The micro and a yellow wall

So, the most exciting progress you have ever seen....not really..... but an update none-the-less.

We did get one cooking appliance installed too bad it was something we already were using this one is just bigger. It is a pretty sweet little micro all kinds of fun little settings. Even my set-everything-manually-husband has used some of the auto settings. I do like that we got to finally see what the only-missing-their-knobs cabinets look like with our appliances and I have to say I do like what I see.

Here is the long awaited spacer, this is probably the most dull photograph to everyone else, but that darn little spacer not being in its spot has delayed my new oven from entering the kitchen for about 2 extra weeks.

Here is a pic of the wall color that will run along the walls opposite of the green kitchen walls, so basically the dining room area. I like how the 2 colors look together and glad I went with something other than a variation of green and brown. I think my Mom was starting to think they never taught me about any other colors in kindergarten. I never realized how amazingly unorganized and chaotic our house looks to the outside world until I take these picture and look at our mess!

Here are couple of items we ordered today from Overstock (see below), our kitchen faucet and the light that will go in the dining room. Adam actually spotted the light and I liked it, I think he is getting better at this interior decorating thing, he sure is getting more experience than he probably ever wanted!

Until further updates adios, hope to be making a new entry soon (i.e. "Please husband, move my oven range into the kitchen and then finish the plumbing so the new sink can go in and I can try my mad skills at becoming the next Rachel Ray" j/k on that last part)

A cute little bunny....

My dad sent me these pictures from my niece's, Camryn, first Easter Egg hunt that she had with her Grandma and Grandpa on the other side. I think she makes about the cutest Easter Bunny I have ever seen in my life!!

On a side note we have made a little progress in the kitchen since the last pictures I posted, I'll try to take some pictures tonight and get them posted soon.

1st Quarter Review

Since I live in the financial world, time basically seems to operate on quarters. Since we are nearing the end of the 1st quarter here in a few days, I thought I would summarize the happenings of our year so far (can you tell we did nothing on our house this weekend and I'm trying to at least have an updated post?). Anyway.... on to the happenings of 2008:

The Good:
1. We moved into our "new" house and finally do not have to move anymore for awhile.
2. We finshed our bathroom to the point it is usuable and no longer had to live by frequenting gas stations and other convenient restrooms or using our friends for their showers.
3. We got to celebrate our nieces 1st birthday.
4. I received a decent bonus this year for last calendar year, which allowed us to payoff a mixture of residual Italy expenses, Christmas, and some house stuff.
5. Our kitchen is nearly finished which will mean that Adam will have a very happy wife that may not complain as much about the shape our house is in!!!
6. Our House Church (the small group we are a part of) has grown the last few months with some new faces which has allowed us to have some new friendships and for the group dynamics to be influenced by these new personalities and experiences, which is always fun to see how God works.
7. This coming weekend we get to celebrate the wedding of two of our bestfriends, Adam is actually a bestman and I am a Matron of Honor, we are super happy to be apart of this celebration.


The Bad:
1. On January 31st a crazy storm blew through and made a big mess at our house. We lost several trees and even had some fall on my car and the house. We still have some residual mess to get cleaned up once we have a few nice days.
2. At the end of February I was leaving my dentist appointment when my driver's side window fell completely down in the door, mind you it was probably 10 degrees and I was driving with no window at least 5 to 10 miles, brrrrrr. My window got scratched in the fall and so I had to get a new window and plus get it fixed. A dealership visit is never cheap, but I did find out that since the issue was caused by a build up of ice on my window it was covered under my comp coverage, thank goodness for insurance. My deductible is fairly low so we only had to dish out about 1/2 of the cost.
3. Last week on my way to work I hit a pothole, I mean crater, and totally messed up my tire. Not only did I get a flat, that has now been fixed, but we are still hearing a sound when I drive the car in the wheel somewhere.
.................................................Do you see a trend here???? Yeah we are planning to trade my car in this fall, that was decided before all this occurred, for a more family friendly vehicle. We love the Honda Pilot, but the thought of filling an SUV with $4/gallon gas makes me shudder. Yes I know it is a Honda, but still its an SUV, I wonder if I can get Adam to look at the Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

The Ugly:
I think the thing this year that has been "ugliest" is watching one of our very dear friends go through having breast cancer. She is basically our age with a great husband and an infant. In January she had a mastectomy and is now going through Chemo. She just finished her 2nd round and was hospitalized b/c her WBC got so low and she caught something, so her fever spiked above where it is supposed to be and she has to stay until they feel comfortable with the WBC. I can't imagine what it is like in a time when they want to be playing with their baby girl, watching her discover new things, being active as a family, and just learn how to be parents. They are amazing as they try to keep life as normal as they can, but it just seems like if something is going to happen it will happen to our dear friend. They have an awesome faith in God and that has been their strength. The "good" that has come out of this is just to see how people respond when someone they care about is in need. This friend has touched so many peoples lives that those wanting to help, give encouragement, and pray for her has been a huge number of people. One can only hope that they are loved like our friend is!

WooooHoooo

Adam just called and our needed cabinet and spacer is going to be in tomorrow. So excited that we can finish this darn kitchen soon. Well at least get it usable, finishing in totality might take a bit longer. Adam has a test at the end of this week and is going to the Big 10 tourney on Friday evening so I don't know if it will get done before Saturday, but at least we will have everything we need to get it finished.

On a side note, the bar area is nearly finished, just need to secure the counter top down to the cabinets and put the veneer backing on the cabinet where the bar hangs over..... so I started clearing out some of the closets with stuff I want to store in or on there. It allowed us to get some random stuff out of our bedroom and I feel a tiny bit more organized.

Hopefully pictures can be put on here this weekend of a fully installed kitchen.

It's all coming together

So here are some more pictures of the kitchen progress; we were able to make some progress while we patiently wait for our cabinet and spacer to come in. Don't mind the complete mess that you can see :o)

Here is a picture of the kitchen as the final layout will be, of course missing a few items, but you get the general idea. We put the "bar" cabinets in place last night and Adam put the bar stools together so we could get a basic idea of how everything would be situated. Of course the dining room chair and table will not be in the spot it is in the picture. Oh and also notice the can lights are in their proper position with their nice brushed nickel covers, thank you brother-in-law Chris!

I'm so excited about the additional counter and cabinets space we will gain from having this little L-shaped bar thing. It will also be a nice place to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner when we don't want to sit at the dining room table. Our condo had no counter space, so this truly exciting. I think it also helps define the kitchen and dining areas as two seperate spaces, since they kind of share a general area.

These were additional cabinets that we got up this weekend, and is where the microwave and stove will be once we get the counter top firmly in place.

New Brown.....Old Brown

With the help of my parents we got about half of the "brown room" soon-to-be office painted with the new brown color. It looks so much better then the brown-almost-black flat paint that was previously on the walls. The picture above is of the new color, and the picture below you can see the new color vs. the old.