Thursday, April 30, 2009

It's a Jungle in Here!

I have been able to actually get a lot of work done around the house in the past several days. While we were gone, the wall stickers that I ordered for the girls room arrived and I was anxious to put them up. I'm really happy with the results and it was super easy. My favorite was when Mike came home, looked into the room, and asked if we could get more! Absolutely, Honey! The Wall-Pops Zoology also come with Giraffes, Lions and Elephants in the jungle series and they also have a farm series as well.


Finally sorted through all the bills and paperwork strewn throughout the house and assorted boxes. My big task yesterday was cleaning out the girls closet and sorting through all their clothes. Yes, all of them. I hung all the winter/cold weather clothes that I thought might still fit them later this year on one end, all the long-sleeved shirts and such on the other and Summer clothes in the middle. Mike helped install another self and bar last night so I could hang all their shorts, skirts and pants on that level. The closet looks great, neat and organized.

Then, I sorted all the remaining clothes into 3 totes. My e-Bay tote, that contains 2 matching/identical/coordinating outfits that are both in great shape, for me to sell later. A garage sale/donate tote with stained, mismatched or not-in-such-perfect shape clothes and a give-away tote with good-or-better outfits that I can give to my niece or friends' kids. That was a big task that am I SO HAPPY to have completed. However, I'm not so excited about working on our closets but it's gotta be done. Too many clothes that we don't wear, don't fit us or we just plain don't want.

Mike also got the entertainment center and TV all hooked up and rewired last night and moved into place. It looks great and fits perfectly in our living room. Once he moved it back against the wall, it opened up the room and I didn't feel like I was sitting 12 inches from the screen. Now, it's more like 10 ft. Much better.

This weekend we will be working almost exclusively over at the old house in a final push to get it ready for rent next week. The company we are going through is Lighthouse Property Management and we are fairly confident that we will have renters by the end of the month, at least. The prospect of making 2 mortgage payments more than 1 or 2 months is daunting, so we have to get a move on! Wish us luck! If you know of anyone looking to rent a 4 Bedroom, 2 Bath house in Forest Hills, please direct them to us or to our rental company. We surely would appreciate it!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Beach Fun!

On the Beach at Sunset with our Sand Castle in the background!

Well, we had a wonderful time on vacation and it was so relaxing and fulfilling. Once our friend Linda joined us on Monday, the party really kicked into full swing. Mike got to fly his stunt kites and teach Deane how to fly them as well. We had plenty of beach time, pool time, collected many shells and built an awesome sand castle together as a family.

We went power shopping in Destin, FL for a day and did plenty of Geocaching-close to 200 more finds by my crude calculations. We also got to hang out with 2 local PCB caching teams on Wednesday and have dinner with some cachers from Birmingham, AL on Saturday.

We really did have a great time and are looking forward to going back sometime soon. More picutres of our trip will be posted throughout the week-so many cute shots of the kids that I just have to share them! ;)


Sunday, April 19, 2009

THUNDER!


Wish that I would have had more time to write in the past week but life kinda got out of hand. I can happily report that we made it out the door Friday morning for vacation, and have had a wonderful time so far. We are currently driving into Nashville and I'm blogging from the wireless card on our notebook. Cool!

We spent Friday caching our way through Michigan and Indiana and made it to Louisville, KY in the evening. Saturday was spent Geocaching around the Louisville area and then heading down to Thunder Over Louisville for the one of the world's largest air shows and the world's largest fireworks display. It was fantastic! The day was sunny and in the upper 70's and once we got down to the river, it got a little cloudy so we didn't get burned or too hot. The air show was great but the fireworks were unlike anything we have ever seen. It was like a 30 min finale! Just super and we took a lot of video of it too. Above is just one of the pictures I shot while enjoying the show. Hope we can do it again!

We should be arriving in Panama City Beach, FL tonight. Our friend Deane is with us and his wife Linda will be flying in tomorrow night. We are looking forward to a sunny, relaxing week. I hope to post some pictures of our trip throughout the week! Stay tuned for more!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Kitchen

So, for those of you who have been dying to see what our new kitchen looks like, the suspense is about to be over. Please understand that the condition of the kitchen in the following new photos will probably never occur again, so take it all in while you can. ;)

What you see are new Maple kitchen cabinets from Williams and new laminate counter-tops from there as well. New GE appliances in Black (minus the microwave which has yet to be installed above the stove), new granite sink and faucet. We also have under-cabinet lighting and new pendant lighting above the sink. The entire kitchen has been rewired and new flooring installed as well.

We still have a little molding to do on the floor, hardware on the cabinets, and eventually a tile back-splash, but those things are going to have to wait a little while longer. There has been other progress in the house as well and hopefully I can show you some more before and after pics tomorrow. We are getting ready for vacation so I can only do so much!

Enjoy!
Before Picture

Before Picture

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!


The girls loved being able to find the eggs that the Easter Bunny left for them to find at Grandma and Grandpa B's house! The weather was beautiful today for a change and a great time was had by all! Hope ya'll had a great Easter Sunday as well!

Monday, April 6, 2009

100!

This, my friends, is my 100th post! And I am happy to announce that we are officially moved-into our new home. It's mostly just a pile of boxes and furniture right now, but that will change fast enough. I'm really excited to start putting things in their new places, sorting out items that will find a new home in the trash or the yard sale box. Less is more, right?

The move on Saturday actually went pretty well. We were able to empty the majority of the house out in one trip and we will be going back for the rest over the next several weeks. Our goal is to have the old house on the rental market by the beginning of May.

We would never have been able to accomplish what we did on Saturday without the help and overwhelming support of our friends. I would like to personally thank the following people:
  • Mom & Dad Brace: for taking the kids for the weekend so we could focus on the move.
  • Mom & Dad K.: for taking care of our niece Hailey on Saturday so we could have Anna and Shaun's help.
  • Members of The Moving and Packing and Setting-Back-Up Team.
  1. Anna & Shaun
  2. Jim & Jeanne
  3. Deane & Linda
  4. Scott & Jennifer
  5. Ty & Pat
  6. Rudy & Bonnie (and Leksi & Briarlyn, too!)
  7. Khan & Simeon
  8. Carl
  9. Jenny
  10. Renee
I think that's everyone but my mind is a little cloudy. Everyone jumped right in and made the process easy on Mike and I. We went back to the old house yesterday to do some laundry and grab a few more boxes-boy did the place feel weird...and small. We're glad that we're here and plan to stay for awhile. I have no desire to move again in the near future after all of that!

A big "Thank You" again to all who participated and were able to lend a hand. We'll be happy to return the favor in the future...you deserve it!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Overload

Whoa! Things are starting to get a little crazy around here. The good news is that all of our flooring has been installed! Yay! New carpet, tile and wood laminate flooring is in place and ready to be walked on! :)

The countertops finally arrived today and they look fantastic. Now we just need to officially install them. We also had Modernistic out to clean the "1" room that we actually kept the carpet in (the girls room) and I swear that it looks brand, spanking new. Nifty.

All the new appliances arrived yesterday as well and are waiting to be installed. We still had to run a water line to the fridge for the ice maker and water dispenser. We also needed to run a new gas line for the stove and re-connect the water lines for the sink (which we still need to purchase-oops) and the dishwasher. The microwave also needs to be installed, which will take a little work, but nothing we can't handle.

We are getting down to the little things, like blinds, outlets, ceiling fans, trim painting, touch-ups, quarter-round molding in the kitchen and foyer, grout, and some of the bathrooms. They are all things that we can work on once we are actually living there.

So, the big moving day is this Saturday and I am more nervous about that than you can even imagine. God only knows what's hiding behind the couch, under the piano, or in my sock drawer. I just hope that our family and friends understand that life has been hectic and I really am sorry in advance for any messes that might be found in the moving process. At least I can say that the new house is clean! Well, mostly clean....ish.... :)