Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Weekend off...

Dave is a rascal.
So is my mother.
Faked me out Friday night. We went to a "football" game...which was really dinner at Roy's in Pasadena and a night at the Holiday Inn Express. We slept in until 10 am (that is at least 3 hours later than normal). I read a book and drank coffee in bed. We went out to lunch, Dave watched football at Barney's Beanery, and I shopped at the container store...it was amazing.

DInner... yum
book and morning sunlight

Sunday we were back to painting. Which I am happy to report is finally done! (Have I mentioned that I HATE painting?)



Rias was dedicated Sunday at church
Estimated move in time...some time next week.
with a fan to keep it cool...

Friday, October 24, 2008

4 years...

I know this is incredibly cheesy but yesterday was the four year mark. Four years ago Dave and I decided we should try the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. Actually, he told me he wanted me to be his girlfriend and then we sat on the couch and made up rules about what that meant. I told him he had to drive whenever we went anywhere. He told me I had to call him everyday. We decided that it would be a good idea. I guess it was cause here we are 4 years later, laughing about that night and all that we signed up for with that decision. I can't decide if that seems like a long time, or too short. I think its both. How did I sleep without Dave warming up the bed (thanks Kate and Hay and Lisa for being my lifetime bed buddies...) and yet four years: That is almost a 5th of my life!
So how did we spend out anniversary? Dave worked out at 5:30 am with his football players (I kept sleeping), went to work, went to the house and sanded and started to do the final coat of paint on the baseboards, went to practice, came home and went to a candle party (Dave was not in attendance, he was at a recruiting meeting) and finally heading back to the house to paint baseboards until midnight. Not very Anniversary-like. So at 12:30 we went to K-Mart and bought a bottle of wine and some Sam Adams winter lager, went home to watch the DVR'd Office, and relax. We were both asleep within 15 minutes....
PS. no we didnt paint our trim lime green...I just wanted to add a picture

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Frustration

I love projects. I love getting a whole bunch of stuff going and dreaming about how to finish it. I love pulling something together and feeling really good about it. I love my new house and it is finally coming together... but there are a few remaining details that are FRUSTRATING THE HECK OUT OF ME!!!!
I canceled cheer practice today so that I could paint our trim and baseboards. We picked it up yesterday, but I had homework and Dave had football. I spent an hour laying it all out, untangling extension chords and setting up the paint spray gun, mind you in 90 degree typical late October weather in So Cal. Start spraying. I get about three feet in and the thing just stops. So I readjust some things. Nothing. open up the manual and read all of the possible reasons and fixes, try them all. Thin out the paint. NOPE. Clean the pieces. Nothing. Change the spray head. Nada. sun is starting to set. I am getting tired and sweaty and thirsty. Decide I can be a trooper and just hand paint it all. Start to try, realize I will be checked into a mental hospital. Stop. Try to clean up all the while kicking rocks and pieces of scrap flooring. Not so much.
So I came home. I was going to get my curtains in between coats of paint. Came home instead. Was going to take a shower. Still sitting here in my paint clothes 2 hours later. Played with the dog, but I am so dang tired I hardly had any energy for that. I know I really have nothing to complain about but it was not a good time and it sent me down into the depths.
On a positive note, here are some pictures of the progress. Dave and I painted the entire house (two coats...3 bedrooms, a hallway, and the living room) from 6 pm Friday night til 5 am Saturday morning, then returned at 730 to start floors. A lot has gotten done.


New Fence!!! Our neighbors put it in



Painted hallway..



Our signature color...


beginning of the new floors...
Banana tree in the backyard
Oh my gosh...whose house is this?
and finally the big baby dog..with aunt Katie.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A little grace....

Once again I am amazed how God gives us exactly what we need when we need it. We just have to wait and be willing to listen to what exactly it is we need...

This is what I needed yesterday (Thank you Tamara)

2 Timothy 4
"1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

Things that are good: My house, my husband, my parents and parents-in-law, my dog, my job, my parents, my friends, being a vegan, blogs, and the weather. The other stuff is so minor but it gets so uncomfortable at times. I am grateful for perspective and being able to hold my tongue (most of the time.)

PS. we primered the entire house last night with the help of Mike and Tia (newlyweds!)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Updates..



Saturday morning. Kuma got shots. We got our laminate flooring. We decided, "What the heck, we might as well do the whole dang house. I mean what could that possibly cost us?" Well when Ikea has a sale on flooring and its 49cents a square foot, it only cost us 544$ to literally put wood floors through our entire has, except the bathroom. Dave was there at 7:30, first one in line, first one to check out. Therefore we can afford to split the price of a new heater before we move in and fix all the drywall. Might was well redo all the electrical and plumbing while we are at it (yep, that is right!) When this whole thing got started we just decided to do the bare essentials. Well, that turned into all the major upgrades that we needed. Lighting, floors, walls, electrical, pipes, and stained ceilings. This is what it looks like down here in Southern California on a Saturday in October:

Taping off the newly stained ceilings
We dripped a little stain but the beams look great
100% copper plumbing, inside and out
We decided to add another mini door to the living room...
Actually this is where the old heater was, and where the new one will go
Newly patched drywall...all over the house
Project snake the drain

I have visions for this backyard


The side of Dave I see most of the time...



Our home away from home



The only dog I have ever known to sleep in his water bowl..


He loves water more than any normal dog, even falls asleep during his bath!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Progress

IT feels like we are getting somewhere. We are finally putting everything together again. New drywall. New ceilings. New ceiling fans. New kitchen lights. We might even get to paint this weekend. I will put new pictures up tomorrow of the newly stained beams in the daylight. Its still dusty and covered in sawdust, and we have a little bit of stain cleanup to do after the sprayer went on the fritz. For your viewing pleasure...

New recessed lighting...



Kevin in a cloud of sawdust..


My new look


Deck sprayer staining the ceiling beams
oops
Just stained beams..still wet
Covered in stain and sawdust..but its done!!
The ceilings turned out to be a way harder job than we had imagined, but it is going to be so worth it when it is finished. The beams look antiqued and weathered, but nice. Can't wait for all of you to come see!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

All in a day's work...

Well it is football season again. Week five to be exact and the El Camino Warriors are 5-0 after trailing by 21 points in the third quarter and coming back to win in overtime. I will say that Saturdays are my favorite day, but also incredibly tiring. Here is a Saturday in the life of Dave and Lizzy in pictures.
I'm ready to play...waking up at 6:30 with Kuma
Show dog in training, running in the front yard 7:30 am
Head to the house to sand survey the sandblasting 8am
Supplies in the living room 9am
Sanding the beams and spending two hours vacuuming sand and paint 10 am
Why did we want to do this again? 12 pm
This day just started, we're dirty, and its time to head to the game 12pm
Football game in Riverside 7pm...(these are my cheerleaders!)
Celebrating a come-from-behind victory 9:30pm
Looking cleaner and still tired 10 pm
Playing some more so I can go back to sleep 12 am
Have to say I wouldn't have it any other way... until Sunday morning rolls around.
I love this crazy crazy exhausting life. Even though I don't remember the last time I slept more than 5 hours in a row.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Formidable Foe

Kuma likes to chew, bite and chase everything. Yesterday I was working on a paper about a community health issue, and I looked up when I heard something being dragged across the floor. Kuma had my backpack that weighs the same as him, only is twice his size. He was wrestling it, biting it, and generally entertaining himself (and this thing is sturdy so he can't destroy it.) He is still too young to go outside because he needs all of his shots. He is getting a little stir crazy. So for now my backpack is as good an opponent as ever. Formidable.

The house is coming along. We had the ceilings sandblasted to expose the wood of the open beams. It needs a little TLC, but will be beautiful when we finish it again. Today and tomorrow electric and plumbing is getting done, and then we get to start putting our little casa back together again. I am a sale-shopping-aholic. Will post more pictures soon of the progress. In the mean time here is my little stinky dog. He actually does not stink. I vow never to be a stinky dog owner. He gets a bath once a week right now!


Bunmi is doing great by the way. They even let her go home after the surgery. She is on strict bed rest, but her body is doing its job and helping baby Judah grow. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for that little boy to stay put.





Look how tough I am mom...


Attack dog on the loose