Thursday, January 27, 2011

The New Counter Top

The new counter tops are in! There's not a whole lot to say about them except they look FABULOUS!

Before:

During:

After!:
And a close up of the beautiful sink and faucet.

As you can see, there are still cabinet doors to finish, but I'm making progress and the drawers are done and in.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Hey Good Lookin'

Whatcha Got Cooking?
That's right, the appliances are here. And for the stove to answer that question, my go-to favorite, Sloppy Joe. It's going to take me a while to learn the heat settings on the gas stove, but I love it already. I really love the the full top grill. It makes setting pots down and moving them around so easy. The oven bakes wonderfully as well.

And for the microwave to answer that question, NOTHING! Because the microwave doesn't work. I guess we just thought we could install the microwave, plug it in, and it would work. But that's not what happened. We installed it, plugged it in, and it did not work. A new one is being delivered on Monday.
The fridge is my new best friend. I LOVE not having to bend over to get in the fridge. I also love that the drawers and shelves are clear and I can SEE everything. No more lost leftovers shoved to the back and found weeks later.
I'm sure our dish washer is a little jealous that he does not have a shiny stainless steal finish, but he has a few more good years left before we need to think about replacing him. We also got word today that the counter top is coming on the 27th!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Flooring!

Yes the flooring is in and looking great! I had a snow day on Tuesday of this week and was able to finish all the painting that I wanted to do before the flooring was laid. This is my "I...can't...breathe..." picture. The kitchen and dining room were a complete mess! So right after I took this picture I cleaned up everything and could finally breathe better.


We bought laminate flooring from Lowes. We liked the durability of laminate and the easy of installation. I was pretty picky about the look and feel of it and felt we got a pretty good "almost wood" look. Dan and I laid to first few panels on Wednesday night and he insisted that I include a picture of myself. Believe it or not, this is the best we had :)

Thursday Dan and Scott finished the floor by the time I got home from school! We took out the stove and will be eating microwave meals until Monday when the NEW APPLIANCES!!! come. The old fridge is still in the middle of the dining room on cardboard, but oh well.

Look how great the white quarter round looks at the base of the freshly painted cabinets! I love that look!

As you can see there are still no cabinet doors or drawers. These are in a pile in the basement waiting to be painted and I plan on getting to them soon. I don't mind the "no doors" look too much and it's easy to get things, but the not having drawers is a big pain. Those are the things you use every day. So drawers will get painted first!

The "new" cabinet

I posted earlier about our need to make the cabinet above the stove smaller to make room for the new microwave. Dan's solution was to simply cut the old cabinet down to the right side. I wasn't crazy about this idea, but told him if he made it perfect, I would be fine with it. Well here it is - nearly perfect.
Above is the cabinet cut in half, glued back together and wood touched up with wood putty. Below are the doors that are cut in half and glued back together with a new wood insert.
Doors with wood putty to fill in the cracks.
And the "new" cabinet in place above the stove with a new outlet for the microwave. The doors still need to be painted and installed (that may take a while).

Monday, January 3, 2011

Photo editting...

...another thing I wish I had more time for.
I wish I had a better camera for many reasons, but for now I am okay with photo editting on the computer. There are many different photo editting programs out there and many are free online. I just used Picnik to edit our Christmas photo. Obviously I should have done this before I sent it to all our family and friends - but, live and learn.

Before:

After:

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Family Life Highlights

Keeping Up With Rebecca
Rebecca Grace
        Short version of Rebecca's birth story
        Rebecca's birth announcement
        Rebecca's Baptism
Rebecca Turns One!
Look Who's Two!
Rebecca's 3!
Rebecca's 4!
Preschool Highlights at Delaware
Rebecca Turns 5
Rebecca's 6th Birthday
Rebecca's 7th Birthday

Meet Blake Daniel
Introducing Blake, More of Blake
Birth Announcement
1 Month Old
First Smiles
First Birthday - Cookie Monster Party!
One Year Old Pictures on the Farm
Oink Oink Moo, Look Who's 2

Get to Know Brianna
Announcing...
Meet Brianna
3 Weeks Old and Baptism


Holidays
Easter Blessings 2014
Christmas 2013
Christmas 2012 in Canada
Thanksgiving 2012 in Pella
Pumpkin Patch Fun 2012
4th of July 2012
Christmas 2011
Thanksgiving 2011
Christmas 2009
Thanksgiving 2009
Pumpkin Patch Fun (2008)
Thanksgiving 2007
Christmas 2007

Weddings
Our 10th Anniversary, 2014
Linda and Bill, June 2014
Our 6th Anniversary, 2010
Jon and Tonya, June 2010
Andy and Carol, April 2009
        more of Andy and Carol

Vacations
Oh, Canada 2009
        more of Jasper 
        Neerlandia, Alberta
        the largest mall in North America
Family Vacation in Michigan 2008
Niagara Falls 2012 photo book
Niagara Falls 2012 part 1 and part 2

Craftiness

Patching Girl's Jeans with Style (Pinterest Challenge)
Candy Cornucopias
Frog Lids - Mason Jar Vases
Baby Blanket and Flower Headbands
Thank You Gift Ideas - Teacher Appreciation
The power of spray paint.
Felt and Fabric Flowers
Bathroom Art
Pretty Drawer Liners
Step Stool Makeover
Baby Blankets and Tote bag
Thomas the Train Tote bag and more
Baby Blanket and Tag Blankie
Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat cosumes
Wordle fun
My New Sewing Machine
My Cricut Machine
Lining a Tote Bag
The Making of a Baby Quilt

Home Projects

Favorite Home Improvement Blogs
Young House Love
       My close encounter with Young House Love!

Kitchen Remodel 2011
See how it all came together from start to finish! 
(Links are in reverse order)
Final Kitchen Reveal
A Little Shelf Part 2
New Coat Rack Part 1
Spice Rack
New Counter Tops!
New Appliances
The Flooring
Making a Cabinet Smaller
Painting Cabinets
Wallpaper Removal

Finishing the Basement
Our documentation of this big project is lacking, some day I might go through our old photos and do the project justice. These posts give you an idea of how it started, but not how it looks today.
Cutting in new windows
Installing some new windows
Last egress window is in
A little sheet rock is up
Toy Storage Organization

Other Projects
Blake's Baby Room
Rebecca's Big Girl Room
New Front Porch
Improved Swing Set
Cork Board Cabinets

The Joys of Farming

Freeze Branding  2012
Updates on the Farm 2012
Hauling Hay (Dec. 2011)
Farm Tiling (June 2011)
A day in the life... (April 2011)
Spring is Here...Almost (March 2011)
The New Grain Bin (2010)
Chicken Saga (2010)
The crops are in and up (2010)
In the Fields (2010)

Our New Chickens (2009)
         Chicken Drama
         Chicken #3
Grinding Hay (2009)

Introducing Rebecca to Farming (2008)
It's a Hay Buster!
Meet our Bull Dozer

Life on the Prairie (2007)
At the end of the Rainbow (2007)

A Collection of Recipe Posts

Favorite Food Blogs:
Finding Joy in My Kitchen
Good (cheap) Eats

Freezer Meals
Homemade Baby Food

My Posts on Food:
Main Dishes:
Sesame Chicken
Cream Soups
Whole Wheat Rolls
Stuffed Shells

Side Dishes:
Sweet Potato Fries
Whole Wheat Rolls
Granola
Strawberry Freezer Jam

The Sweeter Side:
Cream Cheese Dips
White Cake Cookies
Oatmeal Cookies (with cinnamon and craisins)
Banana Bread
4th of July Cupcakes
Snickerdoodle Blondies
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Almond Bars (sold at Tulip Festival in Orange City)