We finally have counter tops! We've been anxiously waiting for the day when we'd put in our beloved counter tops, and the day finally arrived yesterday! They gave us some trouble because they were bowed from sitting around the house too long (absorbing moisture) but our GC concocted a contraption that slowly straightened them back to flat and then, someone, we can't decide who, came up with a brilliant idea to anchor them securely to the cabinets so they won't bow back. Well it all worked, and now the kitchen looks so great! We still have to put the sink in and all the trim to make it look really really nice, but we definitely conquered the dreaded challenge of the counter tops, and we are super happy! It was a good weekend.

LOOK!

Big steps!

It's starting to look like we are close to being done. The tile in the kitchen looks awesome and every time I walk into the house I get excited and still can't believe it's all there, grouted, buffed out and totally great to walk on! The cabinets are in and the top doors too, the counter tops are going in this weekend and it should be fun cause I'm sure we will find it's not quite as simple as they make it look on HGTV... We have to make sure ours are not going to bow back like they were before we braced them, so we'll have to screw in a few iron brackets, and build up the low wall so they will sit at the right height... fun fun fun!

Two days ago we finished purchasing the remaining appliances! We have new and amazing front loaders (washer and dryer) in the basement, and a super sweet dishwasher (we decided that the one we "acquired" was not going to cut it next to the very new fridge and stove... so we bought a new stainless steel one! And we also finally got the hood we had been going back and forth on... It's all there waiting to be installed and broken in! We also picked out all the moldings for the kitchen and the bedroom, so we are almost done spending money!

The bathroom is almost done, we bought curtain rods and painted the walls, installed the doors on the built in cabinet, grouted and cleaned the tile, and caulked EVERYTHING! We are only missing the mirror for the medicine cabinet which we are in no rush to get, and I'm also waiting to find the perfect shower curtain, any good places to look?

So the bathroom is almost done, and this weekend we'll probably finish the bedroom (prime ceiling, paint walls, put up crown and fix closet hole...).

So all that will be left is finishing he kitchen, and THOROUGHLY cleaning the entire house before we can move in!

Check it out

Checking off stuff from that damn list!

We are so close! The electrical is all done, inspected and approved. We have a new water heater and it's all installed and working. For the first time since we've owned this house there's hot water in it, huge step!

A couple weeks ago we put up sheet rock on the ceiling in the bedroom downstairs, it was one of the hardest things we've done so far... definitely not something I'd like to do again. Anyway, now it's mudded and sanded and soon will be primed and beautiful! After that, just paint and crown molding and we're done! (oh and also the closet has a giant hole we have to address... minor fix)

The bathroom is all primed, we had to scrape the 5 thousand layers of plastic paper and paint on the shelves, and it was a mayor headache... first I tried soapy water thinking it was the same as wall paper, but I quickly found that it was not cutting it, so Dan told me to use the torch, and I used that for a while, a long while, so I ended up using a super strong chemical paint stripper and that did the trick! I spent like 5 days on those damn shelves, between striping sanding and priming, but now they looks so nice and clean, it was worth it. The walls are all patched up and, the window has been scraped and primed, and tomorrow we are tiling the walls! After that we'll pick a paint color and call that room done! (I'm sure there's about 10 things I'm forgetting right now... cause when you think it's done, you're always wrong...one of the many things I've leaned on this journey).

The Kitchen is looking awesome, with a new back door and beautiful tile on the floor! I finished that today, we still have to grout, but on the pictures you'd never know... ha! we still have quite the list of things to check off on the kitchen, but it's moving, and every step is oh so exciting!

So there it is, so much progress despite a minor set back (a few days in the hospital, it's all good now, no worries it was not house related, just a side effect of being so tall, poor Max) and many, many cuts on Lilo's left hand and a few boxes of band aids (all house related) but we are going strong and moving forward, quickly approaching our move in date!!

Here are some pictures of the surprise Valentine's day picnic I made for Max... and some more progress...cheers!