Goodbye Little Home

Maybe I'm feeling a little sad at leaving our home that we spent so much time and effort fixing up or maybe I'm just thinking about doing home improvements when I know we'll have to do more with whatever house we buy. We'll be looking at about 10 houses tomorrow with our realtor and from the listings, just about every single one will need some "personalization" in one way or another. Whatever the deal is, I realized I never once posted pics from the bathroom or kitchen remodels on our old house.

I am not going to post the "during" pictures because there are way too many. Just know that for both of these rooms, we gutted them entirely... down to studs in the walls and installing new subfloors. Partial walls were taken out and rebuilt. Gil replaced all the plumbing and electrical with new, up-to-date products and moved the electrical panel out of the kitchen (where it had been in the wall near the sink!!!). The projects took a LOT of work and I have to say I'm very thankful my husband is so handy with tools and know-how.

We did the bathroom 2 1/2 years ago. It took 3 weeks from start to completion. We bought a camping porta-potty to keep in one garage and replaced the main toilet every night for use. We went through many wax rings!

Before:

During... Picture taken from the garage looking into the house.
The entire exterior wall was removed. There had been a window on this wall but we added on a fully enclosed and insulated garage/shop to this whole side of the house. To make an attached garage meet fire codes, there can be no windows between the house and the garage. For a week, we could walk straight from the bathroom into the garage because there was no wall. Thankfully, the garage was insulated and it was early November so it didn't get too terribly cold.

The old moldy, cast iron/porceline tub. Yuck. Gil had fun smashing it to smitherines.

The new tub/shower single unit. Luckily, there was no exterior wall and we were able to bring this monstrosity directly in that way.

After... all comleted!
All new walls... Gil custom-made the sink counter from a kitchen cabinet base so it stands a bit higher... we can wash our hands without bending over! He had to do some work to make it corner-friendly... and made the tile top himself. He also cut and laid the tile floor himself. I, of course, did all the finishing work like painting and grouting. Moving the sink into the corner really opened it up and made the bathroom seem larger.

We just did the kitchen 1 1/2 years ago... it took 2 months from Christmas 2007 - January 2008. This again was a total gut and rebuild. Everything was 1950 original... metal cabinets painted white, ugly countertops that weren't even fully attached in all places... heating ducts and vents above the cabinets. We ripped out the ducts and re-routed them in the ceiling to allow cabinets to the ceiling. There was a huge double window on the previously-mentioned exterior wall now made into an enclosed garage/shop on the other side. Oh, and the fake brick on the walls and peel-and-stick linoleum... major props to getting rid of it. Because of this kitchen that I lived in for 3 years, I now can no longer stand white kitchens or cabinets. Yuck.

Before...

Before...
Because the house is so small and still in its original 1950's structure, there was no real room for the washer and dryer... thus their place in the kitchen. I didn't really like it but it worked. And I think we made it look nice in the rebuild.

After...

We used laminate flooring that looks like stone (which I love!!!), stock laminate counter-tops from our favorite home improvement store, and base cabinets saved from a kitchen remodel Gil did for a friend a few years ago. The cabinets were oak and still in pretty good condition. We had almost enough to fit our space... Gil had to make 5 more cabinet bases and then he made all the cabinet doors to match... solid oak. Aren't they beautiful?! He even put under-cabinet lighting in for me! We did a $15,000 remodel for $3,000. Who can beat that?!! I know the walls and appliances are the original white, but I picked enough other color in the floor, countertops, and wood stain that it's alright. I loved my kitchen! Gil had made me a roll-out cabinet just for my trash can and my spice cupboard (sorry, no pics) was the envy of every woman who saw it!

We sure made our little house comfortable and updated and the couple who bought it fell in love with it at first sight. A lot of friends have asked if we're sad to be getting rid of it because of all the work we've put into it... the answer is no. It's never actually felt like "home" to us because we always planned to turn it over. We knew it wasn't our forever home or even a place to start expanding our family, so we're really excited to start the search for that home tomorrow.

In Memorium

Well, our life in our old town is officially gone. We have moved 400 miles away from Gil's family and closer to my family. Gil's job brought him this way and there was no reason to argue. I'll miss my climate, that's for sure. Not looking forward to more precipitation and gloomier weather as a biker and Jeeper, but I'll survive! What rides and trails we will traverse will be much better. Quality over quantity, right?!!

We drove about 1,500 miles this past weekend... 2 trips back and forth to get the remainder of our life packed up, moved and stored (in addition to the 3 other trips we've made in the past 5 weeks). We are officially "homeless" and begin the house search this weekend. We've been looking at properties for two years, but haven't been able to physically act on it. We've signed with a realtor now and are eager to get going. Everything happened so fast... we're still a bit dizzy from the speed with which it all came together. We sold our old home before we could even list it... word of mouth only. One of my coworkers had a cousin... and the rest is history!

I'll miss what our old town is to us... it's where Gil and I met and fell in love, where we began our life as one. I made a lot of very good friends there and I'll miss them terribly. But I'm also really excited for this new chapter in our life.

We've just been very, very busy... and are very, very tired.

(For those commenting and who know me, please do not mention specific place names in your comment. Thank you!)

Lamenting in Faith

Here's my choice for today's scripture: Lamentations 3: 31-33

For the Lord's rejection does not last forever;
Though He punishes, He takes pity, in the abundance of His mercies;
He has no joy in afflicting or grieving the sons of men.

This translation is from The New American Bible, commonly used by Catholics and is the Bible of choice on the USCCB's website. However, I'm not sure I like the literal feeling behind the word "punishes". So here's another translation...

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.
Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.
For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

I'm not feeling a lot of compassion right now but I'm faithful and hopeful that it'll come. I know He has a plan for my life, for our lives, and I'm trying to trust in my faith that the plan will be great and perfect. Still... infertility sucks.


(The particular Bible source is not referenced for the second translation but was found on I Lift My Eyes Ministries.)

It's a Long Way...

to the Top!

Just 'cause it's frickin' awesome and I felt the need for a little A.C/D.C break.

Nosey Questions

Monday's Meme

Nosey Questions

1. What is your favorite day of the week?
It used to be Friday when I didn’t have to work on that day… now, however, it’s Saturday.

2. How do you usually wear your hair?
Down and slightly curled, with the front pulled off to the side to keep it out of my face. Either that, or I’m covering up with a bandana or ballcap.

3. What is your favorite item of clothing?
One of my Harl.ey sweatshirts or my Ste.elers hoodie.

4. Where would your dream vacation be?
Ireland... but it would have to be an extended vacation, 3-6 months. Think I can finance that?!

5. Who is your favorite author? book?
If this is based on how many books by one particular author I have, then it would be No.ra Rob.erts. However, I also like An.ne Ric.e and Dia.na Ga.baldon.

6. How often do you log on?
1-2 times/day... but each time lasts forever! I'm constantly plugged in.

7. What is one of your favorite internet sites to visit?
Han.nah’s Pra.yer or Go.ogle (I like to look things up).

8. Coke or Pepsi?
If it’s diet: Pepsi. If it’s regular: Coke.

9. Do you prefer healthy snacks or junk food?
What kind of question is that?!! Of course not! ☺

10. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
By nature, I’m a night owl. Work and life force me to function in the morning, fighting against my natural instincts.

Meme courtesy of Randomness.

Dogs on the Loose

Gil and I went on a man-hunt today. Or more like, were forced into a dog hunt. The three furbabies got loose through an open garage door and took off running. I caught up with Arrow in the backyard of one of our neighbors, engrossed in sniffing all the fun smells of their two dogs. Mojo and Karma, however, decided to take Gil on the run of his life... and I'm sure when he heard screeching wheels on the big through-street north of our house, he about had a heart attack. He was able to finally get Karma to know he meant business so she laid down and did her submissive dog routine (she doesn't come but will lay down, roll over on her back, and let you get her), but Mojo continued to run. I had, by this time, gotten Arrow safely locked into the kennels at home and hopped in the Jeep to resume the search. I passed Gil leading Karma home and he pointed me in a general direction of where to look. Thankfully, it didn't take long and I found a group of young teenage girls holding onto him and showering him with affection at a nearby softball field. I couldn't begin to thank them enough and had barely hooked him to the leash when Gil comes around the corner in the truck. Apparently, these girls had called the number on Mojo's tag and were able to tell Gil where they were. Thank goodness there are still good Samaritans in this world.

(This picture is from awhile ago but it's one of an extremely few that contains all 3 of them. They panted pretty hard and laid around for quite awhile... and then shadowed us in suck-up mode for the rest of the day!)

All Jacked Up!

Most of our "big" Jeep upgrades are now completed. While I was laying around recuperating from my surgery, Gil busted his hiney in the garage trying to get everything done in one short weekend.

For a reminder, here's what the Jeep looked like on the day we got it:

Here he is putting the 4" lift kit on. He also did some other things under there, like a new pitman arm and other small things to make sure everything worked out.

The new steel front bumper we purchased was supposed to allow use of the stock fog lights. Unfortunately, the holes were about half as big as they needed to be. Here you can see Gil working on expanding the hole size and making custom light brackets. He also rolled his own "grill guard" on the pipe bender (I know, honey, this is justification for purchasing a "tube" bender now) and welded everything together. He even "custom" designed and welded guards to encase the fog lights.

And here's the final product! We also added 35" tires which give a total lift of 6" from stock height. We're waiting on some black rims that have been back-ordered twice... won't those look sweet when we get 'em on? I love the all-black accents.

Yes, I know... my baby spoils me. But hey! It's just as much for him as it is for me. And I honestly think he gets a kick out of people's reactions when he tells them it's his "wife's Jeep".