Tiling

That was the house project for the weekend, and I am going to be feeling it (quite literally) for the next few days. I knew this was a huge project that we were undertaking, but I guess I didn't really realize how huge. And the amount of patience (something I'm not known for having a lot of) you have to have. I had hoped we'd have more done than we do, but I'm glad (and so thankful for the help) that were were able to get done what we did. We managed to get both bathroom floors done as well as the kitchen backsplash. We had hoped to work on the tub surround in the master bath today, but a couple other things came up, so we weren't able to get to it. Here are some pictures of the work that was done. Thank you mom and dad for all the help. We truly couldn't have gotten all of this done without y'all!!

Bathroom tile (still with the spacers)

Close up of the bathroom tile (Jay came up with the design all by himself)

Kitchen backsplash

More kitchen backsplash

Close up of the finished kitchen backsplash (still needs to be grouted)

The house is coming along

A lot - A LOT - has happened since my last post about the house. We've painted the entire outside. We have electricity. The AC is hooked up and running. The cabinets and trim are installed. The granite counter tops are in (and beautiful!). The cabinets have been stained (gorgeous!). The painters are painting as we speak. The carpet will be installed this week. The plumber will be in tomorow to install faucets, etc. We've picked out the backsplash for the kitchen and the tub surround for both bathrooms. We've decided on hardwood flooring (we just have to go order it), but we still need to pick out the tile flooring. And that should be about it. The light at the end of the tunnel is becoming so much brighter... Just in time for the start of hurricane season, which, by the way, is less than a week away. But who's counting? Here are some pics from the action at the house. Hopefully later this week I'll have some of the entire inside of the house, freshly painted and carpeted.

Happy Memorial Day!

I know many of you want updates of the house, and I'm ready to start posting them again (because there has been a lot of progress in the last few weeks), but not today. Today is not about me. Today is about those who serve and have served and the sacrifices they and their families make and have made so that we can be who we are and have what we have. For that, I am forever grateful. Many people take today for granted as a day to play and barbecue and be outside. And, that's nice, but it's really about honoring not only our military personnel and veterans, but our local police and firefighters, too. So take some time and think about those in your life who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and thank them and their families. We wouldn't be here today without them.

Happy Birthday to me (a little late)

My team at the office threw me a great birthday party last week, and here are some pictures from the soiree.

The event was complete with RV on the kazoo, a rubber band war, and my favorite thing in the whole wide world... cookie cake!

They tried to surprise me as I walked into the office.

I have no idea what's happening here.

Notice I don't have a clue whatsoever that they're all aiming their rubber band guns at me.

Somehow I figured it out and tried to aim back!

Mmmmm... cookie cake!

Thanks San Jac marketing team! You guys are the bestest!

Never judge a book by its cover

That's a saying we've all heard since we were, oh, I don't know... since we were able to understand the English language. Yet, it never rang so true to me until Hurricane Ike.

And here's another one... God works in mysterious ways.

I am a firm believer of both sayings after tonight.

When we first moved into our house, we didn't really know the neighbors across the street (the ones in the HUGE houses that we affectionately called the "low rent district"). We still don't really know one of them, but the others we have become friends with. But that wasn't always the case. One Halloween they had their lights off and didn't answer the door for trick-or-treaters. I was appalled (that happens to be a fun night for me). We didn't understand how they couldn't like to have little kids in cute costumes begging for candy, so we gave them some nickname along the lines of "mean neighbors."

Then, along comes Hurricane Ike. In the days before the storm was to hit, we helped them move stuff, and they helped us move stuff. They were fortunate, and didn't have any damage to their house like we did (although, they had all the debris from the Bay and the canal on their back deck and pool... they're right on the water, so you can imagine what a mess that was). Anway, I diegress. As we were cleaning our house out after the storm, here come B & G, with a pot of homemade soup, plastic bowls and spoons (Jay was nice enough to take the time to go over there and hook up their generator to their main power so that they were able to cook, etc.). They had made us food, and insisted that we take a break to eat. They sat there and talked to us for awhile while we ate, offered their sympathies, shared their stories, etc.

Since then, we see at least one of them almost every time we're at the house. We've shared our stories. They've seen our progress. We've talked about getting together. And we finally did tonight. The "mean neighbors" are now the "rich neighbors," (hey, I call it like I see it) and we've become friends with them. They had us over to their house for dinner, and even bought us a gift (who does that when you're the ones who invited someone over to dinner??). They are the absolute sweetest people around. Truly. And, unfortunately for us, are moving to Florida. It makes me want to cry (and I almost did when I got in the truck to come back to the townhouse... but that could also be attributed to the amount of wine I drank), because (and I admit it), I did judge a book by it's cover, and I was so off base it's not even funny. I'm going to miss B&G, and I'm kicking myself in the ass for not making an effort to get to know them before now. It's kinda sad that it took an event the magnitude of Hurricane Ike to bring us together, but that's how God works in mysterious ways.

Rapping flight attendant

This is too good not to share.

San Jac baseball all-conference selections

Sometimes I surprise even myself with my picture-taking abilities. I don't claim to be an expert at this whatsoever... in fact, I'm really not all that good. I can do ok with my point-n-shoot camera, but when you put this thing in my hand with a big 'ol lens and flashy flash, I'm not always sure what you're going to get. But today, I surprised myself, and I'm kinda proud, so I have to brag.

The San Jacinto College baseball team had nine players named to the all-conference team (yes, we dominated the team), and to go along with the press release I wrote, I thought it would be fun to have a picture of them. Instead of the standard two rows of guys looking serious in their practice uni's, I thought it would be fun to have them "pose." Well, I didn't have to do much arranging with the nine guys (they somehow knew exactly what to do), and this is what I ended up with. Don't they look cute???

Like I said, I'm no expert at this (I know some of the lighting, etc., is a little off), but it's nice to be pleasantly surprised every now and then.

House Update

It's been awhile since I've posted anything about the house, but things have been crazy with work and getting stuff done at the house. Things are definitely progressing. The texture went up on the wall last weekend (and what an ordeal that was), and we were able to paint the kitchen last week. Custom cabinets have been going up all week (another ordeal, but I think we're all on the same page now). We got our first inspection by the mortgage company today (all that means is that they see we're using their money to actually fix the house, and we can get our second draw so we can pay the contractor). I've picked out all the paint colors for the entire house (including the outside), and I decided on backsplash for the kitchen and the second bathroom today. All that's left is flooring (which we at least have some idea about), cabinet stain color, and tub surround for the master bath. So, we're definitely getting there. Most of what's left is up to Jay and I, since we decided we are going to do the flooring and painting ourselves. With that said, here are a few pictures from the last week.

freshly sprayed texture

priming the walls

wood for the custom cabinets

kitchen cabinets

wet bar

master bath

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Thanks!