Off to Mexico

For all intensive purposes...

... the master bedroom is "done". We have moved back into the room and just need to do the pictures and all that jazz. Here is a sneak preview of the "finished room".


Today I will work on the guest room and getting things finished up around the house. I still need to paint the furniture but that can wait a day. Stay tuned for completed room pictures!

Painting is done!!!!

Yay! Painting is done in the master bedroom! I am so relieved that I am taking a minute to relax! We might try to move into the room tonight, but I really want to let the rug dry. Yes, I also shampooed the carpet with a rented RugDoctor. It looks great! Only about 48 hours until my "deadline" to be done everything.

Yay! The paint is done!

A closer look at the chair rail. Ya, we ended up using nails since the adhesive wasn't working to my liking. I only hit my thumb once!

I paid one of my store associates to do the yard... she and her boyfriend raked the entire yard and picked up every single piece of Dutchie poop. Thank you to that person as that saved me a ton of stress!

Here is the list of things that I need to get done in the next 48 hours:

• move furniture into bedrooms
• rewire new outlets so that they match the walls
  
• hang stuff on walls
• repaint nightstands to match newly painted bedroom
• hang closet organizers and move stuff into the closet
• wash new bedding
• assemble new patio set
• CLEAN! THIS HOUSE IS A DISASTER!
• staple down carpet on porch

For all intensive purposes, that is the list for now. I am sure I will have tons of more minor things that I will be doing.

Stay tuned for pictures of finished rooms!

Tuesday in review

So, another day off spent doing everything but relaxing! I can't wait for this repainting of the bedrooms fiasco to be done!!!

Today I did accomplish a great deal. See my previous post to see my progress. In addition to the list I also rehung the door. No more walking over gates!

I would like to say thank you to the dads (my Dad and Dave) for helping me complete this project. My dad is out of commission due to shoulder surgery so he lent me the tools and Dave came over to help me measure and cut the chair rails. There is only one coat on one piece of chair rail left and then the painting is DONE!! Well, done until we get back from Mexico and convert the small guest bedroom into the office area.

The remainder of the indoor tasks include:

• painting the last piece of chair rail
• making the level line on the wall to hang the chair rail
• hang the chair rail
• vacuum and shampoo carpet
• decide what furniture will go in what room and paint to appropriate color for said room
• hang pictures and shelves in both finished rooms
• wash new bedding
• get appropriate light bulbs for lamps I purchased at Ikea a few months back

Outdoor tasks:

• pick up the poop (huge priority)
• rake
• call for termite treatment
• fertilize
• put together new patio set that I purchased on Monday night after work (thanks Phil!)
• remove leaves from grilling area

Of course all of this will be followed by cleaning the house to a spotless level and ensuring the fridge is clean before we leave. I am sure Meghan and Bryan Mc don't want to deal with my moldy leftovers!

Tuesday...

... is full of "fun". I am determined to get the red room nearly done today. Here is what is left:

• paint heater (I just put the primer coat on)
• sand window
• paint trim of window
• sand door
• paint door
• practice with chair rail in mitre box (not sure I spelled that correctly)
• measure out chair rail and cut
• paint chair rail
• hang chair rail
• vacuum carpet
• wash carpet
• wash new bedding
• decide which furniture will end up in which room and paint to match said room

This is what needs to get done outside prior to Sunday so that we can have a good day off prior to going to Mexico:

• Pick up dog doodie
• rake lawn (I know I am very late on this)
• put down organic fertilizer (or no fertilizer if I can't find some)
• get leaves out from under porch and away from the grill
• put together new patio set
• clean porch (sweep and staple down carpet)
• fluff mulch
• call for termite treatment (huge priority!)

So, needless to say I will be busy today!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a happy Easter! James and I enjoyed our day by working on the bedroom (what a shock), then rushing to get to my parents' as we were an hour late and then to his parents' house for the evening. It was a long day and we were in bed and sleeping before 10! So much for the restful day we had hoped for! But, it was great seeing all of our family and spending time with them. And I participated in my first egg tapping contest. I came in 3rd (I think). It is pretty fun to smack egg tips together and see who has the strongest egg!

Thanks to everyone for hosting us!

What a difference...

... two coats of Sherwin William's paint makes! We have officially finished painting the red, white, and all the trim except the window and the baseboard heater... oh and the door. Those are in progress. We took the tape down today and what a massive difference in brightness the room! All we need to do now is get the chair rail up and wash the carpet!

This is after the first piece of tape came down. The stripe in the middle is the old wall color. What a difference!

Someone likes to spoon...

... guess who? Both Dutch and Zee like to spoon with me in bed. Zee was on Dutch's bed today and Dutch must have wanted to reclaim it so he spooned her! She got up a few minutes later.

Dutch was saying "This is my bed and I am reclaiming it!"

Dutch decided to get a bit more comfy.

The red is...

... DONE! We barely squeaked by with 1 gallon of Sherwin Williams blend of red paint. There are only a few drips left so it was well worth the money to buy the good paint. Now, tomorrow will be the white on the heating baseboard and the first coat of white on the wall. Perhaps if we are lucky we can get two coats of white on the walls!

Look at this glorious red!

You get what you pay for!

Just an update on the painting. After 4 coats of Behr paint, I was not satisfied with the quality of the paint. The color was not coming through and the way it fell on the wall was lumpy. So, after going through 2 gallons James suggested that we go to Sherwin Williams. Oh my gosh. They had a better match to the color I wanted and they were willing to mix a gallon for me to see and if it didn't look like the color I wanted he wouldn't charge me. It was the perfect color and he recommended how to fix our problem.

One coat later the walls in my room are 100% better! It seems like the Behr paint is clear and the Sherwin Williams paint is thick and creamy. Way better coverage. So, we should be done the red tomorrow before bed.

This is the color of the room before painting. The primer brand is Zap. Notice the great coverage! Take note of the color of the red on the wall pre-Behr.

This is after 4 coats of the Behr red. It is very thin and you can see the lines on the wall from the roller. The edging was not drying as the same color as the wall. The red is supposed to be a bright red... this is coming out as a maroon with some red splashed over it.
OK, this is after 1 coat of the Sherwin Williams. It looks pink due to the flash, but it is a bright red. Just think candy apple. You can see the contrast to the 4 coats of Behr.

So, long story short. Spend the money on good paint at a place where the staff is trained to get you the best results.

This is a shot of the guest room after the painting is done. The final step was washing the carpet. This is our temporary room while the master bedroom is being painted.

Looks like I am not the only one who likes the king size pillow top bed!

The painting continues...

My camera is temporarily missing in action as my house it turned up side down due to the painting. When I find my camera I will post pictures! But for now, here is the update. Red is not an easy color to paint. My master bedroom was already a deep red, almost maroon and it is being covered in "California Poppy" which is a bright and vibrant red on the top part of the room and "Billowy Clouds" on the bottom. There will be a chair rail separating the two colors.

Here is how the battle has gone so far. While painting the guest room (the former green room that is now "Slender Reed") we used Killz primer. It took 3 or 4 coats to cover the green. Our friend Jason swore by Zap brand primer. I couldn't find it at HD and then I was just poking around Lowe's the other day and there it was. I got a gallon to try on the bottom half of the red room. Oh my word, Zap is the best primer on the market. I did two coats of this primer and the red is completely covered and the walls are bright white! Zap is the way to go if you are priming anything. Trust me!

So today red coats number 3 and 4 are going up and hopefully that will be enough. I had to purchase gallon number 2 of the red last night on my way home from work and hopefully that is enough!

New Favorite Snack!

Dutch has a new favorite snack! He needs to eat healthy so he is pretty limited to apples, broccoli, bananas, and other fruits and veggies. He gets a bone from time to time or an organic dog biscuit but nothing tops his new favorite combo. I came up with this the other night and he seems to really enjoy it and has now learned where the apple sauce and peanut butter are kept and stares at the fridge.

Bananas with organic apple sauce and organic peanut butter - all mixed up!

Dutch normally inhales his food but he seems to savor this snack... long slow licks! He has been a bit depressed these past few days so I am happy to indulge him in a healthy treat once in a while.

Need motivation...

I can't get in the mood to paint! James has done so much work on the rooms and I have only done one coat of primer. I want to be done painting this spare bedroom by this Sunday night. My plan is to be 100% done with the guest room by next week... this means painting, washing the carpet, moving furniture and getting the pictures hung up. I think this will be done by Wednesday at the latest but that is if I get motivated! We need to be done both this room and our bedroom before we go to Mexico in 5 weeks! Then when we get back the third bedroom will be made into an office/study room.

Finally done!

Today is the last day of the last class that I need for my Master's Certificate in HR Management!!!! I just need to deliver my presentation, which is fun filled, and that is it! Of course I finished my paper and presentation yesterday morning so I have all day to do stuff around the house! And, I can enjoy my days off for the next few months.

I now have 7 classes to go to complete my Master's in Organizational Leadership. I will be taking a class on non-profit management this summer and I am honestly psyched to take this class. It is with my favorite prof and it is a subject that I am very interested in. Woo Hoo!

Is spring here?

I was so excited to hear that the weather is going to be great over the next few days! Then I became depressed because I have too much to do inside to enjoy a hike on my day off tomorrow. But, that doesn't mean that Dutch can't enjoy some fresh air! After his morning nap he looked out the back door and decided he wanted to go out... to sun himself. So, I got him his "messy bed" and out he went!

Ahhh, this is the life!

Yes, Dutch has his own body pillow. He needs his comfort.

My old man...

Dutch is 7, which we all know. He enjoyed his birthday party in January and enjoyed his annual vet appointment last week. He received his next 3 year rabies shot, kennel cough booster, and gave blood for the now "annual blood screening". Turns out Dutch is on the road to hypothyroidism. So, we watch for lethargy, lack of appetite, and major hair loss. Until then we will live our life as normal.

5% cashback!!

For those of you with a Discover card, say thank you now! I was checking my online statement and noticed the "informational advertisement" on the right side of the web page stating that you can get 5% cash back on travel, fashion, and warehouse club purchases. I clicked on it and sure enough all you have to do is click a button to notify Discover that you want to save 5% during the specified period instead of 1%! Everyone shops at these stores so why not use your Discover card and get extra cash back? Jan - March has 5% back on airlines, hotels, car rentals, and cruises. Perhaps I should book my cruise by March 31 and get 5% back on a maximum purchase of $800. That is an extra $40 in my pocket.

• March is 5% back on warehouse clubs.

• April - June is 5% back on home and fashion purchases.

• July - September is 5% back on gas, theme parks, and hotels.

If you have a Discover card and plan on making purchases that involve any of the above items, go to your account page and sign up to get this extra bonus!! It is free so take advantage!

It's a girl!

I think this is the second "It's a girl!" post in 6 weeks, right? James is the proud new uncle to Nella Mitchell, born at 3:23 am! She is a peanut at just under 6 pounds and a 1/4 inch shy of 19" in length. Mommy and Daddy didn't know what they were having - she was nice to give them a double surprise by showing up a few weeks early! I know that Nella will be loved by all and that there will be plenty of good times ahead. Congrats to the proud new family!

Change is coming!

Time to make things my own! I have not done a thing to my house since I moved in besides putting on a new roof and putting sheet rock in the laundry room. So, I decided that I wanted to redo the bedrooms - all 3 of them! We are starting with the new guest bedroom. This is the former room of Mike, my old roomie. I love this green that a former roomie put in here. I hate to get rid of it, but it needs another coat and the nautical decor that I already have won't go well with green. So, the color will now be "slender reed" when we are done - a beachy tan. James is shown here getting ready to paint the ceiling. That is now done and I put up one of a few coats of primer so that the green won't show through. Meghan will hopefully like this new room when she moves in later in April!

Town Fair Tire dinner

I had to dress up this weekend. I really don't enjoy dressing up - that is no secret. But, I clean up well and I found out that James cleans up well too! We looked really great for one reason, the Town Fair Tire year end dinner.

Look, we are not in jeans!

The shrimp were bigger than James' thumb!

James received an award for his store reaching $2M. It was his first year being open so this number should be bigger next year!

Polishing his award in the hotel room.
Look how proud he is. I am proud of him too!

The evening was great. I had a lot of fun and it really was fun getting all dressed up with James. I am looking forward to next year's dinner!!