Thursday, May 02, 2013
Spring Snow
Cold, warm, cold, and then SNOW. Not much stuck to the ground, but it snowed all day long last week. Fortunately we had a nice fire to keep us toasty.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Fishing
Last week we took the kids fishing by Hagerman, about 30 minutes away. It was cold and windy, but that did not stop our little fishers.
Tom was on a roll and had caught three. Charlie was feeling bad and almost gave up, but luckily hung in there and persistence paid off when he finally caught two fish. Tom caught another and at the very end Lydia even caught a fish.
The fish were Rainbow trout, although there were also Lightening fish in there, which are very yellow in the water and you can see them as they swim near the bait, teasingly, and then swim away.
After fishing we went to the hot springs to warm up, which didn't take long because after an hour of swimming the kids were more than warm and ready to leave. This was surprising because they love the water, but I guess it was too warm to stay in too long.
We grilled the fish on the BBQ, gutted, but whole, skin still on, bones still in. After spending much time picking out bones and finally tasting the fish Tom declared
"I think next time we should do catch and release"
Tom was on a roll and had caught three. Charlie was feeling bad and almost gave up, but luckily hung in there and persistence paid off when he finally caught two fish. Tom caught another and at the very end Lydia even caught a fish.
The fish were Rainbow trout, although there were also Lightening fish in there, which are very yellow in the water and you can see them as they swim near the bait, teasingly, and then swim away.
After fishing we went to the hot springs to warm up, which didn't take long because after an hour of swimming the kids were more than warm and ready to leave. This was surprising because they love the water, but I guess it was too warm to stay in too long.
We grilled the fish on the BBQ, gutted, but whole, skin still on, bones still in. After spending much time picking out bones and finally tasting the fish Tom declared
"I think next time we should do catch and release"
Monday, March 18, 2013
Video of the kitchen
Here is a link to a YouTube video of our new kitchen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d0qR5qJ-qw&sns=em
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d0qR5qJ-qw&sns=em
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Meal Time
First I need to share a fabulous, so yummy recipe and then I will share some thoughts/links for mealtime planning.
I've been pinning on Pinterest for almost 2 years. Of all the recipes I've pinned I think the meal I made on Tuesday is actually the first I've made and not just pinned. It was one of the yummiest and easy recipes I've tried in a long time.
Chipotle Chicken as posted on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.
This was "holy cow" good, as in holy cow this is so tasty and holy cow this is so easy to make. I'm all for dinners that are not only easy to make but tasty and appeal to my grown up tastes, yet the kids will eat it.
Now that I finally have internet at home again I can finally use a meal planning website I signed up for-- Plan To Eat where I can input my own recipes or save ones from the internet. Then I click and drag to make menus and it creates a shopping list based on my meal plan. There is a bookmarklet that makes it super easy to add recipes. So I can go to a website like Mel's Kitchen and import her fabulous recipes and I'm on my way to yummy meal times.
In the past meal time planning was not a favorite thing of mine to do, it takes me so much time. But if I don't plan then I have stress each night as dinner time rolls around. One thing I finally realized that made meal planning overwhelming is I didn't have any sort of structure to my planning, it was just picking random meals and hoping we would want to eat it on a giving evening. Also, too many choices is so overwhelming to me.
Once I realized that some sort of structure would be beneficial to me I assigned each night with a theme and then as I planned I only had to look at recipes that matched my themes and it made it so much easier for me to choose recipes for a given day of the week. This especially helps durning weeks where I haven't made a meal plan. If it's Tuesday and I don't know what to make for dinner I don't have to consider every meal out there, I just focus on "taco" type meals (meaning anything Mexican) thus narrowing down my options to choose from.
My current nightly categories are:
Monday - Macaroni
Tuesday - Taco
Wednesday - Whatever
Thursday - crockpot (not clever, but couldn't come up with anything else)
Friday - Fish or Stir "fry"
Saturday - Sub, salad, sandwich
Sunday - Sundaes (such as Hawaiian Haystacks or potato haystacks)
I've still been unsuccessful at meal planning for months, but having this simple system has lessoned my stress as I try to come up with something last minute.
Now that I have my desktop back in action and a real kitchen to cook in (our rental had virtually no countertop to use and it was not conducive to cooking) I have high hopes for making meal planning a regular thing and experience less stress when meal time rolls around.
I've been pinning on Pinterest for almost 2 years. Of all the recipes I've pinned I think the meal I made on Tuesday is actually the first I've made and not just pinned. It was one of the yummiest and easy recipes I've tried in a long time.
Chipotle Chicken as posted on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.
This was "holy cow" good, as in holy cow this is so tasty and holy cow this is so easy to make. I'm all for dinners that are not only easy to make but tasty and appeal to my grown up tastes, yet the kids will eat it.
Now that I finally have internet at home again I can finally use a meal planning website I signed up for-- Plan To Eat where I can input my own recipes or save ones from the internet. Then I click and drag to make menus and it creates a shopping list based on my meal plan. There is a bookmarklet that makes it super easy to add recipes. So I can go to a website like Mel's Kitchen and import her fabulous recipes and I'm on my way to yummy meal times.
In the past meal time planning was not a favorite thing of mine to do, it takes me so much time. But if I don't plan then I have stress each night as dinner time rolls around. One thing I finally realized that made meal planning overwhelming is I didn't have any sort of structure to my planning, it was just picking random meals and hoping we would want to eat it on a giving evening. Also, too many choices is so overwhelming to me.
Once I realized that some sort of structure would be beneficial to me I assigned each night with a theme and then as I planned I only had to look at recipes that matched my themes and it made it so much easier for me to choose recipes for a given day of the week. This especially helps durning weeks where I haven't made a meal plan. If it's Tuesday and I don't know what to make for dinner I don't have to consider every meal out there, I just focus on "taco" type meals (meaning anything Mexican) thus narrowing down my options to choose from.
My current nightly categories are:
Monday - Macaroni
Tuesday - Taco
Wednesday - Whatever
Thursday - crockpot (not clever, but couldn't come up with anything else)
Friday - Fish or Stir "fry"
Saturday - Sub, salad, sandwich
Sunday - Sundaes (such as Hawaiian Haystacks or potato haystacks)
I've still been unsuccessful at meal planning for months, but having this simple system has lessoned my stress as I try to come up with something last minute.
Now that I have my desktop back in action and a real kitchen to cook in (our rental had virtually no countertop to use and it was not conducive to cooking) I have high hopes for making meal planning a regular thing and experience less stress when meal time rolls around.
It's been so long
We finally have internet at home. When we moved to Twin Falls, last July, I didn't sign up for internet knowing that we would hopefully be moving in the near future and didn't want the hassle of if we might have to change providers. Plus, when I was looking the prices were outrageous-- $50-70.
Jeremy and I both have iPhones and figured we could access most of what we needed from them. This was true, but after so many months of working on such a small screen and having to deal with mobile sites instead of full sites it is so wonderful to be on a large computer screen and typing on a real keyboard. The one thing I miss from my typing on my phone is autocorrect. On the computer it just underlines words with a red line instead of fixing it for me.
This way too long period without internet just serves as a reminder that sometimes there are things I take for granted and forget just how wonderful and convenient they are. On the flip side it has also shown me that I can mostly be technology free and life still continues (although less conveniently).
Jeremy and I both have iPhones and figured we could access most of what we needed from them. This was true, but after so many months of working on such a small screen and having to deal with mobile sites instead of full sites it is so wonderful to be on a large computer screen and typing on a real keyboard. The one thing I miss from my typing on my phone is autocorrect. On the computer it just underlines words with a red line instead of fixing it for me.
This way too long period without internet just serves as a reminder that sometimes there are things I take for granted and forget just how wonderful and convenient they are. On the flip side it has also shown me that I can mostly be technology free and life still continues (although less conveniently).
Monday, March 04, 2013
Moved in
We are all moved in and have everything removed from the rental and the rental is all clean. Although our stuff is at our new house, not much is put away.
We've been spending much of our time finishing things at the new house. Jeremy and his dad in particular have spent long days grouting and installing and finishing all the odds and ends. Even with all the many hours they have spent doing this over the last few days there are still many little things left to do.
The grouting and backsplash consumed a huge chunk of their time. It was well worth their efforts because it is all so beautiful.
We've put some stuff away, but mostly it is a mess everywhere. Now that the packing and cleaning is done I can focus on putting our new house in order.
It has been wonderful having Jeremy's parents here. Their help has been invaluable and the kids have enjoyed spending time with them.
We've been spending much of our time finishing things at the new house. Jeremy and his dad in particular have spent long days grouting and installing and finishing all the odds and ends. Even with all the many hours they have spent doing this over the last few days there are still many little things left to do.
The grouting and backsplash consumed a huge chunk of their time. It was well worth their efforts because it is all so beautiful.
We've put some stuff away, but mostly it is a mess everywhere. Now that the packing and cleaning is done I can focus on putting our new house in order.
It has been wonderful having Jeremy's parents here. Their help has been invaluable and the kids have enjoyed spending time with them.
Friday, March 01, 2013
Moving day 2
Yesterday we started moving some of the kids' stuff over to our new house.
The top floor has three bedrooms, the girls will share the large room (that has 2 large closets), Tom and Matthew will share the medium sized room, and Charlie will get the small room, which will double as the guest room, since it will have a king bed in there (eventually whenever Jeremy and I finally get a new bed).
Today we started moving stuff over with more earnest. The new house is a block from our rental, so I just load the minivan with boxes, go over unload and unpack and then bring back the empty boxes.
Thankfully Jeremy's parents came to help and while Jeremy's dad was busy being plumber and handyman, Grandma Honey was busy filling boxes. She got the entire kitchen boxed up, and I successfully got it all put away in my beautiful new kitchen.
Grandma was able to get the girls to pack up their room, which they did all on their own. Becca helped me carry the boxes from the car and get it all put away in their lovely, huge closets. It's nice that they have large closets because allllll of their stuff fits (with ample room left over) in the closets, so I am mightily hoping that their room stands a better chance of being more clean because the only thing out in the bedroom will be their beds--no toys or shelves or anything.
The boys weren't as diligent and have yet to finish putting their stuff in boxes, but about half their stuff is at the new house.
We were able to banish a little more pink from the awful pink bathroom that is the kids bathroom. Originally the tub, sinks (it has a double vanity) walls AND ceiling were all pink. The painter remedied the walls and ceiling and today grandpa changed out the sinks to white sinks so the only remaining pink is the bathtub which will mostly be able to be hidden behind a shower curtain.
Our master closet is mostly Installed, except I still need to buy the rods so we can hang stuff up. The house didn't originally have a master bedroom and bathroom, but we were able to close in a hallway and turn a separate bedroom and bath into an on suite. It is all very small, but it is a nice little bathroom and a walkin closet, just not of the por portion that new houses have.
After having lived in our rental for the last six months that just has one shared bath I will definitely take a small master bed and bath rather than have no master.
Tomorrow
the carpet will be restretched downstairs,
the painter will finish touch ups on the baseboards of the main floor,
the counter guy will drill a hole in the kitchen counter for the faucet and he will install the master bath counter,
Most of that should hopefully happen in the morning time so that in the afternoon we move stuff into the master bedroom and the family room.
Besides moving we still have our list of things we need to finish, like grouting, the kitchen backsplash and electrical. Although it would be nice to get it all done before moving, those are things we can do after moving in.
The children have been such troopers over the last couple months. They are ready for normal life to return and for "the house" to not be our only focus.
I think this process is definitely one of those things that has been difficult, time consuming and money draining, but was sooooo worth it. The end result is beautiful. I've always wanted to do a renovation and have my own before and after.
We've taken a fair number of pictures along the way and I'm going to make a before, along, and after photo book.
The photos are the original pink bathroom (I don't have an after yet) and a before and after of the hall that is the half bath and laundry area with a door to the backyard. We changed out all the doors in the house and that back door with the full glass inset is my favorite. It lets in so much light and it frames in the beautiful tree in the backyard. We tiled the floor with a gray tile in a brick pattern which I love the way it looks.
The other photo is me doing the tile, but if you look behind me you might be able to see the tree. I need to take a better photo showing the tree framed in the door.
The top floor has three bedrooms, the girls will share the large room (that has 2 large closets), Tom and Matthew will share the medium sized room, and Charlie will get the small room, which will double as the guest room, since it will have a king bed in there (eventually whenever Jeremy and I finally get a new bed).
Today we started moving stuff over with more earnest. The new house is a block from our rental, so I just load the minivan with boxes, go over unload and unpack and then bring back the empty boxes.
Thankfully Jeremy's parents came to help and while Jeremy's dad was busy being plumber and handyman, Grandma Honey was busy filling boxes. She got the entire kitchen boxed up, and I successfully got it all put away in my beautiful new kitchen.
Grandma was able to get the girls to pack up their room, which they did all on their own. Becca helped me carry the boxes from the car and get it all put away in their lovely, huge closets. It's nice that they have large closets because allllll of their stuff fits (with ample room left over) in the closets, so I am mightily hoping that their room stands a better chance of being more clean because the only thing out in the bedroom will be their beds--no toys or shelves or anything.
The boys weren't as diligent and have yet to finish putting their stuff in boxes, but about half their stuff is at the new house.
We were able to banish a little more pink from the awful pink bathroom that is the kids bathroom. Originally the tub, sinks (it has a double vanity) walls AND ceiling were all pink. The painter remedied the walls and ceiling and today grandpa changed out the sinks to white sinks so the only remaining pink is the bathtub which will mostly be able to be hidden behind a shower curtain.
Our master closet is mostly Installed, except I still need to buy the rods so we can hang stuff up. The house didn't originally have a master bedroom and bathroom, but we were able to close in a hallway and turn a separate bedroom and bath into an on suite. It is all very small, but it is a nice little bathroom and a walkin closet, just not of the por portion that new houses have.
After having lived in our rental for the last six months that just has one shared bath I will definitely take a small master bed and bath rather than have no master.
Tomorrow
the carpet will be restretched downstairs,
the painter will finish touch ups on the baseboards of the main floor,
the counter guy will drill a hole in the kitchen counter for the faucet and he will install the master bath counter,
Most of that should hopefully happen in the morning time so that in the afternoon we move stuff into the master bedroom and the family room.
Besides moving we still have our list of things we need to finish, like grouting, the kitchen backsplash and electrical. Although it would be nice to get it all done before moving, those are things we can do after moving in.
The children have been such troopers over the last couple months. They are ready for normal life to return and for "the house" to not be our only focus.
I think this process is definitely one of those things that has been difficult, time consuming and money draining, but was sooooo worth it. The end result is beautiful. I've always wanted to do a renovation and have my own before and after.
We've taken a fair number of pictures along the way and I'm going to make a before, along, and after photo book.
The photos are the original pink bathroom (I don't have an after yet) and a before and after of the hall that is the half bath and laundry area with a door to the backyard. We changed out all the doors in the house and that back door with the full glass inset is my favorite. It lets in so much light and it frames in the beautiful tree in the backyard. We tiled the floor with a gray tile in a brick pattern which I love the way it looks.
The other photo is me doing the tile, but if you look behind me you might be able to see the tree. I need to take a better photo showing the tree framed in the door.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Laundry day
For the past 5-7 weeks we've been coming to the laundry mat to do laundry. We had a washing machine at our rental that we purchased in August but at the end of December it quit working, right in the middle of a wash cycle.
We returned the washer to Costco and got our money back. Our new house we had just purchased came with a washer and dryer, so for a few weeks I was able to go over there to do laundry. But once we got ready to do tile we pulled the machines out and I was left with no way to do laundry.
We could have brought the washer to the rental, but the laundry room is down a level and in a tight spot. Jeremy didn't want to move it for just a few weeks. Plus I think something about the rental (the electrical) ruined our washer, because they had a newer washer there when we first moved in that they said we could have if we wanted to fix it.
So that's the long version of why we've been doing laundry at the laundry mat the last few weeks.
The awesomeness of doing laundry at the laundry mat is I can do a whole weeks worth of laundry in 2 hours--that even includes folding it.
I suggested to Jeremy that we should put 2 stackable washers and dryers at our new house so at least I can get laundry done twice as fast. Some day
I might actually do it.
We returned the washer to Costco and got our money back. Our new house we had just purchased came with a washer and dryer, so for a few weeks I was able to go over there to do laundry. But once we got ready to do tile we pulled the machines out and I was left with no way to do laundry.
We could have brought the washer to the rental, but the laundry room is down a level and in a tight spot. Jeremy didn't want to move it for just a few weeks. Plus I think something about the rental (the electrical) ruined our washer, because they had a newer washer there when we first moved in that they said we could have if we wanted to fix it.
So that's the long version of why we've been doing laundry at the laundry mat the last few weeks.
The awesomeness of doing laundry at the laundry mat is I can do a whole weeks worth of laundry in 2 hours--that even includes folding it.
I suggested to Jeremy that we should put 2 stackable washers and dryers at our new house so at least I can get laundry done twice as fast. Some day
I might actually do it.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sneak peak
Our house is getting close to being done. Ready or not we are moving this weekend and there many little things left to do
Grouting
Changing all light switches-half are done
Outlet to the island
Install plumbing fixtures
Put toilets back in
Doorknobs on
Lights up
Finish kitchen backsplash
Install mirrors
Put in shelving units in master closet
Finish stair railing
Clean out garage
The biggest hang up is the painter isn't done yet so a fair amount of those things we can't do until he's done, which won't be until Friday.
A picture of a before and after of the kitchen (although the after kitchen doesn't have the backsplash done).
Grouting
Changing all light switches-half are done
Outlet to the island
Install plumbing fixtures
Put toilets back in
Doorknobs on
Lights up
Finish kitchen backsplash
Install mirrors
Put in shelving units in master closet
Finish stair railing
Clean out garage
The biggest hang up is the painter isn't done yet so a fair amount of those things we can't do until he's done, which won't be until Friday.
A picture of a before and after of the kitchen (although the after kitchen doesn't have the backsplash done).
Monday, January 21, 2013
Progress
Our remodel on our house is about half way done. Hopefully we'll be done in 3-4 weeks. It's so hard to be patient, I just want it to be done now.
It's going to be worth the time and money spent, but right now it's getting hard to keep up this pace of splitting our time and attention between trying to keep up with regular life (meals, laundry, etc) and spending every spare minute over at the house getting stuff done. I especially feel bad for Jeremy who works full time and then spends so many hours at the house working.
Out of necessity we've hired out jobs we were planning to do ourselves, but we just can't do it all.
The kitchen is mostly done, the counters are coming today. The floors have to wait until all the doors get replaced, which should happen on Friday. All the exterior doors were very inefficient and leaked cold air in like crazy. It wasn't part of the original plan to replace all the doors, but it seemed like a good time to do it while everything is torn apart. It just added time to the project we weren't planning on (not to mention the cost, we have 6 exterior doors-2 in the garage, 1 from the garage into the house, the front door, a back door out the laundry area, and a side door--way too many doors if you ask me).
Besides being anxious to move into our own space and have plenty of room for everything and everyone, I am getting so impatient because I want to see how it all comes together. Seeing the kitchen in gets me so excited for the style we've chosen. We don't have the doors and trim in yet but the picture I've included is the style of door trim we are doing.
I still have many final choices to make, the tile for the master bath and shower, the faucets, half bath vanity and the light fixtures. I have ideas of what I want, but finding them in real life and at affordable options are proving difficult.
It's going to be worth the time and money spent, but right now it's getting hard to keep up this pace of splitting our time and attention between trying to keep up with regular life (meals, laundry, etc) and spending every spare minute over at the house getting stuff done. I especially feel bad for Jeremy who works full time and then spends so many hours at the house working.
Out of necessity we've hired out jobs we were planning to do ourselves, but we just can't do it all.
The kitchen is mostly done, the counters are coming today. The floors have to wait until all the doors get replaced, which should happen on Friday. All the exterior doors were very inefficient and leaked cold air in like crazy. It wasn't part of the original plan to replace all the doors, but it seemed like a good time to do it while everything is torn apart. It just added time to the project we weren't planning on (not to mention the cost, we have 6 exterior doors-2 in the garage, 1 from the garage into the house, the front door, a back door out the laundry area, and a side door--way too many doors if you ask me).
Besides being anxious to move into our own space and have plenty of room for everything and everyone, I am getting so impatient because I want to see how it all comes together. Seeing the kitchen in gets me so excited for the style we've chosen. We don't have the doors and trim in yet but the picture I've included is the style of door trim we are doing.
I still have many final choices to make, the tile for the master bath and shower, the faucets, half bath vanity and the light fixtures. I have ideas of what I want, but finding them in real life and at affordable options are proving difficult.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Our rental
Our rental in Twin Falls is small, but homey and cozy.
These pictures are from the rental add and it is not our stuff in the photos.
These pictures are from the rental add and it is not our stuff in the photos.
Some ideas for our update
I don't know if we will get to do our updates sooner our later on our new house, but we definitely want to update the kitchen and bathrooms.
These are some of our ideas we are gathering.
We have a new kitchen layout that would take out the wall between the kitchen and front room so we can have a large island--one of my favorite features in a kitchen.
I love bright spaces so I'm thinking white cabinets.
How about a subtle yet fun backsplash of crackle glass tile.
We don't have our budget set yet, but if I can get enough good deals I'm going for hardwood floors through the kitchen, dining and living room.
Also some ideas for wall color for bedrooms.
These are some of our ideas we are gathering.
We have a new kitchen layout that would take out the wall between the kitchen and front room so we can have a large island--one of my favorite features in a kitchen.
I love bright spaces so I'm thinking white cabinets.
How about a subtle yet fun backsplash of crackle glass tile.
We don't have our budget set yet, but if I can get enough good deals I'm going for hardwood floors through the kitchen, dining and living room.
Also some ideas for wall color for bedrooms.
Our new house
We are buying a house and hope to close in the next few weeks.
We hope to do some painting and updating, but for the most part the house is move in ready.
It has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths in 3000 square feet. Being split level is awesome and it has a family room on the main floor and each of the 2 lower levels.
We are so excited to have a garage and storage space (something our current rental doesn't have).
We hope to do some painting and updating, but for the most part the house is move in ready.
It has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths in 3000 square feet. Being split level is awesome and it has a family room on the main floor and each of the 2 lower levels.
We are so excited to have a garage and storage space (something our current rental doesn't have).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)