What a Week!

Don't worry we're still moving and a grooving over here despite not posting for almost a week! I have heard from many of you so sorry to keep you waiting :) Once we were all nursed back to health we were able to get a lot done around our little home. Here's what's been going on-

The kitchen was vacuumed out and unpacked.

Pretty rose in our front yard.

We ran into another (major) issue, dun dun, dunnnn. Our new appliances were purchased on Black Friday at a steal of $723 for a dishwasher, gas range and mount microwave. Well, it turned out to be too good to be true when we brought them into the kitchen this weekend and found out that the range stuck up past the bar a good 5 plus inches, so while at the bar or in the living room you'd be staring at the stove back. John said that he WILL NOT have that and so we begin our quest to try and return/exchange them tomorrow when they are open. WISH us luck. This, however, will surely put us past our budget because I am sure we will not score such a good deal this time around :( After further research, I've discovered that the only range that will work is something called a slide in range. AND of course they are MUCH more expensive than regular ranges, however, they look pretty sharp....more on this later this week (grimace).

Bar pendant in all their lit glory.

Operation unpack has begun.

Jacks room.

Sink almost all hooked up, still need to install the garbage disposal and attach the spray hose at the end of the faucet.

Tiling in the kitchen and bathroom shower were the weekend focus and we are almost half way done in the kitchen and about 75% done in the shower area.

Still need to tile the eat in area and the office.

Our pattern.

Ahh, the shower :) This has been my undertaking, along with Mike at the saw making sure each tile that had to be cut was done so correctly. It's turning out much better than we all expected, I hope that continues as we tackle the plumbing wall and area above the window. Then we install the vanity and toilet which, knock on wood, should be pretty straight forward.

Our corner shelf

New bathroom fixture.

Well, we're almost there and think that we'll be able to move in Sunday, Monday or Tuesday...depending on appliance updates. WISH us luck, we'll need it. Thanks for being patient, we hope we delivered!

Tile Choices and Ideas

Here are some ideas to keep me focused on my tile expeditions throughout the house.

Backsplash for the kitchen...I'm thinking a light cream subway tile. Stark white really doesn't go with any of the kitchen granite/tile/fixtures etc (except for the fact that our appliances will be white). We are hoping that our savings in the bathroom shower tile will make this possible, read more on that below.
As for the flooring in the kitchen, we haven't made any choices yet, but I would like a pattern similar to this one.

And this one....but not on a diagonal. Cathy and I made the rounds at 3 tiling stores in the area and were told that to do a diagonal pattern increases the need to purchase 15% more tile, money I am not willing to spend. ESPECIALLY since I talked John into tiling the office too. My hope is to unify the spaces a bit more and replace the (once new) carpet tiles we installed right at the beginning of demo because they are now needing to be demo'ed themselves :( Too soon of an install makes for yucky carpeting in a construction zone.

Here's the basic white, 4x4 square tiles for the hall bathroom. Nothing special, pretty run of the mill, but totally neutral and will be hidden behind our shower curtain anyway. We bought all of the tile at the Restore, Habitat for Humanity store in Santa Rosa for VERY cheap (along with our solid surface sink top for the hall bathroom, photos coming soon). These savings enabled us to go big on the Travertine for the hall bath floor and to beef up our backsplash in the kitchen. Why spend more on tile that will be hidden anyway, especially when it allows for putting money toward the stuff you want to showcase.

Tiling in the shower should start this week! Stay tuned.

A Well Lit Mess

With the exception of our pendants, which need little light bulbs, we have LIGHT! The following post is a tour of reveling in Jake B's lighting job and some other odds and ends.

Our bar area is finished. Jake placed the pendants at varying heights so we could determine which one worked for us. Unfortunately we scored these lights at HD for less than $50 each so the aren't customizable. It's one height or the other. We are thinking of going with the shorter height so while people are seated at the bar they won't be staring at the pendant, but the short length looks, well... a little short. This was an easy decision however, the long is too long, so short it is.

Jake makes one more trip down below to finish up the lighting. (Sorry for the blurry photos, I tried not to use the flash to capture the "real lighting" feel which resulted in slightly blurry photos.

This is where the pendants look a little funny. The short, looks a little short, but that long is just too long.

Eat in area of kitchen.

Our walk in master closet. Thinking I'll move the dresser to the right wall that backs up to the master (one-day) bathroom.

Possible kitchen tile?

Another possible tile choice, the one that Mike, Becky B and I liked. Hard to really "get" the color in these photos. But they are both ceramic, 18 inch tiles. One has more yellow and one is more neutral brown-gray, which is the winner so far.

So here's a better shot of the pendants and their heights. We are changing both to the short length. I think they look fine short from this side, but a little funny from the other side.

Finished bar. This was an area of contention for John and I. John has proven to be VERY helpful, and yes, often right when making certain construction/design choices. Notice the small "mini bar" if you will on the left, on top of the half wall. We didn't know how to finish that, wood cap or granite? Everyone said granite, and I thought it would look weird and out of place, but they couldn't have been more right. With Art's expertise it tied it all together and made more sense of the wall.

Progress in the hall bathroom, shower backer board up and getting us closer to tiling! Check back soon.

Explosions, of Many Varieties

Explosion is the word that best describes the past few days. Explosion of stuff, explosion of granite, and sadly....explosion of the stomach flu.

On Moving day Jack exploded! With the stomach flu...and let's just say it's a good thing we hadn't had our carpets cleaned at our rental yet...yes, a lot of information, but it got a whole lot worse and I will spare you from that.

After several hours at the doctors office and then the ER radiology lab (where Jack "exploded" in the lobby) we confirmed that it wasn't a hard-to-pronounce condition involving the intestines, it was just the stomach flu. While Jack, Granny and I were dealing with this at the doctor's office, John, Mike, John Scott and our go-to Erec D got to work on finishing moving us out of our rental. Well, suffice it to say we will not be moving into our house ourselves...we are nestled in with John's parents until our house is in a more Jack-friendly state.

Due to the fact that I wasn't able to tie up lose ends the day of moving (because I was dealing with Mr. Jack and his explosions) we are now left with this terrifying EXPLOSION of STUFF at our house. I think this makes us look like we're major hoarders, and I am already planning my garage sale in the spring. This is what I call moving in desperation...Toss it Anywhere and Everywhere.

Thursday night Jack seemed to be getting better and I was up at 2am to 8am with the stomach flu myself and slept the ENTIRE day, all of it :( Looks like my little man thought he'd share with his mommy. My in-laws were next on Jack's stomach flu hit list. Luckily someone was spared, John has been puke free...YEAH!

More of the hoarding insanity, I am SO not excited about this mess.

And lastly, our beautiful master that is really giving off that home away from home retreat vibe...hahaha, one day.

Our lovely new closet all finished and ready for those clothes piled on our bed to be tucked away.

Sunday was GRANITE explosion day, finally an explosion of goodness. It get's a lot better from here on out, promise.

Family friends of Mike and Cathy's had their granite counters cut and installed by Art. He truly delivered today, I was squealing with delight watching our kitchen transform.

Art at work.

John and Mike laying the granite after the adhesive is laid.

Ta DA!!!!

I can actually hear angels singing, can't you? Oh, that's just me...ok :)

Cutting more granite in the driveway.

It's all coming together.

That's all for now, more to come later this week.

BIG, giant thank you to Mike and Cathy for taking in their miscreant family for an indefinite amount of time WITH the stomach flu. Not only did they take in a sick group of family, but they worked through sickness themselves, helped with Jack (who was sick) while they were sick and helped clean our rental so it would be ready for the Jensens. Man, I have a lot to be thankful for this week!

I Think it's Just Lemons Today

Well, it's happened...a mishap without a positive spin. Mike did a beautiful job of grouting the Hall bath last night....so where are the photos you ask? Well, unless you'd like to see the same photo from yesterday I have nothing for ya. He grouted the floor, a family friend came over (who has been a tiler for 30 plus years) and told us we (I bought) the wrong grout. Or rather the Home Depot guy told me to buy the wrong grout :( Insert big pouty lip here. I guess, luckily it was caught before it dried and they were able to remove it. I bought a NON sanded grout, which I was told was best for Travertine with small grout spaces. Apparently, this is not the case and we should have used sanded grout. BUMMER, a bummer that probably delays our move in date. But, it is what it is and we're moving on. No matter what comes next I vow not to have the "poor-me-I'-renovating-my house-and-I-have-to-wait-to-move-in" blues. I will focus on the "I'm-very-blessed-be-patient" tune instead.

Above photo of the painted pantry. Looking good :)

Our new recessed lights in the kitchen.

Furniture IN the living room...I can almost see evenings with the fam, almost.

Painted Master walk-in closet.

I wish I had more updates and better news, all I know is ONE day we WILL be living here, gosh darn it. Tonights plan of attack, RE grout the hall bath, finish painting, I am staying home to pack up the rest of the house....it's so empty over here is echos. Another benefit to me staying home is that the guys don't feel me breathing down their necks in anticipation. The last thing I want to do is add to their stress. We'll be out as of Friday and most likely at our wonderful in-laws. THANKS to them, we will not be homeless. I also wanted to take this time to thank my mother-in-law Cathy for being our Go-To awesome babysitter during all of this, we couldn't do it without her. Thank you SO much for taking such good care of our little man. Thank you also to all of those who have babysat, offered to babysit and thank you to all those who cheer us on. It all helps us keep on trucking.

I think John Forgot These Days

I KNOW we can make it happen in our house....this Thursday. I think John has forgotten about the good 'ol days of multi-day rafting trips where we fed up to 20 people on 2 camp stoves, rain or shine, in the dirt, with NO sink for up to 7 days. We can make it happen. Above: cooking for an RLT trip on The Green River, Desolation Canyon....in the SAND, mud, mosquitoes, and rain. And, look...I'm still smiling.

Or the days when our ENTIRE kitchen was packed on an 18 foot Avon Spirit

and making it's way through rapids. We have made it through worse, and I think we ended up pretty happy in the end.

Put your rally caps on, folks!