10 days later ....

Well, here is what 10 days can do to a bathroom remodel:

Glass block window complete and tiling of the shower / bath started.

Shower tile was installed ... with fun accent strip.  Plumber called in to install proper pipes and rerouting of shower plumbing.

Then, 6.5ft tall wainscoting has been installed to go around entire rest of the bathroom.  At this point it looks REALLY WHITE!

Parts of the walls that were to be repainted were Kilzed and then painted a lovely "outdoor cafe" color - it's a grayish/blue that I used in the baby's room as well.

At this point, the wainscoating needs to be finished, vanity lights and micro needs installed and trimmed.  Trim needs to be added to top of wainscoat and floor tile trim needs to be finished, more grouting, caulking of the corners of the shower, and of course tile grout needs to be sealed on floor and shower.  Oh, and of course, the new toilet and old sink need to be put back in...

For such a small space, it is a WHOLE LOTTA work!

Kitchen Remodel - DONE (well almost)!

Remember this kitchen? Well, now check out THIS kitchen! I am very, very proud of this! It was a team effort - without the patience and help (lots of it) of Jim and my mom, this would not have happened in this decade. Without the craft skills of Woodstock Cabinets (Clark and Dad) we wouldn't have the pretty new cabinet doors. Without mom and I's mad painting skills they wouldn't be this pretty white. Without my husbands love of demolition, the wall would still be there and without our buddy Scotty, we wouldn't have our pretty new butcher block counter tops. The list could go on and on ...

(If find it ironic that the items on the counter are baby sippy cups and a glass of wine -oops!)

I installed the drawers - and hardware - all by myself! It was a 10-step process including custom holes, 2 different drill bits, levels, balancing, liquid nails, and oh so much more! Yay me!

All that's missing are 2 knobs for 2 of the doors - I seemed to have mis-calculated during our rushed fiasco in Seattle Ikea.... Thanks for friends in Portland who are picking us up the missing knobs this weekend!

Dear Dirtbag Renters,

I don't pretend to enjoy being a landlord, never really have and probably never will. I do however claim to be a very positive person who chooses to see the best in people and gives everyone a chance. This is starting to change.

Did I give you 2 months to pay your security deposit? Why, yes I did. I believed your sob story and thought I could give you a bit of help. Did I let you pay rent late WITHOUT charging late fees in the month of December? Why, yes I did - it was the Holiday. Who doesn't like playing Santa Clause. Did I bite my tongue and not tell you that you were an IDIOT when the reason you couldn't pay rent on time in December was because you had a $700 power bill in a 1,000 square foot home? Why, yes I did. I assumed you might figure out that you can't keep a heater at 75 degrees in Montana all winter. Instead of rolling my eyes, hanging up the phone, and handing you a bill for late fees, I nicely suggested that you use heating blankets, not walk around naked, maybe keep some doors shut to rooms you aren't using, put some plastic on the windows...

You quit taking my calls in December when you still owed me the other 1/2 of the deposit, you proceeded to not return any of my 12 calls since then. You failed to send us a single penny for rent in January as well. $1400 you owed us! You then became a SQUATTER, trespassing on my property. Did I mention that you suck?

When Peter went to the house this morning to inform you that must be out of the house February 1st, to our surprise (were we really surprised) and disappointment (were we really disappointed) you had up and moved out. Wow, so is that how you do things? You just choose to not pay rent or pay your bills, give no explanations, and then leave a home in the middle of the night? If I had only known this bit of information! All the stress I could have saved myself over the years trying to pay bills on time and being responsible!

You tried to stick it to us one last time before leaving by setting the heat as high as you could make it... Silly ignorant person, did you know that YOU are responsible for that bill? You never took the billing out of your name and I didn't have proof you were out of the house until today... I also hear that you can't get heat turned on in any place you live from here on out until that bill is paid to the power company. They will surely be much more persistant than I could be to get their money.

Oops, too bad. I hope you know that Kharma is guaranteed! Best of luck to you in your exploits and future ambitions of taking advantage of nice people.

Sincerely,

Your Landlords

PS - Anyone reading this need a place to live? Can you please not abandon the house and pay rent on time?

Best Deals at Costco!

We did our monthly costco trip yesterday. Dog food, cheese, butter, TP, razors, large bags of chips (for Peter), and in my case an accidental purchase of TWO LARGE bottles of conditioner (I thought it would be a bottle of shampoo and conditioner) - oops. But did you know they are selling such fashionable little people now too?

Matine preferred to stand up in the cart the entire time. Had lots of fun. So did the other customers. It took us a while to navigate all the isles without propelling her out of the cart and dodging all the admirers.

As you can see behind the purchased baby, we got a new rug for the living room! My Crate and Barrell cotton rag rug that I have had since my freshman year of COLLEGE has finally grossed me out enough and unraveled to the point of no repair. Hence, I now have a grown up rug that is clean, easy to vacuum and complements the nice orange/browns and greens for our primary living space. Matine loves the softness of it and can really crawl fast now. Plus, there's the added bonus of not having her clothes turn black and hairy when she crawls any more. Yay!

Goodbye Forever Ugly Floor

Remember this? This hideous stick-um vinyl flooring has literally made me shudder for 3 years! I hate this floor. It's ugly. It shows every single speck of hair or dirt that laid upon it and it was so cheaply done that it is peeling up in places.

This floor covers our bathroom, kitchen and kitchen/living area -- so roughly 1/2 the house.

We can't afford fancy new floors right now, but we could splurge for some good ol' porch/patio paint! My mother graciously offered to paint the floor while we were in Dillon for 3 days. We realized that there was no way this would happen with 3 dogs going in and out. THANK YOU FAIRY GOD-MOTHER!

This is the bathroom floor -- painted "espresso."

And this is the living room, now brown, not blue and white checked (PLEASE IGNORE THE LITTLE DOG PAWS THAT YOU SEE TRAILING ACROSS)!

Brutus loves it. He also love the new love-seat that Mom and Jim sent our way. We now have an additional seating area upstairs in the room we typically hang out in the most.

Matine likes the new space too...

Fun Family Project

Remember this? This is the recycling center / entertaining buffet that my mother designed and Jim engineered in May.

Pete's super creative and talented cousin Marni is an amazing pottery person and had the genius idea of making tiles, custom designing them and tiling the unfinished project.

This last Sunday, she and Loni came over for some hanging out, dinner and artsy fun! We cut the tiles from the clay slabs that Marni had already made, put "slip" on them, drew designs and pictures into the tiles and had a blast!

When they are done they will be glazed white with all our designs in that pretty deep red clay color.

The whole family got their hands dirty and did some artistic creation! Even Peter!



Stay tuned for phase 2 of the project!

Thanks Marni!

Things I LOVE Today

Cinnamon toast and milk for my evening snack. I have always loved this meal. Yummm... It has been hitting the spot for about 3 days now.

Our NEW front door! The day we moved into our house the door broke and was jammed shut. It was a big clunky solid wood door with no windows. For over 2 years we have been using the side door which brings people into our kitchen. Last week, this lovely new door was installed by our friend Matson. It is gorgeous and I love being able to see out. It totally opens up our living room and is much more inviting for our lovely guests!

Oliver. He's just stinking cute and has been quite charming the last few days. He has decided to take a very strong interest in Matine lately too. Like Brutus, he follows us room to room, loves to give her kisses, makes sure she's sleeping soundly during nap time and even barked at a neighbor dog trying to protect her. Very cute. Our baby is growing up!

My new haircut! I promised Pete I wouldn't go above my shoulders, but I lost a good 10 inches and went back to my natural color! Well, I didn't "go back ot anything." However, with my highlights grown out to the bottom half of my hair, all that was left was my non-highlighted hair. Perfect for the summer!


I also love a man who isn't ashamed to wear my blue moon & star robe around while drinking morning coffee! He is one cute man.

I tried really hard to do one post without a baby picture... Well, I couldn't. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this girl. How adorable is that sleeping beauty?

2 Weeks Old and 2 YEARS Worth of Projects

The latest talk of the town - Jim and Kerri Bynum! Since they showed up on May 2nd, they have slaved joyously and worked so hard on projects around our house, our friend's homes, helped Peter with his ranch job, fix-it's on his rental house, and today Jim was even scheduled to help a neighbor with a construction project for a paying customer.

These two know how to get things done! I am amazed at all the things that have been done in this short month. Here are a FEW!!! Many, many more little odds and ends that I didn't bore you with pictures of. To add to the madness - Peter and Jim had to stop working on stuff at our house to gut and re-do Pete's rental house bathroom which finally bit the dust. Pete has to guide out of town for 2 days, so they have been there from 6am-midnight for 2 days trying to get it done. Couple that with working at the ranch here and there... We have hardly seen these two new best buds... They are working really hard and having a ball doing it.

Sauna project almost complete!

The brown, wooden box will be hung up and under the window - thanks to Mom's construction, painting and addition of the pretty flowers.

I finally planted my veggie garden... Soon it will be abundant with fresh edible goodness.

Mom's design and idea --- a "buffet" on our porch for when we entertain our friends with storage and uniform recycling bins.... Genius! Jim's super duper handy work had this thing built in a day.

Finally, the day has come - WE WILL HAVE A DISHWASHER and garbage disposal! Many of you have begged and asked when this would happen. Well, we finally had someone here that could cut the hole, run the electrical and do a really nice job of it. What you see is the "before." Today the dude from Lowe's is coming to install it.

A blog post wouldn't be complete without cutie pie pics of Matine.


Her faces are incredible. She gets more alert and animated every day!


This is me - LOVING every minute of this kid! We happened to be wearing matching outfits this day - not planned, I promise.

The room is ready . . . .

This picture is just because I think my husband is a HOTTIE and thought I would share how cute I think he was this morning. These are his favorite pants . . . No matter how many holes they acquire, I can't see him giving them up anytime soon!

Ok, so we keep "tweaking" the room and it's hard for me to walk past it anymore without going in it, moving something around, cleaning something up, or just admiring how CUTE everything is. I could spend days just looking at this kid's clothes!

This is a very large basket full of JUST SHOES that have been purchased or passed down to her! Some she won't even be able to wear for another 2 years . . . They are all so adorable!

This is the newest bed to grace our house. The Amby Bed. Given to us by my cousin Shannon, along with 70 cloth all-in-one Bum Genius diapers! She swears by this thing and says her child was sleeping through the night at 2 weeks or something crazy like that. It is supposed to mimic the movements of the womb and be very soothing for baby. It is also super portable and can be moved room to room or taken with you when you travel - that way baby always is "at home" with her sleeping - a point I do understand.

In addition to the Amby bed, we have her crib (thanks Cox family), a family heirloom cradle (thanks Howell family), and a Moses Basket (thanks Aunt Michele and mom). This kid has 4 different bed options! Which one will she like best?

Latest changes to the nursery - red bed skirt, some minor rearranging to give it a "roomier" feel, and some general organization. Also, the very basic (which I love) roman shades are now hung and keep the room nice and dark when we need it. This little girl will be able to open up her shades and check out her dad in the backyard, building her things!

Also added: my favorite pictures that are finally framed and hanging on the wall. These little pieces of art from Swedish artist, Camilla Engman, were really what started me down the path the nursery decorating took. I LOVE them.


This would be her closet... Just a FRACTION of all the clothes that we actually have. I have multiple boxes stored for things past 6 months of age. This kid is going to be well dressed!

What are we doing?

Well, funny you should ask! What do you do when you are 40 weeks plus 4 days, have family in town, and finally decided to quit working and "wait for baby."

You take sassy pregnant pictures.

You visit with your friends and learn the fine art of drinking beer WHILE nursing! Go Madeleine!

You watch your husband start and fly through a "small backyard project." Your job is to stay out of the way, consult on minor aesthetic questions like "can I cut down this tree to build a deck around it?" and jump quick when you hear, "we need more beer!"

Here is the sauna/toolshed/baby's playhouse framed and starting to have sides. (yes, Pete has called it all those things... not sure what he had in mind when he started building)

Today, should the weather hold out, the deck will go on around the structure!

In pregnancy news, we did have a Dr. appt on Wednesday and it was all good news! My cervix is "very soft" and her head is "very low." I have dropped alot since last week and he said at the appointment that "I will have this baby this week!" Now, that could mean by Friday (today), end of Sunday, or a 7-calendar day week (by next Thursday) - we have no idea! Regardless, we are anxious and excited. I can definitely feel things "moving" and changing nearly every minute of the day.

Spring Project 2009 - The Hot Steam Sauna

Men do things differently than women. I know it took me saying that just now on this little blog for everyone reading this to realize that.

As a woman, waiting for baby, my mom and I patiently keep my brain and energy directed towards cleaning pantries, rearranging furniture, planting flowers, cleaning the baby clothes . . . nesting.

Peter, the man in my life, waits for baby and keeps his mind busy by starting the construction of a massive hot steam sauna in the back yard, 1 day AFTER our baby is due. This is no small project, like hanging some pictures or fixing a railing. It is the construction of a major structure! It will be built up off the ground with a large deck surrounding it, walls, roof, insulation.

He was smart to use the family visitors as slave labor. Here he is with my two dads - Jim and Scott. If you could only imagine the dynamics of this trio . . . I love these 3 men more than any others in the entire world! If only Clark were here to complete this picture!

The base boards/beams for the floor going in - with Jim being a perfectionist with squaring things up and perfectly planned work, Pete being a good ol' hard hand and Scotty "directing" the project . . . things move quickly.

They ran into my old neighbor and friend Tom at the hardware store. Somehow Tom ended up over here and things really got cooking!

Above, is the barn raising of the 10 foot side of the sauna.

Here is the fearsome four . . . So proud. Let me remind you that this has all been accomplished in a day and a half!

This was the final product for the night. The sauna will nicely block the ugly view of the neighbor's house and give our backyard some privacy again. It will be a place for us to steam away our worries, relax with friends and as Pete points out a
"great playhouse for our little girl . . ." 5 years from now!

No one can tell me that men don't have their own "nesting" tendencies 2 days after a baby is due!