We are still here!!

      Yes we are still alive and well and a lot has happened since I last posted....we spent a majority of the summer golfing, well let me rephrase that, Dustin spent quite a bit of time on the course and the kids and I joined him when we could.  We took a mini vacation in June to the hills and had a wonderful time then in August we spent a weekend at a cabin with my family and decided we needed to book it again for this coming summer! Brooklyn started 1st grade and is loving every minute of it and excelling. Hudson goes to library school on Tuesday mornings and seems to be adapting.  In December Dustin and I flew to Las Vegas for a conference. Christmas came and went  surrounded by family. Then on February 13th Bristol Ann, a 7lb 4 oz bundle of  joy, completed our family. We couldn't be happier! Dustin has been very busy with his business and his honey-do list seems to take longer to complete.

      As far as the house updates...hmm...we didn't paint the house because we are battling between new siding (Dustin's wish) and painting (my wish). Hopefully this summer we come to an agreement and update the outside of our house. We did finish the entryway, which is a nice addition to keep the mud out of my kitchen. Dustin again did a nice job of giving me what I requested. You are probably thinking what will the next project be....well my list of things are; finish sheetrocking and insulating the garage (partially done), updating the basement bathroom, the siding issue, and a swingset for the kids! Time will tell what actually gets done. Stay tuned!

Before

After

Bristol Ann

Where oh where....

Where oh where have the Rische's been??? I know I am awful about updating!  We went to Hawaii and put our feet in the sand for a week in March, which was absolutely wonderful!  We enjoyed our trip and I am most certain Dustin would move in a heartbeat if he could convince his wife and children to move! We would highly recommend Maui to anyone looking for a beautiful vacation spot.
We came back to reality which included more house work and oh yeah....SNOW!  We are very close to finishing up the main floor.  Only a small piece of crown moulding, a shade, curtain, and we will have it completed. YEAH!  I have been waiting and waiting and oh yeah...WAITING for my bathroom vanity to be completed and bless his little soul he finished it last week!

 

My inspiration for the bathroom! I matched the red and the room came together, despite the negative feedback I got initially about the red I think it was a hit in the end!

 

 

So now what are we up to you ask....hmmm...well the yard is a disaster, so we are going to patch back in the bare spots in the front, do some landscaping, possibly a new front step and oh yeah...paint!  Stay tuned for these updates!  I have someone to paint the house, but I am not sure I can be here when he does it. Nathan...I think you are going to put me over the edge with your sprayer!

 

Our current endeavor is an entry way. Right now you walk directly into our kitchen to take your shoes off from the garage. For those of you that know me understand my CDO (OCD, but in alphabetical order) is hightened with the dirt that comes into my kitchen. I need a place to call a "Mud Room". So bless my little husband's heart along with my wonderful father-in-law they started building me one. It's not big, but at least I can keep the mess out of my kitchen!  I put a few pictures up, but once we can get it closer to being completed I will update again, so you can fully understand. It's hard to imagine unless you've seen it in person!

 

The picture above and below is what we had before.

This will be where the door to the garage will be.

This is the part of the wall that will be built.





This is a picture of the floor of the entryway, with storage underneath from the garage.



 

No need....

Well for all of you curious people out there wondering where our mail is getting delivered to....our new house it is.  We got moved out of my in-laws just in time! They got home on Tuesday, February 19th and we got moved out on Monday night, well sorta!  It's been almost 2 weeks and poor Mary Ellen is still finding our remains at her house.  For those of you that know me well leaving a few items behind wherever I go is no suprise.  We never make it home to my parents without leaving behind a couple items!! 

So what have we been up to since I last posted??? Dustin has been busy cleaning the garage, finishing up the shower, hanging up stuff on the walls, doing a couple jobs on the side, etc. He has the vanity yet to build, a door in the bathroom, and some trim work to put up a couple places. Me I have been busy with work and trying to find some stuff to put on the walls as well as organizing closets, etc. I'm not sure where the last couple weeks have gone! 

We are very happy to have Rich and Mary Ellen back and I know the kids are thrilled too. My parents came this weekend. As most of you you know my mom can't sit still, so we got more things put away and stuff hung up on the walls, as well as caught up on laundry, and although I'm not sure she mentioned the paint job in the pantry I know she looked when she got here!

Here are a few pictures! So I think I mentioned before in the upper right hand corner there was a built in bookself, so we put the fireplace in there. We replaced the fan, carpet, knocked down part of the wall between the kitchen and living room, put new trim, and of course we put speakers in the ceiling (which is what you can see in the ceiling on the middle picture). 

Before (I know I posted this earlier)

After

 

So below is the little bathroom before and after pictures.

We basically repainted, retrimmed, tiled the floor and a backsplash, put up a new mirror, light, vanity, and new wallhangings. We still a shade to putt up and a little something more on one wall and it will be done!

 

 

 

Ok...so onto the kitchen...I have a little different angles than what these were taken at, but you'll get the idea.

Before...so I'll give you a lowdown on the kitchen and then you can try to piece it all together. We knocked down the soffit (sp?), took the new cabinets to the ceiling, took out the pennisula to open it up, moved the fridge, new flooring, backsplash, took out part of a wall, painted, installed undercabinet lights, new ceiling lights, trim work, doors, appliances, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you are probably wondering why I took a picture of this? Well my wonderful husband had a great idea and in the pantry with the roll out shelf he put an outlet, so I get up in the morning, roll out the Keurig get a cup of coffee and roll it back, shut the door and on my way I go! No need to have an appliance sitting on the counter!

 

OK, so on to Brooklyn's room...I don't really have any before pictures of her room and unfortunately there are no curtains up yet or pictures in the frames, but you get the idea! :(

 

                 So I only have a couple of Hudson's room and nothing is on the walls in there!
                                  His room has two ways out, which is not always a good thing! 

You may remember the fabulous green carpet which was in Hudson's room

 before, just thought I'd show you the difference now!

 

 

 

Now onto the big bathroom which is the last project to be finished. A half wall was built by Rich, Dustin tiled the bathtub surround, put in a new tub, double sinks, new trim, new lights, paint, new tiled floor (no it is not real wood it's a tile), hung new mirrors, now he just has to finish making my vanity and finish trimming it out. Rich even admitted he didn't mind the red once it was all put together...ahhh ye of little faith!!

 

 

 

 

 

This was the before lighting and below is the updated new light!

            He even updated the humidistat and thermostat for me!  The 70's one just wasn't cuttin' it! 

 I wish I could capture every little thing Dustin has done to this home and the time and effort he has put into it, but there is no way I have the time, energy, or space on my camera card!  He is amazing! I will post the vanity once he is done and our bedroom once I get some stuff on the walls. We are enjoying our new place and look forward to putting the final touches on it, just in time to start on the next project?!

 What are we going to do next you ask...well this chica and her slave need a vacation, so we are off to Hawaii in less than a week.  Neither of have seen the ocean, been gone from home more than 4-5 days since we've been married and never really left our kids with someone else more than a night, so there are lots of mixed emotions at our home right now,but we are very excited!  I will let you all know how it goes when we get back!  So for now....NO need for the divorce lawyer we survived the upstairs remodel...well if he finishes my bathroom vanity soon there won't be anyway!