It's A Miracle!

I know. I know. It's a miracle I've actually updated my site. Between the house updates/repairs and work and vacations to CA and AZ it's been crazy.
Two weeks ago some of my closest friends from college (we all lived together senior year.) came to visit. Cynthia and her little girl, Grace, arrived friday evening. Karey and her little girl, Adelynn, arrived saturday evening. Andrea stopped by late saturday afternoon. All our paths collided for a brief minute saturday evening. Andrea was leaving as Karey arrived and we all stood in the entryway and said "we have to do this again...SOON!" Unfortunatly, our beloved Melanie couldn't make it. She had a cold. We missed you, Mel! The weekend was so crazy that I didn't get one good photo of us, but I did get a great one of the kids - so photogenic!

More Saturday activities: Hollywood

On Saturday, Ryan, Zach, and I went on a trolly tour of LA. This shot was taken up in Hollywood Hills. If you look closely, you can see the Hollywood sign in the distance. Ryan took this shot of us. He used the flash to make it look like we were digitally added to the photo later. Our faces look bright, but the surrounding background is darker.

Los Angeles

Saturday, Ryan, Zach and I went to LA for the day. We started out with the breakfast of champions... Randy's Donuts. YUMMY! After driving around for a while, we stopped at Pink's hot dog stand. They sell more hot dogs than anyone else in the world! Also YUMMY! Since I'm in CA where the avacado is so prevelant, I'm trying to get avacado, in some form, on most of my food. So far I've had it on eggs and a hot dog. After Pink's we went to Hollyhock house, a private home designed for Aline Barnsdall by Frank Lloyd Wright. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. We enjoyed a guided tour of the estate and I got some shots of the exterior during our visit. Stay tuned....there's more to come.

California Dreamin'

We landed in LA around 11:15am on friday morning. Flying is amazing...one minute you're on the ground and literally the next second all the cars look like ants.

Ryan picked us up at the airport and brought us to his brother's house in Long Beach where we stayed friday and saturday night. It's so nice to have friends.

So Far

Well, this is the most up-to-date photo I have of the kitchen. We're almost done.

Tiling

Well, Zach may have done most of the cabinet installation, but I did the tile! (Can you tell I'm proud of it?) I still have to lay the small tile pieces right below the cabinets and around the outlets, but everything else is done. Then I can grout (after 24 hours of drying time has elapsed). I really think everything turned out great.

Hello Sunshine!

Zach and I installed recessed lighting on Wednesday. Well Zach did most of it, but I helped where I could. I think they look fantastic. The photo on top is what the lighting looked like before. Check it out.

This One's For You, Dad!

This is a photo of our laundry room, per my dad's request. I repainted one of the old kitchen cabinets, and Zach and I hung it in the laundry room. It works pretty well, and best of all...it was FREE.

Water Water Everywhere...

We've had a lot of flooding in our area lately. It was so bad this morning that I couldn't make it to work. The road was flooded in two different spots, so I couldn't even take an alternate route.
Thankfully, our house has not flooded, but other people have not been so blessed. The news is full of stories about people pumping out basements, garages, even living rooms. The sun finally came out this morning, and it's been shining all day. According to our weather station, however, all is not in the clear. The Schuylkill river is going to be fourteen feet above the flood level around 11pm. That should be interesting. Here's some photos I took this past weekend of our back patio. It rained the ENTIRE weekend. I didn't think it would ever stop.

Got Compost?

Several months ago I called my township inquiring about the
availablity of composting bins and was pleased to learn that
they offered them to residents for only four bucks a piece. There was only one catch - I had to take an hour-long class on composting. "Great!" I said. "Sign me up," which they did - TWO MONTHS LATER.

This week they finally called me about the composting class, which I went to at 10am this morning. We watched a cheezey video about composting that I estimate was made in the 80s. It was awesome. I learned all about composting from the video and this nice lady who explained some basics. I actually already knew most of the stuff they shared, but it was cool to be there. It made me feel like a part of my community. Then I paid my four dollars and got my super cool composting bin, which is mine to keep, I might add. Here's some photos Zach took of me setting it up.

Finally!

I thought I'd never see this day, but we actually finished! The final cabinet, the tall pantry cabinet, was installed on Saturday afternoon (June 17). I've spent a lot of time cleaning up since then (I found the island). I still have to install several of the cabinet doors and shelves, but it's really starting to look great.

Base Cabinets...Mmmm

Zach started installing the base cabinets on Wednesday, June 14 - mostly on his own. I can't take much credit for them. I did bring tools and drill bits to him during part of the process though, and I explained the function of the dishwasher return panel. I also held the sink base front while he drilled holes in it. Check out the super cool sink base floor support he built. He's a keeper!

Closer

This photo was taken around June 6. There's drywall covering the plumbing! This makes me very happy because that means the plumbing is DONE! We hung the doors on most of the wall cabinets and we moved the fridge.

Welcome To Plumbing Hell!

I'm a little behind with my posts....We started working on the plumbing around June 1. All was going so smoothly with our kitchen remodel until then. I think Zach spent about ten hours soldering until he finally got rid of all the leaks. We were without water for about 24 hours that weekend, and it was over 90 degrees during the process. It was a nightmare. But the plumbing is now completed and we're moving forward.

They're Up. They're Down. They're Up.

Well, we've started our ambitious kitchen remodel. It was off to a slightly slow start because we got two of the wall cabinets up but had to take them down the next day to add a strip of wood at the top. This wood strip gives us something to nail the moulding to. Now the two are back up again, plus a third one!

Pollock!

Last night I watched "Pollock" staring Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden. One of the best movies I've seen. Mesmerizing!

How fun!

Jeannie taught me how to do this! This photo is of the side yard.

The House

Here's a photo of the whole house per the request of my dear friend, Carrie. Enjoy!

The Planters

Planters in our front yard

Hostas

I divided the hostas in the front yard and moved most of them to the side yard. They like the shade.

Painting

I'm painting our dining room a lovely shade of grass green. You can see the old peachy orange color on the left wall.

Busy Busy Busy

Lots goin' on in my life right now...painting our dining room, planting seeds, working in garden, designing, daydreaming... Stop by often for updates.

Front Yard: before and after

The front yard before I dug it up.


 

The front yard after about eight hours worth of digging and planting (spread out over several days). Phew, I'm tired.