Remembering ...

Remembering this day ...

Time passes ...

But the memories stay in our hearts ...

May we find our way back and seek God's blessing.

The Move ...

We planned to move on Wednesday ... even had movers scheduled to move the furniture and we were going to move all the boxes ourselves.  Then -- on Monday my husband and son decided they wanted to do it themselves.  Four days later after moving all our possessions in 110 degree heat (with humidity since it's monsoon season!), I'm not so sure they think it was such a good idea.  But the deed is done and we are in (so to speak), although the "finished and settled" part isn't going to happen for some time.  Our remodel entailed some additions as we went along and we had already given our notice to our landlord that we would move at the end of August SO some things are yet to be done.

The guest bedroom is more or less ready for someone to sleep in; I just have to put away the linens waiting for a home.

But the guest bath has yet to be touched!  So we're not actually ready for guests.

This is the living room one day before we moved in ... where, or where do we put all the tools?

And this is the living room the evening after we moved in ... yeah!  A place to sit and rest our weary bodies and a couple of lamps.

A couple of days later the TV was working, too -- not that anyone has any time to watch it.  The unfinished steps leading into the living room from both the dining room and hall will be tiled with an accent tile that we will be ordering this week.  We found a gorgeous charcoal granite that will be the accent tiles on the steps ... it is quite pricey so we kept looking for an alternative, but once you've seen exactly what you'd like it's hard to find anything else that works.

The first night we slept on our mattress on the floor but by the second night the bedroom was a bit more put together.  Have yet to find the bedskirt but it will show up I'm sure.

Even have room for a reading corner for me in my master bedroom.  That's a first and a spot I'm going to enjoy immensely.  

I have not been able to decide what color or material I want to use for the master vanity.  We took the old vanity out and left it in the yard to be disposed of and when I couldn't make up my mind before the move, the guys decided to do a funny and put the now "warped from the heat" vanity back in my bath.  Of course, it's not hooked up so we hike down the hall to the guest bath that's not finished but does have a working sink. The joys of remodeling ...

My husband works at home online so the office had to be quickly set up and running.  However, that doesn't mean it's a done deal.  Our son, Jeff, keeps saying "it's a process, Mom; it's a process" so that's becoming my mantra.  

The office has a two closets ... one we will use for office supplies, etc. and the other is a large one that houses our canned goods storage and our freezer -- great to get both out of the hot garage!

Speaking of canned goods, etc. our oldest son, Mark, took it upon himself to arrange the pantry.  That in itself was quite an undertaking ... this is one organized man.  It was daunting for me to even think about and he just went ahead and got it done.  I may not know where everything is but I know it's there and it's in some kind of order.  This picture was taken when he was about half done.  The kitchen is small so this pantry is a blessing!

This is our "going to be" bar area.  As you can see, we're fully stocked with the liquor part!  The wine cooler was a great find on Craigslist.  It was in California, a Marvel that's never been used, and was delivered to Needles, less than an hour from us.  Marvel is pricey and this was so inexpensive we could not resist.  It will be built in so the white top and sides will be hidden and the front edging will be painted a stainless steel color and we'll be all set.  It holds 50 bottles and it's full already.  We've got to do more drinking!

The garage is not ready for cars yet and probably won't see a car in it for a few weeks.

It's been a crazy time but we've had some good times with good food and drinks and lounging in the pool as well.  Come on over ... we'd love to have you visit!

Till next time ... stay safe this holiday weekend.

Nature's Eye Candy

All pictures taken from either the front patio or back yard of my new home with my iPhone ... 

When I get moved and settled I'm looking forward to playing with my real camera and seeing what beauty I can capture.

Blessings,

Pictures tell the story

Moving day is fast approaching and the remodel of our new home is moving forward although it doesn't look like we'll be totally done by move-in time.  We're doing a rather extensive job so it's taking a bit longer than we planned but we're loving the way it's turning out.

The living room before ...

And now ... the living room is sunken and we decided to lower the wall all the way to the floor.  There was a carpet "border" about a foot high around the room before.

We added a serving bar to the kitchen to give some privacy for the cooking mess that goes with making a meal.  Since the dining room table sits right here in front of the bar I wanted a divider that would make the dining room a more separate area.  The bar will be a great spot for buffet dining whether we're dining inside or outside.

From the kitchen side ...

Yeah!  First piece of granite down!

And by afternoon Jeff had a good deal of the stainless steel backsplash tiles in place.  They are lighter in color than they look here.  This looks more charcoal in color but they are actual small stainless steel tiles.

This gives a better view ... still needs grout.

Carpet was laid in the master bedroom and guest room this week too.  Hard to get the colors correct in a picture.  The walls here in the master are a very light lavender with a gray cast and the carpet is a steel gray (it looks brown here).

Master bath is painted and toilet and shower are functioning.  Vanity has been lifted off the floor and hung from the wall.  Still deciding on vanity top.  Guest bath will be left until after we move in.

We're getting there.  In the meantime I've also been packing boxes.  We're only moving 8/10 of a mile but it's still a big job.  I'm looking forward to being in one place ... not running back and forth between the two.

Til next time,

Another week ...

Another week has flown by.  At least that's how it seems when you're working against a deadline -- moving day -- and there is a lot to do.

Here is the foyer before --

 And here is the after --

The kitchen floor is tiled as well --

The appliances have been moved back into place and are running.

And the washer and dryer are hooked up; now all I have to do is figure out how to run them!

The master bath is torn apart --

And tonight the guys got it into their heads to remove the pony walls between the dining room and the sunken living room.  They really enjoy tearing things apart!

It certainly does open the space up a bit.

I've been looking at granite and got an estimate this afternoon and I finally chose a wall color for the master bedroom and bath.  I think that choosing paint colors has been the most frustrating chore of the whole thing.  Nothing ever looks the same on the paint chip as it does on the wall.  I have many, many little sample jars of paint that will keep my craft cupboard full for quite some time.

Yeah for the tiling team!

Til next time -- Blessings,