To my faithful reader(s) I would like to apologize for the delayed post. As alluded to previously there has been a lot of stuff going on. This has caused a couple of month delay in this post. Not to leave you in suspense I shall just tell you, we are moving to Chicago. We are very excited but it's incredibly stressful. Everything will be changing, including this blog. I'm not sure if I will just transition it to my new little teeny tiny apartment life or just hiatus it until we are back in a house.
Nonetheless there has been a lot of work happening on the house because we are going to sell it. This is also sad and exciting. I have loved working on this place but I would be completely lying if I didn't say that I am excited about taking a break. I can't even remember what it is like to just live in a space vs. working on it. I think once we get settled I will miss it but for now I am dwelling on only the positives in the future. I have enough negatives in the present (ie. where the hell are we going to live? is anyone going to hire me? will we be able to sell our house? do we have enough money/time to fix the house? etc. etc.)
Anyways, I will try to do a better job at updating as we work on projects. If I don't, don't hold it against me. The sole reason will be due to my sanity hanging by a thread!
Monday, December 22, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
More Lights
Ermygersh there has been soooooooo much going on lately. I can't even begin to tell you about it. I can't even... What I will tell you is about one teeny tiny project we have done in the midst of the out-of-controlness: We updated our bathroom light fixture... ta daaaaaa.
Actually, let's hold on the reveal because I want you to be prepared. First, I have a signature bad before photo (again, in the dark). It is the light that my super handsome-o husband is holding.
Second, we totally half-arsed it. As you will see here in the after shot the wall behind it needs to be patched. We will do this eventually but putting this light in was so annoying we just said screw if for now. This was because there was no light box. Jon had to go to Lowes Depot to get one and run the wires through. Whilst perusing the aisle guess who shows up, our electrician... awkward... Anyway, we got the thing up and I am just celebrating that for the time being, gosh stop being so judgmental!
Actually, let's hold on the reveal because I want you to be prepared. First, I have a signature bad before photo (again, in the dark). It is the light that my super handsome-o husband is holding.
Second, we totally half-arsed it. As you will see here in the after shot the wall behind it needs to be patched. We will do this eventually but putting this light in was so annoying we just said screw if for now. This was because there was no light box. Jon had to go to Lowes Depot to get one and run the wires through. Whilst perusing the aisle guess who shows up, our electrician... awkward... Anyway, we got the thing up and I am just celebrating that for the time being, gosh stop being so judgmental!
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Mustachioed Couple
This is a stretch for my housey themed blog. However, it has to do with my bathroom and it's fun!
I leave early in the morning to go to work so my husband is usually still in bed by the time I am gone. I like leaving him surprises. One day last week I decided to leave him a mustache on the window and this is the result. That is all. The end.
I leave early in the morning to go to work so my husband is usually still in bed by the time I am gone. I like leaving him surprises. One day last week I decided to leave him a mustache on the window and this is the result. That is all. The end.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Martha Freaking Stewart
After making my flag wreath (documented in a previous post) I realized that my home always needs a wreath welcoming guests. I have had my flag wreath up since the 4th of July and I was in desperate need for a change with the new Fall season. Last year I had bought some felt to make leaves out of but never got around to do it (like most of my projects). This year I thought I would actually do something with this felt so pinterested "how to make felt flowers." I came across this: How to Make Felt Flowers
I thought these were so cute so I was determined to make them. Unfortunately, I did not have a needle and thread so had to steal them from my mother. I spent an entire evening after work making these felt flowers. I thought that maybe I would get a wreath form and cover it in twine and then add them. The next day I went to Michaels and found a form but was unable to find the kind of twine I wanted (I'm sure they have it, I just HATE asking people questions in stores... it's a stupid complex). I did however go to the yarn section where I found this really warm looking grey yarn. I was sold.
I came home and covered the form in the yarn. I then tried to attach the flowers with small pins that I had bought. They were way too small to hold the flowers, which was super frustrating because I went back and forth on them about 34 times. Luckily, I remembered that I had some leftover pearl pins from a project I did years ago. I stuck those into the middle of the flowers and voila it looked great. I said that one of the learnings I have from this is that, like cake decorating, every craft looks better with pearls. :)
I promise you that this photo does not do the cuteness justice. It's super cute in person!
PS, I loved this yarn so much that I wanted to do something else with it. I had just bought some lanterns that were on sale so I thought I would try and cuten them up a little. End result:
Front porch with wreath in the door window and lanterns near the flowers (I need to get better at photo planning, ie. not taking them at night!):
I thought these were so cute so I was determined to make them. Unfortunately, I did not have a needle and thread so had to steal them from my mother. I spent an entire evening after work making these felt flowers. I thought that maybe I would get a wreath form and cover it in twine and then add them. The next day I went to Michaels and found a form but was unable to find the kind of twine I wanted (I'm sure they have it, I just HATE asking people questions in stores... it's a stupid complex). I did however go to the yarn section where I found this really warm looking grey yarn. I was sold.
I came home and covered the form in the yarn. I then tried to attach the flowers with small pins that I had bought. They were way too small to hold the flowers, which was super frustrating because I went back and forth on them about 34 times. Luckily, I remembered that I had some leftover pearl pins from a project I did years ago. I stuck those into the middle of the flowers and voila it looked great. I said that one of the learnings I have from this is that, like cake decorating, every craft looks better with pearls. :)
I promise you that this photo does not do the cuteness justice. It's super cute in person!
PS, I loved this yarn so much that I wanted to do something else with it. I had just bought some lanterns that were on sale so I thought I would try and cuten them up a little. End result:
Front porch with wreath in the door window and lanterns near the flowers (I need to get better at photo planning, ie. not taking them at night!):
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The Great Flower Wall of Annie's House
As you may recall from my previous posts, the outdoor spaces of my house have been a pretty giant headache for me. One particular headache, well, and back ache, hand ache, arm ache, leg ache and any other ache that one could possible have, was caused by the flowerbed wall along the front of my house. The crazy thing is that it wasn't even a project I had originally planned to take on. I loved that wall. I thought it added cute character to the house. What wasn't cute about it is that the idiot who built it, built it above the brick line... and then they filled it with dirt. So there was dirt sitting against the brick. Brick is porous. So guess what happened? Water damage. I don't mean to be a martyr here. I actually knew about this before I bought the house. It came up in the inspection report. (Another fun thing likely caused by this stupid wall was termites. They were not active but had the problem previously likely because, again, there was dirt up against where the foundation meets the brick).
Anyway, we had talked about tearing this thing down for a while. We had done a few preliminary digs to see how much work it would be and we actually did think it would be moderately difficult. When we dug down the front the cement just kept going. We knew they had put a footer in. Knowing there were going to be some challenges with this job, my mom and I waited until Jon was gone for the weekend to try it (this honestly was completely unintentional, I just wanted to get it done and I wasn't willing to wait. I might be a touch impatient).
My mom and I began on a Friday afternoon. We had bought a new sledgehammer and had rented a jackhammer from Lowes Depot. We took swing, after swing, after swing. We did this almost non-stop until it got dark. At which time, I was so intensely exhausted, I realized how much more difficult this wall was than we had originally thought. As I said, when we had begun we knew there was a cement footer under the wall. We didn't, however, realize there was rebar inside of that footer. Which made getting the cement out even more fun. Additionally, we rented the smallest jackhammer possible and it was still so heavy. And it got heavier and heavier as the evening wore on. Something I learned from this experience is that a jackhammer will allow you to continue hammering into one hole without moving. The issue with that is that the thing will get stuck and it's nearly impossible to move. This happened over and over again until we got the hang of it.
We quit for the day. I called my now husband and said I am in so much pain. I don't know how I did that for so long and I can't believe I have to get up and do it all over again. We weren't even close to being finished. The issue was that when I woke up the next day, the pain was intensely worse. Every single muscle in my body was incredibly sore. However, I am not what you would call a wuss so I popped a pill or 2 and started all over again, spending my entire Saturday doing the same. And then again on Sunday.
We worked on this until Sunday until the very last minute before I had to return the jackhammer to Lowes Depot. I'm not joking when I say the last minute. I had no time to fix my hair, wash my face off, nothing. I ran in there with this heavy thing. The cashier looks at me and just says, "Did that thing beat you up?" I couldn't stop laughing at him, because in all honesty, it did. I mean, it kicked my ass. My ass has never been beaten so badly.
In all honesty, we didn't even finish the thing that weekend. I don't feel too bad about that though as some of it was hidden. And, because when I say that there were footers, I mean there were footers. There wasn't just a straight one under the wall. There were what looked like cement out of buckets in the corners of the things that went down at least 3 and 1/2 feet. So, I think we have an excuse. We did however rent it one more time when Jon was there. There is a part of me that regrets doing that just because it was mine and my mom's thing but I also have a weird complex about claiming projects. I want to be the bad ass girl who can do things men can do (suck it men).
After weeks, months, maybe even a year or so we got rid of all the rubble (don't get me started on the disposal methods in this area). We are now wall, water, and termite free people. I am pretty proud. And I also got some awesome photos with my kickass mother during it. :)
Anyway, we had talked about tearing this thing down for a while. We had done a few preliminary digs to see how much work it would be and we actually did think it would be moderately difficult. When we dug down the front the cement just kept going. We knew they had put a footer in. Knowing there were going to be some challenges with this job, my mom and I waited until Jon was gone for the weekend to try it (this honestly was completely unintentional, I just wanted to get it done and I wasn't willing to wait. I might be a touch impatient).
My mom and I began on a Friday afternoon. We had bought a new sledgehammer and had rented a jackhammer from Lowes Depot. We took swing, after swing, after swing. We did this almost non-stop until it got dark. At which time, I was so intensely exhausted, I realized how much more difficult this wall was than we had originally thought. As I said, when we had begun we knew there was a cement footer under the wall. We didn't, however, realize there was rebar inside of that footer. Which made getting the cement out even more fun. Additionally, we rented the smallest jackhammer possible and it was still so heavy. And it got heavier and heavier as the evening wore on. Something I learned from this experience is that a jackhammer will allow you to continue hammering into one hole without moving. The issue with that is that the thing will get stuck and it's nearly impossible to move. This happened over and over again until we got the hang of it.
We quit for the day. I called my now husband and said I am in so much pain. I don't know how I did that for so long and I can't believe I have to get up and do it all over again. We weren't even close to being finished. The issue was that when I woke up the next day, the pain was intensely worse. Every single muscle in my body was incredibly sore. However, I am not what you would call a wuss so I popped a pill or 2 and started all over again, spending my entire Saturday doing the same. And then again on Sunday.
We worked on this until Sunday until the very last minute before I had to return the jackhammer to Lowes Depot. I'm not joking when I say the last minute. I had no time to fix my hair, wash my face off, nothing. I ran in there with this heavy thing. The cashier looks at me and just says, "Did that thing beat you up?" I couldn't stop laughing at him, because in all honesty, it did. I mean, it kicked my ass. My ass has never been beaten so badly.
In all honesty, we didn't even finish the thing that weekend. I don't feel too bad about that though as some of it was hidden. And, because when I say that there were footers, I mean there were footers. There wasn't just a straight one under the wall. There were what looked like cement out of buckets in the corners of the things that went down at least 3 and 1/2 feet. So, I think we have an excuse. We did however rent it one more time when Jon was there. There is a part of me that regrets doing that just because it was mine and my mom's thing but I also have a weird complex about claiming projects. I want to be the bad ass girl who can do things men can do (suck it men).
After weeks, months, maybe even a year or so we got rid of all the rubble (don't get me started on the disposal methods in this area). We are now wall, water, and termite free people. I am pretty proud. And I also got some awesome photos with my kickass mother during it. :)
My awesome friend Ellen helped for a while too! Totes women power this weekend!!
Sweet outfit I have on, I know. Hotskies! And who can't resist cotton balls in the ears??
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
All of the Lights
My bestie (who I would totally insult right now but am in fear of losing my one and only reader) was giving me a hard time for not posting for a month. I think it was mostly because she was tired of hearing me complain about how bored I am. Finally, she said you need to blog! You can thank her...
When I first moved into the house one of the worst things in here (there are OH, so many) were the freaking ugly, disgusting light fixtures. Every single fixture was horrendous. I wanted to rip them out immediately and replace all of them. My mom encouraged me to do it because she said they are pretty easy things to replace. Coming from my mother, that doesn't mean much. She builds walls, tiles, does minimal plumbing, etc. so her credibility on "easy" projects is very low. However, I thought I might as well try to put in new ones because the oldies were really just so horrible.
I called her one evening to come over and help. I believe the first one we removed was the master bedroom ceiling fan. It was one of those black and gold, early 90s fans (I think my brother had the exact same one in his room). We turned the electric off and carefully took the thing down. I realized at that moment how truly easy it was to remove them. We then had to put the new one in. Now, I will tell you that doing this was a learning that the ceiling fan box that claims, "Installed in 10 minutes!" is clearly for the experienced electrician, doing this every single day, and is in a race to complete it with the failing result of being murdered. I'm pretty sure it took us about 2 hours to install it. The thing is that it's a fairly easy install, it's just exhausting holding something heavy up over one's head. Plus, you have to put the right piece on at the right time or you have to take the whole damn thing apart which may or may not have happened once or twice during the process.
The other bad thing about ceiling fans is that there isn't one I have found that is actually really our style. All of them are pretty ugly so our happiness level with the result is moderate at best. But it's leaps above the previous fan!
The Before Fan (a little too late, the blades were thrown out! bonus is a mom cameo!) and After Fan:
This is our guest room. This old fan was so good. When you turned the fan on the strings would hit against the light globe to a nice rhythm. Also, the center of the blades were some sort of wicker! The new fan we are thinking about getting different globes for. They give off a weird yellow cast.
Before and After:
This is our guest room and our favorite of the okay ceiling fans.
Our hallway. The first non-ceiling fan fixture installation!
Aaaannnnd the biggest change, and our favorite by far! The ceiling fan blades were pointing downward! The after light took us forever to pick out but I still LOVE this light!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
TBT - Knocking Down a Flag Pole!
Another vintage post for your reading pleasure! Doesn't everything sound better when you call it vintage?? Happy throwback Thursday!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Flag Pole Down
This weekend has been a great success with regards to the yard. Jon was out of town so that helped a bunch. Jon was out of town so that helped a bunch. He typically hurts this (although there have been times when he has done a lot of work when I was working my two jobs and I couldn't help. So, I don't want to be accued of not giving credit where credit is due!) because he works a lot and never wants to do it and I am a wonderful wife and watn to spend time with him. He was out of town helping with some familial obligations so I decided to go out and get some work done. One of my favorite things is to work on something when he's not around so when he arrives it's a surprise. I think I like doing this because I LOVE surprises so I enjoy making them happen for others, no matter how small. However, this weekend was not small (albeit not THAT exciting).
As luck would have it, my mother called me on Saturday morning to ask me about coming to a Labor Day party on Monday. We got to talking about how Jon was out of town and how my yard is a horrible fricking disaster that I'm sure making my neighbors secretly hate me. She said well, I was planning on working on Rebecca's house today (my sister-in-law still owns a house from her former single life that my mom has been helping to fix up because she is the in-house maintenance lady ha) but I think I'm going to come help you. She stated that under the guise that it would be more fun but I think she just feels embarrassed that people she knows from church live by me and know we're related. Regardless, she headed over with her tools and we were underway ripping out the weed garden section of my yard around the flag pole. Yes, you read that right, the flag pole. The previous owner was in the military so I imagine he found it very important to proudly display the American flag. I, on the other hand, am lazy and don't have any motivation to do so. Therefore, it is a gigantic, rusty eyesore. Anywho, we worked on it for about 5 hours together less a lunch break and then she headed home.
The following morning I received another early morning call from my mom. Her ambitious self was on the phone asking me what I was doing that day. She said, want to take out the flag pole? Let me provide some additional details about this thing. The pole is screwed into a brace taht is cemented into the ground and with rusted screws it has been extra protected from movement. Jon and I have been dreading this task as we figured we would have to jack hammer it out and somehow keep it from falling on our house. Also, the pole is about 40 ft. tall and seemingly made of very heavy plumbing pipe. I begrudgingly said ok thinking that this was heading for disaster. A 65+ year old woman and a weak, lazy 27 year old are going to end up in the hospital and a hole in the roof of the house. However, I had apparently underestimated the magic materials that my mother would bring with her. Wetried to unscrew the screws but very quickly confirmed that the rust made it impossible. So, my mom whipped out this spray and voila, the screws twisted out. Soon, we found ourselves on the last one. As it loosened I began pushing on the pole and it began to fall... AND in the opposite direction of my house! Success! Until... it hit the tree limb and got stuck. Because I live in a town very similar to Mayberry, a neighbor man who lets us borrow his tools all of the time just happened to be walking by. He insisted on helping us and after a few short minutes the pole was safely on the ground... sans any personal injuries! This was a big win when it comes to my morale. Now I'm on the real mission to finish tearing out the flipping yard so that next year we can begin planting and no longer look like we live in an abandoned drug house. I really only have two more secionts left and I think I can get them done in the next week or so. Hopefully, I will have a fantastic update soon!
Oh, and btw Jon was surprised. He kept asking how we did it and I think is not-so-secretly happy that he didn't have to be a part of it. :)
Me pretending to hit the pole as it was stuck in the tree (great art direction by mom).
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Flag Pole Down
This weekend has been a great success with regards to the yard. Jon was out of town so that helped a bunch. Jon was out of town so that helped a bunch. He typically hurts this (although there have been times when he has done a lot of work when I was working my two jobs and I couldn't help. So, I don't want to be accued of not giving credit where credit is due!) because he works a lot and never wants to do it and I am a wonderful wife and watn to spend time with him. He was out of town helping with some familial obligations so I decided to go out and get some work done. One of my favorite things is to work on something when he's not around so when he arrives it's a surprise. I think I like doing this because I LOVE surprises so I enjoy making them happen for others, no matter how small. However, this weekend was not small (albeit not THAT exciting).
As luck would have it, my mother called me on Saturday morning to ask me about coming to a Labor Day party on Monday. We got to talking about how Jon was out of town and how my yard is a horrible fricking disaster that I'm sure making my neighbors secretly hate me. She said well, I was planning on working on Rebecca's house today (my sister-in-law still owns a house from her former single life that my mom has been helping to fix up because she is the in-house maintenance lady ha) but I think I'm going to come help you. She stated that under the guise that it would be more fun but I think she just feels embarrassed that people she knows from church live by me and know we're related. Regardless, she headed over with her tools and we were underway ripping out the weed garden section of my yard around the flag pole. Yes, you read that right, the flag pole. The previous owner was in the military so I imagine he found it very important to proudly display the American flag. I, on the other hand, am lazy and don't have any motivation to do so. Therefore, it is a gigantic, rusty eyesore. Anywho, we worked on it for about 5 hours together less a lunch break and then she headed home.
The following morning I received another early morning call from my mom. Her ambitious self was on the phone asking me what I was doing that day. She said, want to take out the flag pole? Let me provide some additional details about this thing. The pole is screwed into a brace taht is cemented into the ground and with rusted screws it has been extra protected from movement. Jon and I have been dreading this task as we figured we would have to jack hammer it out and somehow keep it from falling on our house. Also, the pole is about 40 ft. tall and seemingly made of very heavy plumbing pipe. I begrudgingly said ok thinking that this was heading for disaster. A 65+ year old woman and a weak, lazy 27 year old are going to end up in the hospital and a hole in the roof of the house. However, I had apparently underestimated the magic materials that my mother would bring with her. Wetried to unscrew the screws but very quickly confirmed that the rust made it impossible. So, my mom whipped out this spray and voila, the screws twisted out. Soon, we found ourselves on the last one. As it loosened I began pushing on the pole and it began to fall... AND in the opposite direction of my house! Success! Until... it hit the tree limb and got stuck. Because I live in a town very similar to Mayberry, a neighbor man who lets us borrow his tools all of the time just happened to be walking by. He insisted on helping us and after a few short minutes the pole was safely on the ground... sans any personal injuries! This was a big win when it comes to my morale. Now I'm on the real mission to finish tearing out the flipping yard so that next year we can begin planting and no longer look like we live in an abandoned drug house. I really only have two more secionts left and I think I can get them done in the next week or so. Hopefully, I will have a fantastic update soon!
Oh, and btw Jon was surprised. He kept asking how we did it and I think is not-so-secretly happy that he didn't have to be a part of it. :)
Me pretending to hit the pole as it was stuck in the tree (great art direction by mom).
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