Tree Trimming

My hubby is such a stud.  We got a letter from our insurance company informing us that they were dropping our coverage because we had tree limbs that were touching the house.  They didn't call and say, "hey, you need to trim that tree or we are dropping you."  They just did it.  Someone came by and took pictures and couldn't even knock on the door to let us know that they were considering dropping us.  Ugh.

After Trey got over his initial stage of fury and rage, he went into action.  I'll let him say it in his own words...

So, long story, but we had some issues with our homeowner’s insurance auditor, and it was necessary to trim some trees around the house.  Instead of being one of those schmucks that calls a tree service professional at the first sign of trouble, I made the decision to man-up and do it myself.

First, I climbed the tree that is pictured below.  While straddling one branch, I was able to cut another with a chain-saw….all the while with Alexa—one of our best friends—pulling the limb I was cutting with a garden hose to keep it from falling through the roof.  (David, this should sound familiar to you!  So far, our technique is 2-for2!!)  Anyway, we were able to cut about a 30’ limb without damaging the roof.  So, mark that as “Sweet Victory #1.”

After that little warm-up, I decided to take my lumberjacking skills ON the roof—where the big boys play.  I’m sure most of you are aware that I am EXTREMELY scared of heights, but my frugality/cheapness overcame that fear!  A few minutes later I was dangling off the peak of our roof crushing the dreams of our popcorn tree with my battery-powered trimmer.  And, you can mark that down as “Sweet Victory #2!” 

Fun times were had by all.  I would like to send a special shout-out to my dad.  Thanks for loaning us the tools; without them, my overwhelming display of manliness would not have possible yesterday. :) Hope you enjoy the pics! 
Man points were awarded by Dover as follows:

+1 for using a chain saw, regardless of context (x2)
+1 for climbing on the roof (no bonus points awarded for overcoming fear)
+2 for climbing a tree
+3 for a roof-chain saw combo
+4 for a rarely used, often discouraged (by loved ones, health insurance providers, those opposed to violent death in general) tree-chain saw combo

In sum, we're looking at a good day in the man-point office. An even dozen.

Yay for a tree trimming adventure!

Project Dos - Update

George, our cabinet guy, came in earlier this week and replaced our old cabinets.  In one day, he ripped out two columns of cabinets (the ones containing a wall oven, the cooktop, and the hood) and installed the new cabinets he made so that we could install a free-standing range and over-the-range microwave with a vent.  Take a look!

Before...

In progress...

After...

Because the width of the range was wider than our existing lower cabinets, George added that decorative strip.  He also added a lazy susan cabinet in the lower section.  It really allows us to utilize every bit of that cabinet space which is great.

There's still a good bit of work to do before this project is complete.  We still have to hire an electrician to do a little bit of wiring work for the stove and microwave but fortunately I work at a manufacturing facility and happen to know a few people that do work like that. :)  We also will need to get someone to fab some ductwork to connect the new microwave outlet to the existing ductwork (I also know someone from work for that!).  Other than that we just have to paint the cabinets to match the existing ones, paint the bare patch on the ceiling, and patch a few spots on the now bare wall (showing green now) before we put in a backsplash.

So, once again, I'll keep you posted!

Our first dinner party!!

We got our china cabinet ready before our first dining room guests. 

When Alexa and Jesse came down to stay with us, the weekend before Jesse started work, we cooked a big Asian dinner and invited Nick over as well for our first official dinner party!  Alexa and I made pepper steak, vegetable lo mein, and edamame then Alexa took some pictures.  We set the table and everything! 

Nick brought desset - cheesecake - and we had a champagne toast to celebrate Jesse's new job!  Afterwards the boys took care of all the cleaning, double bonus!

Our newest addition

We would like to take this opportunity to announce the newest addition to our family...

LUCY!

We finally ditched the demon possessed fridge we had and went for the dream fridge, an LG french door model.  My decision was quite a tortured one, since I tend to really over-think large purchases.  I settled on a french door as opposed to a side-by-side because of the additional space available width-wise.  Also, we went for one without an ice maker in the door because 1. Trey and I have never really had an ice maker in the door so we were already used to having to go to the freezer and 2. it raised the price of the fridge by $600!  I'm sorry, but getting ice from your fridge door instead of the freezer is NOT worth $600!  I went with an LG because they have the best warranties.  Any other fridge and all you get is 1 year labor and parts.  Go with an LG and you get 1 year labor, 2 yrs parts, and 10 yrs on the compressor!

We will be replacing our other appliances in the near future, but for now, it's just Lucy!

Project Numero Tres - Out with the linoleum, in with the tile!

Who likes linoleum?  If you raised your hand or said, "I do," we probably aren't friends.  :)  I am not a fan of linoleum so I was glad to know that our kitchen was hardwood when we decided to buy this house.  However, the laundry room and pantry off the kitchen was linoleum. 

Yuck.

Luckily, we have some family friends (Brenda and Leslie) that are really good at lying (laying?) tile.  They came over and helped out getting the tile cut and placed.  Unfortunately, Ms. Brenda tore her rotator cuff while they were working...but she's doing ok now.  No surgery required, thankfully!

They were able to come back a week or so later and help us finish up.  After that, all that was left was the grout work.  That's when we enlisted our friend Nick!  He and Trey took care of the grout.

And here's the finished product!

Project Numero Tres - complete!  Special thanks to Kristin and David who provided the tile as a house warming gift!!

Project Numero Dos - Wall Oven => Drop In Stove

There's a weird column of cabinets in the kitchen that contains the wall oven.  Just to the right of this column is a cook top. 

Three main problems.  1 - the column awkwardly breaks up the available prep and cooking space.  2 - the wall oven in the column is 24"...if you look up 24" wall ovens on HomeDepot.com you will only find like 3 or 4.  3 - purchasing a wall oven and a cook top separately is about like purchasing two regular stoves.  For those three reasons, we have hired a guy to knock out that column and do some more work for us (which I don't do a good job describing).  He started working in his shop a few weeks and he is coming tomorrow to begin the demolition work.  I'll update this post as progress is made!

It's Game Day

We had our first official Game Day company for the Arkansas game!  Nick, a friend of ours that works with Trey, came over to watch the game on our new TV.  It was a real nail-biter, but the Tide pulled through.  This will be a short post, since the only reason I wrote it was to show you the snacks we had...it was the first time I've really gotten to use some of our wedding gifts!

Like I said, not a big deal, just wanted to share!

Our first house guest!!

I procrastinated in posting this one for a couple of reasons.  1 - because I'm still trying to get caught up on everything else, but 2 - because I didn't want to share someone else's good news before they got to share it!

Last week, Alexa and Jesse came down and stayed with us on a Monday night because he had an interview with my company that Tuesday.  Well, this was the first time we could really show off any of the work in the house as well as show off our new neighborhood to old friends!  It was a blast!!  After getting a tour of the house and running a few errands, we had dinner at El Ray's, a local Mexican-kind-of place.  The food is great and their rice is very special, right Alexa?  After dinner we chatted a little while before turning in for the night.

In preparation for their visit, Trey helped me unpack all of the billion boxes in the kitchen (after I had a minor meltdown about not having room for measuring cups...don't ask).  In addition, he made this cute little visitors basket for the guest bathroom while I was at work on Monday!

He's so cute!

Of course we were happy to have Alexa and Jesse be our first spend-the-night visitors, but there's another reason why I had to write this post.  There are a few switches in this house which don't seem to operate anything.  Tuesday while I was at work, Alexa tried her hardest to figure out what one "door-bell" looking button in the master bedroom did.  Here's what she came up with.

Love it!

The heart of the home

There is one room that needs more work than any other, and that room is the kitchen.  It is very dated - the appliances, the navy laminate counter tops, the shades, the cabinets (which are growing on me since they look like they belong with the house's age).  Here's a reminder of what it looked like before we bought it.

You can see the white fridge on the left (ice maker is broken), the wall oven (only 24" wide, very hard to find), the cook top just to the right of the wall oven, and all the cabinets and navy counters.

Even though I just spent a ton of time talking about all the problems, it is a wonderful space.  I have almost 50 square feet of counter space, tons of storage space, room for our breakfast table, and a built-in china cabinet.  Here's the breakfast table again,

and the china cabinet displaying a few of our serving pieces.

We currently have 4 main projects planned in the kitchen to happen between now and the end of the year.  First, we have commissioned some work to install a regular drop in stove and open up that column of cabinets to create more counter space and an easier area to cook in.  I would try to to explain it in words, but it's hard enough to explain it while you are looking at it!  Secondly, we are planning to purchase new stainless appliances.  Next, we'll upgrade the counters from laminate to this quartz...

Friends from work, Todd and Jennifer, referred us to S&B Stoneworks which has the best prices we've been able to find in this area.  We decided to go with quartz instead of granite for two reasons: 1 - little to no maintenance, you have to re-seal granite every 3 years or so and you never have to do that to quartz; 2 - quartz has a lifetime warranty and I LOVE warranties :).  Lastly, we plan on painting the walls a silvery gray color (Classic Silver - Behr Premium Plus Ultra).  You can kinda see a small patch of it on the wall in the breakfast table pictures.

Nothing has been done yet, but I'll be updating you as projects get moving!

Living Room Update

Paint, a new rug, furniture (old and new), throw pillows, and the removal of a HUGE mirror above the fireplace = TA-DA! (pictures pan around the room clockwise)

So, what do you think?  A long way from this right?

We still have a little more to do to create the feeling of an entryway on the other side of the love seat (including hanging that Craig's List find and finding an appropriate console table) as well as hang pictures/art in the room, but we are slowly getting there!