I rest my hammer for a wonderful uncle, a wonderful family

In a sea of Aunts and Uncles, Uncle Al could have been a man that didn't stand out much in mind. I remember him being kind of quiet. As I listened to my large family reflect on him, I realized that he didn't need to be loud or obnoxious. He led by example and there are no words required for that. I knew my history with him but loved hearing the history that he had with the rest of my family. He clearly left a huge impact on the world around him. I admire that and want to also be like he was!

This was one of the hardest funerals that I've been to and one of the most eye opening weekends I've had with my family. You see, we are large in number. With 15 children born into my mother's family, the cousins are EVERYWHERE and we have so many different types of people in our family. We are, by far, imperfect. There may even be people who would turn up their noses to us. But let me tell you of our best quality! WE LOVE EACH OTHER UNCONDITIONALLY! I hadn't paid any attention to that until my Aunt Corlie pointed it out. I think some of them are wacko and they have probably felt the same of me at times, but I know that I can always turn to them. Unfailing love. I couldn't possibly post a picture of all of them but I'll show you a few.

Left to right. Mom, nephew Austin, Aunt Dee, brother Scott.

Me and cousin Alicia

brother Scott and cousin Darin

Me, sister Kim, Dad, Mom, brother Scott

Me, Uncle Lorny Toad ( no other name needed), and sister Kim

I have searched for answers to things and troubles that I've had for a long time and clarity on many of those issues came to me during this trip. The silent, unconditional love of Uncle Al and my family showed me the answers. If I can leave an impact on people in that same way, it's a life well lived!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Add tiling to my resume

I started tiling the backsplash and I think I'm starting to believe that I may actually finish this project! I've never tiled before so I had to do some YouTube watching in order to get started.

This is where I started. Once I got the hang of it and conquered my fear of the wet saw, I made lots of progress.

This was on the second day and it's where I've currently left everything. I still have to finish from the stove and around the corner and grout. I'm shocked at how much bigger the kitchen looks with this one change.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Windows and appliances and paint, oh my!

Woohoo! Finally some nice weather here in Kansas! I've been busy, busy in the kitchen and I'm sure you've been dying for an update................ right?! Yep, you probably have even lost sleep over it!

Lets get down to business. Lots of pics today!

 

I'm not a window pic pro but I painted the old wooden window (original to the house) and then hated it and said, "I want a new window"! I knew nothing about window measuring or install so I picked my neighbor's brain ( thanks Andy)! He gave me a crash course and the next weekend I bought the window.

Here is the beauty! I chose a Pella double hung replacement window with low E and Argon. All of that mumbo jumbo means that both windows tilt in for easy cleaning (PRAISE GOD), and they keep heat out thus saving money ( PRAISE HIM AGAIN). Andy was on standby the day that I installed it but I was able to do the tear out and install all by myself. Go me!!

In other news, I also got a new stove and dishwasher, thanks Easter bunny Jeremy!

While the main draw to this model was no knobs, the purple interior was a color lover's (me) bonus.

Matchy matchy. This dishwasher is soooooo quiet and it plays a song when it's done washing. The stove also plays music which is very fitting for this musical family.

Now, on to the bones of this kitchen.

 

 

You can see that I have some doors and drawers ( I was a poet and didn't know it) back on now and I've removed the next group for painting. Some days I see progress and others I see lots of work left. These are the ups and downs of remodeling.

 

Posted with Blogsy

New thangs!

Yes, I meant to type thangs! Don't stress out, English Nazi's!

Sigh, is anyone else exhausted! Kitchen reno is slow going ( and I was sidetracked by garage sale season) so ill show you some new things today.

I have been looking for one of these ceramic stools for a long time but I was too cheap frugal to buy one at $80-$120. I found this one at nearly 1/4 of that amount so........... Woohoo! It pays to wait!

Look at this sweetie ( the chair, not Henrietta)! I love a chair with a story and this one has a great one! This chair was acquired by the previous owner through the purchase of a VW bus. The chair just happened to be in it. I saw it at a garage sale last year at this time. I couldn't afford it that day as I was looking for clothing for the girls so, with lots of tears, I left it behind. Later that day, another woman tried to buy it but the owner didn't sell to her because she was planning to paint it. Fast forward one year. Kaci and I go out to the same town for city wide garage sales and I, of course, went straight to that house and there was the chair. It was $10 cheaper this year too so that was a bonus! I've waited a year for this chair!

Here it is with my Baumritter chair. I love Danish furniture! After some research, I've found that my new, old chair is worth nearly 10 times what I paid for it! Score!

So, I suppose you're dying for a kitchen update! Well, I haven't done much but I do have some new appliances coming this week so be ready!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Moving' right along

Hi!! Some of you may now be singing along with the Muppets due to my clever title! If you're either too old or too young to get it, I'm sorry, just play along.

We have been busy as usual here with the kitchen! I also destroyed our garage this weekend with my AAD ( acute auction disorder). Anyway, another post for another day.

I was on a roll last week with the second countertop so I decided to take the leap on Friday and start the third one! Since the sink had to be out for this phase, I knew that we would be without water or a dishwasher in the kitchen for nearly four days. Enter Jeremy. Sunday night, Jeremy removed the sink and I had planned to chip the laminate all day Friday in hopes of putting on my first layer on concrete Friday night. Well, God was with me and I managed to remove the laminate and get the first layer of concrete on by 10:30am. This put me way ahead of schedule and allowed me time to paint the backs of all of the cabinet doors too!! Go me.............. and God too!

I finished the third and final countertop last night and I'm so happy with the results! It was a project that I loved from start to finish! I also don't think you've seen the new refrigerator! We weren't planning to get appliances until fall but the fridge died and did not rise again, so here's the new beauty!

This is the new (SHINY!!) sink and faucet. Jeremy was up until midnight last night (that's love) getting everything installed.

Here is Sissy modeling the new light switches that Jeremy moved from the wall I took out, to here. Look out Vanna!! I've moved my coffee bar over here too but I don't know yet if that that will be the permanent home for it.

This leg of the kitchen project has taken me away from housework so much that I plan to take a couple of days to clean house and do laundry and make a path in the garage. Then................... GAME ON!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Freestylin' my kitchen, Vanilla Ice style

Good chilly Wednesday morning from Kansas! If you saw my Facebook post from yesterday, you know that I got froggy (Jeremy word) and removed a wall. Yep, I did. See, I have a main idea of how I want the kitchen to look but as things progressed, I realized that the wall between the kitchen and dining room needed to go.

So with a little brainstorming help from my neighbor and friend Sarah, and the helpful, "do whatever you want" affirmation from Jeremy, I got froggy. I like that word! Makes me feel more limber than I really am! I also got some help from watching the Vanilla Ice Project. You watch that too, right?!

Orient yourself to the room again. This is the view standing with my back to the kitchen sink looking into the dining room. The door on the left goes to the big basement ( yes, we have big basement and little basement. That's a whole different mess!) to the right is my food cupboard and trash cupboard and then a door going into our music room. Got it? Good!

Here is the same view now. Oops, be right back! I hear Sally stealing chips out of the cupboard!! Ok now, this is the same view as the previous picture. Better, right! The boards surrounding the opening will be removed when Jeremy moves the switches and I hope to make a seamless transition.

As this kitchen evolves I get more excited about the end product! Did you know that newer roof trusses make it possible to take out every interior wall of your home without putting in big overhead beams?! We have those trusses! Don't worry dear, you won't come home to any more missing walls.................. Today.

 

Posted with Blogsy

I love concrete!

I have seen enough yellow countertop to last a lifetime. This is actually my second mustard yellow kitchen. I left the first one alone but this one has . To. Go. All that I really cared about in a countertop was color and shininess so I knew that spending $2500 was not my style. Enter concrete.

Remember the yellow?! Gag.

First I chipped off the yellow laminate. Easy, right. Not. That dude was stuck on there.

This is all I used to make the new countertop. The Ardex was $18.??. I can't remember. I may need to get another bag to finish the tops, to early to tell yet.

Coat number 1. I ended up putting three coats of Ardex on and sanded with 80 grit paper in between coats.

With sealer. I put four coats of concrete sealer on it. It seriously took only five minutes to dry each coat! Thank God it wasn't 7 DAYS! It looks kind of crazy in the picture because it is high gloss and reflects the ugly wall.

I really thought that my OCD was going to get the best of me but I love the variations in color and even the trowel marks.

I even made it to the next countertop already!

This is where I'm at now. I've primed the lower cabinets on this side and the long counter has one coat of concrete. I really love it!

 

Posted with Blogsy