The Big Reno Plan

On the outside, we want to go from this:

To this:

Extend the roof line, giving us a covered deck upstairs.  We're also planning to extend the porch and the roof over the porch around each side of the house to give access to the doors that are/will be on the sides of the house.

The interior will go through a complete over haul as well.  There are too many walls in this house and we plan to knock some down.  It's a work in progress but once complete I will share.

Now we just need to save about $200k so we can make all this happen.  Top Ramen at every meal for the next 20 years should do it.

I'm so lucky - no really, I am.

I'm sitting here at the computer - right now.
Matt is on the couch playing Mario on the Wii b/c even though he beat it, he didn't find all the big coins - Heaven forbid.

Anyway, back to the point -
In between yelling obscenities like, "Sonuvadick" (yes, he really just said that,) he says to me,
"I love you Ringgy.  Do I tell you that enough?"
Love this guy:

On another note - I've set up some stuff to automatically post over the next few days so they may seem really random since I did them stream of conscious like and my conscious is not linear.
Hope it all makes sense - just ask if it doesn't.

Before and Afters

The rooms that we've completed are the living room, office, dining room, bathroom, foyer, and kitchen.
We're only documented two of those rooms here (the bathroom and foyer) and I think it's about time I changed that.
Because everyone loves a good before and after picture, here are ours.
Living Room - Before:

Curtains that aren't long enough or lined.  Yellow walls.  Spackle and putty spots all over the walls.

And After:

We kept the couches, unfortunately.  They're just too comfortable to give up right now.  We painted the walls builder beige and the ceiling a shimmery brown.  New lined curtains and pictures are on the walls.

Office - Before:

This is the day we moved in.  Nothing much to report here.  Some more trim to patch from the old HVAC and more yellow walls.  Hooray.

And After:

We painted the stripes with the same paint from the ceiling of the living room since they are adjacent to one another.  Still need a new rug and curtains but for now, we're calling it done.

Dining Room - Before:

Those damn yellow walls were everywhere plus more trim patching from old HVAC and termite damage.  This room shows the most dramatic change but was also the most work.

After:

New light fixture, new paint, added wanescotting up two thirds of the wall with a picture rail topping it off, and crown molding underneath.  Plus new curtains.  I'm not completely pleased with the curtain rod length or the tablecloth but from where we've come - this is my favorite room in the house now.

Kitchen - Before:

This room is entirely new in this photo.  Remember there was no kitchen when we moved in.  In this photo, we've already added knobs to the cabinets but our new fridge hasn't been delivered yet.

After:

We added a copper back splash, painted the walls chocolate brown, rearranged some of the counter top appliances, added shelving, and one behemoth of a fridge.  I'm still on the hunt for curtains.  

 

Now you've seen everything that's worth taking a picture of - soon (hopefully) we'll be before and aftering the bedroom.

2010 - What you may have missed.

Everyone knows we got hitched in 2010.
Here's what you may have missed:

We went on our HoneyMoon. Antigua.  And learned that the correct way to say Antigua is AN-tee-ga.

We went on our annual "family" camping and cabrewing trip to the Elk River.  Yes, I do have a swimsuit on, it's a bandeau top - no tan lines on the shoulders, please.

Those tan shoulders came in handy when I wore a strapless dress to a wedding.  We felt much too hip to not have a picture from the evening.

The basement flooded and flooded again.  Homer buckets from Home Depot and a Shop Vac  came in handy.  We're saving money so that we can correct the problem.

We bought some pretty awesome furniture.  The buffet came from an estate sale and the wardrobe was on the side of Eastland Ave with a "For Sale" sign taped to the front.  Score! 

We went on our annual "family" vacation to Mexico Beach, Florida.  And promised that no pictures of humans would be taken since none of us were feeling beach body ready. 

And the last couple of weeks of the year included: an all day drinking party courtesy of Lester and Dooze, Matt having a cold for the first time in 3 years, and a New Year's Eve spent on the couch watching a movie.
I haven't had my camera out of its case since Florida.  Seriously.

Here's to 2011 - saving money and making some color and design choices for the rest of those yellow rooms.

Bad Blogger, Bad.

I know, I know.
I've said this before but I really mean it this time - I will get better about updating this thing.
Maybe sometime before the end of this year, I'll give you some honey moon pictures, and maybe not.  There weren't that exciting anyway - you aren't missing much.  Promise.

We do plan to get on some house renovating soon though and that will require some pictures.
Current master bedroom is up next.  We're even planning to build our own bed.
This should be interesting.

But up next (once my slow internet connection uploads all my pictures) there will be some living room, office, dining room, and kitchen photos.

Birthday Breakfast

So far 30 is looking really good.

The 4 Runner

I know I promised honey moon pictures for my next post and instead you got a rant.
Well, guess what - you're about to get another one.  Deal with it.

Let's start at the beginning:

1. I bought a car.  Cash. 1999 Toyota 4Runner Limited.  Right price, right miles.  Mechanic checked.  Loved it.  Bought it on 7/14/10.
2. Plan to drive 4Runner to Florida for family vacation.  Took to mechanic for a trip check and oil change.  Let's be doubly sure that the car will make it there and back without a problem.  All checked out beautifully.  Just needed a new air filter.  8/26/10.
3. Drive 4Runner to Florida on 8/27/10.  Drive 4Runner the entire week in Florida, to and from, short trips, trips as long as 30 minutes - normal daily driving.
4. Pack it up and get ready to drive back home to TN. 9/4/10
5. 7 miles from the house.  Count them. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. SEVEN MILES into the trip home an invisible robot jumps out in front of us...at least that's what it sounded like we had run over when we threw a rod through the left side of the engine block.
6. Promptly pull over, call Triple A and wait for an hour and a half for a tow truck.  Tow the now obsolete 4 Runner back to the beach house.
7. Go to UHaul and rent a car hauler.
8. Promise Mike our first born son so that he will tow us back to Nashville.
9. Drink ourselves into oblivion.
10. Ride 5 deep (+ dog) in Mike's extended cab truck for 10 hours to drop 4 Runner off at mechanic. 9/5/10

Moral of the Story - Watch out for invisible robots - they will screw you into buying a new engine to the tune of $6k.
Happy Vacation.