Final Day Painting Pictures

Wet Paint Ahead!

We are painting Steve's bathroom (the one in the master bedroom) today. It's one of those projects that we've talked about doing, and then suddenly last night committed to conquering. It is currently a yellow/green color painted with white daisies, a gift from the previous owner. I like the fact that the lady before us felt brave enough to explore with colors, although I do have an aversion to those particular ones.

Old mirror hanging out in the hallway:


Can you see the white space where the mirror was between the daisies and the sink and toilet?
Mirror white space again:
Putting down plastic. Looks like I'm staring at his backside :)

Looks boring, doesn't it? Shower is to the right.
Armed and inspired by her bravery, we chose Creek Bend a gray (with just a hint of silver in the right light) color for the walls. His bathroom is small, and while we know that it is the lighter colors that create the illusion of a larger space, we wanted a calm, and sophisticated atmosphere. We think that Creek Bend is the way to start. There are dark red curtains, brushed nickel lighting and we are looking at purchasing a mirror with a white wood frame to match the white trim.

This is the paint color. It doesn't look very nice next to the current wall color, but that'll change soon.

Today we decided to be productive and get started with a bang by waking up at 11:30. Yes, not as early as we had originally planned. :) After realizing that we didn't have roller brushes, we decided to shower and then head out to pick them up along with a few other things. While Steve showered, I sanded and washed the walls. By the time we actually got out of the house, went to the store, and picked up sandwiches for lunch, it was 3pm.

Sanding:

Chipping away old paint:

The bathroom had a huge mirror in it that we thought could be adhered to the wall, in which case would make our job a lot harder. Luckily it was just screwed on, so we lifted it off and set it down in the hallway. We only really needed to prime the space where the mirror was and over the painted daises. We removed the light fixture only to find that someone had ripped the wiring from one place to another in order to make it reach the light fixture. After spackling, we realized that this would slow us down even more. We primed that wall and around that space, so now we have to wait until tomorrow to paint anything.

Old light fixture:
Can you see where the electrician tore the wire though the wall from L to R? Steve spackled it.
Priming over daisies. I was glad to see them go! :)
More spackling:

Priming:
I can't wait to see how the color looks tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a shock!

A non-Charlie Brown Christmas

As I sit here and think about yesterday's festivities, I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed and very grateful to the people who showed us such generosity and love. I'm not sure Christmas, and all that it includes, can really be soaked up on one day. Yes, there were some gifts I expected and others that I was surprised by, but when it really comes down to it, no one is required to give you a gift or spend money on you, so I am very grateful.

The day was supposed to go like this:

Breakfast at Steve's parents at 9am.

Open presents/hang out.

Leave by 1:30 pm to drive to Lancaster, PA.

Dinner at Beth's grandparents with all the family 3pm.

Open gifts, etc.

Hang out.

Leave when I can't keep my eyes open.

It actually went like this:

We accidently set BOTH alarms for an hour late. Why? I don't know, it just happened. We arrived at Steve's parent's an hour late (10am). Michelle and Lauren were still working on breakfast (which they had been up since 8am doing) and we ate around 10:50.

Breakfast was really delicious. The girls had made everything from eggs and bacon to crepes with the option of fruit, meat or chocolate. Very good. We didn't escape comments about being late, however. (sigh- oh well!!!) :)

After breakfast we cleaned up and headed into the living room to open presents. I was sitting next to Lauren on the couch, so I assumed it was my turn to go after her. Little did I know there was a "Creel system" I wasn't aware of. (Not surprised.) Their gift rounds to by age and you can't do any of the cards first, or the stockings...you save those for last. So, we went around and opened presents, most times I forgot it was my turn until everyone was staring at me and I was smiling stupidly. There were other times when I started to open a present and it wasn't my turn. Bother.

We had a lot of fun and got great gifts. (Thanks, guys!)

We left for my grandparent's house about a half hour late. Late Christmas Eve, I had remembered that I was supposed to make dinner rolls to bring, but had remembered around midnight, so it was a no-can-do. I called my family once we were in the car to let them know. I COULDN'T BELIEVE I'D FORGOTTEN! As you can guess, I didn't hear the end of it once I got there. :) We tried to stop at a gas station to see if they had any, but all they had were hotdog buns and I didn't think people would really enjoy them with their ham and homemade casseroles.

Almost as soon as we walked in the door, we were bombarded with hugs. It was great :) And then we were bombarded with gifts. Steve and I sat in the middle with my family around us and opened all of our gifts and handed out our own. It was a little weird, just because it all happened so fast, but I think of it as lightning round and the challenge is to remember who gave you what. :) One of my favorite gifts was the Bare Minerals makeup starter kit. My mom and several friends have it, so I am anxious to give it a try. I think Steve was more excited about his tools/gift cards than he was about my Bare Minerals.

A sideways view of us at my grandparents:

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill:

Dinner was delicious. The huge table was full of all kinds of food. Even though everyone did their best, there were still tons of left overs. Steve and I left with a large bag full of ham, cookies, etc. We'll be eating well these next couple of days!

A favorite gift (from my sister). Gum to chew to make sure that you don't have ugly children:

After dinner, everyone hung out and relaxed for a while. People started leaving by 7:30. Elf was on t.v. so it wasn't long before we were all laughing and quoting most parts of it. Steve and I left around 8:30 heavy laden with gifts and goodies.

We had a nice trip home trying to remember significant parts of the day. When we got home we sorted through our gifts and wrote thank you cards. I know- you're impressed. :) Tomorrow, I think we will hit the stores.

Love to you all and Happy Holidays!!!

Pre-Christmas

Our Tree Hunt

Last weekend, we met up with my parents to go down to the Belly Acres Christmas Tree Farm (about 45 minutes away for us). We got down there and all of the good trees had already been cut down this season! The only ones that were left were way too short for us. After walking the tree farm for a while, we officially gave up and headed back to the car. We drove back to my parents' house and then stopped at a tree place up the street from them. We were looking around and Beth saw a 9 foot tree that she liked - it was supposedly going to sell for $100 but she managed to get it for about half-price!

We got the tree home and it was a monster (this seems to be a trend - see the story with bringing home the fireplace mantle). We set it up with Brandon's help (Mom and Dad provided commentary). Later that evening, Beth and I stopped by Target to get lights (after a long debate over Color/White, the colored lights won out - that is, after all, the fun way to decorate a tree!). We ended up with 4 strands of 175 lights for a total of 700 lights on our tree. It was fun to go through and put all of the ornaments on the tree this year (I've not had a tree at my place since I moved out)

Sunday -

The Sunday before Christmas, we went out to lunch with Ev and Mark at Applebees - that was a good time. From there, Beth and I stopped at Home Depot to pick something up, then we were going to go home but decided to reward ourselves with a trip to the movies (to see "I Am Legend"). After the movie we came home and took the opportunity to relax and hang around the house with nothing to do.

Christmas Eve -

On Christmas Eve, we woke up and did our best to get out of the house at a reasonable hour. We only had a few gifts left to get and wanted to make sure we didn't get stuck up against the clock later in the evening. I got a haircut while Beth made a trip to the post office, then we met up and wandered through some more stores. Once we got our shopping wrapped up, we headed home to make chocolate covered pretzels (the "tiny twists" kind, not pretzel rods - this was an in-store discussion as we tried to pick which is the "right way" to make chocolate covered pretzels). Bryan, Kerri, and the kids came by later in the evening and we got to spend a few minutes with them as they were out visiting people and playing "Christmas Bingo".

We put off actually wrapping presents until the last minute (who doesn't?). Beth wrapped at least 2/3rds of the presents. Partly because I'm slower, and partly because I was trying to get out of it. We got everything wrapped and together, set the alarm clock (more about this later), and went to bed.

Betty Crocker Blues

I love to cook. Really, I do. I am not a wiz in the kitchen like some of the women in my family, but I can turn out a good meal. I like experimenting and creating. It's a rewarding process for me.

Last night was crazy-

My sister, Emily, came up to spend the night. She's home from college, so I enjoyed catching up with her and just hanging around. She agreed to help me with some Christmas cooking, so we got some ingredients together and began. My first recipe was for peanut brittle. I've never made it before (I'd actually never made any of the things I was about to create) but I was excited at the opportunity. After peanut brittle, we were going to make peppermint/chocolate brittle, chocolate dipped cake rounds and (possibly) carmel corn.

We never made it past the peanut brittle.

The recipe seemed easy enough. Combine this, stir that, microwave for a while in a glass bowl... Yeah, it's that last part that I got stuck on. They weren't kidding when they said a glass bowl. My sugar, karo and peanut mix exploded in the microwave, melting a hole in the bowl which then started to burn.

When I realized what was happening, I grabbed the bowl to set it on the counter. I had been on the phone with Steve at the time as he was on his way home, and immediately hung up on him.Unfortunately, I didn't see the hole until too late. The liquid mix splahed all over the floor, counters, dish washer, wood cutting board, the sink and finally the glass pan I happened to have on the counter. I was going to dump it in the sink but didn't want to get it clogged.

The thing with this mixture, is that it hardens VERY quickly. It's like a candy coating. It was hardening so fast, that even before we microwaved it, it was hardening on my spoons so much so that it cracked on of my spatulas.

Emily and I ended up standing in the middle of the kitchen laughing, but only after I soaked my burnt foot and we realized we'd have to scrap the floor, etc. with spoons to get the stuff off.

Steve came home to use feverishly working.
We didn't cook anymore that night.
My wonderful husband finished all the cleaning.

Pictures to follow.

"...and now the time has come to say goodbye."

To continue our adventures with friends...

Tuesday we slept in and met Ashley for lunch at Ludwig and spent some time relaxing and talking. It was fun to be back in Olivet's cafeteria. Who would have thought? After lunch we walked over to her apartment to check it out. Two out of her three roommates are artists, so there was a lot of artwork. We headed back and hung out at the coffee shop (I recommend a Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate. DELICIOUS!).

Molly, Joe, Steve and I headed out to Orland to meet our friend Nathan at this great pizza place. It had already started snowing and so although we were a little cautious of the weather, it looked beautiful. We shopped at the mall for a bit before meeting him there. By the time we left, there was a significant amount of snow on the ground.

Pictures resulting from this great phenomenon:
Steve and I
Joe, Steve and Nathan


I am now sitting on our last train of the day, heading from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia. In Washington's Union Station, Steve and I grabbed some wraps for dinner and hustled on the train along with the other people anxious to get home. As I'm sitting here, I can't help but listen to all their conversations. Very interesting.

Here are the remaining pictures of our previous train ride. I think we were able to get some great shots. My favorite part about this train, was that it was incredibly scenic.

Lounge car where you can sit and watch the scenery:

Steve is sitting next to me playing a game of solitare on his phone, we are tired, but otherwise in excellent spirits, and I can't help but be so grateful for this wonderful vacation with each other and friends. Tomorrow evening we'll be going to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Atlantic City. I AM SO EXCITED! They are a mixture of rock and orchestra music and mostly do holiday pieces.

Well, I think it's time to wrap up. I know I've forgotten to mention other highlights of our trip, but for right now, I am a little tired of blogging and just want to relax with Steve until we get home.