My Job

My job for the rest of my life is to stain our woodwork.

I'm starting with the staircase components.

Then I'll move to trim.

My last project will be windows and doors. Should be fun...

It's About Time

Say it with me...it's about time. It's about time I showed you some flooring pictures that is. I only promised them forever ago.

See, here it is...
Oh, you'd like to see it without the cardboard we used to cover it? Ok.

Nice, huh? The guys did a great job installing it. They finished all of the dining room and half of the great room....last weekend. Yep, I'm behind in sharing.

Today they worked on more of the great room and started the master bedroom.

It could just use a good cleaning. Where's the maid when you need one?

Suggestions on Cabinet Hardware?

I'm having a hard time deciding on hardware for our kitchen cabinets.

I love this look:

I'm pretty certain that's the style of handle I will be going with (our doors on our cabinets are very similar to the ones pictured).

The problem is I can't decide on what finish. Our faucet, light fixtures and door knobs are all oil-rubbed bronze. Our appliances are stainless steel. If I didn't have the appliances, I'd go with bronze. But I'm wondering if I should go with stainless steel to pull in the steel on the appliances. Or do I let the appliances stand on their own? Any thoughts out there?

In other news, Dave and my dad began installing hardwood last weekend and my mom and I wrapped up all of the painting. Pictures coming soon!

She Knows

She knows.

We knew it would happen someday.

We just didn't know it would be so soon.

She didn't cry, just got upset about hearing more bad news on a Friday.

Yep, Joan knows we are moving.

And we didn't even get to go to brunch.

Cabinets Are In!

Dave and my dad installed our kitchen cabinets this past weekend. They turned out fabulous!



The cabinet maker will install the doors and shelving after the flooring and appliances are in.

Yes, my backsplash is bright orange. I'm hoping to tile it with glass tile next year. If you think it's bright you should see our laundry room!

One Big Truck

We had to rent a truck to get our cabinets from Grand Island.

We wanted a 16' one. They were out.


We ended up with a 26' truck.

You can get a lot in a 26' truck. All of our cabinets and most of the stuff we were storing in my parents' basement.

You'll even have lots of room left over.

Celebrity Sighting

We had a celebrity helping us this weekend...

Yep, Dave was able to take time out of his busy schedule to help install kitchen cabinets.

That's him making a diving catch in Sunday's Lincoln Journal Star! If I find an online link to the photo, I'll post it.

In between all of the autograph signing, we managed to get a lot done this weekend. Look for an update soon!

Here's the photo from the paper:

Off to State Softball

Dave's playing at state softball in Hastings again this year. If you are in the area, come join us!

Brackets can be found at:

www.nebraskasoftball.org/MSPEbrack.pdf

Dave's team is huskeraccess.com

See you there!

26 Hours of Working

You can get a lot accomplished when you work for 26 hours in 2 days. It'll just take you 4 days to recover so you can blog about it.

We got the kitchen backsplash primed. See that little corner of orange on the right? That's what color the backsplash will be. We also painted along the top of the room. You may see just a bit between the cabinets and the ceiling.

We primed and painted the great room. Yes, even I, manned the scaffolding.

We got it all done except for the foyer and stairwell. That's tonight's project.

We also primed the laundry room and garage bath but no pictures :(

While we were painting the guys started on the front railings. The frame for the railings is complete. We just need to add balusters and paint it white.

They also finished the back stairs and railing frame.

Dave and my dad installed the doggy door.

Yes, a human can fit through it.

Dave and I took Monday off from projects at the house. We were both sore and tired! We'll be getting back on the wagon tonight though. Tonight's list includes: finishing the foyer and stairwell, painting the laundry room and garage bath, and painting the kitchen backsplash. Should be fun!

Our First Injury

Well, we had our first house related injury this past weekend. While using half of a saw* (as my dad would say), Dave managed to cut his wrist. It hurt pretty bad, but we cleaned and bandaged it up. It's healing nicely.

Yes, Dave got very lucky that his injury wasn't worse than it was.

He even got a Hello Kitty band-aid. It was the only thing that would keep him from crying!

*Dave was actually using a hand saw but because it is shorter than my dad's hand saw, my dad refers to it as half of a saw. Unfortunately half of a saw is just as sharp as a full saw. Ask Dave, he can attest to this.

Now would also be an appropriate time to thank my mom for the first aid kit she put together for us. Thanks Mom!

Many Thanks!

Dave and I accomplished so much this past weekend but we couldn't have done it without all of the help we received. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and lent a hand this weekend. We really appreciate it and will do our best to pay you all back some day.

Leading up the effort was my dad with some assistance from Trent. Trent had one of the more daunting tasks of the weekend - he got the privilege of climbing up the extension ladder to prime along the 20' ceiling.

Megan stopped by to lend a hand in the laundry room. For someone who had never painted before, she did a great job!

My mom braved the scaffolding to prime and paint the great room.

Erik helped with the back deck stairs.

Our biggest help came in the smallest package. Trent's son Tucker helped paint

and carry boards for the back deck stairs from the garage. Trust me, those boards are not light!

In between all of the hard work, Tucker found time to play king of the hill with Dave. Notice who won every time!

Thank you to everyone for all of the help! Dave and I truly appreciate it!