Wow…

Jennifer — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:15:02 +0000

I don’t feel nearly as tired since I just read this amazing article on Jenny and Rob’s renovation. Our house? No Sweat!

Good news…appliances are purchased! The whole shebang, too. Washer, Dryer, Fridge, Stove, Dishwasher and Microwave. And the great thing? Erick pulled a Dave Ramsey, offered cash (take it or leave it, friends!) and we ended up paying about 300 dollars below the original price. (The original prices weren’t too shabby, so we were thrilled to come out even better!) It was a fun day; we took Miss Ashley along and she kept us laughing the whole day. Nothing like good friends.

The stinky news is that we won’t have our goods delivered until August 9th. Our new target move-in date is next Saturday, so that will leave us without a kitchen for 2 weeks. However, we do have a small 2 burner cookstove from Erick’s mom, and a microwave. We’ll try to hunt down a mini-fridge, but if we can’t, we’ll just fill a chest with ice. And probably live off sandwiches for quite awhile. Once the appliances are in, we’ll figure out the cabinet and countertop situation. Maybe I’ll have a complete cooking space by Mid-August.

Erick is at the house with Peter today, installing new floor trim and adding some wainscoting. Hopefully the bathroom will be ready to be painted next week. OH! Found out that we have very work-able stairs under the old grungy carpet, so that’s good news! We’ll prime and paint and eventually add a runner.

Gettin’ closer everyday.

Happy Weekend!

Oh, that Robin!

Jennifer — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:49:34 +0000

So I’m reading Sisterchicks Go Brit by Robin Jones Gunn. (She’s one of my fave authors, and has been for years and years). One of her paragraphs from an aspiring interior designer was so inspiring to me; nailed it on the head, I guess you could say:

“It’s amazing how the decor of a room can affect how you feel about yourself and your surroundings. Maybe that’s why I love decorating so much. I love elevating people’s environment so that it elevates their feelings about themselves.” … “In a way it makes you remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. That’s what God says of us. I think we suppress our appreciation for the ‘wonderfully made’ part far too often”.

Yep, love that! Ms. Robin always comes through with some pretty wonderful quote-ables.

On the homefront…notice I’ve been absent from blogging for a few days? We’ve been truckin’ right along, from morning to night! I’ve really had fun-taken a break from scraping walls and carpet pads, and I’ve helped lay flooring; wood and tile. Erick and I make a good team-I’ve truly enjoyed working alongside him instead of in separate rooms on different projects. And I’ve officially glued together PVC pipe, layed grout, worked with the jig and chop saws-much fun, I tell ya! Here’s a picture of what the flooring throughout the house looks like now. We only have a small landing left to lay the floor on, then we’ll stain the original hardwood floor in the kitchen to match the rest of the house.

Erick has to seal the grout in the bathroom today, then I’ll post some before and after pictures. I’m LOVING the bathroom and how it’s going to turn out. Yay!

Annnnnddddd….our escrow money is starting to roll in. Which means appliance shopping this afternoon! Mom and dad have company coming in one week from now, and it’d be a pretty tight squeeze trying to fit us all in here, so we hope to be at the new place before next Wednesday. Eeek!

Oh, and one last HUGE thank you to dearest Nicole from Breaking Even, who sent me some amazing music mixes. You are such a DARLING, girl! I’m now an official fan of Carla Bruni! And I couldn’t be more ecstatic about the mix of Diana Krall/Pink Martini/Jamie Cullum/Madeline Peyroux (and so many others…I’m listening to it right now and can’t recall everyone who is on it, but suffice it to say-it’s my new happy cd!) Without tv and with limited radio reception, it’s just by happy accident that I find new artists that I enjoy. And I’m so happy to have found so many at one pop.

Erick’s home! Time to go shopping, woohoo!

A little dream

Jennifer — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:35:14 +0000

We took the day off and spent it as a family…much needed physically and mentally! Hit up Bangor and Ellsworth; came home by Bucksport, and I took a picture of this little place that has fascinated me for years. It’s right near the entrance to Fort Knox, and I think it would be such a wonderful shop/studio. (Shop on bottom, studio on top…can you imagine all of the natural light you’d have to sew/paint/create with?!) I think I’d even add some skylights to the mix. Add all that to the fact that it’s on the river-I can’t imagine why it’s been abandoned for so long. Even though this house renovation stuff is more than I ever imagined it would be, I’d be willing to tackle this, too.

Happy Weekend!

Don’t you love sisters who have blogs?

Jennifer — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:37:25 +0000

Dearest Brother,

The other night we pulled out the old slides and sat down to a picture show. And ran across this. We guffawed for quite awhile, and I just couldn’t resist showing the world. You really were the cutest thing many birthdays ago, even in those cutoff jeans.

Good thing you turned into such a handsome scudder…

But I’m still glad you can get your goof on.

Love you more than words, and happy quarter century!!

Stick a fork in me…I’m done.

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:21:57 +0000

Tired, worn out, but happy! Accomplished much in the way of house things today, even though it was 452 degrees and about that percentage humidity, and we have no AC yet!

Floor tile in the bathroom is almost completely laid out-definitely came to the conclusion that figuring out ceramic tile is like re-working a giant jigsaw puzzle about 15 times. It’s gonna look smashing though. We primed more walls today, and Erick finally mowed our jungle of a lawn. We were beginning to call it our “amber waves of grain” because it most certainly resembled it. No time for landscaping when we have a house to finish!

Time for bed, will post progress pics in the next day or two!

Fireworks!

Jennifer — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:46:59 +0000

Took a peek at yesterday’s celebration pictures…had to get them posted! We had a lovely time yesterday-grilled hotdogs and had fun with Ms. Marietta (elderly neighbor) and Grammy and Uncle Josh. Then traveled to Bangor and watched the fireworks on the river-we were so close that we had to crane our necks to see the really big ones! The boys loved it! (Jack: “Boom Boom!” Ryan: “Fireworks are my favorite color!”)

Side note on the house today-I stayed home with the boys, but mom prepped more walls and dad and Erick got the plumbing ready for our pedestal sink in the bathroom, yay! Layed a bit of hardibacker for the tile, too. We are gettin’ there!

Fixture Envy

Jennifer — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:47:35 +0000

If I didn’t have to go and be sensible with our econ. stimulus money (if it ever arrives)…I’d have OH so much fun with some of these beauties from Schoolhouse Electric!

Oh Happy Days!

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:53:18 +0000

Two days to celebrate…the 4th of July, of course! And a turning of the tide for our house; yesterday E and I went to work on it and my breath was literally taken away by how much had been accomplished between dear husband and fabulous friend Peter. On Monday, Erick had to take off from the house early, but good ol’ Pete asked to stay and finish a “few” things. And you know what he did? He painted the kitchen! And my heart is GLAD! It’s gone from this horrendous thing:

to this:

(and this):

Obviously we are no where near the end, but that first coat did my heart wonders! I’m not fond of the beadboard but it will have to do for now; I’m going to try and sand a bit then whitewash. We’ll get new doors for the cabinets, and put up open shelving. (I know, I know…the dusting! The keeping order of open shelves! But I believe everyone is entitled to a first homeowner mistake or two, and I love them anyway. Besides, we can’t afford all new cabinetry).

Funny thing; I’m practically paralyzed by indecision when it comes to paint schemes, so I believe that for the time being, EVERYTHING in the house is going to be primed white, and after we are in the house for awhile I’ll decide what color to add. I’m pretty sure the kitchen will stay white, though…with black countertops and silver accents. And the color from my bowls and things on the shelves. Oh, and a chalkboard painted wall.

I was so motivated yesterday that I scrubbed and scrubbed away at the rug remnants on our bedroom floor, preparing it for the engineered hardwood. Erick was the mudder and sander of the day! We accomplished quite a bit, and felt great for it!

Therefore, we relax and relish today. I hope you all enjoy (or did enjoy!) the 4th!

Mischieviousness Defined

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:34:50 +0000

So far as I hear it, this must be second child syndrome. As in you can’t turn your back for one minute. As in as soon as things get quite, you best get worried. All day, people, all day. I’m constantly on guard with this little rapscallion! This is just a snippet-only 2 pictures out of the 20 messes/near disasters in one day.

Mom is on the phone with Nonnie and Papa, and he finds the bag of m&m’s. And eats lots of them. 20 minutes before bedtime. Can you say sugar high?

And this is his favorite new trick, especially with “no hands”. Yeah. He turned the stool upside down to stand on the tiny legs.

Thing is? He is SO DARN CUTE. Ryan can definitely talk his way out of things (he is incredibly good at trying). Jack charms his way out of things. Or attempts too, anyway. Oh these boys!

This is J’s new word…he has had momma and daddy and papa and nana (banana) down for months, but is mainly into sound effects. But this one? It stuck. And it’s unbearably cute to his mother.

Like a Drugstore Cowboy…

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:14:38 +0000

No Rhinestones for us…and we are definitely the drugstore type of cowboy; not the real thing like Great Grandpa!

But momma insists we have a little of the old west for her sake, so these hats have to do; plus they keep the sun off real good for strawberry pickin’.

And pick we did!

Makes for alot of work, but oh.so.worth.it.

And whaddya think momma should do with the strawberry containers? She thinks they are just too cute to throw away! She says ideas are welcome!

After strawberry preparation and nice long naps, we made pizza.

But not your typical pizza…especially for cowboys. It kind of grossed us boys out at first, until we were talked into having a bite, and then we loved it. Informal recipe? Pesto, grilled chicken, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers. And oil the durn pizza pan-no spray can for this one. The oil made the crust super light and yummmmmy. Yeah. We were pretty surprised we liked it. But ya know what we liked better? Strawberry shortcake with real whipped cream for dessert! But since momma and daddy were wolfing it down in order to saunter to the community movie theater to see Prince Caspian, there wasn’t any time to take pictures of that delightful meal. So you’ll just have to imagine it.

Go pick ya some strawberries and make yerself a pizza. You won’t regret it, pardner.