weekend replay : little brother

(I apologize in advance for the length of this post... I could have easily put it down to a few words and several pictures, but this blog isn't just for you... its for me too and I want to remember this weekend.)

It was an eventful weekend!  Lucas flew into Greenville Thursday afternoon.  I wasn't completely sure what to think about how the weekend would go.  Based on our last 4 years of life in Louisville... I was expecting a visit full of late night video games and being pretty much ignored by him and my husband. (No they really weren't that bad up there... but sometimes it felt like it).  But it was seriously a fantastic weekend.  

Kyle only had Saturday and Sunday off... so I had part of Thursday afternoon and most of Friday alone with Lucas.  We had a lot of fun, and the most surprising part... he was helpful.  In Louisville, if we asked him to take out the trash on his way to his car... HA!  His friends would end up doing it or it would be left by the door.  This time... I asked for help... "ok".  And it was done!  Maybe he has grown up a little while living at home the past month or two working for dad, but I still say its sympathy for the big bump on my front.  And for once.. I'm not complaining.

As mentioned the other day... I mowed the lawn... the back yard... the biggest yard... before he got here... And he fussed at me.  I mean I left the front yard for him... but he had planned on mowing it all for me.  I just felt bad asking him to do that knowing he had just spent the entire day before mowing and weed eating a whole campground at his other job.  But within an hour of him being at our house, my front yard was mowed!  Not only that... but he then started fussin at me for not cleaning up for him (our key spots in the house were still cluttered... its just Lucas...).  

Friday, I fixed some cinnamon rolls for us and we headed out to the mall.  He wanted some help shopping for some clothes and housewares, and I wanted to check out the maternity store's clearance aisle.  We both walked away with lighter pockets and full bags.  ( I might be exaggerating a little... but I did end up with 2 pairs of maternity pants and a shirt... ahhh the comfort!).  We also hit up Lowe's where he helped decide the paint colors for the laundry room and the baby's furniture... and carried everything out for me.  Shortly after, we found out that some family friends were going to stop by the house to see us on their way back to Virginia, so Lucas then HELPED ME CLEAN THE HOUSE.  But not before we discovered a major issue.  The dishwasher had sprung a leak.  Oi.  

it had been doing this for probably 3 days... 

Dinner that night was some cheap Japanese up the road from us... not bad!  Kyle was craving asian food (as usual).  The three of us spent Friday night watching a movie together before turning in.

Saturday started off with breakfast together, and then Kyle needed to work on a presentation for work, so me and Luke headed toward downtown to waste some time. Lunch at Mr. Salsa's up the road ended my time with them for the day.  They both retired to their computers to play video games and I got started on some small painting projects around the house and grilled some ribs for dinner.  

The night was finished for us with a late night run for hot Krispy Kremes!  And Myles was a happy baby.

Sunday was pancakes for breakfast, church, leftovers for a late lunch, more video games, and snacks for dinner.  Kyle had to go to bed early for work, so Lucas and I stayed up watching Food Network together.  

Monday morning, I let Lucas sleep in for his last day of "vacation" and took him to the airport around 1.  This weekend meant a lot to me.  We used to see my brother about once a week in Louisville.  He and Kyle, despite the 4 year age difference, did everything together.  And we became friends.  It isn't just the moving states apart that made this weekend important... it is the part where he is supposedly going to eventually move to Japan.  If the Air Force will ever get their stuff together and give him some official orders.  He was supposed to hear by this weekend if he would for sure be leaving Sept 30th for training in TX, but never got anything... so while I hate it for him with the whole not knowing anything for sure thing... I am kind of excited to have it almost certain that he will be in the US when his nephew is born.  I really want them to meet before Lucas moves so far away for a few years.  Because Lucas is REALLY excited to have a nephew on the way... and I'm pretty sure he will be a great uncle... even if it is just through Skype.

room by room : masters

It has been a while... like I said before... I have issues finishing things.  But here is the last installment of the room-by-room series (before changes).  The only room left is the baby room... nothing exciting there though, it is a completely clean slate; same wood floors, one window with the same blinds, same beige walls and the same tiny closet with folding doors.  So I will just share that room once we finish, or at least get to really working on it.  

the bedroom: 

from the doorway

other side of the room

The bedspread is temporary, we got rid of the one we have had since we were married.  It was beige and black and it is time to add some color and lighten things up.   The lampshades will also need to be replaced since Zoe has poked holes in them very badly over the years.

Soon I will probably put our photos back on the wall, and am actively looking for a new comforter.  I would prefer a duvet for easy cleaning, but we do not have an insert (pretty expensive).  Also curtains for each of the windows in the room would be nice eventually.  I still have no idea what color scheme we will go with, so this room is very much in transition.  We did add the blinds as soon as we moved in.

the bath:

We brought this shower curtain and the striped rug with us from Louisville.  It is a bit narrow of a bathroom but it is fine for us. 

Main changes in here are to fix the light (the cover wont stay up for some reason), frost the window (everyone could see us if it weren't for the trees...even so we are careful about how we look in front of the window haha), and there is a built in (like recedes into the wall built in) cabinet that has no doors on it to hide all of our stuff.  While I would love to just get rid of the whole thing, it would be a lot easier to just put doors on it.

So that is the end of the initial house tour.  We have made a few changes around the place, but most of the rest are being held up by my lack of desire to finish unpacking, or waiting to get some help.  Other than repainting a few rooms (I think I have a color picked for the kitchen and baby room), my top priorities right now are to buy a rug for the living room (which will decide the way I decorate everything else in that space), find an old dresser for the baby room, and the bedspread for our bedroom.  

Miss the rest of this series?  Thats ok, here they are:

kitchen

dining

living

spares

Thanks for stopping by, I will try to be a little better about posting now that this mental block is out of the way!

room by room : spares

This post is all about the spares of the house.  The spare/guest room, and the hall bathroom.  These are the 2 rooms that I have deemed (basically) finished.  Of course I will probably hang a picture or two, and eventually add curtains, but for the most part... they are done.  I'm fine with the beige on the walls in these rooms.  Maybe I will get sick of it eventually...but I don't want to go crazy with painting every single room in the house when neutral is going to sell easier in 5 years.  We shall see.

This time the cats decided to photobomb everything. They like to follow me around the house.  

the guest room:

Since I'm only thinking of subtle changes for this room, I'm not going to bother drawing them out this time.  I'm really only thinking of either a header on top of each window for that final polished look or just a simple long sheer.  Right now I'm fine with just the blinds.  They seem to do their job well of keeping out most of the light.  I also have some paint samples that I scored at the ReStore in both blue and green that would match the comforter... I am thinking about painting the wood portion of that little side table that my aunt gave me before we moved.  Not really sure though if I want to paint it.

No changes here... this is my bedroom furniture from when I was in high school.  It belonged to my great great uncle.  Its a little rough around the edges but I just love it.  The only thing we did to this room was install blinds to the windows on day1.

I will probably put a larger framed something to the left of this window.  Our guests got the upgrade with this move; we (Kyle) put our TV in this room and had a 2nd satellite receiver installed for them.  Our parents have loved it.

the spare bathroom:

There really just wasn't a good way to get any good pictures of this room.  The seller left the shower curtain, which I just love.  My mom bought the extra bathmat to go in front of the tub, and we had to install the towel bar, paper towel holder, and the hand towel ring.  

My mom added the magnifying mirror and I added the toothbrush holder.  Everything else was either here or came with us from Louisville.  We had to put a mat at the foot of the vanity because there is a floor vent under the vanity that makes the tile floor feel like ice!

So those are our "spares" of the house.  Our bed and bath will probably be on here Friday, and once the 3rd bedroom (the baby room) gets cleared, I will take a few pictures of its blank slate before we start figuring out decorations for it.  

If you have missed any of the room by room series, here they are:

kitchen

dining room

living room

Come back tomorrow for some big news on this week's Thankful Thursday!

room by room : living

I have been so excited about doing this post... Like, had to make myself spend time with Kyle when he gets home instead of editing pictures non-stop, excited.  Which means I just started REALLY playing with the pics this morning.  And it became a job.  Not a fun one.  There are just way too many things I want to do to this room... and that isn't very easy to do quickly in Photoshop like I did the past 2 days :/.  So I'm totally not happy with the "dreaming" pictures because well lets face it... I want to find prints... but haven't actually found anything I like yet...and lets face it... I couldn't draw it on here even if I had... so I'm really just TRYING to show some color scheme to you... which looks better in my head than on my poorly Photoshopped drawings.

So here it is...

the living room:

This is from the dining room.  I am in love with that window.  I can't wait to get some plantation blinds in place so we can take down the sheet we nailed over it and actually have some sunshine come in during the day.  

Top top priority for this room is blinds... which we should be dealing with this weekend.  After that... the main large purchases I intend to use our dwindling decorating budget on are new throw pillows and a large rug for this room.  Eventually I would like to do something about curtains... whether hanging to frame it or just a flat modern topper for color.  We have time to deal with that later though.  Not shown in this picture, we are planning to paint the room grey this weekend... too much photoshopping... I couldn't handle it.  But basically the theme is going to be grays and yellows in various shades, maybe some green thrown in.

I swear the front door isn't orange... more of a brick red... but oh well.  I couldn't get the colors right on this one.  Bear with me.  There's the awesome cat tower I mentioned yesterday.  I know you are super excited.  I know Zoe is.  She barely leaves it.  I just love how big this room is.

I tried to color the walls gray, it almost worked, but I am planning a little darker gray than that.  

The media area.  The little window is looking out into the carport.  I will eventually put some hanging curtains on it for a little privacy, but right now the priority is the giant window that everyone can see into from the street.

The bookcase behind the sofa.  I brought this with us to Louisville from Owensboro... I'm so glad I splurged on this thing.  We just love it.  The box on top of it is an old canon ammo box a friend and I found at our favorite antique shop in Louisville.  As you can see on the left side of the picture, that doorway used to have a door... we took it off on our first day in the house... it serves no purpose to have a door when you aren't actually able to keep anyone out since we have the big cut out leading into the dining room.  We will fill the holes and paint over it soon.

Not shown:  behind the loveseat, I would like to put a little sofa table someday.  None of the pictures show that there is a lightless ceiling fan.  All other rooms in the house have overhead lights except for the living room.  Kyle's main request for the entire house is that we replace that fan with one that has a light kit in it.  So that might be happening relatively soon as well.

Kyle's parents are on their way over to visit for the next several days so I will be taking a break until next week.  Come back later for more of the room by room series.  If you have missed out on the other rooms I have covered then here they are:

kitchen

dining room

Have a great weekend!

room by room : dining

In case you missed the first installment of this series, yesterday I unveiled our kitchen.

Today is the room that will probably receive the least amount of attention in the coming months... there are just too many other "top priorities".  However, I enjoy this room because of the sliding doors that let out onto our deck and into the backyard.  So it is not insignificant. 

the dining room:

This is the view from the kitchen.  I love the amount of natural light that comes in through the sliding doors.  The left door goes out to our carport and the right door goes into our laundry room.  I tried desperately to find my candlesticks for the table but its just going to take a lot more digging in the giant boxes that are left to unpack.

Please forgive the poor Photoshop skills...I messed with it forever and that was the best I could do.  I would like to eventually get a long table to act as an entry table/buffet for the dining room.  I'm not sure if I would put it on that wall or the wall that shares the kitchen.  I think a nice large mirror would look good on that wall as well.  Otherwise, the biggest thing I'd like to change is the table and chairs.  They just aren't my style.  I would like cleaner lines, less spindles.  But it just is not a realistic update to be making anytime soon at all.

This is what we see when sitting on the couch in the living room.  LOVE the sliding door!  

It will be a while of saving... but I would like to get a nice size rug to put in here.  We currently have NO carpet unless you count the bathmats.  It is a bit of a loud house... plus the rug would really just finish up this room nicely.  Once I'm sure I'm not painting this room I will start sorting through my framed pictures and deciding what might go on the walls in here.  The immediate fix I want to make is to do something about that chandelier.  I like the chandelier itself... just not the shades over the bulbs.  So once I make a quick trip to the store and buy some low wattage frosted bulbs for it, those suckers are coming off!

The view into the kitchen.  You know... so you can start understanding how this house is laid out.

 

The only thing from this view I would change is to add some pictures... preferably find some local art/poster prints to frame up.  Its a good size wall, might as well use it!

 

 

This was a last minute change.  This little space next to food storage needed a little something...and after we purchased the big cat tower (you get to see that tomorrow, lucky you!), I decided I could use Kyle's bookshelf that used to hold the millions of med school books as a nice place to hold my DIY books and cookbooks.  The wreath used to be on our door in our apartment hallway and it doesn't quit fit on our weird front door so I thought this was a good enough spot for it.

So that's the dining room!  Tomorrow I hope to share the living room with you!

thankful thursday

Wow, Thursday really snuck up on me this week!  I really thought yesterday was Tuesday for a while!

this Thursday I am thankful for:

closing.  It was a long long road.  No part of it was ideal (except maybe picking out the house on our first day looking).  We had a great realty team there to support us through it all, and our realtor has really become part of the family.  It sounds like we aren't the only ones to have some issues moving in... 2 other residents on Kyle's team have also had problems; one is living in a hotel this week, hoping to close on her house, the other closed a while ago but planned and unplanned renovations have held up their settling in.  Thankful our house was pretty much move-in ready.

my family.  They were with us from Wednesday night to Monday at noon.  From loading the truck to organizing it in the new house.  Couldn't have done as much as we did without them.  Thanks guys for everything; I know I didn't make it easy on you but you were real troopers.  My dad basically worked nonstop as carpenter, gardener, electrician, and plumber from the moment we unlocked the door (except for this quick trip to downtown for dinner).

my backyard.  You cannot imagine how excited I am to finally have a garden and a grill.  I can't wait to start getting in some fresh veggies and I have already put that grill to good use!  Thanks to everyone that made it possible.  Now I just need some patio furniture...

This Thursday I am linking up with my good friend Julia over at BlackTag Diaries.  So pop over and say hi!

room by room : kitchen

We have been pretty busy since the Friday move-in and I've started settling into my new job as a homemaker.  Kyle started orientation on Monday so I've had to keep myself busy.  I've done a little unpacking and tidying up, but mostly running around checking out the local thrift shops.  Today, however, I decided the blog would be my top priority.  

The room of choice to share today is the kitchen.  It is pretty much the first room to be "finished".  I say "finished" because of course I intend to do something to all of the rooms... so the next several posts will be of our rooms with our stuff but little to no improvements done to what existed when we moved in, with some extra photos of changes I would like to make.  

the kitchen:

We had to buy the fridge for ourselves, thankfully it was the only appliance that needed purchasing.  After a lot of issues trying to find the counter-depth Whirlpool Gold that I wanted, at the last minute, we were able to get basically the same thing in a Kenmore Elite (made by Whirlpool) from Sears with a hefty sales sticker on it, delivered exactly when we needed it.  So instead of living out of a cooler for 3 weeks like it was looking like we would need to, we only had to survive about a day.  

I knew immediately that I wanted this big cabinet to be food storage, but I think its original purpose was to store the trash... so I had my Dad order some drawers for easy access to food and helped him install them on Saturday (I glued 2 of the drawers together...he did everything else...thanks Dad!)

I would really like to paint the top panel with chalkboard paint so I can have a fun little spot to write my grocery list as I realize what I'm out of. 

This is from standing next to the fridge, virtually the majority of our cabinets and counter space.  It is more than we had though and we are very thankful.  All of our stuff fits in these cabinets pretty well since we have the food storage surrounding the fridge.

This is the other side of the kitchen.  The microwave is old (and still dirty :/) but the seller installed the dishwasher (which is 100xs quieter than what was in our apartment!) and range.  I chose to turn the empty display area into a built-in coffee bar and am keeping all of my mugs above the various coffee makers.

You may not be able to tell from the photo very well, but we started changing out the knobs on the cabinets.  The left side shows how small the existing ones were (gunmetal plain), and the coffee bar has the larger ones (gunmetal with a basket weave design).  The new knobs were left overs from a job my Dad did so we are going to need to order some more to finish up.  I've highlighted the background of the coffee bar in grey; I hope to eventually put a tile backsplash of some sort in there.  Not drawn in,  I want to install a small light in the top of this space and I would also like to find a cute colorful little tray to put the sugar bowl and spoon on to keep the surface from getting coffee stains.

 

I love that I have a window to look out of now.  To add a little color and to soften the area, I am dreaming up some curtain plans:  

 

My original thought was to go with an orange theme and do a little curtain on the bottom half... probably with a design.  I had picked out a cute Ikat print that I thought would work great here...

Since getting here though and getting a better look at the countertop... I'm thinking green would probably be the safer color to go in here... and the rug I brought is also blue and green and I really like the look of it with the hardwood.  I also feel like it MIGHT be better to put the curtain at the top so I am sure to be able to look out the window rather than straining to see over the curtain.

So what do you think?  I can't wait to see how this space evolves.  Green is really growing on me for this room... 

weekend replay : under construction

Move in went smoothly, we happened to move in on a perfectly "cool" South Carolina day, plenty of sunshine and breezes, we have all of the furniture placed, satellite and internet hooked up, a few boxes unpacked, and my raised gardens built and planted.


But I'm still not ready to share the goods :)

We have a lot left to do... and while there is some order to life now, there is still a lot to figure out!  So stay tuned for some photos of the house with our stuff in it after we have everything unpacked room by room. 

There have been a few hiccups along the way this weekend, but many victories and I am in recovery mode.  This pregnant lady feels like she has barely slept in a week... because I haven't.  So bear with me and my lack of posting.

convicted

Last night in my sorrow and stress I did a lot of complaining about the house situation.  I'm still not over it but I am trying.

I'm slowly working through the Psalms right now.  Last night after I wrote and posted my Weekend Replay, I read Psalm 23.

1 A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. 3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. 4 Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. 5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You welcome me as a guest, anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. 6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

This situation is frustrating.  There is no denying that.  But I don't have to just let it ruin my life.  How blessed am I?!  At the same moment that people were losing EVERYTHING in Oklahoma yesterday, I was (and am) more concerned about getting the house that I want and moving in when I want to.  God doesn't promise me that house.  He doesn't promise me to move in 2 weeks before Kyle starts orientation so that we can relax together.  But he does promise me blessings beyond measure.  A heavenly home with him FOREVER.  Why does that truth never blare in my sight as the reality I face in Christ?  Why is his protection and comfort not enough?

Convicted.

things to fill : a shed

The weather is beautiful up here and all I can dream about is when I will have a backyard and plenty of time to use it.  Lawn maintenance, gardening, landscaping are just a few uses for it, but don't forget that the backyard is also a good place to work on projects, paint something, grilling and entertaining.  All of those things require stuff.  And most of that stuff will be stored in our mega shed.  So what do I hope to fill mine with one day?

Weber One-Touch Gold

A grill ASAP.  We have lived in apartments our whole marriage and the one thing (other than an ice maker) we (I) have been dying to have the whole time has been a good grill.  Burgers just don't taste the same in a skillet.

chaise lounge.  You know.... nap time on the deck.  Snack time on the deck.  Sun time on the deck.  Rest on the deck after working in the garden.  This would get all sorts of use from me.  And a second one would allow for Kyle to join me (you know when he might possibly be home)... or a friend... Whenever we make those...

lawn tools.  Mower... weed eater... gardening stuff.  The typical things you would store in a shed.  All of which ought to be easy to use... like a mower that I could start by myself so I don't have to ask the neighbor to turn it on every time I need to mow the lawn.

power tools.  I figure every home needs some good tools... a saw of some sort, a laser level, a jig saw, a nail gun... Who knows when such awesomeness might be needed?  I know I definitely would use a laser level and a palm sander for the types of projects I hope to do.  And since the shed is MASSIVE, it can double as a small work shop if I want it to.  Bonus.

What am I forgetting?  Any suggestions? 

House hunting update:  We have big hopes of closing next Friday so we can do a little to the house over Memorial Weekend, but our loan officer seems to be dragging her feet... we shall see.  Until then... I will continue dreaming.