching partner, Jaime, that I needed help.  She called my principal who graciously came over and took over centers.  

I went to the bathroom, cleaned myself up, got fresh air, and "pulled it together".  I'm pretty stubborn and convinced myself that I was fine.  I finished the last 45 minutes, released my students at 1:50 (minimum day, praise the Lord).  

At 1:54, our custodian walked in and was chatting with me... well, I wasn't really chatting back because I was sitting in front of the trash can ready to lose it.  And, I did.  Right in front of the custodian.  He was a doll and cleaned everything up.  Super embarrassing.  

Want to know the strangest part??  The DAY before this incident, one of my students RANDOMLY asked me, "What would happen if you got so sick that you couldn't teach?"  I laughed and replied, "Oh don't worry sweetie, I would drink some water and be okay!  I won't get sick!!"  Ha... ha ...ha.  Funny.

I've also been cooking in my new kitchen!  My new kick is trying to plan ahead and make 2-3 dinners out of one.  In the photo above, I was making lasagna.  I figured that if I was going through the trouble of making one lasagna, I might as well make three at the same time and freeze two of them.  Now when I have a busy night and I don't want to cook... I have a home-cooked, preservative free dinner in the freezer! 

 As you can see, life lately has been busy, fun, and eventful!  I'm pretty sure that's exactly the way it should be!

Home

It's official!  We live IN our home!  Today is day five.  We moved in on Friday, February 1st!

197 days later. With lots of hard work, sweat, hard earned money, and love.  

We did it.  

This entire process had made us feel SO incredibly blessed and taken care of by the Lord.  His provisions were so evident throughout the entire project.  Our family and friends pitched in with time, gifts, and energy.  They all helped us immensely.  We both worked hard by putting in extra hours and picking up side jobs to make sure that this entire project was 100% debt-free.  Every sacrifice, weekend, and night spent working was worth it. 

The first four days living at our house have been great.  We have spent a lot of time unpacking boxes and finding homes for our belongings.  We don't have enough furniture to fill the house... and it's okay with us.  We made the decision months ago to only spend what we have in cash.  So, that means we don't have furniture in our living room, pretty area rugs, or much decor.  It'll happen in good time!

Here are a few snapshots of the past few days.  I promise to post lots of pictures of each room once we have removed the boxes!  It's a little messy and chaotic right now!  

Getting ready to pull into the driveway on the FIRST night.  I admit... I was quite teary.  It was such a build-up... and my emotions got the best of me.  AND... to top it off... my sweetheart made me drop everything and carried me through the door to "welcome me home."  Dream man!

                                              Great friends helping us unpack!

                                                        How does it look here??

I have to start getting my domestic skills back!  I got very spoiled with my Mom's cooking over the past six months.  So, I went to Costco and started practicing this weekend!  By the way, I LOVE my kitchen.  It's perfect!

We came home from work on Monday evening to find not one, but TWO separate gifts from neighbors (or so I think it was from neighbors?!)  This sweet "Welcome Home" balloon!  No clue who it is from... but we sure felt special and welcomed!

 Fresh lemons on our doorstep from kind neighbors!  Wow! We are blown away by the sweetness of this neighborhood.  It will be fun to get to know everyone better!

That's all I have for now!  I can't wait to show you the final product... hoping this weekend will give me a nice chunk of time to finish unpacking and organizing!

Ten Notches

We have been working like crazy people the past few days because... our first sleep at our house is going to this FRIDAY NIGHT!  Yes, that is tomorrow night!  We are so thrilled.  Can't believe we are actually here!

Our house has come together so beautifully the past couple weeks.  We were given some gorgeous appliances by Nick's parents which took the appearance of our kitchen up about ten notches!  We were planning on keeping all the appliances that came with the house; so this was a complete surprise and bonus for us.  We feel so blessed with this amazing, generous gift.  Thank you Karolee and Stan!!

Here are some pictures of our new gems!

                                                          Stainless steel fridge!

                      Super jammed packed fridge!  What more do we need?!

                                                  Lemon Drops here we come!  

 Our lovely stove!  Isn't she a beauty?  I am so happy to have a gas stove!  AND it has five burners.   So fantastic!

 The previous stove was electric, so Nick (who knows how to do everything), plumbed it for gas.  Super awesome.  

                                                          Happy homeowner!  

I'll post pictures of the finished, furnished house soon.  We are still chipping away at those boxes.  I must say though... big house... not a lot of furniture/stuff!  Looks like we will be going for the "less is more" look for awhile!

Right When You Think You Are....

DONE... there are little random things that still need to be done.   From what I hear, that is the story of owning a home!

We are half moved in.  It's pretty exciting to see our dining room table set up, our mattress in our bedroom, and opening cupboards to see all our organized stuff!  

There are still things that have to happen though.  Things that my studly husband worked on accomplishing this weekend.  He is an absolute rock star, by the way.  He worked on the house for nine hours Saturday, eleven hours Sunday, and then got up and went to real work today.  Not a complaint, no mumble grumble... (well maybe a little grumble at the alarm clock).  

Dream. Come. True. Man.  Thank you Jesus for giving ME this incredible man!

Here are a few snapshots of this past weekend.  

     Sweet little sister helping me unpack and organize!  Love her!

  Hello washing machine!  Is it strange that I just love my washer/dryer?!

Hopefully this was our LAST major purchase for awhile.  We are both sick of buying stuff!

 

This is how Nick spent 75% of his weekend.  For the record, plumbing is NOT fun.

                                                 New garbage disposal!  Yay!

Testing the new faucet!  Gotta love the hose through the window; super classy!

Wanna hear a secret??  We can technically move-in now.  Maybe we are dragging our feet a little.  Time is a factor... We need a large chunk of TIME to move our furniture in.  

Okay.  You caught me.  The real reason?  Both of us have said how sad we are to leave the 'rents house.  Nick says he will miss the social aspect... someone is always home.  He has really enjoyed hanging out with my Dad in the garage talking about whatever it is that men discuss, talking to Mom in the kitchen while she cooks, and learning about their favorite Zinfandels. It's been so fun for me to see the deep relationship that the three of them have formed. 

Me?  I will miss the familiarity.  I love being with my family, even at 28.  The past five months here hasn't changed that.... in fact, I appreciate it even more now. 

We will move in.  Don't ask me when.  The truth is, I don't know when.  And honestly... I'm not too concerned about it anymore.  It'll happen in good time, and it'll be perfect!

Final Touches

We have been busy on the home front!  We are working hard to finish the final touches before completely moving into our home sweet home!  

Truth be told... we have actually already half way moved in.  I've unpacked approximately 25 boxes (mainly kitchen stuff) and setup our dining room table!  We are hoping that next weekend we can finish moving in our stuff and maybe even sleep there!  However, we are a little sad to leave our cruisy life with the 'rents.... it really is the Good Life.  

I don't have any projects or big updates to share with you today.  I do, however, have lots of pictures of upgrades and adventures to show you!

 Our master bathroom faucets!  The sleek, modern look just makes me happy!  I also love the lack of nooks and crannies.... easy to wipe around and keep clean.

Our famous toilet!  It is an American Standard Cadet 3.  Fancy Smancy.  It is water efficient (1.28 gallons of water per flush) and has a new, sleek design.  Notice the the base is solid.  It is different looking in style and will take some getting used to.  However, I know I will have a big grin on my face when I clean for the first time, and DON'T have to scrub in between the crannies on the base of the toilet.  My least favorite job just got a little better!

Warm floors anyone??  This is by far the biggest splurge we have purchased for our home.  We are so happy though... nothing better than hopping out the shower and having your tile be 75 degrees!  

This is our customized master bathroom window sill.  Instead of using traditional wood for the window sill, we tiled it to tie into the bathroom floor and shower. 

 The World's Most Amazing Dad hard at work!!  Dad has scraped, textured, sanded, caulked, and painted our whole house.  He is incredible and we are forever grateful for his generosity with his time, energy, and support!

Dad said that it was time for me to learn how to paint.... I finished painting the last wall in our master bath!

New door handles installed throughout the house by yours truly!  Once I got the hang of it, it was quite easy.  These little upgrades have made such a difference.