Home Improvement, Part 2

Like every project we tackle, it never goes as quickly as I think its gonna go...weekend project?  Oh, I meant "WEEK-long" project.  But that's because we take a little pride in our work and don't want to just throw paint up there half-a**.  Even though it's not our house, we still want it to look nice.  So after I got the wallpaper off, I had to then sand the rough spots, clean the walls, tape off and prep for paint and then I finally got around to painting.  Oh, but the bonus was that Jay got to remove the toilet so we could get back behind it and not only clean around there but paint it AND remove the light fixture in order to paint under it and fix the half-a** hanging job it was before to make it flush against the wall.  After Northlake, you would think no home improvement project would surprise me, but sometimes we just scratch our heads at how people just throw things together and "make do", instead of just doing it right the first time!  Could prevent so much headache in the long run.  Anyway, once the painting was done, we had to re-caulk all around where tile met wall and in the tub as well (the seal around the tub was completely cracked allowing water to seap in - who knows what kind of water damage could be behind that insert).  It took some work, but nothing we couldn't handle and I have to say, it turned out beautifully!  I no longer cringe when I go in there.  At this rate, we could do the entire house!  If only the landlord could get on board and front the money...ah well.  This was fun and we now look forward to freshening up the half bath on the main floor at some point.  How hard could that be?!

The prep is always the most time consuming... 

My beloved "Shaker Beige" 

What a difference!  I love it already... 

Before 

After 

Before 

After 

Before 

After

Home Improvement, Part 1

I despise wallpaper so much that I am willing to put forth time, energy and money in order to update the guest bathroom in our house, a house we are just renting for the two and half years we have left here.  This house has so much potential and it just needs to be brought back to life...but that's for another time and another owner/tenant.  We have had our share of home improvement projects on our houses in WA, but we don't get to live in those.  So I figured taking down some wallpaper and adding a splash of color wouldn't hurt anything, the owner was fine with it, so away I went....

At this point, I really questioned my reasoning and my sanity...it wasn't coming up easily and I had a whole border to remove!  Who has time for this?! 

But I remembered during our Northlake remodel, removing all that wallpaper my parents had put up was a breeze (tedious, but easy for the most part) once the spray-on fabric softener had a chance to soak in...I just needed to be patient. 

Alas, it peeled right off!

It was time consuming because I first had to remove the layer with all the flowers on it, then had to go in and remove the glue layer 

Progress 

Ahhh, my blank canvas :)

If only we could put new flooring, toilet, hardware and vanity...

Had to wait til Jay got home to finish up this last part because I couldn't reach it with the tub in the way...but I was glad this part only took me a day.  Now I can tackle the rest throughout the weekend.  I picked a conservative color, my go-to neutral "Shaker Beige" by Benjamin Moore, it will save us the trouble of having to repaint upon move-out.  Stay tuned for Part 2...

Guests Welcome!

We officially have a place for you to sleep if you come visit!  I have worked tirelessly to finish up the new guest room in time for our company over Christmas.  Now that the boys only want dirt bike decor in their room, I had no choice but to make the guest room the "great outdoors" room since I had all this lodge-y stuff.  What I love most about the room is being able to display old and recent pictures of Jay and family and friends fishing and hunting.  There are some amazing memories hanging on the wall now like these:

This was taken in Juneau while I was 7 months pregnant with Zac and yes, I landed that sucker myself (okay, maybe Jay helped a little...) 

This was a fun trip when Jay's cousin Zac and wife Elaine came up to Juneau one summer, we caught so many fish and crab while they were there! 

My dad when he came to Alaska in 2005, he loved to fish and this was his biggest salmon ever 

Three of my favorite things:

my brother, my dad and my grandma's house on the Yakima River in Prosser, Washington (early 90s)

These are just a few among the many and they aren't all in Alaska.  It was a lot of fun going through all my photos and finding the perfect ones for the room.  That is the beauty of why I love taking pictures, I get to relive the memories anytime I want.  Anyway, here are a few of the "new" room...it is super cozy and just waiting for a guest :)

"Drumroll Please...Drumroll..."

It is my favorite time of year and dragging out the Christmas decorations is the first thing I like to do as soon as Thanksgiving is over.  I have six large totes full and working on a 7th...from house to house, I just never know what I am gonna need and it seems to change every year.  This year is extra special because we are expecting company, my brother, sis in law and nieces are coming, so I am making extra sure the house appears as though Christmas has blown up all around it :)  Griswolds we are not, but I totally relate to "Sparky" more and more each year.  The inside of the house is a piece of cake, I totally have that under control.  Its the waiting on Jay and buttering him up nicely enough so that he will break out the big ladder and heave himself up on the roof to get that top awning with lights.  If I had to do it, I would, but fortunately my husband eventually tires of my nagging and gets out there.  I even looked into hiring someone to do the work for us, but had no luck finding that service in our area.  But alas, Jay got up there and tho at one point he was very close to having a Clark Griswold-esque meltdown, he did it and they look great.  Sadly, at this point we are the only house on our street that has lights up, but we are also the only ones with small children and we are the first house you see when you turn onto our street, so it is only fitting.

Pre-outside decorations, I love red bows! 

Part of the reason Jay procrastinated was because he knew he had to clean the roof and gutters before proceeding with the lights... 

Last year he didn't have that smaller ladder and had no way of reaching that dormer, but this year he was able to hang lights up there per my request! 

Still up there after dark, right about this time it was very close to being a scene straight out of Christmas Vacation when he realized the plug he needed was on the OTHER end of the lights... 

Meanwhile, I had been working on the bottom half of the house... 

About four feet too short...

this was my "SON OF A B$&#@" moment, but like most moms, I improvised... 

JOOOYYY TO THE WOORRRLD! 

And since we're talking about decorations, I might as well add in a pic of my Santa Tree.  Had a little reservation about putting a hat on the tree vice the angel that I always use, but decided this year I was doing something different.  Pinterest wins again.

Nutcracker in DC

My friend Mona invited me to The Washington Ballet's production of the Nutcracker this year, as she got a really good deal on tickets through her Girl Scout troop.  I jumped at the opportunity, as this is one of my favorite things to do around the Christmas season.  I always loved going to the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production because A) I love Seattle B) I love the ballet and C) I love Christmas -- the Nutcracker is very special to me and I have many memories of going with family and friends over the years.  There were 15 of us going this time, six adults and nine girl scouts.  We convoyed in three vehicles into DC and valet parked at an awesome restaurant called Old Ebbitt Grill, just a block from the White House.  Then we walked about three blocks to Warner Theatre, a beautiful venue built in the 1920s.  The production was wonderful, I was not disappointed.  It was similar to the PNB Nutcracker, but had its subtle differences that made it unique, as they all do, and I loved every minute.  Looking forward to going to their production of Cinderella in March...

Thai grilled chicken salad was THE bomb...and of course dessert. Mmmm. 

Walking off dessert... 

Inside the auditorium 

Not a bad seat in the house 

The detail was beautiful 

The stage

Not supposed to take pictures, but I did it anyway 

Though the pics don't do it justice...

DC at night - lovely!

 

25 days til Christmas activities...

Since I am not Catholic I'm choosing to simply call it "December fun activity of the day".  To kick off the fun on December 1, our activity was the Home Depot workshop.  I love taking the boys to these and this time Trev got to go along.  He wants to do everything his brothers are doing, and he did well, it was good for him to be involved.  So now I have three picture frames to keep forever :)