Aloha! We're still alive!

Hi!

Yes, we are still alive. And we're still working on the house. We've just been a little lazy about updating the ol' blog. We did, in our defense, just return from the beautiful island of Kauai. Here's the proof:




So, here's what we've been up to...

We decided to finally paint the downstairs. Here I am, reviewing some paint chips:




Evenutally, we decided on a light greenish color. Very subtle. You cannot see it in the picture, so I created this helpful graphic:


Remember all the miscellaneous furniture that was in our front room? Well we had to move it in order to paint, so here it is, in the den (it is still in the den too):


And the living/dining room is ready to paint! See:


My mom and dad came to help. Here are some pictures of my dad and Adam painting:





I guess the biggest thing we've done since the last update is that we've tuckpointed the entire house.

For those of you who don't know what tuckpointing is, the quick definition (I think) is when you grind down the existing mortar between the bricks, and then fill it in with new mortar. It helps with insulation and what not. We decided to do the tuckpointing mainly because when the house was inspected, we were told the chimney needed it, otherwise water could get it or worse, the chimney would fall down (YIKES).

Anywho, boy, did we learn a thing or two about hiring contractors. It worked out, but it was not the most pleasant experience. It made me very thankful for all the help we've had so far with the house, that has kept us from having to hire people. Anyway, here are some pictures of the guys at work:




While my dad and Adam painted, me and my mom worked on cleaning up and winterizing the yard. See the big yellow patch in this first picture? That is where the pile of tree was, after the big storm. It sat there for about three weeks before it was picked up. Hence the dead grass.





We've also been working on the upstairs, primering in prepartion to paint:





We finally tore up the carpet on the stairs. Here is one with a big crack in it that we need to repair:


Yesterday, Adam's dad started working on the upstairs bathroom floor! Exciting!

Here I am looking at wall color. I am thinking "Light French Grey" on the walls (bottom chip). Although I kind of like the cream color. Hmmmm....


Yesterday Adam continued painting. Adam's dad worked on the floor. And I took down some light fixtures (yes I actually did it, and did not just pose for these pictures).









Check back soon for more updates. Yesterday we spent a bazillion dollars on window treatments for the front room. OH MA GA! I can't believe how expensive curtains are -- anyway, we need to put them up and I hope it works out. Curtains can be very confusing to buy. Thank the Lord for Jean at JC Penney. She probably hates us because we were such needy customers (questions, questions, questions). But, we'll see how it works.

Oh -- and though we are far from having guests over for dinner -- I did purchase some fun not-china but not-everyday-crappy-dishes dishes for entertaining. Here they are:


I am excited to have someone over to eat on them. Yippee! We'll keep you posted on the progress...
Carole (& Adam)