Iced In

This past weekend the Dallas area was hit with some nasty ice.

Growing up in Pennsylvania I've lived with the cold and the snow, but this past weekend's weather was crazy - 1-4 inches of thick ice.  While it did lead to some interesting pictures in our backyard...

It also led to some pretty bad damage of the trees as well.  The trees that stand where the pool used to be probably took it the worse, they just couldn't handle the weight of the ice and several branches snapped off.

Thankfully that area is further away from the house so none it it touched the house.  We will have our landscaper come out after the thaw to remove what needs to be removed as well as some of the larger branches on the thicker trees that broke under the ice weight as well.

The scariest part would be the trees the closest to the house.  Thankfully we had the branches that touched the house removed back when we moved in.  But the ice did cause the branches still remaining to bend all the way to the house, with at least higher 4 branches breaking off (and now resting on top of the lower branches still attached to the tree).

(If you look towards the top you can see the snapped branch which is hanging down at an angle)

(our trees don't normally touch the ground)

Chris and I spent the entire weekend at home, going out to let Heisenberg use the bathroom and to try and remove the ice/branches that we could (mainly the ones that were leaning on the fences) and shovel out our front driveway.  Hopefully as the weather starts to warm up above freezing we'll be able to venture out today because I do have a case of cabin fever.

Guess I Should Leave More Often Part II

When the cat's away, the mice will play... or in our case - when the wife's away, the husband gets a bunch of house projects done!

This past extra long weekend (Thursday - Tuesday), my family enjoyed a trip back home to Philly/New Jersey for my cousin's wedding.  Since Chris recently started his new job, he wasn't able to make the trip with us so he had 6 days to himself at home.

Philly airport, the house I grew up in, Pat's Cheesesteaks, Atlantic City

My cousin and his new wife!

While I was enjoying reliving memories of my youth, Chris was busy knocking out project after project in our home.  First up was mounting the TV in our bedroom.

We've had the TV on the floor for some time, waiting for our handyman to come mount it and hide the cords behind the wall.  Well our handyman has been very busy with his main job, so Chris opted to just mount it himself and build a shelf to hold the cable box.  Now I can actually watch tv in bed instead of on the floor!  We'll get around to hiding the cords later.

Chris has been the king of shelving lately.  Last time it was creating the linen closet, this time it was building shelves in his gameroom for our DVDs and his video games.

Similar to the linen closet, Chris used a track system so we could alter the heights of the shelves if we need to.  He cut and painted wood and attached little blocks to the ends to hold the DVDs in.

Me being the type A personality, I went ahead and alphabetized the DVDs then loaded up the shelves.  While going through them, I noticed that there are a lot that that we should probably get rid of because we never watch them (as in still in the plastic from when they were purchased).

On the other side of the room Chris created a wrap around system to utilize the corner bump out.

Corner before

Looking at this picture one might think we were starting up a GameStop!

I have no doubt these shelves will fill up once we unpack the rest of his graphic novels and other decor items.  Mario says Yippee!!

And the last project was a complete shock to me!  We were texting Sunday night and Chris asked if I wanted to see his hair cut.  I thought this was a little odd because Chris tends to get the same haircut, only once during the summer he surprised me by coming back with a shaved head.  So I'm thinking he's done something cray cray to his hair.

Nope, same haircut, but one huge surprise behind him - he painted our master bath!!

I love how the white cabinets pop more against the green walls then they did with the beige.  We still need to hang items (like towel hooks and some art) and get a couple more mats, but I am just so happy that the painting is done!

After 5 hours of painting the nooks and crannies of the master bath, Chris is truly looking forward to a relaxing weekend this upcoming weekend.  With all of the projects he has completed lately, I have no issues with a veg out weekend!

Getting Our Yard Work On

One thing that we loved about our house, but at the same time were a little cautious about was all of the yard work.  Our house has one of the largest lots in the neighborhood and the original owners (not the couple that sold it to us) put in a ton of work in both the front and the back that sadly was not kept up by the sellers while the house sat on the market.  Because of this, there was a lot of overgrowth as well as weeds and dead bushes that just needed to go.

The front yard during our first showing

As you can see in the shot above, those 4 bushes in front are a little unruly and even block our house number.  With so many deliveries and companies coming over to give estimates on work I'm sure it's annoying for them to have to circle back because they missed the house the first time.

We also had a lot of low hanging tree branches that blocked our path to the shed and would get in the way whenever we walked on the back patio.

Throw into the mix all of the weeds, dead rose bushes with thorns sticking out everywhere and the craziness that is the back garden and we decided to enlist the help of my parents' landscaper who has been doing work for them for years.  Martin's crew came one Saturday and knocked out an enormous amount of clean up that made so much of a difference.  They left the branches in bundles on the front part of our house which we would have left except that trash pick up would not occur until Thursday and I'm sure a neighbor or the HOA would have something to say about it.  Because of this, Chris and I found ourselves lifting those large bundles into the garage.  I meant to take a shot of the bundles lining the street but I was too busy sweating like no other trying to get the work done.

I don't think this shot really showcases the amount of branches we have, but it'll have to do.  After we raked, swepted and bagged all of the little remaining pieces we were able to actually walk around the yard and be amazed at the work Martin's crew completed.

Hello house number (well at least the blurred area where the house number is)

This was taken for our "we've moved" cards before Chris' graduation.  We didn't know that Martin's team was going to be there that day, so you can see behind us where they've already removed the front bushes.

We're going to pick some other lower bushes to replace in the front, and Chris and I are thinking of some DIY work to add a little something something to the corner of our front yard that is looking a little bare.

I know now we'll need to invest in some good rakes for the fall because there will be a ton of leaves!

Do you enjoy doing yard work?

Our First Night

What a busy weekend!!

After receiving our keys on Friday, I got to work making a list of things that we needed to get in order to stay the night at our house.  One of the more important items was to pick up an air mattress so we wouldn't have to sleep on the floor.

We hit up the grocery store to get some essentials like paper goods, toilet paper, bottled water and some ice for the cooler since the prior owners took their fridge with them.  We packed up both of our cars and headed over to the house, the excitement was finally starting to take over!

I drove up first, ready to pull into the garage and was greeted with junk blocking my way. When moving the box of leftover closet hangers and wood, we also found out that they left the trash cans completely filled so we won't be able to use it until our next trash day.  Throughout the house we learned that the sellers left several items, some good (a ladder, yard tools, fire extinguishers, light bulbs, instruction manuals), some not so great (broken lamps, old paint, old posters) and one with some potential - a large artificial Christmas tree! Once things die down a bit, I'm going to see how it looks before deciding if we get rid of it.

Once we dropped off our bags, we made our first of several runs to Home Depot.  I can't tell you how happy I am that the Home Depot and Lowes are only about 5 mins from our house!  We stocked up on some additional paint supplies, putty, shelf liners and a step stool before heading back in time for the pizza delivery.  (On a side note, I really like Domino's feature of ordering online early and setting it up for a later delivery time). Eating pizza the first night reminded me of my family's move from Pennsylvania to Texas, standing around our kitchen island enjoying some Pizza Hut before our camp out in our new house. We popped a bottle of Champagne and toasted to our first night.

After dinner on the floor (note to self - take some chairs over), we decided to start painting our dining room.  Thanks to Pinterest, the idea to paint the dining room half color and half white under the chair rail stuck in my head.  Chris was totally on board, so our overnight painting session was on!  We knocked out the white half first (Behr Ultra Pure White) before moving onto the bluish color on top.  Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the Behr paint, because it was a can of oops paint that I picked up for $7 over a year ago.

The dining room before

Just painting the white half gave the room a fresh feeling.

Although it was late, we decided to start on the blue half, finishing up around 1 am.  We called it a night since Chris had to work in the morning, and I finished the second coat on Saturday after hitting up Home Depot to color match the paint and get another gallon.

The iPhone doesn't really do the color justice, so I snapped a couple of shots with my DSLR on Sunday.

As you can see, the blue varies from different angles.  I finished up painting inside all of the windowsills on Sunday while Chris replaced two out of three of our toilets.  This was one of those fun unexpected to do items.  We noticed that the toilets were old and having a really hard time flushing simple toilet paper so we went ahead and purchased high efficiency replacements. 

Out with the old, 1 more to change out

And one more shot after the drops cloths were removed.

The room is still in progress as we have decided to paint over the beige ceiling.  Since we are planning on having professionals handle the painting in our 2 story main areas, we'll leave the vaulted dining room ceiling to the pros as well.  We also need to paint the doors that lead to the kitchen and the floorboard trim as the beige really sticks out next to the crisp white.  Now for a side by side comparison.

Chris and I both agree that painting has helped to feel like it's our home and not just someone else's house that we will be living in.  I was sore as anything after our first weekend of work, but I'm excited to work on other rooms before the movers are scheduled to come.

What did you do the first night/weekend in your home?

30 Before 30: Buy A House

We finally got the keys and are now official homeowners!!

Can't wait to get started on that to do list once we get in tonight!

The recap of our house hunting journey is here and I've now added a tab for the house tour on top so you can see how the rooms change over time!

Living Room Reno Near Complete

And just in time for Christmas!

Before Thanksgiving, the living room had been transformed by the new floors.  We called upon our amazing contractor once again to handle the popcorn ceiling and painting.  Painting is normally something we handle ourselves, but with a two story foyer we figured it would be easier to leave it to the pros.  It was a construction zone for a couple of days...

...but that was it.  2 days after the team started, they were cleaning up and heading out.  Mom selected Sherwin-Williams' Tinsmith, which is a light grey, to paint the foyer, living room and up the stairs.

I love how the paint makes the white trim pop.

Freshly painted living room!

Since mom and dad prioritized removal of the popcorn ceiling, that left little room in the budget for new furniture.  While I know that new furniture will come along down the road, for right now they were able to squeeze in a new rug, TV stand, and a newer modern fan.

Once the popcorn was removed, the team did add some texture to the ceiling in order to match the texture on the walls.

I see some shopping trips in the future to pick out those finishing pieces like a mirror or art for above the fireplace.  My parents still have plans to get a larger TV, and once that comes in they intend for it to be hung on the wall.  The room isn't completely finished, but the major renovations of new floors, new ceiling and paint are complete.  Details and new furniture will be worked on along the way.

And one last before and after of the living room.

You may notice in the after shot that the fireplace looks different.  The team glazed it, and although it may be popular in newer houses to show the detail in the mantel, it didn't really fit in with our house.  Our contractor had no hurt feelings, and quickly sent someone to paint it back to white.

Now to enjoy this room with the family for Christmas! I'll try and pop in before the new year, but if I don't I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season!

This year's holiday card thanks to Tiny Prints