one week.

we have been homeowners for ONE WEEK. can you believe that?? its seems like it has been forever since we got the keys. so much has happened. we are so glad you are all enjoying following along. the cheerleading is extremely motivating... keep the good vibes coming!

not as many pictures today...i think im to the point of exhaustion that finding and picking up the camera is too much extra work. its all getting done though!

yup folks. thats me... using a table saw. no.big.deal.

today we focused on laying the laminate. we had a few, let's call them 'issues' so we didn't get as far as we'd hoped. when G got off work it went much faster

made some good progress

my friend sarah came over on her second day of summer (she is a teacher) to help us primer...she did the whole kitchen and dining room in record time. mom finished up this wall and the hallway tonight.

you like?? although laying this stuff can be frustrating i think it is going to be so worth it. we have started getting in a pretty good rhythm. G and mom are filling in the last of the holes (we think...) 

tomorrow we are taking a little breather from the house. G has to work a full day (he has been working half days most of the week). mom and i are going to tour campus and then go antiquing. i can't wait! 

even more...

tuesday...

painting ALL day long. i'm talking til 3am long. i would have met my (self imposed) deadline if the guy at lowes hadn't mixed my touchup paint for the craft room incorrectly. g continued prepping to lay the laminate and he also worked.

wednesday...

 

our first row is started!!

the carpet is in (and looks good with our paint colors)!!

i made him pose with his first row. he worked SO hard to get this flooring right. 

yay! mama is here. she came straight from the airport ready to work... we may or may not have kept her at the house til 2am...

there is no I in TEAM

we are exhausted, but excited. the progress on the floor has us all in much better spirits. 

progress

the day began with me taping (again...)

and G filling/sanding holes. these people must have had a ridiculous amount of stuff on their walls. seriously hundreds of holes. 

best line of the day: 

G - this room must have been a kid's room.

N - why?

G - i just sanded two boogers off the wall. 

so sick huh?? 

G's nemesis - the linoleum

my personalized roller extender. one of my weird quirks is that i can't stand the feel of 'raw wood' if its oiled, varnished, stained i'm fine, but just plain sanded wood? NO WAY. touching it is like nails on a chalkboard. to avoid this feeling for the next week i wrapped the handle in painters tape and G tried tightening the top part with a few nails. 

heat gun & flat shovel thingy= G's best friends. now that the kitchen linoleum was up it was back to the entry way. 

meanwhile i primed. and primed. and primed. like the dusty, painty butt?

last room i needed to prime! (aka the booger room)

after much struggle and stating that he will forever pay someone to take up linoleum G got all of the glue off the slab in the entry. he worked so hard and did such a great job.

yesterday we left the house feeling like there was little hope in getting everything done according to our timeline, but today we made some huge progress. i am totally confident that i can get all three bedrooms painted tomorrow (since i was able to tape and prime them all today) so that the carpet can be installed wednesday. G will start laying laminate tomorrow night and we'll just have to see where that one takes us. 

we've been working over there about 12 hours a day so we are surely exhausted. and SORE (if anything falls its every man for himself... no one wants to bend over). that being said we love that we are able to put a little of us into this place. 

scenes from the weekend

G spent most of the weekend removing each and everything that was nailed, screwed, or otherwise attached to the house. including but not limited to... blinds, door knobs, lights, shelves, switch plates... 

i painted. it took forever, but it didn't seem like i had much to show for my efforts. this scene would only be better if the cup said DUTCH BROTHERS on it

master bedroom... moldings done and almost everything off the walls

taking up the tack strips from the carpet

still painting moldings... this was my last bedroom...i was pretty pumped. 

where are the appliances?

in the living/dining room...no big deal.

last to come out was the dishwasher  (i have no idea why this is underlined!)

round two of testing paint colors. round one resulted in 1 out of 5 being something we like

tearing up the entryway linoleum...not easy. G has some new methods to try out today though!

wish us luck...

by wednesday we need all the bedrooms primed and painted so the carpet can be installed.

by sunday we need to have the laminate down and the moldings/doors painted in the rest of the house. we'd like to have all the walls painted too, but that one might be stretching it. did i mention a week from tomorrow G leaves for ACSM and i start school? its going to be insane. 

the first 30hrs...

WARNING: picture heavy post.

just after signing our lives away...we look surprisingly happy

our house number

goin' in

here is a little video we took as we went in to the house. i don't know what my deal is but lately i'm always holding my camera at an angle...so it may be kind of dizzying. 

this and the next few pictures are reminiscent of the day we got the keys to our first apartment together....that was, amazingly, 2 years ago! you can see those pictures here. 

i don't know why, but i love this one. i'm so glad my husband indulges my photo shoots.

checkin' out our yard. it was beautiful here Thursday. yesterday... not so much. 

we spent most of the evening driving back and forth to lowe's getting our flooring. it was quite the ordeal... i found a coupon that would save us $115 but we had already purchased the flooring. had to return it all and then buy it again. worth the savings though. 

we spent the rest of the night on our futon attempting to stay awake past 10pm to watch Benjamin Button... we didn't last long. 

the next morning the guys came and pulled up all the carpet. just that made it look SO different. i spent the rest of the day cleaning. so SO gross. this dude did not keep a clean house. 

after we waited out the most intense rain i've ever seen at a starbucks G took all the switchplates off and i cleaned doors and started taping to prep for painting the moldings. 

most friday nights we go to happy hour with our friends (guys from G's work and their wives). its always really fun and only us and one other couple is american so its fun to learn about the other cultures. arturo on the left is from Peru, but went to school in Argentina he is a neonatal MD and then got his PhD here in the US. jaume on the right is from Spain and started around the same time G did. he is getting married  this summer. then we also have bruno and bruna (isn't that funny how their names are so similar?) they are from brazil. sara and aaron are american and from the midwest...we love them too. 

anyway... they brought happy hour to us last night. they stopped by to see the house and we had a few beers. apparently we can fit two grown men in our windowsills... who needs chairs??

as we were heading out for the night we had a new friend welcome us to the neighborhood. 

we are already exhausted, but definitely excited. on the list for today: 

• paint moldings and doors in bedrooms/bathrooms
• primer a patch in each room to test paint colors
  
• primer bedroom walls

let the fun begin!

we close on our house in 3 hours!! we are so excited and have planned a fun evening filled with wedding wine, take out, and a movie... all will be enjoyed from our futon mattress on the floor of our new HOUSE!

and as you can see we have lots of projects in the works...lets hope we can finish them in a week and a half!

UPDATED: and yes we survived the storm!