The Zundelephant in the Room

80% of the Work

2012-02-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

At the start of this project...umm, in SEPTEMBER...Brett informed me that he could "knock out the shed in a weekend." Here we are many, many (did I say "many"?) weekends later, and the shed still isn't quite "knocked out." It is, however, a place in which we can store all Brett's tools and gadgets (I even managed to sneak a couple things in there). Brett admits that the saying of "80% of the work takes 20% of the time" is very, very true. Here is 80% of the work. When the next 20% will be finished, we are unsure. At some point it will be properly roofed, and the siding will be completed. We like the look of the reclaimed fence boards, so this is how it shall stay. Perhaps we will paint the trim, but time will tell.

Being that Brett is a very, very proud resident of the State of Jefferson, I made him a sign for Christmas. This may not be the sign's permanent home, but for now it is proudly displayed on the exterior of Brett's domain.

It is Finished!

2012-02-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

It is with great satisfaction and much excitement that I present the last big inside project (until we demo the whole darn house and start over again, just for fun). Brett finished the cabinets and drawers to our built-ins! Yippeeeeeee! This little room has come a long way. What once was a room that we hardly spent any time in has become our most favorite spot to cozy up. It has gone from cold and blah to warm and totally inviting. Getting rid of our painted brick and replacing it with recycled, natural brick was a step in the right direction. We love all the imperfections, plus it sort of mans the room up a bit for Brett. Nixing the fireplace and replacing it with a free-standing wood stove has been awesome.
We have absolutely loved how warm it has made our home. I'm in my element with the fire cranking; meanwhile, Brett sweats to death.

Come on over. Scout will share her coveted sheepskin spot on the floor in front of the fire. If you're lucky, she'll even let you play with Bert & Ernie...maybe.

Original (little did we know that hundreds of thousands of bees lurked behind that unsuspecting brick facade)--ick.


Stage 1 (bee breeding ground still in tact)--cluttered much? Yes.

Stage 2 (bees no longer welcome)--getting better, but the bookshelves are messy and incomplete.

Finished Product (bees have gotten the message that they will get punched in the face if they return)--much, much better. The cabinet doors and drawers clean up the space considerably.

Kick-ass wood burning stove

Long Overdue

2012-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Yikes. What a slacker I’ve been! I will spare you the details of the last 5 months, and instead give you a nutshell version. Suffice it to say life has been fun-filled and action-packed.

As I’ve quickly learned, I am second fiddle now that Scout is in this world. And for good reason! She is pretty dang sweet, and worthy of any and all attention Brett and I no longer receive. What an incredible experience it has been watching Scout grow, and marveling at the personality that is uniquely hers. She has a very sweet disposition and is quick to offer a genuinely happy smile, especially to those she recognizes. With strangers she’s a bit coy until she establishes that there won’t be any sudden movements, coughs, sneezes, or otherwise, at which point there’s a greater likelihood her lower lip will stay tucked away. If her sense of security is breached, however, there will be little warning before her lower lip protrudes forward, accompanied by crocodile tears and borderline wailing. Once she feels safe and comfortable, however, which really doesn’t take all too long, she is an incredibly happy little human. Her arms frequently flap in the air out of sheer excitement, accompanied by the stringing together of repetitive “da-da-da’s” and squeals. Laughs escape her mouth many times a day, which is purely contagious. She has been full-on belly laughing for several months, and I never grow tired of the sweet sound.

Sleep was once a foreigner in this house, but beginning around Scout’s fourth month, Brett and I began the arduous task of getting Scout on a sleep schedule of sorts. After a few painstaking days and nights we rediscovered our long lost friend. Oh, sweet, sweet Slumber, welcome home!! If any of you out there are interested in a good read for sleep training, I highly recommend Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. That revolutionized our world. Scout now has the gift of sleep down pretty well, for which we are ever grateful! Scout has her napping skill down so well that while on the beach in Hawaii she was still knocking out 3-hour naps (thank you, little PeaPod). It. Was. Awesome.

We returned this week from Hawaii, having spent 11 days on the Big Island. Hawaii is very special to us, as we were engaged there 4 years ago. Recounting memories, with our baby in tow, made it that much more special.

We did the Hawaiian extravaganza with Brett’s parents and the Petersons. Brett, Scout and I arrived a couple days early, though, as a drive to Hilo was very necessary. It was high time for Scout to meet her great-grandpa! Our visit was lovely, as always. It was special seeing the span of generations. Looking back at the quick photo I snapped I am very touched by the fact that the hands that held my daughter are the same hands that once held both my dad and me.

After our brief visit, we drove back over to the Kona side and met up with the rest of the family.

Having babies along was definitely a new experience for us, as things moved at a slightly different pace than our trips in prior years. Fewer hours were spent baking in the sun, for which my skin pays many thanks, activity pretty much ceased after 7pm, and the need for an adventure was minimal to none. We just enjoyed the warm humid air, while watching our girls discover the lovely tropical land. Scout seemed pretty keen on the Hawaiian climate, especially the bit about being half-naked most of the time.

While a bit unsure of the ocean at first, Scout grew to enjoy all it had to offer.

What she enjoyed most about the beach, however, was the sand. To play in, you assume? No, no, to eat, of course! Who knew sand was such a delicacy? Scout couldn’t quite get her fill.

Both Scout and Hadley were well on their way to crawling prior to leaving for Hawaii, but time on the sand turned them into full-fledged crawlers. I can’t adequately explain how heart-meltingly-cute it was watching our little naked babes, with their chubby little bods, and rolls galore, crawling after one another on the sand.

Hadley is constantly on the move, and she is not afraid to use whatever, or whoever, is in front of her to help her get to where she’s going. Scout is often the means to Hadley’s end, whether she likes it or not. Most of the time she doesn’t, at which point she cries for help. Is it bad that much of the time my first response is laughter? With Hadley practicing her WWF moves on Scout, and Scout reluctantly taking it, it is hard not to laugh. These two girls have such sweet souls—different personalities, indeed, but equally as sweet. What a joy it has been watching them go from being little lumps who didn’t even know the other existed, to friends who pull each other’s hair (as pictures may indicate, the suspect and the victim are easily identified), babble and squeal together, share and steal toys from one another, and carefully watch and learn from the other. I trust that a deep and true friendship and bond is being formed at their core, perhaps more of a sisterhood.

The Shed

2011-09-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

If you think we've just been sitting around on our haunches, think again. No, no, we have been scheming. We've mainly been doing our fair share of traveling and hosting family and friends because it's like having a baby is a big deal, or something. But amidst travels and visits, we've done some scheming, which as of last week, has turned into building a shed. We have a roof to fix, and a house to paint, not to mention a yard to landscape, but we felt like a shed was the first step so that we could get everything off our back patio, thus making way for the other projects. Oh, yeah, and we are in hot pursuit of the Money Tree I've heard so much about for many years. Where, oh, where is it??? Once we find it our house will be completely finished.

Here are a few pics of the shed that is in progress.

While Brett and Chip were hammering away, Scouty was inside doing what she does best: being absolutely adorable.

Arnold and Danny

2011-08-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hadley and Scout are twin cousins, as they share the same birthday. That's pretty much where the similarities stop. Nana Lo snapped this pic of the girls the other night. It's not a particularly cute pic, but it sure struck a funny bone. Hadley makes a great mob boss, and for sure would be cast as Danny DeVito. Scout just has the look of, "I'm with her." While she doesn't necessarily seem to be an obvious Arnold Schwarzenegger role, that's who I liken her to anyway...especially because of the apparent height difference (thanks to her hair) between her and "Danny."

Something about this pic begged for a little photoshop action. See if you can tell what manipulations were made.

Scouty Smiles

2011-08-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Scout is now going on 3 months old. She's getting a lot more tricks up her sleeve. Smiling is one she's had for several weeks now, but it is still oh-so-heart-melting. She's very communicative with her sweet little coos, and has begun experimenting with her laugh. I want to bottle up the sweetness of those sounds.

Scout Meets the Family

2011-07-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Scout's first introductions:

Grammy T

Nana Lo

Papa Chip (waiting room shot)

Grampy and Grandma Laurie

Scout got to meet her cousin, Hadley, for the first time. Both girls were born on June 3rd, at the same hospital! She also met her Auntie Kougar and Uncle Al (I don't have a pic of Al!)

Busha

And this is Scout's first time in her car seat. Don't be fooled. She has never since looked so comfortable or content when buckled up.

S is for Scout

2011-07-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

Scout Ashland Zundel
Born June 3rd, 2011
5:32 pm
9 lbs. 20 1/2" long

May 21^st came and went. So did May 28^th, the one-week-late-marker. My dear friend, and planned doula, Deanna, came and went. As each of these days came and went, so, too, did my patience. I was content and happy, not to mention quite comfortable, but once I got beyond one week late, I got some serious ants in my pants. Emotions came and went with the wind, as I began to fear that I would be pregnant forever, and that I would be forced to give birth to a behemoth of a child. I was having a May baby! That was all I had considered. June hadn’t even entered my brain as a possibility. As I walked around town, people would inevitably ask, “When are you due?” I would smile and quickly reply, “11 days ago,” or, “12 days ago.” Discouraged, I would cry in the shower as I stared down at my ever-growing belly. A good old-fashioned pity party is what it was. Brett was absolutely wonderful through all of my emotions, serving as my calming and comforting presence. He let me cry when I needed, feeding me gentle and sweet reminders and encouragements all along the way. He was unwaveringly supportive and present, as he has always been. But the final days of my pregnancy, through every aspect of my delivery and post-partum are days that I will always remember, for my husband was, in the words of Feist, my moon, my man.

By my 42-week appointment, which was on Wednesday, June 1^st, I was more than ready. The day prior was my meltdown day, and the day I embraced the fact that I was having a June Baby. From Wednesday on was my “let’s get down to business” attitude, which was certainly aided by the fact that my doctor and I decided that Friday would be the grand finale. If I didn’t go into labor by Friday morning, then we would take matters into our own hands and induce. Knowing that there was an end in sight helped my attitude. I was proactive in home-induction remedies, as I really, really wanted to go into labor without the help of Pitocin, but was also okay if my body never kicked it into laboring gear. There was a light at the end of the tunnel. I would meet my baby girl on Friday.

In all the ways that I was exceptionally excited to finally meet my little girl, I was also dealing with underlying fears and anxieties. I can control my body in everyday life, but the birth process is about letting go, getting out of the way and allowing the body to take over and do its thing. There’s no slowing labor down once it starts, and no real speeding it up when I deem it necessary, which are both terrifying thoughts for a semi-control freak like me. Brett gently reminded that I had been out of control throughout my entire pregnancy. This was so true! Why would I think that God would allow me, or TRUST me, to be in control of the crescendo of the whole life-giving process? In the weeks and days leading up to my delivery all I could do was pray, and ask God to protect me from debilitating fears. I know that when fear rules over me, I am worthless. I wanted no part of fear, no part of anxiety, for that communicates a complete lack of trust in my ever-faithful God. I repeatedly begged for the strength to stay rooted in my God’s truths and promises, to bask in his calming presence and comfort. As always, my God proved faithful and gracious.

Friday morning, June 3^rd, came quite quickly once my attitude had shifted. I didn’t care that I was 13 days late, for I would finally be meeting my baby girl that day…hopefully. I awoke at 3 am, which was not uncommon for the latter stages of my pregnancy, and was accompanied by my good friends, Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, Kevin, and the whole gang. They were so good to me in the final days. During my wakeful hours I was definitely having contractions, which made me wonder if the Blue Cohosh or the Castor Oil had finally begun to work their magic. Then I fell asleep, and that was that. I awoke again at 6 am, slightly disappointed when I realized I hadn’t gone into labor, but would, in fact, be relying upon the previously scheduled induction to finally meet our Tiny One. At least I would be meeting her, though, which is the realization that quickly washed away any ounce of discouragement. Discouragement was quickly replaced with the nervous shakes, for I had no real grasp on what I was about to face—delivery, baby and otherwise.

Brett and I arrived at the hospital a little before 8 am, toting with us enough items to trick people into thinking that we were moving in. From the time we set foot in the hospital until we met our daughter, Brett never left my side. We checked into our room, and our doctor met us there at 8:30. Dr. Delgado checked to see what my progress was, and determined that I was about 70-80% effaced and 3-4 cm dilated. He decided that it would be best to start me on a very mild dose of Pitocin, though he predicted I probably wouldn’t need much before my body took over. Around 10 am, the same time that my nerves peaked in the form of uncontrollable shakes, the nurse administered the IV and began the Pitocin. At that point I was able to calm myself and embrace the fact that it was most certainly game time; there was no turning back, and no point in wasting energy shaking! I needed all the energy I could get.

My mom and Brett’s mom, Laura, were in the room off and on the rest of the day. My dad and step-mom, Laurie, dropped in for a quick visit shortly after I began the Pitocin, which is a good thing because had they shown up much later I doubt I would have remembered much of their visit. Contractions started getting longer, stronger, and closer together around 11 or 11:30 am, at which point I immediately understood the difference between labor contractions and Braxton Hicks. For the time being, however, I was able to really relax and breathe through my contractions. Mom and Laura were very encouraging and supportive as I started the laboring journey, and with a little help from Xanax later down road my mom was able to hang in there…just barely. In these early stages of labor we were allowed the necessary time to work out the kinks, explore laboring positions, and practice deep breathing, as well as give my body the opportunity to gear up. Brett was able to practice counter-pressure on my lower back, and I was able to use full sentences to tell him what felt good and what didn’t. This is a luxury we did not have later in the day.

Around 2 pm Brett, Laura, Mom and I went outside to the courtyard to walk, at which point I began to really FEEL my contractions. The four of us were making laps, and when the contraction would begin I’d wrap my arms around Brett’s shoulders and Mom would put counter-pressure on my back. After about 15 minutes I decided that I really wanted that time with Brett alone (I was still able to form complete sentences, mind you). I have no idea how long Brett and I stayed outside, for from that point forward begins the blurring process. Suddenly practice was over, and my contractions were the real deal. My animal instincts kicked in immediately. I didn’t care that I sounded like an injured cow moaning for a minute straight every 70 seconds, and I only slightly cared that the back of my gown kept gaping open, giving any onlookers a show. I was very present through my contractions, exceptionally focused, and the only place I wanted to be was resting my head on Brett’s chest, arms wrapped around his neck. It was the safest, most comforting place I could imagine. I didn’t care that I felt discomfort, for I truly loved being held by him in that moment.

We eventually made our way back into our room, though I honestly don’t remember walking back. I was most certainly in the zone. Prior to going into labor I feared that my eyes would be focused on the clock, and how long I had been in pain. In reality, I had no concept of time; I couldn’t care less what time it was. Time as I knew it was one minute long. It consisted of me climbing to the peak of thirty seconds, then descending the next thirty seconds back to a blurry existence. Many of the voices I heard became similar to the adults in Charlie Brown, but Brett’s voice came in loud and clear, as he counted out every single contraction. I feared, prior to going into labor, that I’d get to the point of giving up, wanting to quit, doubting that I could handle any more. Not once did I feel this. God was so faithful to keep me grounded, focused, and centered.

Around 3:30 pm my contractions became really intense. My modesty had gone flying out the window, and I was working through my contractions with a new intensity. I began to feel the overwhelming urge to push. Our nurse came in to check on me, and when I somehow managed to communicate (I’m not sure if I formulated a complete sentence or not) that I needed to push, she decided that it was time to check my dilation again. I had progressed from 4 cm to 7 cm in an hour and a half. Because of my progress it was finally time to move over to the tub, for I wanted to labor in the tub, and intended to have a water birth. My pre-labor modest self packed a bathing suit top, thinking that I’d want to cover my breasts while in the water. When in the throes of labor, however, there was no way I was about to waste any energy tying my bathing suit on just to cover up. I would’ve jetted across the hospital lobby buck naked at that moment if I had to.

Somehow I managed to walk (sprint) across the birth center hall to my new room, the room in which I’d deliver my baby. I hopped in the tub just in time to begin my new, more intense contractions. I don’t remember opening my eyes much from this point on, and my memories are all quite fragmented. I was hot…so, so hot. The ice water soaked rags that Brett faithfully covered my head with are in the archives of my brain. Heaven.

At 9 cm I began to feel the unbearable urge to push. My doctor, I was told, was on his way, and I needed to stop pushing since I wasn’t fully dilated. “Blow out candles on a birthday cake,” is what my nurse kept telling me. I dare to say that may have been the most intense part of my labor, resisting the insanely strong urge to push like a maniac. It was at this moment that I began to wish that time would speed. I momentarily had a lapse in thinking, and considered my options. Could I get an epidural, or could they just knock me out completely and surgically remove my baby? Then another contraction came whisking away said thoughts, and soon thereafter my doctor came into the room. I remember making eye contact with him, and imagine myself to have looked utterly helpless, silently communicating, “Help.” He promptly checked my dilation, and declared that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. Praise God! I began pushing with my next contraction, and realized I had no idea how to push. I began questioning if it was truly possible for me to push a whole baby out of my body. Was I honestly moving my baby?

After goodness knows how long of pushing in the tub, and not a lot of progress later, my doctor thought it would be best if I moved to the bed. Though I originally wanted a water birth, at that point my main objective was to get my baby out, and since my doctor thought I’d be more effective on the bed, I swiftly (and without modesty) hopped out of the tub and onto the bed (Well, I’m not sure how much hopping I was truly doing. It was more mental hopping.). Once on the bed I proceeded to push, still a bit unsure as to how to effectively push. I think what really helped properly communicate how to do so was when my doctor repeatedly said, “Push like you are taking the biggest poop of your life.” Ding, ding, ding! I got it. Finally, it made sense. And so I did. I pushed with understanding and conviction. I didn’t care what horrific noises escaped my mouth because I was on the home stretch. My baby was making her final descent, and it was up to me to get her out.

At 5:32 pm our sweet baby Scout Ashland came into the world. She was immediately placed on my chest, and all the intensity I had just experienced vanished, making way, instead, for the sweetest moment I’ve ever known. I looked up at Brett, who was completely glistening with sweat and tears and overcome with such joy, love, and adoration. He thanked me, declared his love, communicated how proud he was, and thanked me again and again between sobs. And there we marveled together at the sweet baby that we created, whom God perfectly knit together in my womb. Suddenly our world got a lot smaller.

S is For...

2011-04-21T14:44:00.001-07:00

I am nearly in my 36th week of pregnancy, and the whole "nesting" phase I heard so much about is no myth! It's real, and I'm in the thick of it. Last week I organized and reorganized every cabinet and storage space in our house, cleaned the refrigerator, and de-dusted everything possible...oh, and I even folded and color coordinated tissue paper and ribbons (what?). This week has been the week of getting the sweet babe's nursery ready. We're getting close to being done, and ready to welcome our baby girl home.

Brett has been so wonderful. Though I keep him awake at night by all my tossing and turning, multiple trips to the bathroom, my new-found sound effects that accompany any new movement or roll, he is very gracious and understanding. Despite our sleepless nights, he has somehow found my pregnant tendencies endearing, including my nesting phase. He has been so helpful and accommodating, and quickly recognizes when I'm on a mission. He has been amazing at coming alongside me, helping to get sheet done! I am so grateful. The nursery is no exception. He has been my incredible furniture mover and re-mover, picture hanger, picture/art holder, among other things that a pregnant lady simply can't do.

Here it is, our Tiny One's very own room!

I have loved anticipating the arrival of our baby, and have excitedly and lovingly worked on many different sewing projects. I made these bumpers, dust ruffle, pillows and quilt for her crib (not that she'll know, or care...but I care!), which were all really enjoyable projects.

This is the "S" that Brett made for Tiny One's room. I love, love it. Swim, Swami, Slippy, Slappy, Slim, Slimmon, Ssswanson...Samsonite!

The Forgotten Fence

2011-04-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

I realized that I never posted a picture of the fence that Brett & Chip built this fall after the massive retaining wall was conquered. It turned out great!

Now that the inside of our house is pretty well completed (huge, huge sigh) we can begin focusing our attention on the outside. This is very exciting. Brett has been preparing our garden beds (the two lower terraces), which may be the only thing we can focus much attention on this year. We are so looking forward to getting outside and playing in the dirt this spring/summer! I think that once the little babe is born, however, I will be able to contribute more. Maybe post-baby I'll be able to bend over to participate in garden activities without making excessive noises indicating discomfort. But then again, perhaps this is a permanent trait that has developed? Poor Brett.

Since the upcoming arrival of our Tiny One will most likely steal Gideon's spotlight, it only makes sense that he'd get a little shout out. Gideon, though not totally in his element when we lived in Encinitas, is most definitely solar powered. We call him our little TJ (Tijuana) dog because when the sun is out he can always be found basking in the most exposed part of our yard, staring directly into the sun, plopped down on a nice solid patch of dirt, or atop our compost pile even though grass may be a very nearby option. Is it terrible that I'm blogging about our dog? Don't answer that. Thank you.

More Fireplace Pics

2011-04-09T21:19:00.001-07:00

Just so you can get a little more up close and personal view of the handiwork.

ta-daaaaaaa!

2011-04-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here it is, what we've (I've) all been waiting for: a honeycombless, brand spankin' new fireplace!! Brett and Chip did such a wonderful job demo-ing and rebuilding. The brick work turned out beautifully, and we can hardly wait to install our new wood-burning stove. Our house is going to be a little oven in no time. Just in time for summer. In addition to a new fireplace we have some sweet new built-in bookcases on each side of the fireplace. Hello, storage, how I love thee. We will soon have glass cabinet doors for the bookshelf sections, and drawers on the bottom for wood storage (Brett & Chip will be making those). It's funny how changing that one wall has changed the whole look and feel of our house. I'm just thrilled to have our house back in order, and be rid of perma-dust. Halle-freaking-lujah. Believe it or not, ripping out a brick fireplace creates quite the mess. Avoid if possible...just sayin'. Unless, of course, you have a 15-year old colony of bees residing within, then by all means, go hog wild.
And now onto the nursery...sigh.

Brickity-Brick

2011-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

The bricking has begun, which I might be so bold to say goes considerably slower than tiling. Sigh. We are, nonetheless, taking steps toward completion, and perhaps toward getting our little house back in order. Saturday wasn't the best day, as it resulted in two frustrated guys, but Sunday proved to be more promising. Here's to more days of promise!

Reconstruction

2011-03-06T20:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's progress was great, but at the end of the day I feared this project would be a never-ending one. I was wrong. Brett & Chip made great progress today! We're well on our way to having our little home back in working order...I think. Next comes the brick work. Stay tuned for next weekend's adventures.

Honey, I Ripped Out the Fireplace

2011-03-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

The dreaded project of all projects began this weekend, thanks to Brett & Chip. What wonderful (and brave) men! The bees that I've posted about in the past have been exterminated, as of several months ago; however, the comb and many dead bees remained behind our brick fireplace. We had no idea what to expect. It was an adventure, to say the least. We are very hopeful that the extraction of the comb will prevent any future bee return visits. Fingers are crossed...tightly.

Here's how we began. A lovely white brick fireplace.

The lovely brick fireplace quickly became a not-so-lovely mess.

Within a couple hours all the brick was down and all the remaining comb was exposed. It was gross, if I may add my two cents, but it wasn't as bad as we were anticipating. I'll provide you with some more detailed shots to try and give you a better idea of what we were dealing with.

We had at least a wheelbarrow full of old comb. Honey, anyone?

Then came the removal of the firebox. This was much harder to remove than anticipated.

After a few hours, finally a breakthrough happened, and they successfully removed that beast.

This is what we were left with yesterday evening. It felt like we had taken 50 gigantic leaps backwards, being that we're well versed in the demolition zone. Our home that finally felt so cozy and complete is back to being a disaster zone. Oh, well. At least we got rid of the bees, right??

Garden of the Month

2010-11-10T14:33:00.001-08:00

I wish we had prepared a speech. What an honor...

The Wall Continued

2010-10-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

I am proud to say that the wall is completed! Fence posts are sunk, and fence building will commence this weekend, much to Gideon's dismay (he rather likes launching off of the wall into Russ and Sandy's yard).

After Brett & Chip sunk the fence posts, they began working on moving rock for another retaining wall of sorts. They built a little staircase from our bottom terrace to the bottom landing, as well. Our yard is slowly but surely beginning to look like something!

The Retaining Wall

2010-10-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

The silence neither indicates boredom nor lack of projects, but laziness on my part. Oops! As per always, projects abound. Brett has been such a diligent and faithful laborer, and I've been his fairweathered friend. Thank goodness our neighbor, Russ, has been so willing to help, and as always, Chippy is ever-faithful to lend a hand.

The recent undertaking has been a pretty massive (60'L x 4'H) retaining wall between our house and our neighbor's. I had no idea the expense of building a wall. Gasp! Nonetheless, it had to be done, so we bit the bullet and began. We ended up using stackable block, meaning no cement and no rebar. Phew! We did have to dig a pretty substantial footing, and cut back into the bank, while also combating crazy roots from our humongous fir tree, mind you. I helped with that part and was sore for about 2 weeks. This whole project has reminded me again and again how proud I am to be married to such a Hulk. He is strong like bull. Serious.

Weekend Backsplash Project

2010-08-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Brett and I decided that the time had come to get the stinkin' tile saw off our porch! This was my motivation to get the backsplash project over and done with. Instead of going backpacking this weekend, we stayed home and got some sheet done (believe it or not, this wasn't exactly Brett's idea of a fair trade. Backpacking: Take 2 will be in our future). We started tiling on Saturday afternoon around 3 or 4 pm, worked for a couple hours, then ran out of tile, then commenced tiling Sunday for a couple hours, then grouted on Monday. Backsplash tiling goes insanely quick! My kind of project.

Worth noting: I rarely see Brett on edge, and it is most probable that neither have you. Should you have any interest in seeing this, next time he and I tackle a tiling project together, come watch. You'll be in for a treat. He feels that if ever there were a time for me to be a perfectionist (which, in my books, there rarely, if ever, is), while tiling is one of them.

Here you go. A few pictures featuring our new subway tile backsplash.

bathroom: (almost) done

2010-08-25T07:41:00.001-07:00

This post is overdue, as the completion of this particular project was actually a couple weeks ago. My dad (finally) came up for a visit!!! We loved having him. Though I wish we could say we really put him to work, as our yard could obviously use his supremely magic touch, I fear we did no such thing. Well, kind of. We did have his help with the installation of our new shower door. A couple trips to Bi-Mart, and a day longer than expected, he and Brett successfully installed the door. Our bathroom is nearly complete!

Note: I did not post a pic of what is directly to the right of the shower because it is an empty space, partially painted, awaiting a cabinet. Soon, but soon.

Project: Excavate: Complete

2010-07-28T13:09:00.001-07:00

Meet our Excavator Extraordinaire: Joe.

He is the man.

We proudly announce that step one is complete. Sayonara nasty ivy (which housed a variety of items, unbeknownst to us: a futon frame, toy trucks, countless balls, tires, a nest of rats *barf*, bottles, trash), and dead neglected everything else. Hello cleared space, freshly graded ground, terraced sections waiting for some love. I know these pictures don't really do much justice for the amount of work that went into this. I also recognize that the pictures hardly display anything pretty, but all in due time, my friends! It's gotta get worse so that it can get better, right?!

Prep your oohs and ahs...and feast your eyes on THISSSSSSS:

Here's looking from our back patio to the back edge of our property:

BEFORE

AFTER

This is the crazy dead Siberian Elm that we fell several months back that took had at least a 40-ft diameter canopy, taking up the majority of any sun exposure:

DURING

This was the aftermath of the fallen tree:

This was after finally clearing all the tree remains out:

AFTER

Here's a similar panoramic view post-excavation.

BEFORE

AFTER (from neighbor's yard)

FRONT YARD BEFORE:

FRONT YARD AFTER:

Shower Tiling Begins

2010-07-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brett and Chip began tiling our shower. Being that it was 95 degrees in Ashland yesterday, and that we don't have AC, believe it or not, the tiny bathroom became quite the hot box. They were good sports, and managed to crank the tiling out. Perhaps the heat served as motivation to make quick and accurate cuts? We're really pleased with how it turned out. Elation fills me at the thought of having a second fully functioning bathroom. Soon, but soon.

Project: Excavate: Day 2

2010-07-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

We fired our excavator and hired a new guy.

Well, maybe not, but Brett sure did like sitting in the big boy tractor (well, I guess it's technically not a tractor, but for blogging purposes, let's just call it that). Joe is the B.A. excavator we've been using, and he became significantly more B.A. in my books when he showed up Friday with one freaking leg and crutches. So, the day prior he was wearing his prosthetic leg, which I thought was just a sore leg causing a limp. But Friday one of his entire pant legs was completely flapping in the wind, and he was getting around--up and down from his machinery, mind you--with his crutches. He was crutching himself up and down the bank, making dump run upon dump run. Dang.

I know it's hard to tell really what's going on here, because it's hard to get oriented. Plus it looks like we've still got an abundance of crap to clear. We do, there's no denying; however, we've come a LONG way, baby.

This is standing about 20 feet in front of our patio, looking toward the back corner of our lot. The red shed marks the corner of our neighbor's lot.

This is taken from the same spot, only facing the back right corner. We fell another tree, and cleared all the ivy from the bank. We also got rid of a thicket of lilac, bamboo and privet, so that we have more of an open space to work with.

This is standing toward the bottom of our lot (toward our neighbors) facing toward the upper right corner shown above.

There's obviously more work to be done yet, but it's been fun to see the progress. To be continued Monday...

The Defender of the Property

2010-07-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

ENEMY

Apple Stealer

WRIST ROCKET

Weapon of Mass Destruction

HERO

Defender of the Property

(while the Wizard awaits fence construction)

VICTORY

Get off our lawn, deer

Try it again. I dare you. He'll be waiting.

The Taming Begins

2010-07-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

We are finally doing it. Finally taming the beast. Day one: done. Here are some pics of the day-long process. I'm thinking of quitting my job and becoming a tractor driver. It's pretty freaking BA.

You need this here stump removed? Ain't no thang.

Voila! Our newly cleared front yard. We thought we knew excitement when we got all the tree brush chipped and out, but, man, this is somethin' special. A clean slate! (Am I officially an Oregonian now? I'm excited about tractors and stuff)

Now we feel the heat to figure out what the heck our plan is. At this point, game plan is non-existent.

After working his butt off all day on the front yard, our BA excavator, Joe, decided to invest 15 minutes of time in the backyard. Here's what it looked like this morning.

Now begins the process of forging up the blackberry/ivy hill into our yard, from our next door neighbor's yard (I have failed to mention that we have the most AMAZING neighbors ever. They are letting us drive dump trucks and tractors on their lawn. They let us take down part of their fence so that we are able to gain access to our yard. They have been absolutely incredible.).

A little unnerving at times...

Joe plucked the tree that was in the corner as though he was picking up a piece of paper. Have I mentioned that I'm considering a career change?

All in a day's work. More tomorrow. Eeeeeeeeee!!!

Why, hello, Sink

2010-07-21T21:29:00.001-07:00

Here she is! Plumbed and ready to rock. We're well on our way to a functioning bathroom! Toilet. Check. Sink. Check. Shower...ummmm...

Big day tomorrow. Our explosion of a backyard, and front yard, are getting CLEARED. Like, big machinery is coming into our yard and scrapping it all, save a few trees. I suspect our yard will be hardly recognizable, and feel huge. We are pretty excited. Pics to come soon.

Sum-sum-summer

2010-07-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

We have a bona fide closet!!!! This is exceptionally exciting. No joke. This is our very first legit closet since being married. Amazing, it is, being able to gently hang so many clothes and having shelving on which to put our neatly folded clothes. It's a wonderful thing not having to use all our body weight to shift our bursting-at-the-seams hanging rod just to squeeze a single hanger in the mix, thus creating an even more wrinkled item of clothing. And how wonderful having more than three shelves to share and CRAM our balled up mess of clothes onto. We have ample storage, and are on our way to a more organized existence. BIG SIGH. Thanks Chippy and Brett!!

Amidst serious summer-time activities this weekend (have I mentioned how I love Ashland?!?), B managed to get going on tiling the vanity in our bathroom (can I get an Amen?!). Chip came over and helped, and got the top cranked out within an afternoon. We just have to grout and install the sink (today!), and the vanity will be pretty well good to go!

Here the boy is, surveying his work. Job well done!!

Further proof that we've been enjoying sum-sum-summer. On Saturday we went for a lovely hike to the top of Mt. Ashland with the Wizard, and enjoyed our sammies at the summit. It was wonderful. The place we call home is kinda...ummm...BEAUTIFUL.

Baby Steps

2010-06-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

We are making baby steps toward completion, peoples. We finally turned our tool room into our bedroom, quite literally (little else fits :). Getting carpet in our room has made it feel like we are 1000x closer to being done! We even slept in our room last night for the first time. Brett made the assessment that that was probably the first time anyone had ever slept in the garage. Yup. Such trailblazers!

We've been taking baby steps with the bathroom, too. The floor is complete (thanks to chippy), the trim is up and painted, the light fixture hung, the (SECOND) toilet is set, the vanity base is in place, the shower is totally ready to be tiled (thanks to adam and brett), the tile is purchased, the counter design is established. we are getting there!

Here's our office, pretty well dialed. We have some little things to do yet, but it's finally fairly organized and workable! Brett built our wonderful desks, enabling us to retire our doors-on-sawhorses, and put up all the shelving recently. Since I spend much of my time in here, I finally feel like I can breathe. Sigh...

Good Riddance!

2010-06-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have little to say, other than halle-freaking-lujah!

The Clampets of Park

2010-06-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

Remember when I posted about the trees we had fallen? This is what our backyard looked like...and has looked like for the past 3 months. Every time I looked out the window I got a headache thinking about all the work that was required.

Be sure to take note of Brett. He is in these two photos to bring this situation more to scale. About half of our yard became engulfed by the massive Siberian Elm remains.

Fast-forward to Saturday morning. We hired two guys to help us tackle the tree situation. I thought, for sure, it would take the entire Saturday to clear the yard. Much to our elation, we started working at 9:30 am, and 4 1/2 hours later we were basically done. It was incredible!

Note: we had to individually drag each limb, each wheelbarrow load around the side of our house within a 31" area, which happens to be our only viable access to the yard. Hence the difficulty.

Here we go, our almost-cleared backyard!

We forgot how big our yard is! We are now able to see the back fence, and the far corners. Oh, yeah, and we're still able to see all the ivy.

Brett continued working hard on the demolition and removal of the (what once was a) fort after the guys had left. So our yard is even more cleared than these photos show.

What once served as a major headache is now over and done with. The job we were dreading the most is behind us. We are able to breathe a bit deeper now.

The neighbors, on the other hand...

This is what they have to look at until we figure out how we're going to get all the remains chipped.

We absolutely are the Clampets of Park Street.

Tap that

2010-06-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

If only we could put a tap in our chimney...

...we would have an endless supply of honey...

...and so would you.

If only.

When we tell people that we have a "bee problem" I'm not convinced the people quite understand the degree to which this problem exists. Perhaps a photo will help illustrate what we're talking about?

Disclaimer: if you have an aversion to bees, shield your eyes. If you are allergic, the mere sight of this photo may cause you to go into anaphylactic shock. Proceed with caution.

Apparently the previous owner of our sweet little home was privy to the fact that she shared her home with thousands of bees...for 10-15 years! After my extensive research on how to properly address this situation, and many beekeeper conversations later (including contact with the President of the local Beekeeper's Association), I've come to learn that a hive that has been established for a "long period of time" has the potential to hold bees in numbers exceeding 30,000. Whaaaaaat? Well, "long period of time" certainly applies to us. I've been told that it is very possible that the hive that is comfortably situated IN our chimney could take up the length and width...of our entire chimney!!

A local beekeeper and his son have decided to take on the task of trying to lure our bees out of our chimney. They have set up a one way trap, meaning that bees can leave the hive, but are unable to return, and a temporary hive (the white box shown in the photo above).

Last Saturday night they came to collect "some" bees. It proved to be the perfect post-dinner entertainment for us (joining us were the Dicks, visiting from Eureka, and Alan & Kacey).

Greg, the beeman, scooped up what he guessed to be around 5 pounds of bees. Apparently a single pound of bees can contain 3-4 THOUSAND bees. You do the math.

The crazy part? The very next day we had equal the number of bees formed in their little cluster outside the hive. I bet that our hive whistles to the tune of more like 100+ thousand workers. But that's probably modest. I'm going with a million.

It is safe to say: we have a bee problem.

Contrast & Compare

2010-05-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

My silence does not indicate a lack of work or progress. We've been busying ourselves with countless little projects that hardly seem worthy of a blog post. We've been hanging pictures, organizing, touching up paint (well, that's an ever-growing list), tending to bees that keep finding ways into our home (grrrr), trying to figure out where to put the explosion of our things with only part of our house being complete, beginning the seemingly unending project of tending to the explosion of our backyard (oh, falling a tree and just leaving it there is not the best plan of attack, fyi), addressing the unfinished back section of our home, trying to make our office a pleasant and organized workspace, etc.

Beyond this we've also done our fair share of non-work. We've been thoroughly enjoying just BEING here. We've had friends over for dinner, enjoyed lovely mornings of coffee and breakie, just reveled in the novelty of finally living...in our home...that we love. I've enjoyed playing in the kitchen (oh, how I love it!): running our dishwasher, and marveling at the fact that I've never seen our dishes so clean; love-loving our ample cabinet storage for food & dishes alike (!); gingerly and lovingly talking to our sink that is so beautiful and wonderful (i know, it's a sink); wholly appreciating our insta-hot water faucet that provides us with tea or coffee within mere moments, and more. It's been pure delight. We frequently stop to say aloud how much we love our home. It's been a joy being here, making it ours.

Needless to say, we have been keeping very busy. I will post more pictures once I deem them worthy enough for your eyes, but in the meantime, I thought a little contrast and compare might be a fun little game for you to play. Happy Monday!

MovED--past tense

2010-05-03T15:24:00.001-07:00

OK, peoples. The time has come. Not only have our things moved in, but WE have moved in. Can I get an "Amen"?!? We bid our former roommates (Chip, Laura, Kacey & Alan) adieu, and made the grueling 4 mile trek down Siskiyou Blvd. to our new little home. It feels SO GOOD to be reaping what we've sown. Oh my!

We passed our inspection (it only took 4 times), and have been approved for gas, and consequently hot water! Our appliances work, we have hot water, and an indoor toilet. That's all we need. Heat will be a beautiful thing, too, but surprisingly not a prereq for us. We just hope that Winter gets the memo that it's no longer welcome. Snow and hail are not welcomed visitors any longer. Now, the giant yellow ball in the sky, on the other hand...

For having zero pieces of furniture upon our arrival in Ashland, I'd say we've done quite well for ourselves. Thanks to Busha, Chip & Laura, Mom, and Craigslist!

You may notice I'm showing only the main part of the house, sans office and master suite. With good reason: they're not finished! We will be residing in the 900 square feet wing, until we complete the aforementioned rooms. We are just so excited to be living in our home that we're not too concerned about the rest. It'll get done, mark my words, but we are more willing to take that slowly. June?

The Move

2010-04-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Big news: We emptied everything out of our storage unit.

Bigger news: We moved everything from our storage unit into our home!!!!

Alan, Kacey, Busha, Brett & I moved everything out of our storage unit in two trips, in about an hour. They were a huge help! Teamwork makes the dream work. Finally...4 1/2 months after our arrival in Ashland, our stuff is in its new home. What a great feeling.

It was like getting married all over again, in that it seemed like we were inundated with fabulous wedding gifts! It was such fun rediscovering our dishes and kitchen goodies. I savored the emptying of the Fiestaware box, as I gently placed all our fun vintage pieces on the shelves. Color!!! (Note: Brett does not quite get the whole Fiestaware infatuation, but is being a very good sport about it. He does not understand why we would keep dishes like that solely to look at, or use on a very rare occasion. I understand where he's coming from, BUT do you see those colors?!? That's the "don't use" section, but next to the kitchen sink is a whole other array of wonderful colors that can be used every day. More color!!)

This is a sneak peak into the room that's been exploded in. We managed to get through all of our boxes, mind you. Now it's just a matter of finding a home for all the things in said boxes. What fun!!

We have lots and lots to do in the way of organization, but the point is that we have moved our things in!! Notice that I did not say that we have moved in, however, because we (mainly I) are not moving in until we have hot water. We are awaiting our final approval from the city, which will hopefully happen this week. Fingers crossed!!!

Oh, yeah. I wanted to include the lovely tree we have had the pleasure of watching bloom this spring. Our yard is a disaster zone and gives me a headache just looking at it, but this apple tree on the other hand, makes me so happy! I will be even happier if it produces fruit. Don't mind the ladder, or the explosion of brush and dirt...but check out those beautiful pink/white blossoms! Spring has sprung in Southern Oregon.

Check-check

2010-04-20T15:04:00.001-07:00

Brett and I decided to add a fun element to our hall and office flooring by painting black checks. It was a slightly tedious project, simply marking, then taping, then painting. I was torn on whether to go tonal with the checks, or high contrast. In the end I decided that I've always really loved the classic vintage look of black and white flooring, so why not just go for it? The checks are most definitely not perfect, but luckily neither of us are perfectionists. We intended to get a homespun look, and it's safe to say we were successful. This was totally experimental because we have no idea how the paint will hold up. Is it a bad sign that we are able to use our fingernails to scratch paint off? Hmm...yet again we were reminded why it would have been a good idea to prime the squares first. Oh, well! C'est la vie!

Big Weekend: Part Deux

2010-04-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday served as a continuation of much progress made. Chuck and Brett led the charge. It was a huge help having Chuck yesterday. He and Brett were able to crank out a lot of stuff. Unfortunately I was busy putzing around making messes, so I didn't capture as much on camera as I probably should have. Brett & Chuck completed the siding, wired and hung the exterior lights, finished the interior electrical panel, among other things. We crossed off several more items from our "to do list".

Don't be fooled by this photo, because though it appears that Busha is sitting down on the job, it is a rare moment that she's just hanging out. It was too cute a shot to pass up--Busha just poking her head in through the window, surveying the scene. I assure you that she quickly got back to whatever cleaning she was surely doing.

I replaced a big section of brick on our patio yesterday. It's pretty fun reclaiming our patio from the crazed construction zone. Soon enough we'll be lounging out there on furniture, sipping some cold bevies...staring at our unending piles of brush that need to be chipped and hauled out. But the point is that soon we'll be sitting on our patio! Like, sitting. On furniture.

Anyway, Busha was helping to fill in the gaps of my ill-placed bricks. Teamwork makes the dream work, you know? (Please take note of the newly hung patio lights, thanks to Brett and Chuck! Also, any of you electric-loving people may like to take note of our freshly installed and wired bubble boxes. Ooooh! I just learned what a bubble box is, and wow, is that cool.)

While Brett & Chuck were being oh-so-productive, I was doing what I do best: making mud pies. One may think that fresh paint should be maintained, preserving the cleanness of the finish. Au contraire! As though pink paint doesn't look bad enough, I want you to imagine old nasty pink paint covering the majority of the house, mixed with sparkling new pink paint on one side and along the bottom row of siding in the front. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. That's where I came in, quickly remedying that!

It's as good as...old! Oh, how beautiful! I assure you there IS a method to my madness.

Another notable thing as a result of yesterday is that we have our first pieces of FURNITURE. Inside! Here's evidence. My sweet husband, kicking back in his long johns, wool socks, and green vans. He most certainly is a fashion statement. But beyond his apparel, please take note of what he is kicking back on.

Elation fills me as I sit atop our new-to-us red striped couch. Oh my! This is just the beginning. It's the smallest things that bring such joy, I tell you.

Big Big BIG Weekend

2010-04-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

Chip and Laura have left us. Sniff, sniff. They are currently traveling with their fifth wheel in tow, accompanied by the John & Linda Holton and their motor home. They will be wreaking havoc in the western region for the next 3-4 weeks. Before they left on Friday, however, the Dream Team totally rallied, for which we are extremely grateful. What we have discovered in the process of this remodel is that the help of family and friends is an incredible gift. The little and big amounts of time that people have offered through this process has been extremely appreciated.

Laura and Linda tackled the blind installation, and looked pretty B.A. during the process.

Busha was busy cleaning the porch, an unending job, while Linda moved piles and lumber to the basement. We have an inspection coming up, for which we must have a clean, construction-free zone, meaning that there was much cleaning that needed to be done.

John & Chip tackled laying the Ikea laminate flooring in the hallway and office . They were masters by the end, though they wondered if there was a product for filling in gaps in laminate flooring, suggesting that their installation was under par. I will have you know that they did a fine job, and it looks great!

Oooh...aaaah...

Brett would like to state, for the record, that though he looks very involved in this process, and like he's actually showing John & Chip a thing or two, this was the only time he touched the flooring. The camera lies!

Busha, as always, was beyond helpful this entire weekend. She works tirelessly, and runs circles around the average human...until 2pm at least:)

Then this is when things really started breaking down. The Martini Twins made a guest appearance, and Linda & Laura never were to return again. They were having way too much fun. Clearly, they were gearing up for their road trip.

The Sirens were spotted again, trying to lure the others into their trap. Brett was able to resist temptation...just barely.

This is a view of the kitchen, not to be confused with our toolshed/workshop, though we've been using it as such. Take note of the newly hung Ikea pendants! Anyway, this is how it looked on Thursday when we had the flurry of workers.

This is what it looked like when I got my hands on it on Saturday. I eagerly ripped up the paper, mopped the floors (oh, they are still beautiful!!!), and Busha was the master organizer/tool-mover.

Dun-dun-dun!!!

This was one of Brett's big projects: replacing the siding on the side of our house. He did such a great job...almost too nice of a job. It looks way nicer than our other siding. He painted it to match the house on Saturday, though it seriously pained me to voluntarily add more pink. Ugh! When the time (and funds) comes to re-roof, then we will replace the pink. For now, we are stuck with our salmony-rose-peach-fleshy colored paint. Oh, joy.

All in all, this weekend was HUGE. Thinking back to Thursday we are extremely encouraged to know all that was accomplished. We just have to finish some minor electrical work in the main part of the house, hang a pendant and chandelier, get a city approval (minor, or not so minor detail), and move in. We will be living in the main part of the house for a while, because the master bed, bath, and office have taken a backseat. Having the laminate completed, though, enables us to put the remaining trim up in the hall and office, and while we're at it we can put it up in the master prior to carpet installation. The master bathroom is the least of our concerns at this point, and will probably be a project for the next few weeks.

Our house is looking great. Thank you, thank you to Chip, Laura & Busha for your incessant work. Thank you John & Linda for your incredible help on Friday, even though you were technically on vacation. Thank you Uncle Chuck for your mad skills. Thank you to everyone who has lent a hand to the fixing-up of our little home. We are truly blessed.

(anyone know why certain sections are underlined? I couldn't figure out how to remove it)

2010-04-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

This week was big. Yesterday was big. Our 10 hour Saturday aided in getting us closer and closer to moving in. We have a fully functioning bathroom. Brett and Chip installed the pedestal sink, as well as the shower/tub fixture; the trim has been painted, the paint touched up. The things remaining to be done for our guest bathroom to be called "finished" are: the vanity light needs to be installed, the mirror hung, the shower curtain and rod put in place, and that's it! This is a big victory: a nearly completed room.

One of B's projects yesterday (projected to be a one hour project, which took...umm...slightly longer) was to build a box for our range. When we had our counters built 3" higher than standard, we failed to remember that our appliances would not be taller than normal. Not a problem. Brett built a sweet box beneath the range, so it looks perfect!
Then came the microwave install. Yet another more-problematic-than-anticipated scenario. All went well in the end, but it was definitely a bit more involved.
It's a family affair...

Good thing Laura was there to support the weight of the microwave.

Check out our tape-free zone, with appliances in place and all!

At the start of this post, I said that yesterday was big. It absolutely was in my world of painting. Busha and Laura volunteered their painting services for several hours yesterday. Oh, my. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, people! The cabinets are dun-dun-dun-DONE! Busha and Laura were incredible trim maskers and painters. What seemed like an unending, daunting chore became totally manageable. Having two extra sets of hands was heavenly. The living room trim is DONE, kitchen trim DONE, guest bath trim DONE, guest bed trim and wainscoting DONE. Most everything has been caulked, and I'd say that 80-90% of the painting is behind us. What an incredible feeling.

This photo was taken on Friday, when I felt smack dab in the middle of a project unending.
This was taken yesterday toward the end of a successful day of painting. Oh, how my mood had changed.

Here's a sneak peak at the hutch. We decided to paint the bottom half a more fun, bold color. I distressed it, as can be seen by clicking on the image, and will be adding some fun vintagey knobs soon.

On the side of our pantry door we painted with chalkboard chalk. Aside from nearly walking into the cabinet because I thought it was a door, it's a fun addition that we're excited about.

All for now. Happy Easter! We are off to lounge, and really take advantage of this food-induced coma we find ourselves in.

Kitchen Counters

2010-03-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

All our kitchen counters are in, ready to be used. The granite was installed this morning and looks beautiful. It's a really pretty dark charcoal/green color. Now all we need are our cabinets to be finished (no comment) and our appliances to be put in place and voila!

Along with our granite installation came our sink installation! Oooooh! The farm sink that I really, really wanted was too expensive, but this big ol' Kohler cast iron undermount is a close second in awesomeness. Makes me just want to do dishes.......or not. But it has the potential to inspire dish doing desires!
I can't believe I forgot to post a picture of our beautiful butcher block counter! I found some oak panels at the Builder's Bargain Center in Medford and thought that rather than paying a crazy amount of money for real butcher block (well into the thousand dollar range), I'd buy several of these panels and see if someone could make something pretty out of them. The tricky part was that the panels were slightly warped, none were exactly the same size or thickness, so though it seemed like it'd be a snap to my unversed-in-carpentry-mind, it was no easy task. Our wonderful cabinet makers had pity on us (thanks to our dear Busha's mad sweet-talking skills) and took on the task of putting together the panels for us and finishing them up all pretty-like. They did such a phenomenal job. I really must post the before pictures so that you can get the full effect. Total cost of "butcher block"=less than $50. Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about.

The THREE Hour Door

2010-03-29T19:39:00.001-07:00

I will have it be known that this image is saved in my photo library as "Damn Door." And with good reason. I was busy painting the cabinets, one of my favorite past times, while Brett & Chip were hanging this door. A seemingly simple task, right? Wrong! Hour one went by...and many brush strokes. Hour two went by, along with many painted cabinets (begging for more, and more, and more coats, mind you). The third hour came accompanied by verbal frustration from CHIP! (*note that verbal frustration was not in the form of expletives as it would have been had I been the one hanging the door, but rather in the form of simply and calmly stating, "This door is a nightmare.") This means serious business if a form of frustration is evoked from the steadiest-eddy there is. The unevenness of our floors and walls were the real problem, but Brett & Chip's diligence proved to be successful. I think that my shouting from the other room to "Nail that sucker!!!" really aided in the successful hanging of this door.

There's one more door to hang, and we are all really, really hoping that we will not have a re-run. Stay tuned.

Date Night

2010-03-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

Brett & I had a date night on Friday! What did we do, you wonder? We enjoyed our first dinner at HOME! We ate on our new butcher block counter! ...and we painted trim and caulked, but that's neither here nor there. The important thing is that we ATE DINNER AT OUR HOME. No, I did not remove a blindfold from Brett's eyes seconds before this photo was snapped. That was his actual expression on his own, with ample time (10 seconds to be exact).

Halle-freaking-lujah

2010-03-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is well deserving of its very own post. We have a toilet. Inside. I repeat myself:

HALLE-FREAKING-LUJAH

Painting in Progress

2010-03-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

We are saving ourselves a considerable amount of money by painting the cabinets ourselves. I keep reminding myself. It seems only fitting that I would begin this particular post with that statement of fact, because here we are, cabinet-painting-day number three, and I have been wrestling with the thought that it may have been worth it to pay somebody to do this. But, no! We must...push....through! We are saving ourselves a lot of money! We are able bodied. We can do it. Painting is easy! ...Oh, but someone else could be painting....NO! We are saving ourselves a lot of money. Do you see the struggle? Erg...

Anyway, here are the cabinets pre-paint. Oh, the good ol' days.

And here they are mid-paint. They look pretty good from afar. Believe me when I say, however, that there's much work to be done yet. Mistake number one was not priming before painting. I know, I know...Painting 101. Here again, we thought that perhaps the rule of thumb didn't apply to us. We were wrong! Dead wrong! These here cabinets have 3 coats of paint, and are in the process of being sanded...and will be requiring yet another coat. Oh, joy. I will say, amidst heavy complaints, that they are looking good. We are pleased with the product, and will be even more pleased upon completion.

**Note that it is I, Andrea Zundel, who is complaining the loudest. Brett, bless his heart, seems near incapable of complaining about something so base. Jerk. Fine, I'm alone in my complaints. Any use of "we" when associated with a complaint is actually just an "I" or a "me".

We will be getting our granite tomorrow!!! EEEEeeeEEeEeEEee!!!

Cabinet Installation, Part I

2010-03-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

Our kitchen is beginning to look like a bonafide kitchen. Unreal. We are gettin' there! The cabinets arrived yesterday, and will be completely installed by the end of the day today. We have more work to do, of course, because they all need to be painted, BUT just having them in the space does wonders to our home. One very big plus that I forgot I'd requested is that the counter height is 3" taller than the average. Chopping veggies and doing dishes will no longer be a back straining task. Finally, a kitchen suited for us!!

This is the hutch we had built in, which we are loving. It is in our dining room (Marshall's Room), next to the hall that leads to our guest room. The right side is for miscellaneous kitcheny things and the left side is our pantry. R-A-D.
Here's the guest bath with the wainscoting and trim. It's looking good. Chip did a really great job putting this up. I spent yesterday evening caulking the baseboard and top trim pieces, and realized a few things by the end of the project: 1) I love the look of beadboard wainscoting, 2) I'm really glad we don't have it throughout our whole house, due to the caulking work necessary, 3) I don't like caulking. Maybe there's some technique I'm missing? If you have any advice, I'm ALL ears!! I better suck it up, because I have a sneaking suspicion that much, much, much more caulking is in my future. Oh, dear...

Chip's current project, among many, is tiling our bathroom floor. It's looking really good! Stay tuned for more.
It's happening. It's becoming our home before our very eyes. Counters will be installed Monday; we're hoping to have a usable bathroom soon, hopefully by the end of the weekend; appliances will be installed by next week. It's getting close to the point where it's move-in-able. So close!!!

Hardwoods, how I love thee...

2010-03-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

I got a sneak peak of the floors on Friday morning with their fresh finish, and was wowed. They turned out simply beautiful. Such life has been added to our house. The rich colors of the wood are fantastic. Feast your eyes on these, though you may just have to come and visit in person and see with your own two eyes to appreciate properly.

Today proved to be a busy day. Our on-demand hot water heater was installed. It turned out to be a bit more involved than anticipated (story of this house), but it's done. We now have a sa-weet hot water heater ready to rock!

I realized pretty early on that my involvement with the installation of the hot water heater was not going to be remotely helpful. I decided I'd be of better use beginning to tackle our crazed backyard. WOW. We have our work seriously cut out for us. Chip bought a chipper (I hope you appreciate this sentence as much as I do) this weekend, and we put it to good use today. I felt like such a b.a. chipping up that brush, and discovered pretty quickly that it's harder to feed wood into a machine than I thought. I am currently typing from the lay-down position because I feel whipped after a long day of chipping and wrestling branches.

When Brett was done helping with the hot water heater and electrical work he took over my chipping job, and then became my branch moving companion. We got quite a lot done, but realize that we have many more days to invest. We are fairly certain the yard hasn't been tended to in a very, very...very, very...very long time.

Floors In Progress

2010-03-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the floors that came with the house. Granted, we've added the drywall dust effect, but truly, the floors were not in good shape. Frankly, they seem a bit sad. They've been begging for a little attention...or a lot.

We have hired some guys to finish our floors for us. They started Monday morning, and have been going to town. They started by patching in wood in our kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. It looks great just having the floors cover the whole space. But yesterday they started sanding, and WOW, it's looking g-o-o-d. Here you can see old versus new:

I find it pretty amazing how simply sanding can add new life to old floors. We can't wait to see what the top coats do, which they'll begin applying today. They should be done by tomorrow. Eeeeee!!!!

Bathroom Vanity Project

2010-03-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give you a sneak peak of one of my fun projects when not working at the house. This is a dresser that I bought at an antique store and refinished, which will serve as our vanity in our master bathroom. I bought a vessel sink, the faucet and some tile that I love! There's work to be done yet, but this is a fun one.

Sunday...Funday?

2010-03-14T17:09:00.001-07:00

Today was spent touching up painting, and clearing everything out of the house to prepare for the floor guys tomorrow. The whole interior is painted! It looks SO good! Chip, Busha & Laura were wonderful, as usual. We got a lot done.

Brett & Chip focused on masking the Tyvek on the corner of the house. It's looking GOOD.

And once my job was done inside, I began the task of moving tree remains! It was a gorgeous day, probably in the mid-60s, so I was very willing to work outside. Laura was the paparazzi, and I was the pile mover.

See, doesn't this look F-U-N?!

I didn't get very far. I realized quickly that these long limbs were not intended to move ginormous stumps. Hand me a paintbrush instead, thank you very much.

Paint by Room

2010-03-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here you go! Photos of some of our rooms. Yesterday was a BIG painting day. Busha, Laura, Brett & I got some serious painting done. Chip was busy doing the window trim, shown below, which looks awesome. We are extremely pleased with how it's all coming together.

This is from the living room looking into our kitchen, and down the hall toward our bedroom and office.
This is the hallway to the guest bedroom and bath, from the kitchen.
This is the guest bathroom.
This is the guest bedroom with one of the windows trimmed out.

This is the office.

There you have it. Not great pictures, I recognize, but pictures nonetheless. Our wood floors are getting refinished starting tomorrow. We are extremely excited to see the finished work, and are confident that it's going to look wonderful.

Fallen Trees

2010-03-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

3 guys, from J&J Tree Service (totally recommend), showed up on Friday morning, and went to town. Unfortunately along with their arrival was the unwelcome arrival of a pretty hellacious storm, in the form of a major downpour/snow/sleet. This did not stop them from charging hard. They had half our Siberian Elm down within a half an hour! I'm glad they were the ones climbing and not me or Brett, though the visual is pretty funny for me to imagine either one of us jimmying up a tree. Yeah, it would not have been pretty. J&J did a fine job.

Our backyard looks decimated! It looks as though it's been hit by some natural disaster, but we sure do get a lot more natural light! If you look hard you can see Brett amidst the brush! Where's Waldo?

So, as if we don't have enough things on our "to do" list, we've added "clean up massive tree craziness." This means we (Brett...definitely Brett)will have to bust out a chainsaw and start bucking up some wood! Yee-haw! We have someone coming by tomorrow to collect some wood, but we have a feeling it'll be a while before we see a clean yard. BUT it's a great start. The gardening possibilities will soon abound! Perhaps I should say that they will SOMEDAY abound?

After the guys charged the back yard, they decided to call it a day because the storm was so gnarly. They had had enough.

This morning two guys returned and finished up the front yard. They fell our sick maple, and ground the stump, as can be seen below:

We also had this super funky looking Spruce that would've been a great tree if it didn't have to get topped off for powerline purposes. We decided to fall this tree while we were at it.

Here's our new and improved house! What a difference the removal of a couple trees can make. Now we are much more motivated to remedy the pink house situation. I'm not gonna lie, pink is not working for us. Enjoy the view...pink house and all!

Color Me

2010-03-13T21:17:00.001-08:00

I was extremely excited to get paint on the walls! I narrowed down the colors I liked and found a palette I was really excited about, only after several trips to the Home Depot paint aisle, and several hours invested. I almost bought all the paint without sampling, which I now realize would have been an enormous mistake. Instead, I bought mini sample jars and painted pieces of poster board and looked at them in the house, only to find out that the colors I thought I was going to love, I actually hated, and the color I thought would be my least favorite actually seemed to work the best. The lighting of our house significantly changed the paint colors. I realize this is like Painting 101, but I thought that perhaps this rule of thumb did not apply to us. Boy, was I wrong!

I began to have paint anxieties, and was dreading yet another trip to the endless paint options of Home Depot. I opted, instead, to go to the local paint store, Miller Paint. That was an extremely good decision. They were so helpful, and I was able to pick colors that were in the same family as the original paint colors I liked, but their palette was much easier on the eye, somehow. My anxieties calmed, and I felt really good about our color choices.

With renewed excitement I raced home rarin' and ready to paint. I decided that my first color should be the boldest, most noticeable color. Why, RED, of course!!! Dun-dun-DUNNNN!!!!!

Oh, my!!! What a difference a little color makes. Sigh.

Busha served as one of my incredible painting companions. She can roll it out like nobody's business. Roll OUT!

All this is to say that the painting process is WELL under way. So far under way, in fact, that about 90% of the house is DONE! It looks so wonderful. More pics to come. I'll leave you in suspense:)

Primed and Semi-Painted

2010-03-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

Our house, thanks to the wonderful work of Chipper, has been primed and the ceiling painted. Check 'er out. It's ready for COLOR!!!

Chip looks pretty good. What do you think?

Farewell Trees

2010-03-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Along with new home ownership comes new responsibilities. Sage wisdom. This being said, among our new responsibilities lies the sad fact that we have some very unhealthy trees begging for a little attention. Oh, how we wish said attention could be in the form of watering or pruning, or even speaking gingerly to them, because we assure you we would gladly do so, and do so well! However, no fertilizer, no water, no words of encouragement will be capable of reviving these monstrous trees that have become "ours". Sadly, we must wish them a fond farewell:(

I have had the pleasure of meeting Southern Oregon's finest between beekeepers, pest killers, weed sprayers, tree savers, tree cutters, and the like! After much research, and many bids, we will be falling some trees this Friday. After that we will have some MAJOR clean-up. Like MAJOR. Firewood, anyone?

Farewell Maple in our front yard...

Farewell neglected Doug Fir

Farewell gynormous Siberian Elm with your crazy and dangerous crack.

I reckon our yard will look considerably different! Though we are sad to chop trees down (what do you know? more DEMO!), we are excited to open up some space with ample light for our future sweet-as garden!

Textured Walls

2010-03-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

The finishers left about an hour ago. Here are some photos featuring our newly textured walls! Once the walls are dry they are going to look gee-double-oh-dee--good!

Drywall in Progress

2010-03-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

I told you that our little house has really begun to feel like a home. Let these photos be evidence of such! Though the walls are patchy looking, believe me when I say that this step alone has seriously cleaned up the look of our house. It's looking so good. Tomorrow is the final day which is when our walls will get textured. I can hardly wait to see the result!! I will post photos of the finished product soon. But for now here are some pictures of the work in progress.

Just when I thought we were done with demo, we go and do MORE demo ("we" being Chip & Brett)! The subfloor in the bathroom was seriously in need of some TLC, or complete replacement in some sections. Evidence:

Let The Fun Begin!

2010-03-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

We returned from Costa Rica. Some of us are a few shades darker than when we left, some are about 30 shades darker. I officially won for most responsible sunscreen applicant. Brett officially wins for having the skin I hope proves to be dominant in our children's genes.

We were extremely eager to get to the house to see the progress upon our return. It's feeling more and more like an actual house! While we were gone Chip was working like a madman hanging sheetrock, Chuck was wiring up a storm, Kendal put his plumbing magic to the test, and Mark filled in the gaps wherever he was needed. Oh...did I mention Busha the ultimate Gopher, Go-getter? She was really aiding in the run of a very tight ship. Thanks Ferline Construction! LoLo was a Queen, too, in her lunchtime provisions, as well as her mad insulating skills! I feel like we had the Dream Team. We now have a fully insulated, fully wired, fully plumbed, fully sheetrocked home.

Brett and I showed up just in time to do some of the last minute things before turning everything over to the drywall guys. We spent the weekend clearing everything out of the house and cleaning up so that we could proceed w/ taping and texturing (which began today). Woo-hoo!

The hard stuff is done, and we now forge ahead to the FUN stuff!!! I suspect that we'll really start SEEING some progress. This week the walls will get textured, next week the hardwoods will get patched and refinished, and the following week we should be getting cabinets installed.

We are well on our way to a place we will soon call home.

Updates from afar...

2010-02-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Confession: We are in Costa Rica.

Evidence:

We are having a lovely time with Kacey & Alan, as well as our dear friends Adam, Deanna, Rowan & Tatum Dick. Pura vida!

While we are away, the beat goes on at our sweet little home!

Here are the pictures we have been updated with by our incredible workhands. This is our master bedroom, fully insulated.

Chipper & LoLo made it back from Hawaii and went straight to work. We are so lucky to have them! I think they had a miserable time in Hawaii and were chomping at the bit to be back working dawn 'til dusk.

See what I mean? Laura is clearly in her element!

Sheetrock, baby!

When the cat's away...

Here's our bedroom totally sheetrocked! Woot! It looks like a real room.

We decided to put cans in the walkway, so let there be some more light.

Okay, I am clearly not writing much because the beach beckons. Lo siento!

Let There Be More Light!

2010-01-31T16:49:00.001-08:00

We are proud to announce even more light brightly shining through our home, only this time in the form of actual electrical lights! Chuck, Brett, and Mark went to town today and cut out all the holes for the cans and wired most of them. Brett & Mark were up in the attic wiring the cans, as pictured here, while Chuck was downstairs cutting the holes.

Here's our newly illuminated family room. Lookin' good!

Brett is clearly pleased with his work...can't you tell?

It was incredibly helpful having an extra set of hands. Thanks, Mark! Today was a good day.

Let There Be Light!

2010-01-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

The last of our new windows have been installed! Here's Brett working away. Uncle Chuck is inside cutting the siding. (Please also note the ivy crawling up our chimney. I'd like to re-present the invitation to be a part of the pulling ivy festivities at a future date. Imagine the fun to be had!)

Here he is threatening to staple my head to the siding.

And this is the view from inside! It's pretty wild how two 2'x2' windows can really brighten a space. The windows allow us to see the wonderful view of the mountains. Love!

As aforementioned, here is Uncle Chuck carrying said siding. What fine cuts he made!

The other thing that was accomplished yesterday was that the guest bedroom was fully insulated...by yours truly. That's right, I am the insulation cutting, filling, and stapling machine. I will have it be known that Brett lent a hand only at the very last cut, so don't let the last picture trick you into thinking that he was instrumental in my cuts! Also, you can thank me later for the censoring. Oops!

Plumbing & Electric: Installment 1

2010-01-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

I hesitate to blog about this simply because the photos may seem semi (or totally) boring to some. Alas, I write and provide pictures to let you know that we are not at a stand still, boring or not! We are trucking along. Things have definitely been moving slower, being that Chip's been proactively preventing scurvy on the beaches of Hawaii (jealousy presents itself). Chuck's been working really hard, doing as much as he can solo-style, and Brett's been working at the house as often as he can, helping Chuck some mornings, and dedicating his available weekend hours. This past Sunday we were able to get a great start on the plumbing, which I'm fairly certain hasn't been touched since the house was built in the 50's. We were able to get going on some of the electrical changes as well.

We had some cement sections of the garage (now our master bath) jackhammered out for our shower drain and toilet, only to discover a not so great foundation. We're still a bit unsure how to tackle this problem, but for now we're focusing on the plumbing.

Now, prepare your oohs and ahs as I present to you photos of said plumbing:

The following photo highlights the beginning of our lovely electrical AND plumbing, all in one! This here is where our kitchen sink will soon (or someday) go!

The following photo highlights our new electrical panel! Wow! Now I'm unable to feign fascination, but perhaps those of you who know anything about electric panels and the like will think this is cool? Well, feast your eyes on THIS!

And check it out: an insulated wall in our dining room!

A finely built soffit is awaiting cabinetry:

That's about enough excitement for one day. Hope you enjoyed the show. Stay tuned for future installments.

Oh, Saturdays...

2010-01-17T08:01:00.001-08:00

I present to you the fruit of our labor: a clean back bedroom. Brett and I worked on the house yesterday morning until Brett had to go to work. We didn't manage to do a whole lot of construction (as if I'd really be a help in that department), but we did get the place pretty well organized and clean.

Chip showed up after we cleared the back bedroom with instructions from LoLo to snap our picture. So, here we are, all "Oregoned out."

**quick side story: I drove everything to the dump later that afternoon and had to stop by B's work to pick up the keys he had forgotten to give me, and two separate people commented on my attire. One comment was "I see Brett's got you all Oregoned out." The other was highlighting the fact that I was voluntarily wearing Carhartts. Yes, it was a good day.

Chip and Brett began some construction types of things, so I commenced organizing. I may not be able to frame a wall, but MAN, can I organize a work space!

Here are the boys working hard...tying their shoes, or surveying the ground for ants, or something like that...or maybe they're framing the french door in. You decide.

IVY. I'm a member of the "I HATE IVY" club. Too bad almost our whole yard is covered in what Oregon has labeled as a noxious weed. I don't know about you, but I hate weeds. I decided that since my organizational services were pretty tapped out in the house, I'd go make myself useful and try to start doing something about our weed situation. Brett was kind enough to catch me in the zone. Enjoy the action shots...they're solid.

BTW if you know any great ways to get rid of ivy, we are all ears! We're thinking of having a pulling-ivy party, so gear up. You know you want to join.

The Demo Continues...Again

2010-01-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought we were done with all the necessary demo, we go and pull all the drywall off the wall of the back bedroom walls, and rip out the insulation. As can be seen, such demo creates quite a dusty mess.

(Please forgive the shutter spots on the below pictures. This discovery came several photos later.) Here is my hard-working husband who works on the house in the off-time he happens upon. His two jobs have seriously cut into his house time!

The other accomplishment on this particular day was that the door from the dining room to the patio was installed. Woot-woot!

Lookie what we found here. Lurking behind the fireplace, under all the drywall that was ripped off, we discovered where those pesky bees were being housed! Hmm...now what to do...

2010-01-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

Dun, dun, dun! The door from the dining room to the patio is in! We now are able to get to the backyard without going through the master bedroom. Not only that, but the dining room has become wonderfully bright as a result (well, the massive 8' window didn't hurt either). We love it!

Here's Chippy working away, making some cuts to get the rest of the bathroom framed.

Uncle Chuck is a happy camper framing in the bathroom door. They finished the bathroom framing today.

LUNCH LADY LO LO!!!

Laura is the QUEEN of lunch. She's a very integral pat of this remodel because she keeps the troops very well fed. And she knows how to provide some seriously de-lish lunch.

Chippy is reaping the benefits

...and looking good!

Here she is, surveying the scene: The General

Our dear Busha is so incredible. She comes over every day to see how she can help. She has the energy that outlasts the Energizer Bunny, and truly enjoys dump runs and trips to any lumber/hardware store. We are truly lucky to have her help!!

Bathroom re-do

2010-01-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

I'm just beside myself that we get to think of not only ONE indoor bathroom, but TWO! Oh, how lucky we are. We are seriously moving up in the world. This particular bathroom is the guest bathroom. It was obviously in need of some t.l.c. (believe me when I say that the picture looks much nicer than the up-close-and-personal view). We're just the people.

Here's the before picture:

Here's what we've started. I know, I know, it looks bad. But it's gotta look bad before it can look better. It will look better!
We removed the big funky vanity, and yanked out all the linoleum (yuck!). I really wanted a claw foot bathtub, but we decided to save ourselves the trouble (and $$) and keep the existing tub. It's actually a pretty decent cast iron tub anyway. Once we get to working on this room, I'll post some updates. For now, you're stuck with the visual of an ugly little bathroom.

Can you say "French Doors"?

2010-01-14T08:26:00.001-08:00

Please forgive the pictures. I know they're not great. I'm going to try and be more diligent about taking in-process pictures, while maybe even including the lovely people who are making all this happen. Anyway, this is the progress we've made over the past few days:

That's right, we now have french doors in our bedroom! It wasn't quite as easy as cutting a hole in the wall for these 5-foot doors because the guys made the discovery of the termite-infested and poorly constructed wall. They ended up reframing the whole master bedroom/bath wall, and it's now ready to rock. Beyond the termite damage, the other conclusion is that whoever built this home opted not to use the highest quality lumber, and apparently were in the middle of a severe nail shortage. Crappy lumber with lack of nails does not equal sturdy home. Not anymore! Chipper & Chuck have made us a very solid and sturdy wall. Now we can go in and out of our French doors without fearing that the side of the house will crumble.

Here's the view from outside. We will be able to walk from our room onto the porch.

This is the goal today. The single door will go in the dining room, which will lead out to the patio. It's all framed and ready, so hopefully all will go smoothly.

The Massive Window

2010-01-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

Brett and I love the idea of bringing the outdoors inside as much as possible. We know that once have the opportunity to invest some time and money into our backyard, we will really love it. This being the case we decided that we really want to have the backside of the house as open to the back yard as possible. The dining room (Marshall's Room) had a small window, which is shown here.

We decided to remove that small window and put in a very large window, covering almost the whole span of that wall. To the right of the new window on the other wall, we will be framing in a door to walk out to the patio. That's yet to be done.

This is the view of the dining room window from the backyard. Uncle Chuck is working away.

And here she is, installed with the siding nearly finished.

I would like to call attention to the stand-out woman, Ms. Renovation herself! This here is our dear Busha, Laura's mom, our Grandma. She is an incredible woman, and has been beyond helpful with this whole project. She is the wooooooooo-man! I'm pretty sure she knows every contractor in the Rogue Valley, and is in her element the second she sets foot into Lowe's or Home Depot. In fact, listen up you eligible bachelors, she's so wonderful that her ideal date would probably be perusing the aisles of Lowe's, or the like.

The DEstruction Continues, with a touch of CONstruction

2010-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

We cleared everything out of the garage to begin the conversion. Brett and Chip chalked out the lines of what will become our master bedroom, master bath, walk-in-closet, office, and little laundry room. We have our work cut out for us, I reckon!

Over Christmas Alan & Kacey came home. Al was a HUGE help! Here he is getting acquainted with Old Blue. I think they formed a nice little bond in their journey to the dump.

Here's a little evidence of Al's handy work. He was an integral part in the removal of the rotting subfloor, and the addition of the new plywood. Niiiiiiiiice!

We were doing so much destruction that we were beginning to wonder when the CONstruction would begin. Well, we're happy to announce that the framing has begun. Finally! Some CONstruction! Uncle Chuck and Chipper are framing away in the garage.

Kacey & Laura dropped by to survey the scene, and to snap some shots of the process (thanks, Lo!). If you can't tell, this shot is looking into the garage.

We have such wonderful family! The Kougar loaned out her husband for a few days and Al charged it...so hard that he pulled his back. I'm certain the pull was a result of extreme manual labor and not from old age.

This features our new office and office window. We wished our garage door a fond farewell, and welcome this new bright addition to our home.

Uncle Chuck, who's a very integral part of this whole remodel, and Chip spearheaded this operation, and we now have a lovely office window. We're really pleased with how it's all coming together.

I can't help but notice how our "little remodel" has actually turned into an essential "gutting". Some have wondered if we're living in our home during our remodel. This picture may answer any wondering minds: no.

**this is the view from the front door through the kitchen (and Marshall's Room on the left), into the master bedroom area.

We are putting windows on each side of the fireplace, so Brett & I (more Brett than I) removed the drywall to get it ready. I'd like to add that I've quickly realized my place in the construction world: I'm a standout pile mover. Hand me a sledge, and I have fun, but the reality is I hurt more than I am productive. Brett took his whole side of the fireplace down before I got even half of mine removed. Needless to say, he took over, and I commenced pile moving.

One fun discovery we've made since the removal of the drywall is that we've got bees! lots and lots of bees have apparently made a home in the siding over the years. Oh, joy!

Not that this was ever really called into question, but I'd like to announce that Brett is truly Oregonian, and here's why:

Can you say Carhartt?????

(OK, so it's not really that all Oregonians wear Carhartts, but it's safe to say that far more do than those in Southern California.)

Day One

2010-01-10T08:48:00.001-08:00

This marks the first day of new homeownership!

Our dear friends, Adam and Deanna, drove up from Eureka, CA to celebrate with us and to take part in day one of demolition! They spent the weekend with us, and were a part of the destruction of the first wall. It was really special having them be a part of this exciting adventure, and feel so blessed that they were willing to be such wild workers!

Goodbye wall! This is the wall between the kitchen and the second bedroom, endearingly referred to as "Marshall's Room." We are expanding the kitchen and creating a new dining space, but we wonder if we will ever stop referring to that space as Marshall's Room?

Voila! No more wall. Ginormous kitchen! (note: photo is taken from Marshall's Room)

This is Chip, Brett's dad, who is about as wonderful as they come. He's such a hard worker, and an integral part of this whole remodel we've begun. Look at him, no drywall is gonna stop him! He's such a B.A.

Park Street

2010-01-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

Here she is! A beaut! Or a beaut in the making:)

SOLD!

2010-01-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Ashland-bound! We bought our first home!!!

This is serious reason to celebrate!!!

Farewell Encinitas

2010-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Brett and I met and dated in Portland, got engaged, moved to Encinitas, in North County San Diego, married in May 2008, and moved into a cute little place that was...very unique. It was full of potential and begged for a little attention. Unique features about our home, which we endearingly call "Princehouse," are:

It was a garage long ago, which has been converted into a living space in recent years.

The only walls within the house were around the bedroom. You may notice I did not mention the bathroom.
There was no toilet inside (!!!), but a bonifide outhouse about 30 feet from our front door.
There was no oven/stove, meaning that until we finally wired for a stove and purchased one, we were exclusively panini-ing and barbecuing.
The grey water drained right outside our exterior wall across the driveway, providing a nice meal for our dog (gross), which Brett thankfully remedied pretty quickly. Some things are just too gross to live with, so he jackhammered part of our driveway and buried the pipe underground.

I've listed just a few of its unique features, and those of you who were lucky enough to camp...er, stay with us, you know what I'm talking about!

We had a lot of fun making Princehouse our home. While we were very ready to leave, we will fondly remember our time there (and will admittedly block some memories). Here are some photos of the transformation we were able to give our home:

2010-01-06T15:48:00.000-08:00

We married in May of 2008, and moved into our loveshack on Princehouse Lane, in Encinitas. For those who visited us, you understand what we mean when we liken our living experience to camping. I mean, we had a freaking outhouse! How much more of a camp-like existence can you get? While we loved our first home together, and have many wonderful memories, it is an understatement to say that we were ready to GET OUT!! I'd like to pause to give you a few glimpses into our past at Princehouse.