almost there....

Whew, it's been a whirlwind, an adventure, an experience to never forget. We are almost there and the kitchen looks gorgeous. I will have a bunch of photos in the coming week. Right now we are working hard on unpacking boxes, looking for a couch, hanging things and finishing the little touches.


Here are a few pictures to keep you on the edge of your seat.... (remember you can click on any of them for a close up view)



Here are two knobs that we got for the sink base cabinet. Just a little finishing touch that we liked.




Here is a picture of the pulls we got for the drawer cabinets. For some reason we counted one less then we needed and that caused me a special trip. Oh well....




This is a picture above our back door. The roosters fit perfectly.




This little guy was bought on our Disney World trip in 2004. He has been hanging around since. He looks happy. :)




Hmmm, seems my camera washed out the true color of the wall. You will have to trust me on just how good this looks. I'll try to take another shot later this week.




This is hanging in our dining room, now. We bought the shadow box in North Carolina last October on our way home from Florida. The little boy figure is looking at a little turtle. We picked that up in Colorado in 1984. Kid #1 was just 6 months old, then. The green bottle on the top right is from Hungary. We got it from a family friend that came to the US from Hungary.



This is also hanging in our dining room. The colors came out different from the flash. I must work on my picture taking skills....seems I am terribly off tonight.



Just to further illustrate my photography failures tonight, here is a sign right above our kitchen door. (going into the kitchen) I have no clue why it is all blurry....but it is.

Anyway...that was just a tease. The counters are a mess, the table is covered in stuff, there is all sorts of disarray in my house. So, just trust me....it's almost there and looking gorgeous. I will share more, soon.....PROMISE!!

looks like a kitchen....

Well, the day I had been waiting for came and it was everything I had been dreaming. :) What day is that? The day for the counters to be installed, of course! What a difference hundreds of pounds of granite makes. Who knew? Wow, is about all I can say. I wish I could capture the blue that shines on the counter when the light hits it. It was more then I had hoped for and just made me smile all the more. It is so close to being done I can smell the food cooking!

We had the guy from the kitchen cabinet place come by and he was very impressed with what has been done and he said we have a great "entertaining kitchen". That is what I was going for....so I think I have accomplished my goal and I am itching to do the entertaining part. :)



Here is the shot from the side of the fridge. You can click on any of these pictures to get supersized ones and you can see a bit of the blue that was shining. :) I still have to clean the counters from some leftover smudges from the installers...but I am waiting for the supports on the bar side to be installed. (yeah, that's my story and I am sticking to it!!)




Here is a picture from the bar side of the counter. The wood supports are just temporary. We bought brackets that Mike painted black and they will go on soon.




Now, from inside the kitchen looking out. Still a lot of mess going on in the room....but it is looking so much better.






I think you can see some blue in this shot if you enlarge it. :)





And as of this afternoon we now have WATER!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Yes, faucet, garbage disposal, and dishwasher are in working order. Our fridge also has water running to it.

Here is a shot inside one of my favorite cabinets. All those little shelves are adjustable for spices. :)

IGNORE the streaky, dirty windows. We have been renovating, not cleaning! Hehe. I just couldn't wait to show you what I decided on for the spot above my window.

home stretch....

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am beginning to see it. It is appearing brighter each day and that is causing all kinds of smiling. :) Smiling at the dog, smiling at the rain, smiling at the dirty laundry.....ok, maybe not the laundry. However, I am smiling at the laundry room!! Pictures of that will come another day.

The counter was measured this past Wednesday by two different people from two different companies using two different methods. There was a mixup, but it seems to be good now and the counter will be installed this Wednesday. It will really look like a kitchen then.

Erich came by today and installed the new microwave. The electrician will take care of getting that baby some power later this week. I wonder if I will just spend a few days looking at my new kitchen when it is complete, but not cooking....you know, I won't want to mess it up any. Nah...I am so sick of fast food. Eating at my parent's has helped a great deal, but even that gets tiring. Having to make sure everything you need is in that kitchen and going over to actually prepare it. It's not the same as having it in your own home, especially if you want to maybe make some of it in advance. That just means more car trips now. Yes, I can see that light twinkling and can finally relax and say we are in the home stretch here.

There are TONS and TONS of little things to still do....but in two weeks the bulk of that will be done and we will have to work on furniture shopping, accessories, etc...and some of that may just have to wait. Wonder what at home job I can do while homeschooling....just thinking of earning some extra shopping money. Hmmmmm........I will have to think on that.

Anyway...want to see pictures? Well I have a few to share. What a co-inky-dink.






Here we are standing beside the fridge looking towards the old family room. The corner cabinet you see in the far corner is a lazy susan cabinet.








Now, we are on the other side of the kitchen looking into the room. Notice the new microwave hanging there. The stove you see will slide in under that once the counter is installed. The fridge is also not pushed into it's resting spot. That will be happen after the electrician finishes the outlet for it. We need to drop off three cabinet doors at the kitchen place. They will get glass put in them and deliver them back here. Exciting stuff! If you enlarge the picture and wonder about the blue pieces of tape...that is just marking the spot for the cabinet hardware. I can hardly wait to show you that!!









This is basically a similar shot, just standing further back so you can see the back of the cabinets. I think they look so pretty.

Now let's look outside for a minute.....







Here is our new patio furniture. It's a lovely wet day today...but it still makes me smile. I love this set, because it is big. Well, relatively big. If all my kids and their significant others are here, we cannot all sit here...unless we slide up a small stool and let kid#4 have a corner. It's a plan...we'll see how it works.







Here is a close-up of the back of the chair. Did I already mention that I love this set? :) Well, in case you missed it...I do love this set....in a weird sort of non-personal way.

It's a start....

It was nice coming home after running around all day and finding a start to the kitchen. It is a neat feeling to see your vision actually become real. So far, so good. Of course, being a shortie, I am going to need a good step ladder. I feel overwhelmed standing next to these cabinets as they reach the ceiling. All of the sudden 5'4" feels like 3'2". However, I'll get over that quickly. I can hardly wait to start cooking at home again. :)

It's a start....

And they are lined up.....

Today will be short and sweet. I am still worn out from the flu. It was a real kicker.

This afternoon Erich stopped by and worked on the layout of the kitchen. He did some measuring, marking the walls and some more measuring. He hunted through the boxes and found the first few cabinets that he will put up tomorrow! Yes, they are lined up on the floor just waiting to be lifted to their special spot. There is so much to show about the cabinets, but I will wait until they are in place and then I will give the run through of what features we picked out and why.



See that black hose at the bottom of the picture? It means I did laundry today. Boy, I can hardly wait for the day I can do laundry without sticking a hose out the back window. :)

A delivery...

Finally...the day arrived that I have been waiting a YEAR for. Our new cabinets came today. What a shock when they seemed to take up the whole family room. How in the world are they going to fit in the kitchen? I think tomorrow afternoon some of them are going to be pulled out of their boxes and I'll be able to get a good look. (and pictures!)



We are getting closer to having a kitchen. I can almost smell the food cooking.

more floors...

Yesterday was a good day. The men came and worked until 9pm, but they got it all done. We now have real wood in the dining room, living room and hallway. We had wood laminate, so it isn't all that strange or new looking. It does look different and I do like it a lot. It's also nice and clean and after weeks of dust and dirty, I am enjoying the nice and clean look. We even celebrated new flooring by buying a new vacuum cleaner. Isn't that how one celebrates such an event?? I checked consumer ratings and we went out and picked up their top rated upright, which happens to be a Kenmore. (over dyson and oreck...shocked me!)





Here is a shot in the living room with the old laminate. Notice the baseboards are missing. Mike pulled them up(I did put "we", but then realized there was no "We" involved in this task!!hehe) and he also pulled up the laminate after he took this shot. Oh...and there is the new vacuum. Ain't she purty?






Now...here is the real wood. You will notice that the planks are running the opposite way. The color varies greatly and I love that part. Also, notice the new baseboards. Please, ignore the mess on the couches. We are without shelves, cabinets and drawers so there is no place for anything important.

We have new carpet! It is so soft and fluffy. Our old carpet was from when we first got married almost 25 years ago. (so, I say it was time for some new stuff) There will be more pictures of the bedroom later, when I am ready to deal with bedding and stuff.