more downstairs

second post of the day...see below for the first half...

the kitchen, with my new fridge :o)


more of the kitchen. the window above the sink looks out onto the back patio. Also notice the rotary phone on the counter--it was Gramma's mother's phone, and it still works! I absolutely love it!

The back door to the patio.



Looking into the powder room. It was very hard to photograph this room! hopefully you can get some idea of the space.


The vanity and mirror. [unintentional self-portrait]

That concludes the downstairs tour. Once I get myself in gear, I'll get to work on the upstairs!

the downstairs

I know you had probably given up hope that I would post pictures of my new house...but it's just taken a little while to get it photo-ready :o) But here it is now! The vast majority of my decorating brainpower has been directed at the downstairs--so, I'm opting to wait on the upstairs posting until it's in a little better shape decor-wise. But, enjoy the first floor!

This is the view from the front door: through the living room and into the dining room, and past that is the kitchen and powder room (with the patio out back--but that will be another post itself).


This is the living room on your left when you enter the front door. Ignore the large stack of cardboard packaging waiting to be recycled :)


The living room on your right when you enter the front door. The door in the picture is the closet underneath the stairs.


The dining room to the left. (the birdhouses are waiting to be painted as table decor for Lindsay's houswarming party on Sunday).


The dining room to the right. I bet you guys recognize the furniture! You can also see the start of the stairway to the upstairs, and the kitchen/powder room beyond that.


View back into the living room, and the front door.

more of the dowstairs to come...

home renovation #1

Here is my laundry closet project documented in pictures. I didn't think to get a "before" picture until it was a bit too late. :o) Here is the closest I've got:


Note the dryer vent coming up out of the floor, and the two different types of flooring that were down. And, my super-handy dad removing a big chunk of my wall!


Installing the new dryer vent in the wall (note the hole in the floor required to make it possible)



Putting the wall back together...


Scraping away at the ridiculously sticky floor...it took forever, and wore me out! But, I'm pretty sure I got bigger muscles as a result! :o)


Finally, down to the subfloor (plus a little glue that I couldn't scrape off)...

Laying the first new tile...

What a pretty new floor!

Wall repair complete--after color matching the paint at Lowe's with a chip we scraped off the wall. VERY COOL.Project complete! boy, it's a tight fit in there--you can't even see my new floor! but I know it's there. And you guys do too!

The drought is over

Hello world, I'm finally back! What a crazy week it's been. Moving into my new house and all that entails has consumed my life. I hadn't even been here a week, and I (with Dad's help) already embarked upon (and just an hour ago completed) my first home renovation project, which ended up spanning four days! It involved the laundry closet: moving the dryer exhaust from the floor to the wall, new floor, and installing the appliances. I documented the events, and will post them later. Currently, I'm doing a load of laundry of the clothes I want to take with me to the beach tomorrow! VERY EXCITING! It will be a short trip, but still a great chance to relax and get off this whirlwind I've been living for the last couple of weeks :o)

...more updates to come...

the end of an era

While I anxiously await my new home, I am sad to be leaving my roomies. Janeen and I have lived together either on the same hall, or same room, or same apartment for 6 of the last 8 years of my life. I think we've perfected the art of living together; we've had a bunch of practice. :o)

She's been such a blessing in my life; a woman of God who I can always talk to about anything. We've really grown up together--from college freshmen to the women we are now. What good times we've had! We recognize that we will probably never live together again--she has no plans to move where I am, and I have no immediate plans to come back to this town. When we parted ways four years ago, there was always the possibility of living together again if I came back to school (which is exactly what happened). There is not that possibility now. It feels much more permanent of a split. :o(

But, life goes on, and new chapters start. We're not ending a friendship, just adding some miles between us. It just seemed to me that this chapter as it ends deserved some tribute and recognition.

So, goodbye roomies, I will miss coming home to you in the evening!