Been a while!

In August 2012 we purchased a home

 Sallyanne our real-estate agent probably thought we would NEVER pick a house.  

We have been slowly making improvements.  As you can see by the front we have xeriscape.  It is beyond ugly.  The back yard is still 2/3rds x-scape.  The master bathroom had carpet (who ever came up with that is really disgusting) it now has tile.  The oak cabinets in the kitchen are now cream.  The falling down pergola is now standing tall and proud with the help of my dad.  The shed that was in the main back yard is now in the side back yard so I can have a small tiny garden spot.  We were able to fit our entertainment center we purchased in 2000 into a book shelf space built into the house with about 1/2" to spare.  

This past summer Ric began on his fourth extended business trip.  Just before he left our Machelle and her family came to visit for a very fast weekend.  It was a great memory.  >> See she is such a precious gift from God!  And thru her we received a son-in-law and two grandchildren!

Here we are... as it began.  (the extended business trip)

The rest of my summer and Fall were taken up with quilting and geocaching.

two of my favorite caches and...      

two major pains in my back end!  As of this posting I/ we have found 1634 caches.  847 of them were found in 2013.  My streak is currently at 188... until tomorrow. :) And I have found a cache of 255 days out of the 366 day year... until tomorrow.  My goal for this extended trip was to get to 1502... passed that.

Christmas was spent with the Rainey clan.  

 This is the quilt Nikki, Christine, Lillie and Emily next to went sleepless to finish in time for Christmas.  I guess Christine was sewing the binding on when I  arrived on Christmas Eve.




The New Year has arrived.  Sadly I was unable to make the trip to WI.  Sure am missing Marti, David   et al... :(


We have been attending Church at Briargate.
May I just say I am so grateful God sent us there.  The church body has really wrapped around and kept us in prayer.  I KNOW because I have been so strong thru this deployment.

 Our Lead Pastor Scott Bottoms and his bride Linda.

This is Ike, he and his wife attended CAB... he passed away... my heart still hurts.  

The cold and snow this winter have been a pain... but we need the moisture and Ric is on his extended business trip so I fully expected it.  

This weekend I moved my office from one room to another... Whew that was a lot of work.

The Superbowl was yesterday and well Only the Seahawks showed up... the commercial Welcome Home Hero's was superb.  Althought the 5 minute youtube was even better.

Today Godfrey my beta died... seems silly but I miss him.

Not in love with oak cabinets

The kitchen it all of its loveliness or NOT! Isn't the fruit behind the stove just ugly!

Yes oak all the way around... 

So the very first thing that had to go was that stupid tile behind the stove.  Yes all that we did was take off the tile and paint.  Yet I do not have any need to look at that tile ever again.  Most grateful it is gone!

All painted and restful!  

Oh but that florescent light is sticking out like a sore thumb!

The view from the great room past the breakfast table to the kitchen

And just like that he replaced the florescent thing with a can LED light.
Yes I have a chandelier over my sink and over the breakfast table.  I like chandeliers A LOT ok.  I was able to get a good deal on them in Czech when we lived in Germany.
Again Ric put so much hard work into these spaces!

Pantry

Well here it is pretty standard.  Just a place to tuck groceries and spare platters and cake plates.  I asked Ric to move the shelves around a little so that I could put the cafe within easy reach.   The shelf he took out of the center he added at the top. At a later date he will put a light and electric into this space to clean it up a bit.

  See the cute little chandelier I found. 

Master Bathroom

YAY!  We are getting rid of the nasty carpet in the master bathroom!

The bathroom before we bought the house,
 but basically what it looked like when we moved in.
See the counter is one very long section.  It was wasted space really.
We aren't into the oak look.  

Everything out!  What a disaster area!  About this time we had a childhood friend come spend a while in our home while deciding if he was moving to CO.  He was so much help to Ric!  Thanks Pat!

Painted walls we found yellow and black
under the lights and counter.

Yikes!  Self leveling... not really!  So messy!

The floating membrane so tiles
won't crack as easily.

the closet was tiled also.

Well the toilet had to go somewhere!
It is in a trash bag... EWW!

 It seemed to go ON and ON and ON!

Finally grouting!  Whew and still so far to go!

 Done!  Well with the tile.  Nothing is back in yet.  You know the sinks and toilet!  Oh my how I missed the toilet in my own bathroom.  Oh and did I mention I had the flu at this point?  Oh yes... The toilet was put back quickly at that point.  :)
So the next things Ric did were paint the cabinets cream and cut the counter down to fit the cabinets.  Then we took a piece of furniture we bought in Korea and put it between to and a linen closet to the bathroom.
Proud of my groom this was a tough project!  Is it perfect no.  But come on carpet in the bathroom??? eek!  The sad gross person who came up with that.
Oh did you see there is HEAT under the tile... ahhh such a blessing!
Ric also put in new lights, those hollywood lights are gone.  If you check out a slight peek Ric also put a chandelier in the bathroom.  Me and my crystal.

And here it is!