Kitchen Rehab Finale

The work in our kitchen is finally done.  We still need to do the final walk through and make the final payment, but I'm glad the renovation part is finished.  We hadn't planned on updating this kitchen, but a water leak under the sink changed that plan.  As big of a pain as it was, I'm glad it's done.  I'm happy with how it turned out overall, and I think it's a definite improvement over our '70s white laminate.

So, I guess you'd like to see some before and after pics?  Well, okay...

In case you're wondering, the floors haven't changed other than a good grout cleaning.  I think the lighting and my camera's white balance setting were just a bit off today.

 

Another before...

 

And after...

 

Here are a few closeup pictures...

 

 

I like our new spice shelf and it's fun to be able to display the cute Anthropologie dishes I got for Christmas.

 

 

I love, love, love my new sink area.  I love the under mounted deep single sink and the awesome pull down Delta faucet.  It makes doing dishes (one of my least favorite chores) bearable.

 

We originally were going to use silver pulls, but I'm glad we went with the oil rubbed bronze on everything (including the outlet covers).  It pulls together the black on the appliances and the dark countertops. 

 

We lost some functional storage by keeping the corner cabinet open, but we decided to add storage above the refrigerator for a more built-in look.  And while we tried to work with most of our existing cabinets (other than building new doors), the top cabinet beside the refrigerator was rebuilt to extend to the ceiling.

 

So, what do you think?  I think we did a good job incorporating the ideas from my Pinterest board.  Now we can just never move since this kitchen was built to our exact tastes. :)

Honey, I Think We Have a 'Coon in the Attic

Over a week ago I told Jason that I thought we had a critter in the attic.  It started when I heard what sounded like a cat stomping around on the roof.  I didn't think too much of it the first time I heard it.  The next day, however, I heard the stomping again, followed by the sound of rustling papers.  We took a look outside and sure enough, our soffit had been pulled back and you could see that our insulation had been pulled up.

 

We immediately feared the worse: opossums.  Because what's worse than a opossum, right?  Horrible little creatures. 

 

So, we did what any uninformed homeowner would do in this situation and turned to Google.  After a few searches, we were nearly convinced we had a raccoon.  Apparently, opossums are too lazy to create the type of damage done to our soffit. 

 

Hoping to save a bit of money, we sent a request to our neighborhood message board asking if anyone had any suggestions of how to solve the problem.  A few neighbors offered us their traps.  We spent two unsuccessful nights trying to lure the raccoon into a trap using marshmallows.

 

Meanwhile, I had actually heard the raccoon a few times.  Another quick Google search confirmed what I was hearing.  (Click here and listen to the "Coo" sound.)  However, on about day four of the adventure, we started hearing a different sound.  (Click the "Sad Baby Raccoon" soundbite.)  Yep, our raccoon friend had babies in our attic.

 

With babies in the mix, we decided to call in the professionals.  Another neighbor had suggested calling a wildlife control expert to help us.  When I heard he was an Aggie, I was sold.  So, our raccoon expert met me one afternoon to access the situation.  Since we had already been unsuccessful trying to catch the raccoon, we decided on another route.  We put a couple of towels soaked in male raccoon scent in the attic.  The male scent should have put the momma raccoon in protective mode and made her move her and her babies to a different location. 

 

Our wildlife guy taped the hole in our soffit with painter's tape so we could make sure she had left the next night.  (She could have easily ripped through the tape to get out.)  However, the tape was never torn.  We figured either 1) something had happened to the momma the last time she went out to hunt or 2) she was staying in and nursing her babies, not taking a break to eat.  After a few nights of no evidence that she was going in or out (and several nights of screaming raccoon babies keeping us up), our wildlife expert came back to fetch the babies.

 

 

Luckily, the babies were still alive.  Pretty weak and very hungry, but alive.  There were only two of them - a brother and a sister.  He's going to take them to a rehabilitation center so they can regain strength and live long and happy lives.  (I really hope this wasn't a "I'm taking them to the happy farm" type of story, and there really is a rehabilitation center.)

 

 

Aren't they cute in that ugly/ cute type of way?

 

So, you might be asking yourself why Jason or I didn't just crawl up in the attic ourselves.  Well, we both have an illogical fear of wild creatures in the attic.  Sure, we can camp in the Alaskan wild for over a week, but crawl up in the attic, heck no!  Makes tons of sense, huh?

 

Oh well, problem solved.  Life in this house never fails to be interesting.

Love. Run. Marathon.

Today Jason and I ran the Love. Run. Marathon trail race up in Huntsville State Park.  Jason ran the 10k and I ran the Half Marathon.  Wait, wait... that's not right.  Jason ran the Half Marathon and I ran the 10k.  Ok, back on track.

Since the race started at 8 am, we camped at the park last night.  I didn't get a picture of our campsite set up, but it was right by the lake.  Pretty nice.

Anyway, Jason did freaking awesome in the Half Marathon.  Third overall and 1st in his age group.

I, on the other hand, did about average.  And hooray for that, right? 

I think I'm retiring from trail running for awhile.  My knees need a break.  Back to running on the track at the Y for awhile. 

Fredericksburg 2013

This weekend we packed our bags and headed to Fredericksburg for our third annual Hill Country Vacation.  Our other trips were in August 2010 and January 2012.  It's always such a relaxing trip.

On Friday, we chilled at the cabin for the bit and enjoyed watching the deer at the feeder.

 

Then we visited Messina Hof winery and walked around a few of the art galleries on the First Friday Art Walk before eating dinner at Pasta Bella.  Yum, it was good Italian food.

Saturday morning we woke up and jogged the trail around Enchanted Rock.  I put in about 4 miles and Jason ran about 7.5.  It was a nice trail, but I'm not a huge fan of running on crushed granite. 

 

Then, Jason's brothers met us to hike for a bit. Once at the top of the rock, Jason and Jordan went down into the caves, but Jared and I made our way down the steep side of the rock. My knees are still sore!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After hiking, we grilled some steaks and fajitas back at the cabin.  Jason's brothers joined us for dinner and hung out for a bit. 

 

It seems like every time we go, we never want to leave.  I guess that's why we keep going back year after year.

Sewing Machine Cover

I've heard that you need to keep your sewing machine free of dust to keep it running well, but instead of buying a cover or case, I decided that my first sewing project would be an easy-to-make fabric cover.  I followed this tutorial and in just a few short hours I had a cute new cover for my machine.

First, I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up some fabric.  These is a great project for scrap pieces of fabric that you have leftover, but I wanted it to match the rest of the room.

Once I was back at home, I laid the fabric on the floor as I cut and pinned it, and Radar must have thought I was making him a new bed.  Lazy dog.

 

 

Once it was all pinned, it was just a few minutes of sewing before I was finished.

 

I also used the fabric to make a few new wall decorations.  Cozy little craft corner, isn't it?  I bought the chair last weekend at an antique store for $20.  I had to rebuild the cushion, but that was a fairly easy project.  Bought the wood at Home Depot, covered it with batting and fabric which I stapled in place.  I still need to figure out how to screw it to the chair (right now it's just sitting on there willy-nilly), but it works for now.

Oh, we got a new rug for the room as well.  I like how the room has slowly developed since we first moved in.  Of course, the corner of the room out of view is filled with bikes and exercise equipment, but at least the rest of it is looking nice.

Adventures in Sewing

Since I had the day off today, I decided to set up my sewing machine and try my hand at a little sewing.  First, I had to figure out how to thread the dang thing.  Only 32 steps later and I was ready to go.  After playing around with the different stitches a bit, I decided to try to hem a pair of pajama pants I got for Christmas.

I must have remembered some of the stuff my mom had taught me about sewing when I was younger, because it came pretty naturally.  I measured, cut, rolled a new hem, pinned in place, ironed, and started to sew.

 

 




















For my first sewing project, I thought I did pretty well.  So, of course, I texted my mom to brag. 

 

And being the good mother that she is, she complimented my straight lines.  I'm excited to tackle my next project... whatever that may be!

Jason's Marathon

Jason did it!  He completed his first marathon! 

And I survived spectating in the cold and rain!

Jason's mom and grandma joined me to watch the race.  Our first viewing spot was mile 3 in front of Jeff Davis High School.  It was still dark and raining pretty hard.  Here are some pictures as the marathon started.



Around minute 21, I finally spotted him. He was still in the hoards at that point since the marathon and half marathon runners started together.  These aren't the greatest pictures since I was trying not to miss seeing him and dealing with the rain at the same time.  Just look for the green jacket, and that's him. 

Our next stop was the corner of Richmond and Montrose around mile 9. The half marathon runners had just turned around to head back downtown, so the pack of runners was a little easier to track.  We were glad to see him in good spirits at mile 9.

 

 

Then we headed to mile 16 at San Felipe and Post Oak.  He was still with the same group at that point. 

 

 

Our final stop of the day was the finish line at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Half marathon runners were still coming in strong and the marathon runners were trickling in.

 

 

At least it had stopped raining, but it felt colder than when the race started at 7 am.  Jason's final time was 3 hours 10 minutes.  That equates to about a 7 minute 15 second pace.  Pretty darn good if you ask me, especially considering the weather.