home improvement

Well hello there, readers! Here I am, back at the blog. If you are still checking in on us then I know you are dedicated followers of our little space here, and I appreciate that very much. We have had so many comments here and via email, phone calls, and in person- letting us know how much everyone has missed us during this not-so-little break. We love you all very much and thank you for your patience and understanding.

So... what have we been up to? Christmas and New Years, lots of reading and time in front of the fireplace, a few warm days and a LOT of cold ones, a little too much TV watching, the inauguration (YAY!), lice (BOO), and a new canine addition to the family. I'm not even going to make promises about pictures from the past 7 weeks (mostly because I have found that not blogging has had the terribly negative side effect of not taking many pictures...) and just focus on the present.

So the most recent photos in the camera are these: documentation of our home improvement projects. We bought paint a few weeks ago- nothing like a splash of color to give your inspiration a jump-start, right? After choosing colors for 3 different rooms, we realized we had a nice little rainbow when they were all together. I adore rainbows. So we knew we were on the right track. No, these will not all be in one room together. But a rainbow, nonetheless.



We started caulking and masking in preparation for painting in our first project room: the dining room. This is the first thing people see when they come into the house, so we decided it would be the place to start. The walls and ceiling were in need of some considerable caulking, to cover up the gaps due to settling of the house. It seems like an insignificant detail, and has been quite a bit of tedious work, but we think it is making a big difference and we know we'll be glad that we did it.



We got a tiny bit side-tracked this weekend with the need to replace the toilet in our main bathroom- but the good news is that Jason and I were able to do the entire job ourselves, and now we have not only a functioning toilet but a really cool low-flow, dual flush model that allows us to save loads of water every day. And it is shiny and sparkly in our pink tiled bathroom to boot. No leaks so far and everything is going down. Success!



Back to the dining room, we got going last night and finally put the first coat of Banana Split paint on the ceiling. The kids all got to do a little helping and we got it done in about an hour and a half, which we felt was pretty good since we have not painted in years and years and were feeling a bit rusty. I have to say that the internet has been an invaluable tool for us during these projects- we watched videos of toilet seals being replaced and ceilings being painted in order to prepare ourselves (Why yes, yes we are geeks, if you must know.) We should be getting the walls primed by mid-week (going over glassy paint, so we're using a tinted primer under our Asparagus green wall paint) and maybe by the weekend we will have the walls done. We will wait a week or two then before touching up the trim and cabinets with white. It is looking great and we can't wait to get it finished and start hanging some fabulous art on those walls!





And after all the excitement of painting, I almost forgot that today is a very special day in the history of our family! We celebrate 15 blissful years of marriage today, as well as the anniversary of finding this house. We are broke, so there won't be any fancy celebrating happening but I think getting the painting done is a great way to mark the occasion. We also plan to take my still-broken ring in for repair in the next few days, so it can go back to it's rightful place on my finger. It has been far too long and I miss wearing it.

So there's our update- I will try to be here much more regularly now, and I promise some pictures of the kids soon. Have a great week!