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Now we can have popcorn in our kitchen!

Ok, truth be told, we have always been able to do that, but now there is a new microwave hanging above the stove instead of sitting on the counter top.

But, better than that, Doug built, from scratch, a new cabinet. It has a place for the trashcan and a double door with slide out shelves for storage, a new storage drawer and a huge drawer for the cutting boards.

And, since we put in a new tile counter top with a new back splash, and a new tile floor, and painted the walls, the kitchen is almost totally transformed.

We aren’t quite finished with grouting and then replacing the appliances, but it is looking awesome! Check out the pictures in the gallery.

I have added more pictures to the Family, Artwork, Trips and Adventures, and Randomness galleries. Enjoy!

Doug and Christy at Bridal Veil Falls, Cow Creek, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Doug’s GPS said it was a .2 mile longer hike than the trail sign, and .4 longer than the map. But we had the place to ourselves, the hike was gorgeous and the small amount of drizzle made everything wet, fresh, and gorgeously colored. After the two days of solid rain, what better to do than go see a freshly recharged waterfall.

The trail is a gentle slope up until the last half mile or so. Because it is not accessed from within the main park, there were not a lot of people. I hope to do more of those type of hikes- off the regular trail- and explore more of the park that I thought I knew all about.

It has been a crazy last several weeks.

The short version-

Friends visit, kitchen destroyed, kitchen rebuilt, exterior stripped, Doug’s new job, hiking, camping, fishing, a death, a birth.

The long version-

We have had two friends (D&C) visit our house for dinner and a tour. Both of them really like what we have done with everything. We really enjoyed having them up to the house. They were the last people to see the kitchen intact.

Ah yes, the kitchen. It looked like a scene from “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” for a while. The neighboring college kid, out for a smoke at 3 in the morning, wanted to know why we were still up. “Cutting tile while it is cool and while the mud is soft.” was our response. It is mostly finished with the exception of grout, which is pretty major as the fridge is nearing its 4th week in the dining room and the oven is still disconnected. But a new tile counter top and a new tile floor (yes we completely removed the old ones) with a new back splash and new color on the walls is going to make our remodel of the interior complete.

The exterior is also progressing nicely. It is no longer white. Sort of. Because we have vertical siding with groves in it, it now has stripes. I rolled a medium dark green onto it, and the old white lines are still there for now, until I hand paint every single one. Ug. But the doors and pergolas are in progress of turning “red red wine” and the peaks of the siding on the house will be a lighter shade of the green, and the whole thing trimmed with off white trim. It will be quite a transformation.

Doug’s new job is going really really well and he loves it there and they love him. He is a systems admin for over 400 servers for a world wide company. He keeps the computers running for a big group of people. He is finally with people who also speak geek, and loves it.

Our hiking trip followed a week later by a camping trip up to the Never Summer range was awesome. R&M and their son J and nephew J came with us and we ate the fish they caught for dinner and loved every bite of the smoores made over the campfire.

My aunt died from her long struggle with cancer, so the funeral an hour south of Santa Fe and the cemetery and hour south of the funeral let us see some pretty remote but beautiful areas of New Mexico. It is always good to see family but not under those circumstance. She will be deeply missed.

My best friend S and her hubby D had their new baby E a bit early, so E is in the hospital still but doing well and just the cutest bundle of fuzz. I am so excited for them. I hope he gets to come home soon.

And that is just since the last time I posted!

For everyone that looks at our blog and would like more pictures, Doug has shown me how to put pictures in our gallery. So, there are some pictures from the house there, and almost all of our pictures from our Honeymoon to Australia. Better late than never. There is a lot there. In order, we went to Sydney,
Ayers Rock/Uluru, Brisbane, Lady Elliot Island, back
to Brisbane, and back to Sydney.
Enjoy!

So, after four days of vacation after his last job contract job expired last Friday, Doug has another job lined up that starts in two weeks. And it is “close enough” so that we don’t have to move immediately. 🙂

Picture mean more these days. Here is what we have been up to this past few weeks.

Tree Removal

Side yard garden

Downstairs bathroom

Entry Light

Flowers

Drifting through the house, a familiar smell lingers in the minds of those present. No, not more wall paint, but the scent that lures a person to the kitchen.

Fresh chocolate chip cookies!

I have a bit more time on my hands these days, and I believe in a certain style of persuasion. So, there are Chocolate Chip Cookies in the cookie jar and cold fresh milk from the local dairy in the fridge just waiting…

We have come a long way, and are still working on many parts of the house. With the exceptions of the bathrooms, every room has been painted, every light switch and outlet is now white not almond, almost every light fixture is replaced, most of the doors and handles are replaced, new carpet in the lower bedrooms, laminate flooring instead of carpet at the entry, and the kitchen is 2/3rds of the way though a medium update and the bathrooms are almost finished with the soft update.

Master Bedroom wall flip



Master Bedroom today

Library wall move



Library today

Kitchen

Great Room Upstairs

Downstairs Living Room

Outside

I turn off the shower with a tired sigh of relief and reach for my old blue towel. The sound from the heater is grumbling in the room next door and then shutters to a stop as the heater turns off. I suppose it is tomorrow already. It has been a long three weeks and I am just now getting to bed.

The wires dangle out of the walls, visible only by the candle I use sometimes as a luxury. Tonight it is a necessity. The medicine cabinet and lights are disassembled in the other room waiting for their eventual fate. I need to make a huge run to the habitat for humanity store. Reuse. Repurpose.

Carefully picking my way across the floor to reach the toothbrush and paste, thankfully safe in their new spots in the newish vanity drawers, I am reminded that while the other bathroom in the house isn’t in much better shape, it at least has a new working light and quiet fan. However, it does not have my toothbrush. And I would have to go through THAT room to get there. I have had enough of THAT room today.

Among other things these past few weeks, this week has been to paint THAT room. The emphasis is only because it is 2am and I still have touch up and trim work to do. And I mis-measured the lower line on the three-striped wall. Ug.

I am tired. I blow out my candle only to decide too late that it would have been useful to find my way to bed. I cross my fingers and pad carefully across the floor into the bedroom. Hopefully my husband has not left anything laying in wait in the traffic areas. Thankfully, my reminders, requests and nagging over the past year are paying off- even the throw pillow from the bed, a new addition to our lives, are neatly placed on the floor leaning against the wall so I won’t trip.

I grab my small water bottle and pad with more confidence back to the bathroom to fill it up. It will be mostly empty by the time I wake up, but I won’t remember all the night time gulps. The furnace blowing on my face dehydrates me. I pad back to the bedroom where my hardworking husband is sound asleep and snoring. I will try to remember to thank him tomorrow for all the little things he has helped me with today from keeping me company while I put yet another coat of paint on, to the neatly stacked pillows. The bathrooms already look better and I am excited to see how they will look all finished. The upstairs room on the other hand… I will see how it looks when it gets all done and put back together again before I pass judgment.

But for now, it is bedtime for this house-frau and her sleeping provider.