Home Improvement

Well, we ventured up to the Bakersfield area this last weekend to pick up Bridget. She’s the newest member of our crazy little family we got going here.

Isn’t she adorable? (I know, the pictures aren’t that great. They’re cell phone pics.) She’s about 2 years old, part shih tzu, part something we’re not quite sure of yet. We think maybe terrier or lhasa apso. Hopefully we’ll find out on the next vet visit. One thing is for sure, she is cute as heck. I think her needs are as follows:

10% food

10% water

90% tummy rubs

Apparently, she doesn’t need much more than that! Thankfully too! Anyhoo, we’ll keep y’all updated on how she does and anything else that we might get done on the house (don’t hold your breath!)

We’ll blog ya later…

Preparing for the eventual arrival of Bridget who is going to be the newest addition to our crazy little family (more on that later), we installed a Doggie-door last weekend. We borrowed a Sawzall from cousins Steve and Becky (thanks guys!) to help cut through the stucco on the outside of the house. Man, I gotta tell you, it took a little while to get used to but man was that  fun to use. It made me once again consider demolition as a new career path. Ahhh, such fond memories of ripping out mold infested walls and carpet…
But I digress
Visions of cutting through walls, cars, and everything else dancing in my head we made short work of getting the hole cut for Bridget’s new entryway. Bridget is pretty small so the smallest Doggie-door available works just fine. It just looks so tiny. I can’t believe it. I’ve never had a tiny little dog before. We’re looking forward to getting her home sometime this month.

Hey folks,

Sorry we haven’t updated in a while. It’s been a little hectic. We’ve still been unpacking and settling in. Yard work and unpacking have been the majority of our tasks. As the title suggests, Estela and I have lost a combined 32 pounds. I’ve lost about 22 and she’s lost 10 (not that she needed to right baby?) Working on a house that needs a lot of love and cutting back on the junk food can really make a difference. Better than any trendy diet I’ve ever seen. We’ve also added 2 new members to the family. Little Rosie a Francis, 2 little fancy mice are the newest members of the household. They are adorable. Take our word for it! I’ll try and get some better pictures when they are awake. They are napping right now.

Tony has been finishing up the exterior painting and we’ve had plenty of weeds to pull and hedges to trim. There’s a little less pink everyday (thank god!) The front yard is starting to look like a yard again. It’s starting to look like a home now, not just a house… Here’s just a few pictures to show a little of the progress so far plus a picture of the babies.

Well, if you haven’t heard, boxes are all the rage these days. You should really try it out. All the “In” people are doing it. I even heard Team Branjelina are trying it out for their new house! They are a cheap alternative to coffee tables and bookshelves! Ha ha, well, we have been living in the house for about 2 weeks now I think… Time has lost some of its meaning to me lately! We only have some of Estela’s books and furniture to bring over and we will be completely moved in. Maybe not settled in, but at least moved in.

Now we just need to fit it all in here! It’s amazing how quickly you can fill up a space.  When I moved out of my old apartment I turned to my roommate Peter and said, “Dang, we actually had a pretty big apartment once upon a time!” He just laughed. Yup, that means I probably have too much stuff, but oh well, I once read a key chain as a kid that said something like, “He who dies with the most toys, WINS!” I think I took that to heart…

Anyways, sorry there hasn’t been an update in a while. Not much to report unless towel racks excite you as much as they did us! Plus, because we couldn’t find what box the cable modem got packed in, we didn’t have Internet for about a week. I know, we did try to do a good job labeling boxes, but things happen ya know?

We still have a little ways to go before it is ready for public exhibition but don’t worry, you’ll all be invited to the house warming party. If you’re lucky, you might even get an invite to the exterior painting party too! Keep your fingers crossed!!!

That’s about all these days, other than replacing old outlets and trying to figure out some of the weirdness to the wiring around here, it’s all about the unpacking lately. We’ll try and do some of the bigger things and give you more interesting updates, til then… We’ll post ya later.

Well, mom and dad got the first coat of paint in the bathroom and ran a bunch of errands while we were at work today. Thanks guys! Estela started the move in process too. This weekend is mainly about moving so we probably won’t get much else done. Next week we will finish up the bathroom and work on some of the electrical problems that are going on (and there are quite a few!) We found an outlet that when we plugged the Dremel tool into and turned on, a light in the garage came on. How awesome is that? And remember that ceiling fan in the living room? Yeah, we’ll try to wire that up properly, amongst other things. We’ll be pretty busy still. Anyways, the combination of beer and cold medicine is about to knock me out so… We’ll post ya laters.

Well, we started moving stuff over and settling in a little. Mom and dad got to texturing the bathroom and getting it ready for paint. Dad got the tile all sealed last night. It looks even better than I thought it would! Estela started decorating a little. We put the new cover set on the day bed in the office. It looks pretty great. Estela couldn’t resist trying it out.

So comfy... Must lay down... Couch Kryptonite...

It’s pretty darn comfortable. Well, other than that, not much else going on right now. Moving is the priority. But we want to get the bathroom put back together pretty soon too. After some paint tomorrow, the shower will be usable. How awesome will that be? Ask my parents, I’m sure they’ll be glad to tell you how nice it will be… Anyways, my allergies are still killing me, so I’m gonna crash out. We’ll post ya later.

Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet! Carpet!

Woo hoo! We have new carpet! Heck we have carpet. There hasn’t been carpet in the house since day 2 when we removed all the funky old carpet. It was so exciting to come home and see the new carpet. It looks awesome!!! The first thing we did after removing our shoes ws to roll around on it, and yes, I made fists with my toes. Trust me, it works, so relaxing. I even made a carpet angel! I can’t believe 2 guys (from JW Flooring) did the whole house in like 3 hours, plus they even took away the old nasty carpet! Seriously, Home Depot has some awesome deals right now.

Can you see the carpet angel?

Everything is starting to come together. Finally, now the move in phase can begin. The carpet was the biggest exciting thing to happen today, but mom and dad also got someone to haul away all the trash and a bunch of the yard waste. We had a lot. The yard had become quite the swampland before we got the house, but now it is starting to dry out and look awesome. Keeping up with the mowing on it is gonna keep us busy. And by us, I probably mean me… Oh well, the price one pays right?

I don’t know why, but it was also exciting to see a dimmer switch on the living room light. Thanks pop. It’s the simple things in life really, you know? Anyways, Estela and I didn’t really do much today but enjoy the new carpet. I don’t think we’ll be getting much done for a while besides moving. That’s the next phase of homeownership, actually living there. I know, novel idea. Well, we do need to finish up the bathroom. Dad was finishing up the caulking and was going to seal the tile tonight. Thanks again pop! After that texturing and painting, then the toilet and sink can go in. I can’t wait to see it all done.

Anyways, my allergies are killing me. I’m gonna crash, we’ll post ya later.

Dang, My parents were busy today… even with dad avoiding painting a lot got done! Just kidding dad! Mom kept giving him tasks so he conveniently got out of painting today. Hmm, how’d he work that? I’ll have to find that one out. I’m sick of painting. Anyways, mom went painting crazy. We’ve got the new carpet coming tomorrow so everything has to be ready for that. After carpet, we begin moving in. Woo hoo!!! Saweet! Anyways, almost everything that still needed painting got painted. After work, I helped give the office another coat of  the glossy, it looks awesome. The texture came out even better than I thought! Now, I can’t wait for the carpet. That’s basically what today was geared towards, getting ready for the carpet to come tomorrow. I wish I could watch it get installed, but it will be nice to come home after work and rolling around on it! I can’t wait to take off my shoes and socks and make fists with my toes. That’s for all you Die Hard fans out there (one of my all time favorite movies!!!) Anyways, not much to show pictures of today but here’s a few shots of the great sunset as shot from the street in front of the house. I love the view from there.

And on that note, I’m gonna finish my Bud Light crash out. Good night y’all, we’ll post ya later.

Well, sorry this is a few days late in the coming. I’ve been too exhausted by the time I get home. I’m out as soon as I take a shower. I even came close to sleeping through work! At least we made it to work on time. Mom and dad were busy while we were at work. They got a lot more painting done, and Dad finished up laying the tile in the bathroom (it’s looking awesome!) Estela’s parents got more work done in the front yard. Estela’s mom even found another rose bush hidden in the front yard. It’s amazing what you find when you mow the lawn! (You might be a redneck…)

Estela and I finally got to play with the texturizing paint. We used another BEHR product. We should by stock… Are you feeling the love BEHR? Anyways, it worked really well. It took a few minutes of playing around with, we got the hang of it. The paint is like a really thick mud and you use the crazy roller brush in the picture to roll it on. You have to find a bit of a balance of how much you get on the roller and how much you work it. Be ready for a bit of a mess if you try this at home kids. Wear safety glasses! It’s pretty cool. We had been thinking about using the sprayer, but we all think this was a way better option. Less prep time, and definitely less clean up!

Anyways, I’m beat and my bed is beckoning… We’ll post ya later.

Leave no stone (or piece of drywall) unturned. Or the best laid plans… Well our goals got a little pushed back today. We found more of the dreaded “M-word.” Hopefully this will be the last of it. Luckily it was confined to a small area near a door frame. While cutting that out, I did find a little treasure trove however. 

More hidden treasures!

 I don’t even want to think what else might be lurking in our walls. As long as I don’t hear crawling, I’m not going to think about it!!! Dad did some finishing work around the new bathtub and the entire bathroom as well as getting our closet access panel ready for painting. I did quite a bit more sanding and mudding in preparation for the priming and texturing. Mom was Jenny on the spot. She was everywhere, helping and cleaning, as well as a dozen things I am sure I am forgetting. Sorry Mom. Estela and her family had to head to Bakersfield for the weekend, so it was just Mom, Dad, Myself, and the solicitors (Seriously, how friggin many water filtration guys are going to come by???)

Unfortunately we didn’t get to play with the texturing paint. I’ll have to review that tomorrow. The bathroom is almost ready for the tile. That should start going in tomorrow as well. The tub and shower are almost done. Things are getting there. Maybe slowly, but definitely surely. Time has come to sleep off another long, hard day of work so I’ll sign off once again. We’ll post ya later.