Sold

Our first home holds so many memories.  The home we moved in together after we were married.  The home where we learned to be husband and wife.  The home where we welcomed Mia. The home that held parties, whiskey fires, showers, and happy hours.  The home where we bought Ethan home from the hospital.  The home where we learned to be parents.  The home that held us through many late nights.  So many memories are wrapped in these walls and I can't help but get emotional to think about moving. 

After our first open house last Sunday, we got an offer. After going back and forth a couple of times, we accepted the buyers contract and that was it. Of course, we have inspections and appraisals so the deal isn't completely finalized but it is getting close. We still have other agents and prospective buyers coming in just in case. And now, we need to find somewhere to live! We have mixed emotions about leaving and moving on.  We know we will make new memories in our new house, but for now, we're enjoying this last month in a home that is so very special to us.

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Tile in the Sunroom

I just realized that I never posted pictures of our finished sunroom. Not too long ago, our sunroom looked like this! Yuck! Yellow walls, cream berber (is that what it's called?!) carpet, and empty. The room came together piece by piece...first furniture, then paint, and finally tile! Here is our new and improved sunroom!!!FINALLY!!! (Oh...and I helped grout the floor. I was very proud of myself.) What's next? The basement. Here is a photoshopped picture of the goal. Tan and red!

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An unwelcome visitor!

This morning at about 8:30, I was relaxing with Mia when I heard something fall in the other room. Of course, my mind thought, "A killer is in the other room. Oh my gosh...what do I do?" I slowly walked into the sunroom to see what fell. On the floor was a can of Mia's Kong Stuffing and on the shelf was this little guy...He stayed so still so I ran for my camera. After I took this picture, I tried to catch him and that didn't work too well. I had him trapped by the door which was wide open for him to escape but instead he decided to run into my basement. Awesome. We have a new roommate. I don't know what to do!?!?

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The Sunroom

Our next project is/has been our sunroom/mudroom/breezeway. It has been serving NO purpose for the past year we have lived here. (OK...maybe that isn't fair. We practiced our wedding dance in this room. We also set up a bar and food table in this room for a wedding shower and our housewarming party.) Sunday morning, the room was bare...We decided to go with black wicker with black and white damask cushions from Garden Ridge. It looks horrible with the yellow walls but those will be painted this week!My photoshop guru hubby whipped up a picture of what it will look like without the yellow walls and carpet. Who know when this will actually happen but here is a picture of the goal...

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I am learning!

Yesterday, while Mike spent the day mulching our flower beds, I decided to try out this camera-thing. I really want to learn how to take great pictures and of course, Mike is already a pro. I just walked around the front yard and snapped away.

First off, does anyone know the name if this kind of tree? It is in the corner of our backyard and I LOVE IT! So beautiful and I want another one!We have ONE tulip in our front yard! So sad...I don't know what happened to the other ones!Pretty bushes and sprouting hostas...Fun with rings!Off to brunch to celebrate Ali's birthday. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! It was beautiful and sunny in St. Louis and now it is supposed to rain all next week :(

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Kitchen Questions...

Katie...the track lighting was from Lowe's for about $50.
Sheri...the backsplash was from Home Depot for $10/ sq. ft.
Allison...yes, you can hang out in the kitchen. Come on over :)
Drama Queen (I don't know your real name) and Gia...The name of the granite tile that we used is called "Impalla Black." If you look at it up close, it looks black with specks of shades of gray. There are some zoomed in pictures of the granite if you click on the "Kitchen" tab on the right. You can just click this link and scroll down to see the other pics.
Hope everyone has a great Friday night!

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Drumroll please...

I can't believe the kitchen is finally done! I know I teased it last weekend and I just haven't had any time this week to do a super-kitchen post. But here it is!

Do you remember our old kitchen?

Now it is finally time for the before and after picture...

BEFORE
(please notice the floor, fan, faux-brick, white countertop and yellow soffit)
AFTER
Now we have a tile floor, no fan, cabinets to the ceiling, granite countertop, and real backsplash)
We just love it! On to more pictures!Remember the old, empty, half-wall with the stove?AFTER
I just can't believe the transformation of this wall. It really does amaze me. Obviously, we haven't gone out to buy new appliances. Old stove, fridge, and dishwasher. They are all in working order so we will hang on to them until they die. Thanks to everyone for their compliments! I am so happy it is finally finished and we have a working kitchen again. My amazing husband worked so hard on this kitchen and we couldn't have done it without Nick and Chris. They are absolutely amazing guys and we totally appreciate everything they did! YAY!!!

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Making myself busy

I am such a procrastinator when it comes to work and grading papers. I find that the busier I am at work, the most at-home projects I do.

Here is a catch-up on what I have been doing...

I figured that I am not going to wait around for my professional wedding pictures. It has almost been 6 months and we still don't have our proofs. I am guessing that an album may be years away! Instead, I developed pictures from my friends and family and put them together in an album from Target! It took a lot of work uploading them all into Snapfish, ordering, and then putting them in order but I am so happy to have almost 300 pictures organized!I love the cream embroidery along the left side. I love how it can hold 10 pages for each full spread. Getting ready in the hotel...Making it official... Formal pics with the family and bridal party...I am so thankful that we had people snapping pictures. Most are from my cousin, Jessica, who pretty much just followed us around the Jewel Box snapping away! Thanks girl :)

The boys are working on the kitchen and I was surprised with some Valentine's Day flowers!From Home Depot! He was out getting grout and spacers for the tiles and picked up flowers. That is why I love that kid :)

I rolled coins today! $87.50!I also put on my wedding dress. Veil too. Haha...I didn't take pictures. Of course, it doesn't fit but at least I had fun parading around the house. I am thinking about selling it...although I don't know if anyone would even want to buy it.

I looked for boxer adoption organizations in Missouri. Here is the baby that started it all for me. Stella is my second-cousin's dog that I met when we went to Vegas for my bachelorette party. So cute.Remember that I mentioned we need a new roof? Here is a pic of the damage in our living room.Our first quote was $5000. Pretty sad. Then another company said they could patch and replace shingles on problem areas for $800. They said that we still have 4-5 years left in our roof. I think we might take that route. Thinking about abandoning our unplanned trip to Napa Valley this summer was pretty depressing. I really wanted to go there and now it might still be a reality!Here is what is happening in my kitchen today...

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Rain, Rain, Go Away...

you are making our roof leak and will cost us A LOT of money.

Last night, Mike and I went to see "Spring Awakening" at the Fox with our friends, Kate and Peter. It was awesome!Anyone that knows me well knows that I am a HUGE musical dork. I wish I was one of those ladies pictured above. My dream is to sing on Broadway...or at the Fox...or the Muny...or at the YMCA."Spring Awakening" is a contemporary musical that is set in Germany in 1891. It is raunchy, provocative, and risque. Even has nudity in the scene pictured above. Mike said it was his favorite musical that he has ever seen....I wonder why?! The voices were INCREDIBLE! I haven't heard solo and ensemble voices like that in a while!

Walking in our front door definitely put a damper on our night. Our little water spot on the ceiling in the corner of our living room was dripping. Actually dripping water on the floor because of all the rain outside. So now, we need to get a new roof. When we bought our house 8 months ago, the inspector told us that we would probably have to get a new roof within the next 5 years. We just didn't know that it would be so soon. And our first quote is $5000. Goodbye Napa anniversary trip :( Goodbye Canon camera :( Goodbye Mike's weekly golf games :)

I don't know what we are going to do but we are going to have to do it fast. What a way to rain on my parade...literally!

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Kitchen Hiatus

We are taking a break from the kitchen right now. Everything is finished and ready to go except for the counters and backsplash. We had to order the tiles and they won't be in until this weekend. Mike's brother will be out of town next week so Mike is going to wait until he gets back to finish. Here is what we chose for granite and backsplash tiles.The goal was to be finished by Feb 1st but we got a little bit behind. We won't have people over for Super Bowl like we wanted but we will debut our kitchen sometime soon. Mike and I thought about having his birthday celebration at the house. We will see :) Stay warm, friends!

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Exciting Changes!

Mike bought a car! A 2004 Volvo S60! He is really excited so I am excited for him. The dealer is going to tint the windows tomorrow before Mike picks it up.He has been talking about getting a new car for awhile and I guess has been looking while on his lunch breaks. I can't drive a stick so an automatic was definitely needed:) YAY!

The kitchen is also moving along quite nicely. Of course there are a lot of tiny things to be done but the only major part is to do the countertops. Check out that crown molding!Have a great Thursday night! I am looking forward to watching Grey's and relaxing on the couch. My in-laws are coming over with sloppy joes for us tonight. YUMMY:)

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