renovation, week 5

Week 5: Aug 7-13

Week 5 began with a trip to Cincinnati!  A friend from days of old got married and Will & Colleen, and Tim's parents were also there.  We had a wonderful time at the wedding, of course, but also took full advantage of our proximity to IKEA!  Since our kitchen cabinets had gotten damaged during the demolition, we were pricing new kitchen cabinets, countertops, and sinks.  After about 4 hours of winding, twisting paths of home furnishings, Tim and I had come to no decisions and were running low on both patience and time.  After we left IKEA, we decided to use our brother and sister-in-law's kitchen cabinets, since they are getting new ones (and they are FREE!).  

So when we returned to IKEA the next day, we settled on a kitchen countertop, kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bathroom sink stand and a pack of IKEA cinnamon rolls.  After some tetris-esque finagling of the countertop, we had packed our loot into the RAV and headed home.  (The countertop took up all the space in the passenger seat of the RAV, so I rode home with Tim's parents.  Luckily they had decided to come to Bloomington for a few days to help out on the house!)

Back in Bloomington, Josh, Kevin, and Rob had been working hard finishing up the painting.  They had bought the Million Dollar Red paint and pretty much had the kitchen finished by the time we got home on Sunday. 

So, Tim and his parents got started right away on installing the bamboo floors.  Mike came over to offer his expertise and brought Frank along too.  We all worked late into the night until Tim realized our neighbors may not enjoy the sound of the table saw at 11:00 pm.  However, thanks to a lot of help from Tim's parents, and other friends (like Nate and Laura below) the floors were finished just a few days!

Also, our good friend Mandy (of Schacht Farm fame - I blogged about them here) tiled our entire bathroom floor for us!  All I had to do was seal the grout.  I wish I had snapped a pic of her working on the tile, but she came while I was at work and knocked it out in just 2 days.  She is an amazing lady!  See Tim cutting the tile with the wet saw and the finished product below:

Guess how much all that tile cost?  $5 from the Restore - Booyah!

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

Tim's little brother, Nick, drove up from Louisville and helped a TON!  One of the many jobs he did was install the shower faucet and Jared put up our new tub surround:

 

Charlie installed our new door jams:

 

Also, Josh put dowel rods up in our closets so we could hang our clothes, and made some sweet mini shelves in his closet out of leftover floor pieces.  I will share some sweet pics after we finish the closets (we are going to add some shelves).

On Thursday, only three days from when we had to be out of our old house, there was still a lot to do, but things were looking hopeful.  Our friends, Seth, Julie, Mark, Nick, Ellie, and Kristen were all coming to town for the weekend to help out, and we were really looking forward to their help, expertise and positive attitudes.  However, we weren't out of the woods just yet.......

STAY TUNED for the Bathroom Sink Saga & Tim's IKEA Hack + the Move-out EXTRAVANZA!

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.