So this is our home...

I feel like I needed a real writing spell to write this post, because there are so many things to write about!

After we closed on the house, there were several dire issues with it, and some general cleaning and renovating.  So let's start with the dire issues:

Our Bathroom
When we came to see the house the bathroom was pretty nasty. It smelled like someone has been missing the toilet while peeing for years.  The walls were faded green and the bathtub has been covered with one of those covers that should make it look new, but somehow, some water got in between the two layers and kept making squishy noises.

During an inspection, it was discovered that a serious leak under the bathroom caused the floor to rot, and that needed to be completely replaced. We decided that we needed the whole bathroom gutted out and have everything new in there. My dad ripped off the floor and the rotten wall around the shower, installed new floor, bathtub, new tile with a heated membrane for the floor, new cabinet and mirror cabinet.  Here's the before and after:

Before

 

After (later we added a very delicate blue color to the walls)

 

Roof

I mean, it was probably even more important than the bathroom, and so much more expensive! After all, you can scrub the nasty bathroom, but you can't live with a huge leak from your roof.  Remember the leak I diverted with my fabulous fix?

 

 

 

This photo I saved from the realtor's website. It's a very old photo because the plants in front of the house are still small.  But, this is the color the roof was before.

 

 

And this is our after:

 

 





 

And the rest of the renovations included:

 

Kitchen

Floor and backsplash tile change:

 



 

 

Floors

We had all floors sanded and stained in a little darker, Chestnut color (this included tearing off the nasty black tile they had installed on top of the wooden floor in the dining area.

 

 Thank goodness they installed the nasty tile on top of a plywood that they nailed to the original floor.

 

This one is our bedroom after the renovation. I love the way the color of the floor came out.

 

All Rooms and Walls

Some of the walls needed to be fully pulled off, and some just got the skim coat to make them look smoother. 

 

Our chocolate wall :)

We changed the entry door as well as all of the windows in the house. I love the huge pane window we put in next to the fireplace. It will make a perfect book reading space for me, or my dad:

On the ceiling we installed recessed lights with level control. They make it very romantic if you keep them super low :)

Guest room - that whole wall had to come off because the previous owners glued the wooden panel onto the plaster wall, which made it come off in pieces when we pulled off the nasty panel.

Joe was fast to install his office and an AC in the window in the smaller room.  He will have to move out very soon because this will be our little man's room very soon :)

Now, I love this one! Previously, at the end of this wall, there was a triangular closet that was super impractical and small. And on the ceiling there was a huge nasty old fan.  We removed the closet and installed a normal attic access ladder. This makes our hallway look so much better :)

 

 

I love how everything came out in our home. There are a ton more things we need to do, but all of upstairs is super nice now :)







The Changes in 2013

In my last post, I said that we have to organize ourselves because there are changes taking place in our life this year, that will require us to be better at being adult.  Well, the changes are.....

WE ARE PREGNANT :)

The line of happiness :)

 

This is the first pregnancy test I took on Labor Day, September 3 2012. It was 6am, and I had been taking my basal body temperatures every day at this time to chart my cycle.  We had decided we wanted to start trying in June, but nothing happened in the first cycle, so I decided to get to know my body better. That Labor Day, my temperatures were still high, it was 9 days after my ovulation, and the moment I saw that delicate line, I knew it happened. Should have seen the smile on my face.

I must have the most self-control ever because after I found out, I went back to bed and tried to sleep a little more. It was a day off, and I needed to give Joe a little more time before I woke him up. I wanted it to be special and he is so cranky when you wake him up on the morning. Around 8am, I couldn't wait anymore, went to the kitchen and made us coffee, pancakes and woke Joe.  He noticed I made enough coffee for the two cups only - no extra refils for me.

We sat at the table to have breakfast, and I was thinking about the perfect way to say it, and it went something like this:

Me: I am glad you finished that bottle of wine last night. And I made less coffee on purpose. It looks like I won't be able to enjoy either in excess for a while.

Joe: What are you talking about?

Me: I took a test this morning.

Joe: And? Stop with the pressure!

Me: Well, I thought I was clear... it was positive!!

Joe: Is it mine?

Now, if you knew my hubby, you would know that this was something he was hoping to say in this situation. He doesn't take cheesy moments well :) I gave him a little well deserved punch.

The little test was not good enough for Joe, and we drove to get the big guns at the pharmacy: Early response and Clear Blue.  Here's what they said:

Yep, very pregnant :)

For two weeks after, I kept peeing on the stick to make sure that the line kept getting darker and darker. I called my doctor the next day to set up an appointment, but since it was not till October 15, I wanted to assure myself that everything kept moving in the right direction. And those tests definitely helped :)

Same morning, I took a picture of my belly.  I wanted to document all the changes taking place in body. I really hope I can get back to the same look after this pregnancy.

131.6lb, 26.5 inches in waist.

New Year change

Wow, it's been over half a year since my last post!!!

I really wanted to start updating the blog last month, but with the procrastinator genes in me, I couldn't motivate myself to use all the free time I had during the holidays to do this. 

New Year came and I decided not to make any resolutions because I believe making resolutions gives you an easy way out - resolutions are rarely kept.  Instead, I looked at our life, and what we like in it, and what we struggle with, and I decided we just need a change. There are a lot of changes going to happen in our lives this year and without changing the way we do certain things, we will be very unhappy. The one major change that we need to make is: get organized. We have a few projects at home to complete. Our mail is always all over the place. We got a dishwasher, but the dishes still lay around the sink until we are missing all spoons or plates. Our dining table has become a drop off spot for anything that enters our home - mail, groceries, other shopping, tools. Obviously, we need to change things before they get out of hand.

These changes include me wanting to keep up with my blog. So what I decided to do is every Thursday, while Joe is out playing darts with the boys, I will update my blog. I want to have a post on catch ups, because there are many, and then one on current events. We will see how it works.