6/15/07 House Renovations - Summer Vacation Part I
Posted
Friday, June 15, 2007 1:51 PM
Hi! First entry! I'm excited! I love to write! I actually just ran across my "theknot.com" wedding plans and it brought tears to my eyes to take a little trip down memory lane, re-living my wedding plans. Things I hadn't thought about and things I forgot all about! Which led me to here and I just love the fact that I can record our experiences and check back when we forget all the sweat and tears and hard work we've dealt with!
Russ & I (I’m Shelly, by the way!) have been married coming up on 2 years! Our anniversary/summer vacation plans? WORK! We closed on our new home (old farmhouse) May 31st and due to extensive cosmetic remodeling - plan to move towards the end of July. Good bye tropical beach vacation ideas! See you in my daydreams! sniff sniff 
The house is perrrrrrrrrfect! We love the location, the yard, the landscaping, the size, the rooms, the charm and character of the built-ins, and the fact that we won't be paying rent & paying someone else's mortgage. We love the grape arbor, the small barn, the 3 acre yard. Lilacs were in full bloom and it just smelled wonderful! We can personalize our home!
We knew it needed some major cosmetic changes, but that didn't seem to be too big of a task or maybe it did seem that way, but our excitement over-rode the reality! After ripping out very nasty carpets (wish that smelled like lilacs!) 
and scrubbing grease covered kitchen walls and ceilings (my poor hands are raw!) and scraping wallpaper and pulling carpet staples and tack strips, patching holes, replacing a tile ceiling AND I won't even mention getting to the bathrooms! I'm exhausted and honestly, feeling sometimes overwhelmed! We both work full time jobs and now we work a 2nd full time job! I know. I know. All this exhausting labor will be worth it! That's the light at the end of the tunnel!
So far I've also taped off the kitchen for painting, painted a powder room after Russ tore out the fixtures. (Nice toilet lawn ornament sitting outside - TEMPORARILY!) The sewer's been fixed (whew! at the expense of the seller) and a nice little flower garden with rocks disguises the lovely pipe sticking up out of the yard.)
I met with plumber #1 about an estimate for adding a laundry room to a 1st floor walk in closet and a gas line to where only an electric range can go since Russ prefers cooking with gas (I know - I'm sooooo lucky that HE likes to do the cooking! I like cooking too, but it's really nice that he prefers to do it...I can just sit back and be served and he likes that!) Yeah! 3 more plumbers to meet.
There's certain evenings I force us to just go over even if for an hour to complete small tasks and check on the place. Of course, we usually end up staying longer and drag ourselves back to the rental around 9 or 10 in the evenings only to fall into bed and wake up way too early to start it all over again...work, fast food dinner 
, work!
Last night was Russ' night. While I was scrubbing another YIKES! bathroom with my daughter, Bri, and her boyfriend, Jared was pulling up more tack strips, Russ was cruising around the 4 foot high field in his brand new shiny John Deere - in his professional work clothes even! 
He was happy and probably singing the entire time! Even the "stuck" sliding barn door couldn't spoil his good mood!
So, I haven't mentioned that Russ married me and took on the responsibility of being the male role model in our home. I have 2 daughters: Brianna (18) and Alainee (14). So, on top of all the chaos --- there's the girls! Bri just graduated and got a car and will be starting college in the fall and Alainee is volunteering at the Y and the hospital. I'm also throwing a graduation party in a little over a week - so it's amazing that I'm not crazy. Actually, I feeeelllll crazy! 
So, that's my first entry. I feel energized and refreshed! Like I just vented all that and can start anew! 
It's Friday! (Hurray!) Ugh...more work!