Kitchen remodel - complete

It took a bit over a month, but it's finally done. Please see after pictures. Cabinets are knotty alder, floors were just refinished and stained, countertops are Caesarstone, and the backsplash is glass and travertine tiles. I kinda love it. The only thing that I want to do to finish it off are some colorful pillows for the benches. Yaay!!!

A tailgating virgin no longer

I've been to a few football games in my time, usually at the beginning of the season in sweltering Arizona heat. Sounds fun right? When I'd walk to games with my parents, I would always kind of eye the tailgaters with a little bit of envy. It seemed like a good time to hang out, grill, much more fun than the game itself. But I somehow made it through 4 years (alright 4 1/2 shhh) of college without tailgating. I was pushed into a group of people by a drunk friend picking a fight with a bunch of Marines, but no tailgate parties.

Today was my first. It was pretty fun, although the 20-30 mph winds and clingy little girl hanging on my inseam weren't pleasant. The game was great, the stadium walls blocked the gusty winds and just allowed a breeze to come through.  A bag of popcorn brought Maggie and another little girl together and I got to sit and take it all in. Air Force football is different for sure, I missed the Arizona band and the people didn't seem nearly drunk enough. Nobody screamed You Suck at my little girl (that happened to my niece and I at a U of A vs. ASU game). It was... nice. Next week is TCU, which should ramp things up a notch in the drunk and disorderly category.

And next time I know not to bring muffins to a tailgate party. But I mean, seriously, who tailgates and eats brats at 10 AM? Oh crap, that WAS me.

Nothing to do, nowhere to go

I am loving this weekend. Since we've moved to Colorado, we've either been moving in, entertaining (I use that word loosely) guests, or going somewhere. And finally we have a weekend with nothing to do. Actually I'm lying. We did go to the Nature and Science Museum in Denver, but it was just the three of us and it was free. So it didn't really feel like a chore, a mandatory exploration, just something to do on a lazy weekend. I love these weekends, they don't happen very often. I'm even contemplating doing a Halloween craft, picking my laziness up and going to Joann this afternoon. Just the fact that I have time to peruse Halloween crafts is my kind of awesome. I don't know though, a nap or reading a book sounds kind of right too.

It looks like a kitchen again!

Progress, finally...I was starting to feel like I would never have a kitchen back. Cabinets were installed today, there's still some additional things that need to be done, including putting in the kitchen table, which will be built into the nook in the back in the first picture below. The electrician is coming on Monday to hook up lights, the fridge, and the oven. So even though I thought I'd get to make cookies this weekend, I'll have to wait. But it's nice to have a light at the end of the tunnel. Now it's time to think about what to purge, maybe the half-million plastic cold cuts tubs we have, although Maggie and I made a sweet rocket ship out of them this afternoon.

Here it is: Progress

Floors, floors, floors

The floors are for the most part done now. Good thing because the stench was killing me. It was so bad I ended up taking Mags and sleeping in the basement. Yuck. Ben was not affected, but the smell was so bad it gave me a headache. Not good. Anywho, they're done now and look pretty good I think. The effect was like a face lift for the kitchen. It looks 10 years younger now. The pics don't really do the after justice, but they look a lot better in real life. Before they were light pine and after they are a walnut color.

For your viewing pleasure, the before, during, and after:

Before:

During:

After:

Travels in Colorado

You know when fans chant OVER-RATED at college basketball games, when a top-rated team is getting crushed by an underdog? (Think last year's Duke v. Arizona tourney game.) That's what kept running through my mind when we went to Vail this past weekend. Beautiful? You bet. I'm sure there's good skiing too. And if getting dressed in your finest workout gear and having your hair in a full blowout is your thing, you'd love it. Me, not so much. I don't think I've ever been under and over dressed at the same time. It's an interesting feeling. 

They did have a gondola that went up to the top of the mountain, we rode it 3 times because Maggie thought it was a rollercoaster. We didn't have to drive anywhere, also a plus. And lucky for us it was hot, because I forgot regular running shoes for me and a jacket for Mags. I'm not sure how I forgot that, but luckily we didn't even need it. It just wasn't a good fit, and I don't know how else to explain it. 

We did drive back through Breckenridge, which was WAY more our style. We will be back to see you soon Breck. 

Please enjoy the eye candy of both Vail and Breckenridge:

Vail

Breckenridge

Demolition done

Ben and friends were kind enough to demo the kitchen, saving us over a thousand dollars. Love that we repurposed almost everything too. Here are some pics of the destruction:

Electrician came out after the demo last week and left us without power to our little garage, and the contractor came in and replaced some 2 x 4s and whatever else it is that they do. This week the electrician is back to finish up, and we're supposed to have the floors refinished. Early next week we should have base cabinets and hopefully upper cabinets as well.

Kitchen remodel - the beginning

When we bought this house, it wasn't because of the kitchen. I didn't particularly like it, but it was ok. After we got moved in, I realized something. The kitchen was not made to handle little kids. The island is small and little hands reach over the top and touch hot burners. It's hard to play defense on all four sides while still trying to cook. Plus, it's just in the way and not functional, no prep space, etc. I'm also not a fan of using floor tiles as countertop material, especially when installed with no longer light-colored grout. It just always looks dirty to me. Wah wah wah, right? Yes, it's true. Nothing, with the exception of a couple of cabinets, is falling apart. I just don't like it. So, we're remodeling. Enough justification, just down to business. Here is our kitchen before. Ben and friends are going to demo today. One friend is taking most of the cabinets for a new basement, and Habitat for Humanity is taking the oven and microwave combo. Dishwasher and fridge stay with us, so the only appliance we're throwing away is the cooktop, which doesn't work very well anyway.

So here it is....The before pictures:

This is the view from the entry way of the kitchen. You can see the island, aka death trap, in the middle, just being in the way.

This is the view from the weird office space in the back of the kitchen. When all done, this will be bench seating and table. The round table goes to the basement and the light fixture gets sold at the community garage sale.

That went well

Ah, the dentist. I actually used to love the dentist. I looked forward to it, mostly because I didn't really have any trouble with my teeth. I got a sticker and a toy, along with a new toothbrush.

Maggie's experience wasn't quite so golden. She fell and hit her tooth on the ground at daycare and her tooth turned gray. Awesome. I should be glad it didn't fall out. Scratch that, I am glad it didn't fall out, but it's also kind of funny looking. Maybe I could turn my frown upside-down and turn it into a Halloween costume idea? Hmm...probably looking at a gray toothed princess this year.

As for the actual dental appointment itself, it's always nice to hear about how wrong you are. A glorious moment in which you find out "they" changed all the rules when you weren't paying attention. What do you mean I was supposed to take her to the dentist after she got her first tooth? Sorry what? No goldfish crackers? Leading cause of cavities huh? Pinning her to the ground and shoving a toothbrush in her mouth won't traumatize her? I guess you really do learn something new every day. Funny enough, if it wasn't for Maggie falling and hitting her face, I wouldn't have taken her until she was three.

Oh yeah, and she didn't have any cavities either. But that's really not the point is it?

Pikes Peak, Colorado

Now that we're settled in and don't have anyone visiting, we decided to finally give Pikes Peak a go. It's beautiful and I'd rather show pictures than write about it. It's beautiful and supposedly the inspiration for America the Beautiful, that should tell anyone all they need to know.

 Driving up is fairly intense, I think next time I'm going to take the cog railway. Maybe when I'm in better shape, I'll hike up. Ah, a girl can dream.