renovation, week 4

Week 4: July 31-Aug 6

My dad, stepmother, and little brother came up for the weekend to kick off week 4!  We were going to work on tiling the bathroom, but the drywallers were still finishing, so instead Tim and my dad built a gate in the fence between our yard and the Roses backyard so we could walk easily back and forth.  Here is the fruit of their labors.

Someday, we might take the fence down and either leave both yards unfenced, or continue the picket fence around our yard too.  But for now, we are confining these lovable critters to one yard only.

We soon realized that we would need to start painting soon, and that meant MORE DECISIONS!  Josh and I went to Bloomington Paint and Wallpaper and picked a bajillion paint swatches and Tim and I spent many hours scrutinizing over the various shades.  Josh also discovered the Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer, which is kind of fun.  We chose lots of vibrant colors and are pleased with our colorful home!  Those with subtle tastes, be warned - it's like a rainbow exploded!

Sorry, I didn't snap any good photos during the painting phase!  Above is a picture of the kitchen and living room (plus some sweaty dudes) and our bedroom.  The photo quality isn't very good for viewing the colors, but at least you can get an idea.  Below are the names of the colors in case you want to try to imagine what they might look like...

Living Room: Pale Avacado
Kitchen: Million Dollar Red
Hallway: Prevence Creme
Bathroom & Spare room: Jamaican Aqua
Josh's Room: Cafe Royal
Tim & Carrie's Room: Passion Plum w/ Provence Creme accent wall

Lots of friends pitched in and helped us to prime the enter house, and apply 2 coats of paint on all the walls!  We couldn't have done it with out the extra hands!

Stay tuned for week 5, Tim's ikea hack, and the Moving Extravaganza....

renovation, week 3

Week 3: July 24-30

I forgot to mention an important part of week 2. After debating about flooring for a month, Tim and I drove to Lumber Liquidators to pick out floors once and for all.  We had narrowed it down to two options and we were very torn.

But we eventually decided!

We took a brief hiatus from working on the house to party down at Mike and Patty's wedding!

And luckily, the drywall guys were ready to come the next week!  Also, the new windows came in and Tim, Jared, and Charlie installed them all in one day!  Here are some pics post-drywall:

Hurray for drywall!

Stay tuned for weeks 4 and 5!

renovation, week 2

Week 2: July 17-23

Mom and Pop Felton came up to Bloomington to help us during our second weekend of renovation.  We had pulled up the carpet in the living room to discover cheap thin tile beneath.  We soon discovered that this tile was under the carpet in each of the bedrooms as well.  John and Maggie helped us pull up the tile in the living room and hallway, but Tim convinced me that it wasn't worth the time and effort to pull up the tile in the bedrooms since we could probably install our floor right over top of it.

The second day Tim's parents were here, Tim asked his dad to take down the wrap that goes around our bathtub.  We had originally planned on leaving it up and having the drywall guys hang drywall around it, but Tim said, let's take it down and have them drywall behind it.

 Boy was Tim's dad in for a treat when he removed that wrap.

So...I gave the wall a good bleach scrub down and Charlie replaced the rotting wood around the faucets.  The toiled was also broken, so we removed it, and since we found water damage behind the shower wrap, we pulled up the linoleum too.  I took a pic from outside the bathroom because it stunk so bad.

At our community dinner that week, Tim suggested that we write verses and prayers on the walls of our house to sort of dedicate the house to the community and to God.  We had heard of people doing this before in churches or Young Life buildings, but I had never done it before, and it was a really neat experience.  Buying and renovating this house had been a stressful and tiresome experience thus far, so it was good for us to remember that in the end, it will be more than just a house, it will be a home and an important part of our community here on Sunset Hill.

Stay tuned for updates on Weeks 3 and 4!

renovation, week 1

Hey guys, I have been procrastinating on writing this blog post, but here are some pics from the first week of working on our house.

Week 1: July 9-15

This is the view of our living room from standing at the front door. The original plan was to replace all the wood paneling with drywall.  So Tim, Will, Kevin, and Josh each picked a wall and started pulling it apart.

They quickly realized that the wood paneling was not only nailed to the studs, but glued and stapled as well.  It was extremely difficult to pull apart, and something just didn't seem right.  They consulted our friend, Charlie (who we have hired to help us out a little bit) and he confirmed their suspicions that all the walls in the entire house were prefabricated in a factory somewhere (Fort Wayne, to be exact).

Because of this, it was going to be a nightmare to pull down, so we decided just to hang the drywall on top of the paneling.  However, we still had to finish pulling the paneling off the walls they had started, and also take down all the trim, etc.  Colleen and I were really good at pulling out nails.

This is the BEFORE pic of the kitchen:

As you can see below, we knocked down a wall and built a new half-wall.  And when I say "we" I mean, Charlie.  We also took down the gross patterned paneling that the previous owner had lovingly chosen to cover the water damage above the side door.

 Well, that is all for week 1.  More pics to come! 

new house. new job. new moon.

Greetings Bloggees.

I have been wanting to write a new blog post for over a month now, but have just kept pushing it back and pushing it back.  I think most of my procrastination can be attributed to the fact that there is just too much to share!  But I finally said to myself, "Self, enough is enough."  So here are some tidbits.

New House

On June 7, Tim and I signed a bunch of papers and officially became homeowners.  Our realtor, Gail, took us out for lunch to celebrate, but to be honest it was difficult to feel like we had done much worth celebrating.

However, on July 9, we began ripping apart the house we just asked the IUCU to loan us a ton of money for....and now we realize that owning a home is a pretty big deal.  We feel so lucky to have lots of friends and family to help us out with the never-ending renovation projects!

New Job

Also, I start a new job on Monday!  I am leaving the Owen County office at which I have worked for the past two years, and will be working in Monroe County.  I am still working at the same agency, the South Central Community Action Program, but with a new title (not to mention a pay increase - booyah!).  On Monday, I will be the Circles Coach, which may not mean a whole lot to you, but let me just say that I am extremely excited about the position.

New Moon

And the most important update is that I have finally seen the first two teen-vampire-werewolf movies, and let me tell you they are AMAZING!  I mean, they are just as terrible as I expected, and just as awesome.  Edward is mysterious and dreamy, and Jacob is a real pro at taking his shirt off...  Add some bad acting, cheesy lines, and some cartoonish CG werewooves and you've got the makings of a perfect teen drama....Oh yeah, and Dakota Fanning is in New Moon - BONUS!  Tim and I can't wait to see ECLIPSE!

Well, that is all for now, I will post some sweet pics of the house soon!

lovecare.

maritals...

Hey tobloggans,

This is a blog post about maritals in two parts.

Part I

One time, Tim, Josh and I were in the kitchen discussing what we would do that evening.  Somehow tension began to grow between Tim and me.  I don't remember why, he probably wanted me to go do something that I didn't want to do....anyway, Tim eventually walked upstairs.  Sensing his frustration, I followed him to talk about it.  Figuring we could use some time alone, Josh cut his losses and retired for the evening.  After Tim and I resolved our issues, we came downstairs to find that Josh had already gone to bed, so we watched an episode of TV and did the same.

The next morning, I attempted to apologize to Josh for having left so abruptly:

"Hey Josh, sorry about last night.  Tim and I were having a marital - " I paused to search for the appropriate noun, and just as I had settled on the word "issue," Josh interjected.

"You were having a marital?"

"Haha, yes, we were having a marital"

"Wait, what kind of marital?  The good kind or the bad kind?"

"Not the good kind...."

"Well, I guess one could lead to the other."

"This is true...but it didn't last night."

It was funny.  So, you can have a marital or you can have a marital.  It sounds confusing, but that's why it is funny. 

Part II

Last weekend Tim and my mutual best friend, Brett Thompson, married the girl of his dreams, Jenny Hirsch.  They are two of the most loyal, passionate, and generous people we know.  I am so proud of Brett and how he has grown into a strong and sensitive man and so glad such a wonderful woman fell in love with him.

Even though the ceremony was outside in the blazing hot sun, it was still beautiful.  Our good friend, Jeff Mahrt performed the ceremony and said some great things about LOVE and Jenny was gorgeous and Bretty teared up as she walked down the aisle!

Plus, there were so many people from different parts of their lives there.  High school friends, college friends, and family friends all together at one sweet party.  Tony Gosner flew in from CO, Yoga master Keith Godfrey was lookin' totally fine, Dave and Kenny brought some ERS, Riggsman vs. the YLs, Pankake and friends put it in a cone, and the artist formerly known as Bruggs showed up for groomsman duty, and so many more.  There were even some new friends from NOLA! 

Also, thanks to Jessica and her fashion blogs, I was lookin' pretty classy.  She lent me a dress and some sweet accessories for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.  I don't have any sweet pics of my outfit because I was too busy cutting a major rug, but maybe someone somewhere snapped one....

Anyway, not that Brett or Jenny will ever read this blog, but I just wanted to proclaim to all the webs that I love them both and wish them lots of love, not too many maritals, and LOTS of maritals....

lovecare.

minus the husband

Hey blogspots.

As you probably know, my husband, Tim, is a super rock legend in the band husband&wife. No, I am not in the band, it is just called that....yeah, I know, it's kind of a dumb name, but that's not the point. The point is that Tim and his bandmates were on tour for 10 days in May followed by 6 days of all day recording. This left the wives to savor the beginnings of summer with each other and friends. We used to get really sad and lonely every time they left for tour, but I think Jess and Colleen would agree that we now embrace the opportunity to spend time with our friends without spousal distractions! Plus, it's a great time to get things done around the house (not that I have done this, but I think Jess and Colleen do...)

Here are some highlights from my time husbandless (in stream of consciousness, no capitalization, list form):

upland ard ri, hipstamatic pics, the orrs, party van, running, tortilla casserole, michael jackson, Jared Cheek's stretches, haircuts, making pants into shorts, kaylakitty & jessballs, weeding the garden, young life meetings, aver's pizza, youtubes, hey dixroid, fishing tips from mike johnson, vanilla gelato, blueberry ginger ice, b-carl, nick's, a million sports channels and no reds game, bucket o fries, beer, lung cancer, settlers, dc talk, more youtubes, jam session, pianica, bible study fail, the simpsons, beach body insanity, super stuffed tortillas, scholar's inn martinis, fasone, girls night, gone with the wind, rockit's intermission, getting lost on 465, oberon mini-keg, blockus, late night talks, chicken korma, sophia, constance, chocolate cookies, bible study success, baby badger, barrettes, catholic workers, potluck, sushi, twilight, yard sales....

Phew.  Friends are so important in making time away from your husband fun and not terrible.  Thank you to all my favorite chill buds.  (Wish I had more pics, but I was too busy having fun to adequately document it all)

 

Sorry if you found this post a little boring.  I have more fun things to share in the future...

lovecare.