1 year

This week marks one year since we became homeowners! Sometimes it feels like it's been longer because of everything we've done in this house. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year we gutted the house, reconstructed, and moved in. Between last Thanksgiving and this Thanksgiving, here is a list of things we have done (and I may forget some):

-Ripped out carpet

-Knocked out walls

-Ripped out baseboards

-Scraped wallpaper

-Ripped up vinyl flooring and toilets

-Put up new walls

-Built island shelves/counter tops

-Texture/drywall

-Fixed plumbing

-Fixed/added lighting

-Painted

-Wood flooring

-New toilets

-Replaced windows

-Replaced window trims/painted

-New carpet/vinyl flooring

-New blinds

-New appliances

-Shelving in closets

-New baseboard trim

-Painted inside trim

-Stained cement in basement

-New sinks downstairs

-Removed large pine trees

-Worked on sprinklers

-Tiled back splash, fireplace, entry way

-Renovated deck

-Removed hot tub, gazebo, pool and surrounding deck

-Rototilled

I'm sure I'm forgetting tasks; maybe some major. We've had a busy year between all of this, work, and school. With a lot of help from Blake and some self-teaching, Lane has learned how to do SO much! I am so impressed with his hard work and accomplishments. Projects for 2012 are more limited, but some include:

-New sprinkler system

-New grass

-Plants/yard

-Cement slabs in backyard

-Build shed for back corner

-Fix deck/stairs

-Caulking/painting base trim

-Build desk for living room by fireplace

Things for future/I want:

MASTER BATHROOM! I really just want a nice tub...annnd a new front door. What does all this require though? $$....~sigh~ someday....

Just in Time!

First off, Lane ripped out the deck, gazebo, pool, and hot tub. It was all just a mess and took up space. So we hauled all of this out:

Our yard then sat dead-yellow for a few months...you know, just blending in with the fall colors. Finally, Lane rented a tractor and had his amazingly skilled brother (and nephew) come over and rototill the front and back. It made a huge difference! The yard was all smooth, looked clean (in a dirt-filled sort of way), and made the yards look a lot bigger.

This was literally done with just a minute to spare. The boys drove over the dirt to pack it down a bit, loaded the dump trailer and hauled it to the dump, came back and the minute they got back it started snowing! So now after all the snow this winter, we'll be able to dig the trenches for our sprinkler system and hydro seed in the spring. Just in time!

I don't think I ever really took pictures of our entry way because it was so ugly (dirty, gross wood which I covered with a large rug), but my Mr. Handyman also ripped that up last week and covered it with slate. So now the beautiful slate-look flows from our entry way, to our kitchen's backsplash, to our living room on the fireplace. The tiles are still dirty in this picture...I'll update it when it's clean and we get a smaller rug/shoe rack in there!