Reflection

I took this photo the other day after we finished the kitchen and had our house warming get together, and everyone had gone home and it was just Eduardo and I at the house. He just stood there, for about ten minutes. I don't know exactly what he was thinking. It wasn't what I was thinking (because I was thinking OMG there is a BABY inside me), but I'd guess he was just taking a moment to take it all in, the transformation, the work, the the results, the satisfaction of it all. And I'm glad he did. It's those moments that make all the rest of it worth while I think.

Exciting News

We finished just in time to have a little housewarming party with Dad, Mom, Uncle Jack, and Uncle George was even in town! They brought sushi and snacks and we admired all our hard work, and ate, and drank, and I think everyone had a good time. I was a little distracted the whole time because about 3 hours earlier I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive, so to be quite honest, even though the festivities literally happened yesterday, pretty much everything except for the plus sign on the pee-stick is a little blurry for me. I think I'm still in shock. I plan to tell Eduardo and Dad tomorrow, on Father's Day. HOLY SHIT. We are having a baby...

I Helped!

I cut that beautiful edge!

We got the backsplash done today! So except for bringing the appliances in we are officially done with the kitchen! I am so excited!!!! I helped Eduardo tile it the other day, and it was much harder than I expected. The decorative tiles seemed more uneven the more I looked at them, and it was my job to make sure they were straight! I am still cross-eyed I think from staring at it. I also helped cut tiles for Eduardo who marked them up. It's not always easy working together, and I got on his nerves a few times I could tell, but we survived, and I am happy to say we are still together. Ha ha. As an added bonus the backsplash turned out great! So our hard work paid off as well. Today Eduardo and I started grouting it, and Dad and I finished it up because Eduardo had to go to work. I am very satisfied with the color choices we made in the kitchen, and think it will show really well when it comes time to sell.

Knowing where to start is key!

Measuring for cuts

Charlie stops by to say hi

Look what I made! A "j" for Jamie

Nearing the finish line!

Finito!

The End

The Heat is ON

The "new"hot water heater is installed and running!

Dream Counter

The kitchen counter is finally done. And boy oh boy is it sharp! It was quite a process from beginning to end though. But it looks like a million bucks and didn't cost anything close.
First the guys had to build the counter. They got special (and expensive) plywood, and cut it to fit our layout. Then they screwed it to the cabinets. They reinforced the part of the bar that was going to overhang the back side (where the stools would go). The expensive plywood we bought gave us some trouble though. It turns out that it was warped and we didn't notice it until it was already screwed down! So dad had the idea to prop it up to bend it back before we laid the tiles. Luckily that worked. The next thing was choosing and ordering the Shluter to finish the edge of the counter. It was expensive stuff, but ABSOLUTELY necessary to get the look we were going for. In the past people would use granite on the top and then use a ceramic tile rounded bullnose edge for the sides, but that really changes the look of it. I wanted this to look as much like a slab counter as we could get it. We were able to get a schluter that allowed us to place cut pieces of granite on the edge as well, with a thin band of satin nickle metal at the edge. The guys had a time cutting it and getting all of the pieces to fit just right, but again, they came through expertly and it turned out beautiful! The final step was actually laying the counter. Per Dad's recommendation we bought several extra boxes of the granite tiles and then I went through each one and pulled out all the really weird ones that would not match the majority. Since it is natural stone sometimes there are unusual pockets of minerals, or strange bedding, or bands in the pattern that can look out of place and be distracting. Those ones we boxed back up and returned. I wouldn't have thought to do that when we bought it but I'm glad we did it.
After Dad and Eduardo laid out the tiles, making sure they looked good together, and then proceeded to tile the counter. And here it is! Our super gloriously beautiful kitchen counter! I can't wait until we tile the back splash then it will all be complete!

The Perfect Pair

Thumbs up on this deal!

Eduardo has done it again! He is a Craigslist genius! We needed a washer and dryer for the laundry room. We (i.e. Eduardo) have been looking on Craigslist for MONTHS. Well, just a few days ago he came across a really nice set of white front loaders. He went and looked at them, talked them down, and brought them home all in a couple hours! And all for $300! What a deal hu? We looked them up and just one of them new was almost $1000! They are super nice, and fit perfectly in the space. I honestly wouldn't have chosen anything different if we had gone to Sears and bought them brand new. I don't know how he does it, but Eduardo has come through and saved us THOUSANDS of dollars on appliances!
I don't even want to think about what we would have ended up with if I'd been in charge. I neither have the patience to wait for the right set, nor the skill to negotiate, so it would have been horrible. I'm so glad I didn't have to be!

Mom's in Town!

Plant shopping with Mom:)

Mom is in town, and after waiting until after they installed the carpet, she finally got to see the house! We decided to do a bit of yard work while she is here, since she is much more of an expert on such matters than I am. She dug up some hastas from Memere's house and even treated me to a bunch of plants from Home Depot and Lowes to plant in the front flower bed! We got irises, geraniums, and a pretty pink and green leafy one. So we spent the afternoon weeding and planning, and planting, and after we spread mulch to finish it off! It looks so nice, and the red geraniums match the front door. Thanks mom!

All our plants!

The flower bed: before.

The flower bed: during.

Oh Deer!

Deer sweet Charlie.

I've mentioned before some of the wildlife that I have seen on our property. Well now we have a couple new additions. There is a mallard couple that live in the reeds on the south side of the yard. They spend the afternoons lounging around in the shade in the front yard. They are really cute, and always together. They are friends with another newcomer, Charlie, and the three of them often visit with one another. Charlie is a little buck that is not shy around people. (My guess is someone raised him from a fawn, and then released him once he got too big to keep in the living room.) I feel bad for him, because I think he will come to a bad end, but maybe not. Anyway he hangs around and eats all the leaves off the bottom of the apple tree in the back yard. He's really something else. He just walks right up to you. I don't feed him, or pet him or anything (because I don't think it's good for him), but I do say hello, and don't scare him when he approaches. He likes to introduce himself to anyone new that comes to the house if he happens to be around. He is so cute and innocent you just want to hug him! I worry a little what will happen to him (or others) when the little furry buttons on his forehead become full-fledged antlers, and the rutting hormones start racing through his veins. Hopefully he moves off into the country before then. Anyway, he sure is sweet to have around for now.

Charlie and Eduardo

Charlie trimming the apple tree.

Charlie saying hi to mom

Charlie and Helen and Steve (the mallards)

It's Electric!

Typical outlet.

One of the last things we did was switch out all the electrical outlets. There were a couple reasons why we decided to do that. Half the plugs didn't work and they were filthy and disgusting.

Electrical stuff has always been a little scary to me. I've seen Eduardo electrocute himself twice, and I think he may have done it a couple additional times when I wasn't there. And I've seen wires spark and leave burn marks on the sides of the electrical box. But I was out of things to do, so I had Eduardo show me, and I ended up switching out most of the plugs and switches downstairs myself. And I learned some really interesting things. The first is that I'd probably switch all the plugs at the beginning of the remodel next time, especially if they don't work well. Sometimes the old outlets feel loose when you plug stuff in, and you have to wiggle it around to get whatever it is to work. But when you put a new one in everything is tight. We did most of the work on the house with only half the outlets available and it was a pain in the ass. The other thing is we had some issues where some of the switches and plugs just didn't work and all, and we spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. The whole front wall of the living room didn't work for example. But as I switched out all the plugs on that wall, I found one outlet that wasn't connected. The plug was there, but the wires in the back were not plugged into it. Once I connected them everything worked! We were going to call an electrician and it probably would have cost us a lot more than the $1 it actually did for me to connect that one plug. So switch out your outlets, then check plugs and switches and THEN call the electrician if they still don't work.

Buts it difficult you ask? Nope. Easy-peazy! As long as you remember a few things. 1.) Male sure the breaker is off. And then double test it to make sure. 2.) Then most of the time all you do is unhook the wires on the old outlet and make sure you put them back on the new plug/switch  in exactly the same way. If there were two white ones and two black ones, I'd curl the end of the ones that went on top, so when they were all sitting there disconnected I wouldn't forget which was which (as a matter of fact I'm not even sure it matters, but who wants to take that chance?) You can take a picture of it with your phone if you are worried you'll forget how they go together. Also (I didn't know this until later) if you have a plug that works off a switch, for example the top outlet is controlled by the light switch, but the bottom is a regular plug, then there is a little metal connector on the side of the plug you need to break off so they are not linked together. See pictures below. 3.)Make sure you have the right tools. You need both a flat and philips screwdriver, wire stripper, and pliers. It also helps to have a tiny screwdriver to press the wire release on the back of the switch to remove the old wires (otherwise you have to wrestle it out with the pliers). And that's about all you need to know. If you come across something confusing, or that you haven't seen before you can find how-to videos for EVERYTHING on the internet. I Googled the outlet-on-a-switch thing to learn about that little metal piece that has to be broken off to make it work. You'd be amazed what you can find online!

Anyway, after spending most of my life afraid of wires, I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed learning about them, switching out the old outlets! Who would have thought it would be so much fun?

This is why we switched the plugs out.
Di-sgusting!!!

Eduardo hard at work.

Complicated switch

Switching outlets!

Metal tab needed to be broken to separate top and bottom.

After tab is broken.